Two Korean films are included in the Terracotta Festival: Man of Vendetta 파괴된 사나이, Friday 6th May 19.35. A thriller directed by Woo Min-Ho about Pastor Ju Young-su (Kim Myung-Min), a man of rock solid faith whose life is shattered when his 5-year-old daughter is kidnapped. He seeks God with desperate prayers for her safe … [Read More]
Category: Festivals (page 45)
Korea Times previews Edinburgh 2011
The Korea Times previews the Korean highlights at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, including Oh Tae-seok’s Tempest. http://bit.ly/if6eAV #. It’s going to be a good year. [Read More]
Fun with Silla dynasty art at the London Art Fair
There was a distinctly Silla dynasty feeling to two of the stalls at the London Art Fair in January. Hur Shan’s trademark installations play with the concept of buildings in mid-construction or mid-demolition. Structural pillars are broken in two, revealing their reinforcing steel rods, and we wonder how the building remains standing. Rubble is piled … [Read More]
Hanmi Gallery at London Art Fair
Hanmi Gallery is a new gallery to the central London art scene – so new in fact that its gallery space is still under construction, and due to open in October this year in Maple Street, Fitzrovia. But it’s already established in Seocho-dong, Seoul, and has been trailing its London opening by holding a stall … [Read More]
Korean artists at the 2011 London Art Fair
The annual London Art Fair kicks off tonight in Islington, and as usual you won’t have to look far to find Korean artists represented there. First up, I-MYU, who have been presenting young Korean artists to a London audience since 2007, will be showing the work of Shan Hur. “When I see construction sites in … [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]
Korean Film at the 54th BFI London Film Festival
Three Korean movies at the BFI London Film Festival this year. At the time of writing the evening screenings of Poetry and End of Animal are sold out, but there are still tickets for the others. Film descriptions by Tony Rayns, from the BFI website. Lee Chang-dong: Poetry Thu 21 October 20:15 Vue Screen 5 … [Read More]
Time and Light: Korean designers at 100% Design London
Time seemed to be one of the themes of the various Korean designers on show at the 100% Design London exhibition at Earl’s Court. Cha Il-gu graduated from London’s Royal College of Art and at last year’s show was selected as a “Next Generation Design Leader” and a “Most Promising Talent” at 100% Future. He … [Read More]