The Spring 2023 season of screenings at the KCC is a collaboration with the Korean Film Archive that brings a series of films, from the 1950s to this century, that feature South Korea’s capital as a setting. The full programme note setting the context for the season as a whole can be found on the … [Read More]
Director: Lee Yoon-ki
Festival film review: This Charming Girl
Lee Yoon-ki (이윤기) This Charming Girl (여자, 정혜, 2004, 99 mins). Review by Robert Cottingham. You know how people talk about reality TV, even though there is nothing ‘real’ about it? Well, if you wanted to see actual reality, the sheer day-to-day mundane-ness of the average person’s life, then this film is the closest you … [Read More]
A quiet look at the LKFF’s 2018 programme
The London Korean Film Festival returns for its 13th edition next month with a slightly quieter tone than in some previous years. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s as if the organisers are saying that, as the festival enters its teenage years, the audience is becoming grown-up enough not to require a diet of … [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival 2018: press release and detailed schedule
The 2018 London Korean Film Festival programme was announced at last night’s final teaser screening. The press release is set out below, and at the bottom of the page is the detailed schedule: The 13th London Korean Film Festival London: 1 – 14 November 2018 UK tour: 15 – 25 November 2018 LONDON, 17 September … [Read More]
One Day (어느날, 2017) review: a nuanced and affecting study of grief and abandonment
With One Day, director Lee Yoon-ki uses his almost trademark ability of showing characters’ innermost thoughts and emotions within outwardly simple stories to create an intelligent, nuanced and genuinely affecting tearjerker that deftly discusses abandonment, both perceived and actual. Understated performances and minimal special effects complement this classic melodrama. [Read More]
Director Lee Yoon-ki interview: intimate storytelling
Lee Yoon-ki discusses his unconventional path into filmmaking, his focus on quiet, time-compressed stories of relationships, and adapting short fiction. He explains his actor-centred working methods, restrained use of music, influences from American indie cinema, funding challenges for non-commercial films, and his view of cinema as a universal language. [Read More]
Come Rain Come Shine: beautifully restrained or just a little bit wet?
There is a narrow dividing line between a movie which paints a delicate, nuanced portrait of characters who have subtle and restrained emotions, and a movie in which you want to just punch everyone in the face for being so wet. Come Rain, Come Shine is a movie which is on that dividing line, perhaps … [Read More]
Come Rain Come Shine + director Q&A at the Apollo Piccadilly
Rounding off Lee Yoon-ki month this Thursday is his most recent film: Come Rain, Come Shine (사랑한다, 사랑하지 않는다, 2011) Director: Lee Yoon-ki Running Time: 105 min Screening Date: 6.30pm August 30, 2012 Theatre: Apollo Cinema Piccadilly LEE Yoon-Ki is a Director who has established a name for himself in both domestic and international markets … [Read More]
Lee Yoon-ki’s My Dear Enemy screens at the KCC
There are still seats available for Lee Yoon-ki’s My Dear Enemy (2008) this evening, which comes with LKL’s recommendation. And that’s not just because Cannes best actress winner Jeon Do-yeon is in it. My Dear Enemy (멋진 하루) Director: Lee Yoon-ki Running Time: 123 mins Screening Date: 7pm, 23 August, 2012 Theatre: Multi-Purpose Hall, KCCUK … [Read More]
Lee Yoon-ki’s Love Talk captures the drifting, rootless nature of an immigrant community
Lee Yoon-ki is a director who divides opinion. He is known for his delicate, nuanced character portraits which delight many an art-house enthusiast but which for those who like things to happen in their movies are a big turnoff. Love Talk will appeal to those who are in between. Love Talk (2006) is Lee’s second … [Read More]
Love Talk screens at the KCC
After all the hectic activity of the Olympic fortnight it’s time for something more restful. Lee Yoon-ki is a director that divides opinion, but on balance his delicate and restrained portraits have more admirers than detractors, as was evidenced by the packed house last week for This Charming Girl. Those who like something to happen … [Read More]
Lee Yoon-ki’s “Come Rain, Come Shine” at the Pan Asian Film Festival
Later this year Lee Yoon-ki will be one of the KCCUK’s featured directors. Lee is known for his quiet, slow-burn dramas since his debut This Charming Girl in 2004. Come Rain Come Shine (사랑한다, 사랑하지 않는다) is his latest, starring Hyun Bin (in one of his last roles before his national service) and Lim Soo-jung … [Read More]
One year, 12 directors, 59 films, 12 Q&As. What could be better?
The KCC have announced their lineup for their much anticipated “Year of the Twelve Directors” – a season unimaginable a few years ago. A very simple concept: four films by the same director, each month giving a mini-retrospective, followed by a Q&A with the director. And a very well-balanced programme it is, featuring veteran directors … [Read More]
My Dear Enemy (멋진 하루, 2008) review: a subtle character study straddling the line between drama and rom-com
Initially appearing to be a quirky “road movie”, My Dear Enemy ultimately proves itself to be an uplifting and multi-layered character study. Contrasting material poverty with spiritual richness, and with subtle direction and believable chemistry between lead actors, this is an engaging and gently gripping film from beginning to end [Read More]
This Charming Girl (여자, 정혜, 2004) review: isolation, memory and the need for connection
This Charming Girl peels away the layers of an ordinary, everyday woman to reveal a character much more interesting and complex than she appears on the surface. An incredible film with astounding realism, This Charming Girl deftly shows that everyone has a story worth telling. [Read More]
The 2005 London Korean Film Festival programme
Here is the programme of films that screened in the 2005 London Korean Film Festival. Although this post’s datestamp is May 2005 so that it appears in the appropriate month of this site’s calendar archive, it is actually being uploaded in November 2015 (with subsequent edits), and is being posted for archival purposes. It’s nice … [Read More]