The SOAS spring seminar series kicks off this Friday, 16 January, with a talk by Nick Bonner, founder of Koryo Tours and collaborator with Daniel Gordon on three fascinating documentaries on North Korea, showing a very different side from the picture we see from reading the newspapers. The seminar will take place at 5pm in … [Read More]
On Screen: Film and TV (page 78)
Hansel and Gretel opens in London
Hansel and Gretel screens at the ICA from 16 January, and moves to the Prince Charles on 30 January, before getting a selected nationwide release. It made an appearance at the BFI London Film Festival 2008, so if you missed it then, now’s your chance to see it. Following a car crash on a country … [Read More]
Treeless Mountain (나무없는 산, 2008) review: childhood, loss and resilience at eye level
A quietly gripping, sometimes painfully heart-breaking, and ultimately life affirming drama, Treeless Mountain provides an unmissable view of the world of the main characters, from three feet off the ground. [Read More]
Untold Scandal (스캔들 – 조선 남녀 상열지사, 2003) review: pleasure, power, and desire in the Joseon dynasty
Untold Scandal is easily the most sensual and sumptuous of all of the adaptations of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. A tour-de-force from beginning to end, Untold Scandal is a film which everyone should be told about. [Read More]
The Uprising (이재수의 난, 1999) review: when history drowns in endless exposition
An endless pre-occupation with forced exposition combined with a lack of character depth and, resultantly, next to no character empathy whatsoever, all adds up to The Uprising being dull from start to finish. Not only a waste of the talents of Shim Eun-ha and Lee Jung-jae but, ultimately, also rather a waste of viewers’ time… [Read More]
Inshalla – Detente in the Desert
It’s Lee Young-ae’s first film, released at the very beginning of 1997. It’s pretty difficult to get hold of. Unavailable on Region 3 DVD, you might be able to find a cheap Hong Kong version of the film from Panorama. Currently, YesAsia only lists it on VCD. Filmed mainly in Morocco, there’s plenty of exotic … [Read More]
Watching Korea with the British Museum
Peter Corbishley reviews the recent Korean Film double bill On Saturday 6th November 2008, Margaret O’Brien of The British Museum and Jeon Hye-Jung of the Korean Cultural Centre put on a somewhat sparsely attended family programme of Korean films. Margaret O’Brien, who has been Head of Lifelong Learning at the Museum since 2000, presented the … [Read More]
Korean films in Times 2008 chamber of horrors
Two years after its Korean release, Won Shin-yeon’s A Bloody Aria received a limited theatrical release in the UK. It came to the Institute for Contemporary Arts in October, and the ICA will be releasing it on Region 2 DVD in February next year. Shot in grimy HD video with just a handful of cast … [Read More]
Mini review: Christmas in August
Christmas in August is the classic Korean Wave melodrama starring two of the biggest stars of the day. Or maybe, coming as it did in 1998, you could say it’s just pre-Korean Wave. Han Suk-gyu plays the photographic shop owner who has an incurable disease – that stock plot item in Korean weepies; Shim Eun-ha … [Read More]
K-film double bill at the British Museum
A Korean film double bill Saturday 6 December, 13.00 BP Lecture Theatre £5, concessions £3 Marathon Director: Chung Yoon-chul Starring: Cho Seung-woo South Korea, 2004, 117 minutes The publicity says: “A touching tale of a mother who encourages her autistic son to pursue his passion for running.” LKL says: “A cut above your average feel-good … [Read More]
Barking Dogs screens at the KCC
The Korean Cultural Centre completes its retrospective of Bong Joon-ho’s works this month with his first feature, the entertaining Barking Dogs Never Bite (플란다스의 개) (2000), starring Lee Seong-jae and Bae Doo-na. As with Bong’s subsequent films, there’s plenty of humour amid the drama, and this one is well worth checking out, particularly for the … [Read More]
May 18 – surprise hit of the LKFF
A modern historical drama about Korea’s Tiananmen Square incident might not sound like the most gripping of scenarios for a film, but May 18 certainly draws you in as a cinematic experience. One member of the audience had already seen the film twice on the internet, but came along to see it on the big … [Read More]
Aimless bullet, scary housemaid and Korea’s modern history
Two classic films from Korean cinema’s golden age provided a fascinating compare-and-contrast exercise last Monday night at the Barbican. Encouragingly, the films were better attended than the comparable double-bill last year (Madame Freedom and My Mother and her Guest). Maybe that reflects the growing literacy of UK audiences when it comes to Korean film. Or … [Read More]
The Good, The Bad, The Weird (좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈, 2008) review: exhilarating action and genre-blending fun
The Good, The Bad, The Weird revels in kinetic set-pieces, black humour and playful genre parody, delivering relentless momentum and crowd-pleasing thrills. OK, the plot isn’t multi-layered, there’s no real “good will triumph over evil” but if that’s what you’re looking for you’re missing the point. [Read More]
Good, bad or weird? A look at Kim Jee-woon’s classic western
Now the festival is over, perhaps it’s time to set down some thoughts on the lead film, Kim Ji-woon’s Manchurian western. This was one of the most hotly anticipated films in recent years, on a par with Lady Vengeance and Secret Sunshine. Kim Ji-woon has built up an enviable track record with his past films. … [Read More]
Kim Ji-woon in London: bigger, faster
Following a screening of The Good, the Bad and the Weird, director Kim Ji-woon discussed influences, genre experimentation and working with stars in a lively Q&A chaired by Tony Rayns. Entertaining and informative, the session offered valuable insight into Kim’s creative process and Korean cinema’s growing UK audience. [Read More]