In a somewhat disappointing filmic year in Korea, in London we could nevertheless celebrate the fact that a handful of the latest big-budget Korean movies continue to have limited-scope theatrical releases. In 2024 we got director Heo Myung-haeng’s contribution to the Roundup franchise, and the final instalment of Kim Han-min’s Yi Sun-shin trilogy, plus Jang … [Read More]
BFI London Film Festival
News and reviews of Korean film at London’s premier film festival
Hong Sangsoo’s latest to screen at the BFI London Film Festival
Isabelle Huppert is reunited with Korean maestro Hong Sangsoo in an irresistibly enigmatic comic vignette about language, poetry, exile and the art of communication. In her third collaboration with South Korea’s super-prolific auteur, Isabelle Huppert – here at her most slyly mischievous – plays Iris, a Frenchwoman in Korea who offers language classes using her … [Read More]
Cobweb screens at BFI London Film Festival
‘Incredible scenes play out in my dreams,’ insists impassioned film director Kim Ki-yeol (manically played by Bong Joon-ho regular Song Kang-ho), resolute in his determination to remake the ending of his latest film. With his cast and crew persuaded to do a two-day re-shoot, delicious chaos ensues as strict censorship regulations, the personal affairs of … [Read More]
Korean interest at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival
Details of the five Korean movies and one Korean American movie in this year’s London Film Festival follow. For completeness, and not listed below, there’s a zainichi Korean character in Kôji Fukada’s movie Love Life. Decision to Leave (헤어질 결심) South Korea 2022, 138min Director-Producer: Park Chan-wook Screenwriters: Chung Seo-Kyung, Park Chan-wook Cast: Tang Wei, Park Hae-il … [Read More]
Korean interest at the 2021 BFI London Film Festival
The announcement of the BFI Film Festival schedule is usually a cue for me to renew my BFI membership so that I get access to tickets a week before they go on general release. After the huge disappointment of 2020, when no room could be found in the schedule for any Korean movies, 2021 has … [Read More]
Korean films at the 2020 BFI London Film Festival (this won’t take long)
The programme for the 64th BFI London Film Festival was announced earlier this week. As one might expect, the format is somewhat different this year. The schedule boasts “over 50 virtual premieres and a selection of highly anticipated new feature film previews … with work from more than 40 countries”. However, despite the diversity of … [Read More]
Review roundup: Korean films at the 2019 BFI London filmfest
I was particularly looking forward to the Korean screenings in the London Film Festival this year. Both LEAFF and LKFF in prior years have been championing the talent among Korea’s female directors and the trend has now spread to the BFI programme: of this year’s BFI festival, four out of the five Korean movies were … [Read More]
Korean Films at the 2019 BFI London Film Festival
Tickets for this year’s London Film Festival go on sale on 12 September, or earlier if you’re a BFI member. Five Korean movies this year, four of which are by female directors. I’m looking forward to all of them. A piece of trivia: this is the second year in a row that there hasn’t been … [Read More]
A look back at some of the films of 2018
A wide variety of genres was presented to the London audience this year, from the return of the romantic melodrama (Be With You) to big budget fantasy (Along with the Gods). We also saw #MeToo beginning to have an impact, not just in the themes of movies such as Land of Seonghye and Testimony but … [Read More]
Recording: Screen talk with Lee Chang-dong at BFI London Film Festival 2018
In case like me you couldn’t get tickets to the Screen Talk with Lee Chang-dong as part of the BFI London Film Festival, here’s the recording on the BFI YouTube channel. The interview took place on 20 October 2018, the day of an anti-Brexit demonstration in London – which is mentioned more than once in … [Read More]
Korean films at the 2018 BFI London Film Fest
An exciting selection of Korean movies is lined up for the BFI London Film Festival, of which the highlight is undoubtedly Burning. Finally: Lee Chang-dong will be in town! All details below are from the BFI LFF website. Become a member and get access to tickets from 6 September, a week earlier than general release. … [Read More]
Festival film review: Becoming who I was
Nine years ago Moon Chang-yong and Jeon Jin were in Ladakh, Kashmir – a mountainous region 100 miles or so northeast of where the Dalai Lama lives, and less than 50 miles from Tibet’s westernmost extremity. They were filming a documentary about practitioners of traditional medicine in the various regions of Asia. Their subject was … [Read More]
Film review: Memoir of a Murderer
Memoir of a Murderer asks us to step inside the mind of someone who is losing his memory, a sufferer of Alzheimer’s disease. The movie opens with a scene focusing on the face of a gaunt and aged-looking Sol Kyung-gu as single dad Kim Byung-soo. As we watch, his face begins to twitch. At first … [Read More]
Film review double bill: Bamseom Pirates and Criminal Conspiracy
This weekend gave us the opportunity to watch two very different documentaries which cast their critical eye over contemporary Korean society and recent political history. Part of the fascination of both of them for UK-based Korea-watchers is the way they resonate: they provide, in the one case, a laser-like dissection of an issue of which … [Read More]
LEAFF, LKFF and the battle for our diaries
The film festival season is upon us, and this requires some serious diary planning. Fortunately the BFI London Film Festival remains serenely distant from the ignominious tangle caused by the collision of LEAFF and LKFF. With four titles scheduled earlier in the month, including the movie that I’ve been most looking forward to all year … [Read More]
Korean films at the 2017 BFI London Film Fest
As far as I can see there are four Korean movies at the 2017 BFI London Film Festival: two very contrasting documentaries; the movie from festival favourite Hong Sang-soo that won Kim Min-hee the Silver Bear for best actress in Berlin this year; and an adaptation of a novel by Kim Young-ha by Won Shin-yeon, … [Read More]