Curzon Home Cinemas are reviving Bong Joon-ho’s first two features – Barking Dogs Never Bite and Memories of Murder – for home viewing. The latter will also be getting a screening at the Curzon Bloomsbury in a new 4K restoration. It may have a wider release, but at the time of writing there’s only one […]
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Selected publications
- Nam Lee: Films of Bong Joon Ho, Rutgers University Press 2020
Bong Joon-ho’s and Tilda Swinton’s Q+A after Snowpiercer
After the success of Parasite, BFI held the first major UK public screening of Snowpiercer on 1 March. Here is the BFI’s video of the Q+A that followed the screening.
Parasite: a non-review
What can one say about a movie that has won Best Picture at Cannes and the Oscars, that has won best screenplay at the Oscars and BAFTAs, best edited drama feature at the Eddies, and best ensemble performance at the Screen Actors Guild? A movie that has been seen more widely in this country, and […]
Snowpiercer screening w/ Bong Joon-ho + Tilda Swinton Q+A
Tickets go on sale today (for BFI members) for a rare screening of Snowpiercer. Non-members can buy from tomorrow. Snowpiercer Dir Bong Joon-ho (2013, 126min) With Tilda Swinton, Chris Evans, Song Kang Ho, Ed Harris, John Hurt + Q&A with director Bong Joon-ho and Tilda Swinton Sunday 1 March 2020, 7:20pm NFT Screen 1 | […]
Bong Joon-ho’s BAFTA talk has now been uploaded
Bong Joon-ho’s BAFTA lecture at the Curzon Mayfair on 12 December 2019 has now been uploaded to the BAFTA Guru Youtube channel. The talk was part of a lecture series that “exists to celebrate screenwriters’ authorial contribution to film and gives esteemed writers a platform to share highlights and insights from their careers with an […]
Bong Joon-ho makes Oscars history
We almost feared that he had jinxed himself with that comment about the Academy Awards being “very local”. The comment, made in an interview with Vulture in October 2019, was made in the context that it’s “not a big deal” that a Korean movie had yet to be nominated for an Oscar (the nominations for […]
A review of the Korean cultural year 2019
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 […]
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 […]
CJ Entertainment celebrates its 20th birthday with a special strand at LKFF 2015
CJ Entertainment has been associated with some of the biggest and best films since the turn of the millennium. 20 years old this year, it is celebrating its birthday with a big splash at the 10th London Korean Film Festival organised by the KCCUK.1 Five screenings at this year’s festival are of CJ productions: Miss […]
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, […]