A review of some of the highlights and trends in the Korean cultural year, primarily in London but also with half an eye to anything we might have seen elsewhere in the UK. The review is a personal one, inevitably skewed towards the events we managed to get to. Introduction This time last year I […]
Directors: Bong Joon-ho
Parasite preview screenings + Bong Jong-ho’s BAFTA lecture at the Curzon Mayfair
Thanks to Andrew Heskins at Easternkicks for passing on the news. Update: In addition to the BAFTA lecture noted below, preview screenings are taking place in Curzon Mayfair and Richmond, with guest appearances from the director and / or Song Kang-ho, 9 – 12 December. Some tickets still left on the Curzon website. There’s also […]
Boat Screening of The Host by Bong Joon-ho
Totally Thames this year is partnering with two organisations with Korean connections to provide some Korean cultural content for the river festival. Firstly, there’s Korean British Cultural Exchange, who organise the Kingston Korean Harvest Festival, who are bringing a community dance project to Kingston’s market square and to the Scoop outside City Hall on 14 […]
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite wins Palme d’Or
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (기생충) is the first Korean film to take the Palme d’Or – the top prize – at the Cannes Film Festival. The awards were announced last night, 25 May. Announcing the 2019 CST Artist-Technician Prize, the Jury also noted Lee Ha-jun’s outstanding work as Artistic Director on the movie. According to Arirang […]
A look back at some of the films of 2017
A review of some of the films that screened in London during the 2017 – another busy year. For me the undoubted highlight of the London film year was the Bae Chang-ho retrospective at the London Korean Film Festival: a chance to see a couple of his movies – including the classic Whale Hunting (1984) – […]
Film review: Okja — It’s really rather disappointing
“Our super-pigs will not only be big and beautiful; they will also leave a minimal footprint on the environment, consume less feed, and produce less [sic] excretions.” Don’t you just hate it when you’re really looking forward to a movie, really hoping and expecting to enjoy it, and it turns out to be a big […]
Okja to screen in London cinema for 2 days
So the rumours were true. Okja will be screened at a Curzon cinema, but unless you are a night owl or don’t have a daytime job you will have to take out a Netflix subscription and watch it on your TV. Okja Director: Bong Joon Ho Length: 131 min Cast: Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, An Seo […]
Korean Women on screen, between the covers
As many readers might know, I recently gave a talk at the British Korean Women’s Society on a pretty risky topic: I was asked to give a Western male’s perspective on Korean women. I decided to play it relatively safe, and discuss the topic through the lens of Korean novels, films and artworks that are accessible […]
Mother to screen at the KCC
The 74th evening screening at the KCC this Thursday, 14 July, is Bong Joon-ho’s 2009 hit Mother: Time and date: 7pm, Thursday 14th July Film Title: Mother Director: Bong Joon-ho Cast: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin Genre:Thriller Certificate: 15 (UK) Running Time: 128 mins Venue: The Korean Cultural Centre UK Ground Floor, Grand Buildings 1-3 Strand, […]
Korean directors on the panels at Cannes 2011
BBC News – Bong Joon-ho to head Cannes debut filmmaker panel (Camera d’Or) http://bbc.in/dMrGOw # while Lee Chang-Dong is on the panel for critics’ week
Kim Hye-ja voted Best Actress
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association votes Kim Hye-ja Best Actress 2010 – in a poll which includes Hollywood and English language films. Mother is voted the #2 foreign film http://bit.ly/ewCEQx #
Wendy Ide on Mother
“It's overlong and the pacing suffers from the unwieldy run time”. Wendy Ide on Mother (Now screening at Picturehouse and ICA). I'm trying to think of a Korean film she actually likes #
LKL’s top 10 K-films of the noughties
Mark Russell led the way with his fascinating list of films of the decade – in which the biggest shock was that there was no Park Chan-wook. GI Korea also has a list, which redresses the balance somewhat. So here is mine. Over the years I’ve been reasonably diligent in giving marks out of 10 […]
Mother reveals Bong’s perversity
LKL reports from the screening of Mother at the Bong Joon-ho retrospective at the British Film Institute on 14 November, with Q&A chaired by Tony Rayns. In a world obsessed with celebrity, youth and beauty, only a director of the stature of Bong Joon-ho could have got away with it. The big name star, Won […]
Remembering Murder: from “Memories of Murder” to “Mother”
Colette Balmain reviews Bong Joon-ho’s latest hit, and finds themes which echo his 2003 success Bong Joon-ho’s Mother, the Korean Film Council’s submission to the 2010 Oscars – 82nd Annual Academy Awards – under the category “Best Foreign Language Film”, has much in common with his 2003 Memories of Murder: a film based upon the […]
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. (Note: since 2009 the BFI have reorganised their site and none of the links provided below now work) First, the two […]
Quentin Tarantino’s K-film watchlist
Three Korean films are among Quentin Tarantino's top 20. Two by Bang Joon-ho, and not the Park Chan-wook you might expect: #. The full list: Battle Royale | Anything Else | Audition | Tsui Hark’s The Blade | Boogie Nights | Dazed & Confused | Dogville | Fight Club | Fridays | The Host | […]