This report captures director Bong Joon-ho’s insights on his subversive thriller, detailing his “perverse” casting of icons Kim Hye-ja and Won Bin against their established types. Bong discusses his meticulous control over “feminine” landscapes and storyboards, ultimately emphasizing how the primal maternal instinct can transform a mother into a monster in her desperate quest to protect. [Read More]
Category: Festivals (page 47)
Woojung Chun’s library of mysteries
LKL completes its coverage of Korean artists at the 2009 Venice Biennale. If you browse the shopping streets of Venice, among the numerous tourist outlets selling carnival masks, murano glass and designer clothes, you might find one or two shops selling well-crafted model book-cases: too big for your average dolls house, but nevertheless covetable. Something … [Read More]
Breathless: can there be any escape from the cycle of violence?
Breathless (똥파리) is Yang Ik-june’s debut feature, in which he is also lead actor, and the film has deservedly won numerous awards. As the film opens, a man is beating up his girlfriend in the street. To the rescue comes Sang-hoon, played by Yang, who subdues the offender only to turn to the woman and … [Read More]
Insadong Scandal – a fun caper movie
Insadong Scandal is like Thomas Crown Affair, only slicker and with more twists. Highly recommended # and a suprise highlight of the LKFF2009, with Uhm Jung-hwa on sparkling, even sizzling, form. [Read More]
Remembering Murder: from “Memories of Murder” to “Mother”
Colette Balmain examines Bong Joon-ho’s Mother as a thematic evolution of Memories of Murder, shifting from a procedural to an intimate, arguably incestuous, study of devotion. By portraying the mother’s desperate quest for her son’s innocence against a corrupt, commodity-driven community, the film serves as a searing allegory for modern South Korea and its buried historical traumas. [Read More]
Aigoo! Yu Hyun-mok, master of Korean realism, is so depressing
When asked to look back at his career, Yu Hyun-mok, one of the four greatest directors from the golden age of Korean film, said that he was proud of two achievements: That he was always an innovator; That he never filmed a melodramatic love story. In the latter achievement lies the key to Yu, as … [Read More]
2009 Biennale footnotes
Three Korean-born artists had solo shows at the 2009 Venice Biennale: Haegue Yang in the national pavilion, and Woojung Chun and Atta Kim as collateral events. In LKL’s brief sojourn in Venice, it was not possible to get around all the Korean participants in various group shows, but for the record, they were: 1: Lim … [Read More]
Atta Kim’s melting moments
The Dorsoduro, Venice’s south-western quarter, has a completely different atmosphere from the hustle and bustle of the tourist areas around St Mark’s across the Grand Canal. It’s busy around the Peggy Guggenheim museum, but further west, beyond the Campo Santa Margherita, the crowds thin out. Here, alongside a narrow waterway on the Fondamenta del Soccorso … [Read More]
Fan Death in Venice – the Korean Pavilion at the Biennale
In a collection of National Pavilions which includes a big aluminium cage (France), some unfinished pine kitchen furniture (Germany) and a reconstruction of a celebrity gay swimming pool death (Nordic countries) the Korean pavilion at the Venice Biennale is in good company in making you scratch your head a little bit. What is one to … [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival 2009
The schedule is up on the Barbican website, and it’s a great range of the latest hits together with a retrospective of one of the classic directors. Text from the Barbican website, where you can also buy tickets: Thursday 5 Nov, 7pm: Park Chan-wook: Thirst, with introduction by the director. I think this is the … [Read More]
Saharial reviews Thirst
Being a big fan of Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy, I was definitely excited and keen to see Thirst (박쥐; Bakjwi) his newest release that won the Jury prize at Cannes this year. The story is of Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho), a priest who willingly undergoes a medical experiment to help find a cure for a virus. … [Read More]
Park Chan-wook: uncut (almost)
Following a screening of Thirst, director Park Chan-wook discussed the film’s decade-long genesis, its dark humour, Catholic imagery and fascination with moral transformation. Insightful and often hilarious, the Q&A offers a glimpse into the personal ideas and influences behind one of his most complex works. [Read More]
Cute kisses and extreme marriages – different perspectives on Park Chan-wook
After Monday’s focus on Thirst, Tuesday’s Mr Vengeance screening, together with a generous hour of Q&A with Director Park, offered the opportunity to focus on his earlier work. In fact, the first question at the Q&A asked about Park’s very first films (pre JSA). Did Park have any tips or lessons learned for a rookie … [Read More]
Lead us not into temptation – Q&A with Park Chan-wook at UK “Thirst” premiere
Appropriately enough, Director Park cast a sombre red shadow on the screen as he walked onto the stage to answer questions following the London premiere of Thirst. The film delivered all the blood you have come to expect from a Park Chan-wook movie, this time with some justification, given the vampire theme. But as always … [Read More]
Korean Connections at the 53rd BFI London Film Festival
Colin Bartlett has overcome the shortcomings of the London Film Festival website search engine by diligently reading the 100 page festival brochure for films with Korean connections. Here are the results of his labours. First, the two main films we already know about: Hong Sang-soo’s Like you know it all (18, 19 Oct) www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/433 Bong … [Read More]
KoreaDesign at Earl’s Court
It was not so long ago that Korea was known as a country which was highly competent at manufacturing goods which ticked all the boxes in terms of functionality and cost, but lacked the wow factor in terms of design. In recent years, Korea has been catching up with the design innovators, with consumer electronics … [Read More]