Here are the screening details for the 2011 London Korean Film Festival, including the screenings in Cambridge, Sheffield and Newcastle. For the events at the KCCUK, book by emailing [email protected]. London screenings and events Thurs 3 Nov 4:30pm SHINee – LKFF launch event – Odeon WE 7:30pm Opening gala War of the Arrows + Director … [Read More]
Category: London Korean Film Festival (page 11)
Lee Man-hee classic “A Day Off” + Mark Morris talk at KCC
Lee Man-hee’s classic film “A Day Off” (1969) will be screening as part of the London Korean Film Festival this year, with a talk by Dr Mark Morris. A Day Off is part of the Lee Man-hee DVD box set which might be in your to-watch pile. This is your opportunity to see it. The … [Read More]
The LKFF 1-minute mobile phone short film competition
A special event for budding Park Chan-wooks out there: The London Korean Film Festival presents The One Minute Mobile Phone Short Film Competition Over the last two years there has been a boom in mobile phone technology which the filmmaking community has whole heartedly embraced. The use of camera phones and other mobile equipment particularly … [Read More]
Arrow, the Ultimate Weapon – the historical background
Kim Han-min’s Arrow the Ultimate Weapon is a high-energy historical action flick which will get the London Korean Film Festival 2011 off to a rip-roaring start. Without revealing too much about the plot, suffice it to say that enough baddies get what they deserve to make you feel reasonably good on emerging from the cinema. … [Read More]
Kim Han-min interview: history, resistance and the Korean spirit
Kim Han-min talks in depth about Arrow: The Ultimate Weapon, exploring Korean history, genre balance, sound design, and the recurring themes linking his work to Paradise Murdered and Handphone. [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival Announces 2011 Programme
Last night we were treated to a special preview screening of the opening film of this year’s London Korean Film Festival: Kim Han-min’s high-energy historical action film Arrow the Ultimate Weapon. It will get the festival off to a rip-roaring start, as The Man from Nowhere did last year. So the publicity campaign for the … [Read More]
Film Review: The Man From Nowhere
Colette Balmain reviews the opening film of LKFF 2010 The Man From Nowhere (아저씨- Ajeossi) (Lee Jeong-beom, 2010) Cha Tae-sik (Won Bin), is a man shrouded in mystery, a loner who runs a small pawnshop and who is positioned on the margins of society. His only meaningful relationship is with the young girl, So-mi (Kim … [Read More]
LKFF Festival Bites: Film Students are Softies
We’d just seen Jang Jin’s contribution to the Human Rights Watch short film collection If You Were Me 2: Someone Grateful (고마운 사람). In it, a student demonstrator is befriended by his police interrogator in the KCIA’s underground torture chambers in the 1980s. It’s a provocative short, because instead of railing against police brutality and … [Read More]
Mysterious Creature: Jang Jin at the London Korean Film Festival
Director Jang Jin is sometimes referred to as “The Future of Korean Cinema” but also as a “Mysterious Creature”. Nyomi Anderson tells us more. This year’s London Korean Film Festival featured a retrospective of the films of writer-director Jang Jin. Jang began his career in theatre before making his first film was The Happenings, which … [Read More]
Im Sang-soo interview: power, patriarchy and provocation in The Housemaid
Director Im Sang-soo discusses his reimagining of the 1960 classic The Housemaid, exploring the intersection of class structure and patriarchal power. He addresses the functional role of graphic sexuality in his films, the serendipitous symbolism of an actress’s scar, and his defiant stance toward commercial expectations and critical reception in the Korean film industry. [Read More]
Green Days: a charming look at the dreams and uncertainties of youth
In the London Korean Film Festival there is always a selection of long and short animations to showcase that part of the Korea motion picture industry which otherwise does not get much screen time. This year, the organisers made a controversial decision: to promote the main animation feature as “a Korean cousin to Studio Ghibli … [Read More]
Kim Ji-woon interview: the utter emptiness of revenge
Kim Ji-woon discusses I Saw the Devil, the controversy over its extreme violence, his approach to revenge and human darkness, casting Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik, and his upcoming Hollywood project. He also reflects on scripting, genre, and how psychological and emotional truths shape his films. [Read More]
Kim Ji-woon’s I Saw the Devil: more than just gore?
Aashish Gadhvi speaks on behalf of three LKL reviewers: Kim Ji-woon’s latest is a disappointment. Hype can be a film’s best friend or its worst enemy. In the case of some films it has worked (The Blair Witch Project) and in the case of others it has backfired spectacularly (Star Wars Prequels), but the fact … [Read More]
The LKFF 2010 is off to a sizzling start
The London Korean Film Festival is now more than 10 years old, and this is the 5th year of its existence under the organisation of the Cultural Centre. It seems to get bigger every year. From its early home in the Prince Charles Cinema, it moved to the more prestigious venue of the Barbican for … [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival 2010
The London Korean Film Festival returns at its regular early November slot. With the Barbican cinemas out of action this year’s festival is a bit of a logistical nightmare, with screenings at the ICA, Odeon West End and the Apollo, but there’s more than enough film interest to compensate. One of the highlights of the … [Read More]
The Housemaid (하녀, 2010) review: Im Sang-soo’s lavish and ruthless reimagining
Though not as subtly stated, socially accurate, or downright claustrophobic and creepy as its illustrious predecessor, The Housemaid still stands its ground as a well realised and gripping thriller which deftly shows that power can easily become as addictive as a drug… [Read More]