Oooh oooh oooh my favourite film of 2012, and in a shortlist for my film of the decade is being screened again. I thought it would never find its way back into a London theatre and that I’d never have the pleasure of seeing it again, because it’s not the sort of movie that they’re … [Read More]
Director: Lee Jeong-hyang
“A Reason to Live” and “Pain”: Two lame films to avoid
What better time to catch up on films you might not otherwise see than a long-haul flight from Seoul to London? Of the ten Korean films available on Asiana flight OZ 521 last week: I’d already seen and enjoyed two (War of the Arrows and Leafie) Two were feelgood sporting movies – not my usual … [Read More]
The Way Home screens at the KCC
The KCC’s theme for its two film screenings in May is the family. The first of the films, The Way Home (집으로…) was the surprise low-budget hit of 2002. This is director Lee Jeong-hyang’s second film, her first being the gentle rom-com Art Museum by the Zoo, whose draw was the star actress Shim Eun-ha. … [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]
The first London Korean Festival, 2003
I recently discovered the WayBack Machine – the internet archive – which has enabled a certain amount of research into some of the Korean cultural activities in London prior to the establishment of LKL. In particular, I managed to find some archived pages from the website of the Korean Anglican Community Centre, the organisation that … [Read More]