Ransomed is a movie set in Beirut 1986, during the Lebanese civil war. A Korean diplomat is taken hostage without a trace. Two years later, a young diplomat, Min-jun, receives a phone call proving that the hostage is still alive. The movie follows the story of a South Korean diplomat who receives a coded message … [Read More]
Director: Kim Sung-hoon
Why I’m beginning to warm to Netflix
After a rocky start with Netflix, I’m now coming round to it. I started subscribing to the online service in order to watch Okja, the Netflix-only feature film by director Bong Joon-ho. Although that particular experience was a big disappointment, I continued the subscription in case I was tempted by any of the other movies … [Read More]
Korean films in LEAFF’s Competition, Official Selection and Stories of Women sections
The 2016 London East Asia Film Festival has a number of strands. We’ve already posted details of the movies screening in the Park Chan-wook retrospective and the Jeonju International Film Festival Focus. So here are the Korean movies featuring in the other strands, the broader East Asian cinema sections, listed in order of screening at … [Read More]
Film review: Tunnel – will it be a hit outside Korea?
Tunnel (dir: Kim Sung-hoon, whose Hard Day put him on the map) has been topping the Korean box office since it was released less than four weeks ago, and amazingly now has a one-week release in the UK, until 8 September. What has contributed to its popularity in Korea? And could it attain the same … [Read More]
Film news: Tunnel gets a lightning-quick UK release
So unusual that a movie that was topping the Korean box office less than a month ago (and still is) gets a theatrical release in the UK. Tunnel (터널) Director: Kim Seong-Hun, 2016, 127 minutes Cast: Ha Jung-Woo, Doona Bae, Oh Dal-Su Based on the novel “Tunnel” by So Jae-Won (2013) Jung-soo, the manager of … [Read More]
Event news: A Hard Day screens at the KCC
The KCCUK’s second screening of the year is A Hard Day. You’ll come out feeling exhausted, but it’s a great ride. We loved it. A Hard Day (끝까지 간다) Dir Kim Seong-hun, 2013, 111 mins 11 February, 2016 at 7pm, KCCUK Registration required via the KCC website On the way back from his mother’s funeral, … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 1: Arrivals — an evening in Hongdae
Myeongdong, Seoul, 29 May. One flight is much like the next, the only differences being the food and in-flight entertainment. Asiana did a very acceptable bibimbap on the way out and, more ambitiously, a ssambap on the way back. Their tinned makgeolli, which I sampled on the return leg, is not to be recommended. Maybe … [Read More]
Kim Seong-hun interview – from relationship comedy to A Hard Day: “after ten years, the mountain changes”
Director Kim Seong-hun discusses his path from assistant director to filmmaker, the genre shift leading to A Hard Day, and how time, failure, and global cinema shaped his approach. He reflects on narrative structure, character-driven storytelling, restrained depiction of sex and violence, and challenging perceptions of Korean cinema. [Read More]
Korean films at the 2014 BFI London Film Festival
There’s rather a good haul of Korean movies at the BFI London Film Festival this year, including a Hong Sang-soo which looks a little different from the usual, a treat for fans of the remarkable Bae Doona, a charming animation and a “tense, kinetic and darkly funny neo-noir”. Tickets go on sale on 18 September. … [Read More]