The coverage at the NY Times in the past few days has been something else. A piece on Daniel Gordon’s third film on the DPRK, Crossing the Line (Image above, from VeryMuchSo Productions), which premiered at PIFF recently. I hope it comes to the UK soon. I’ve just emailed Nick Bonner to find out. Some … [Read More]
On Screen: Film and TV (page 95)
***STOP PRESS*** King and the Clown cancelled
From the London Film Festival Website. Thanks to Jason Bechervaise for letting me know. We are very sorry to announce the cancellation of The King and the Clown and The Ugly Swans. We have arranged additional replacement screenings of Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (19 Oct), Fresh Air (19 Oct) and The Go Master (21 … [Read More]
The versatile Uhm Jung-hwa (엄정화)
A rather silly item in the Chosun Ilbo (entitled Singer’s Hotpants Inflame Cyberspace) has alerted me to an actress that I hadn’t really focused on before. She’s been in films that I’ve seen and vaguely registered as quite interesting, or films that I’ve missed and am eager to see. I haven’t heard her sing, and … [Read More]
Careful not to try earning a little cash on the side
The Marmot has picked up a little news item from the Korean press: a couple of foreigners were caught out earning a little but of cash by getting bit-parts in Bong Joon-ho’s The Host, and they now face deportation. One of them was only in Korea on a 90 day tourist visa. Good news for … [Read More]
North Korean animation
Radio 4’s weekly travel programme, Excess Baggage, had a slot on North Korea on Saturday morning (7 Oct). It was an interview with Guy Delisle, a French animator. Here’s the blurb on the programme from the BBC website North Korea is one of the most secretive countries in the world, with few visitors, especially westerners. … [Read More]
K-film blockbuster season on Film 4
I happened to channel-surf over to Film 4 as I switched off the TV last night, to discover they were midway through a Lady Vengeance screening. Checking on their website, the schedule is as follows: Lady Vengeance. Last night, 22:50 Oldboy tonight 23:05 Tale of Two Sisters Saturday 7th 22:45 R-Point Sunday 8th 23:35 Taegugki … [Read More]
Festival film review: Pororo to the Cookie Castle
I thought I ought to see at least one Korean animation as part of the recent film festival, so I took pot luck with the one that best fitted my Saturday schedule and ended up watching Pororo to the Cookie Castle. In the foyer of the Odeon Covent Garden was a 4-foot high penguin, beside … [Read More]
BBC news video on recent London Korean Film Festival
A quick interview with Kwak Kyung-taek and Roger Clark, and a quick preview of King and the Clown, to be featured at the BFI London Film Festival. The presenter mentions that there are two other Korean films at the BFI festival. I can only find the one short film. If anyone can spot the other … [Read More]
Get your preview ticket for the Oscars now
The booking lines open today for the BFI London Film Festival. If you want to see Korea’s entry for the foreign language Oscars, the King and the Clown, book soon. I always find these film festivals a bit crazy. All those films during working hours when people with jobs can’t go to see them, and … [Read More]
Kwak Kyung-taek’s next film a lower-budget romance
At last night’s Q&A following a packed showing of Typhoon (queue above), director Kwak Kyung-taek confirmed that his next film will have a slightly smaller budget than his last, which had disappointing box office result despite its large budget. It will be a romance, and Kwak is talking to Lee Jung-jae, the hero of Typhoon, … [Read More]
A surprise Korean film festival (the KCC’s first)
The cinema’s booked, the distributors have agreed to release their valuable prints, and now, with precision-honed timing and a week to go, the well-oiled marketing machine swings into action. The BAKS and PACSF lists are peppered, other private mailing lists barraged, but whether it makes the Time Out copy deadline, who knows. And so it … [Read More]
Slim pickings at the 50th BFI London Film Festival
This year’s programme has just been published. I’ve searched the website (and the brochure which thudded onto my doormat this morning), but I can’t find much of interest to K-film fans. On the plus side, there’s the King and the Clown (review on Darcy’s site here). Good news. (Oct 19 @Odeon West End). This film … [Read More]
How like “Swiri” is “The Way Home”?
That’s the intriguing question posed by Andrew Jackson’s talk at the Sheffield BAKS conference last week. It was a question prompted by a statement by Ahn Sang-gun, a senior figure in KOTRA, the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency, and reported in the Donga Ilbo on 5 April 2003: that The Way Home and Swiri are … [Read More]
Korean film at the Firecracker Showcase
This year’s Firecracker Showcase has four Korean films: Another chance to see Bong Joon-ho’s record-breaker The Host (Friday 22 September, 9:00pm, Renoir) Jang Jin’s fun assassin flick Guns & Talks (Monday 18 September, 4:00pm, Curzon Soho | Friday 22 September, 6:45pm, Renoir) Kim Ki-duk’s The Bow (Wednesday 20 September, 9:15pm, Curzon Mayfair) and Lee Chang-dong’s … [Read More]
Kim Ki-duk’s apology
The Chosun Ilbo has a good item on Kim’s apology to Korean cinema-goers. Visit the Chosun for the background and related links. The story is picked up in the koreanfilm.org forum, and a lively thread is ensuing. The consensus seems to be that if Kim wants Koreans to go to his movies, he should make … [Read More]
Is The Host anti-American (spoilers)?
The packed performance of The Host at Frightfest on Monday went down well. We were told by the organisers that we were watching the longest possible print. Whether that means there are cuts in other theatrical versions I don’t know. One of the things about The Host is that it’s generated a lot of noise … [Read More]