As magazines start publishing their Best of 2022 lists, we are reminded of Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave – which I think would top many people’s list of top Korean films of the year, and is #3 in the BFI’s list of films from all countries. It’s slightly ironic that BFI support their selection of … [Read More]
Director: Park Chan-wook
Selected publications
- Anthology: Transgression in Korea: Beyond Resistance and Control ed Juhn Y. Ahn, University of Michigan Press 2018
Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave – theatrical release
What happens when an object of suspicion becomes a case of obsession? Winner of Cannes Best Director in 2022, Park Chan-wook (OLDBOY, THE HANDMAIDEN) returns with a seductive romantic thriller that takes his renowned stylistic flair to dizzying new heights. When detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) arrives at a murder scene, he begins to suspect the … [Read More]
Korean interest at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival
Details of the five Korean movies and one Korean American movie in this year’s London Film Festival follow. For completeness, and not listed below, there’s a zainichi Korean character in Kôji Fukada’s movie Love Life. Decision to Leave (헤어질 결심) South Korea 2022, 138min Director-Producer: Park Chan-wook Screenwriters: Chung Seo-Kyung, Park Chan-wook Cast: Tang Wei, Park Hae-il … [Read More]
And in other Apple news…
With all the excitement about the launch of the adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko on Apple TV, and Apple’s Oscar win, something that might once have been big news – the appearance of a free-to-view Park Chan-wook short film on YouTube – has not really had much airtime. Back in 2011, brothers Park Chan-wook … [Read More]
The Top 5 Gothic KPOP Music Videos
Dr Colette Balmain applies her specialism in Gothic Cinema to the world of KPOP – perfect for the Halloween season… ‘Gothic forces its readers, viewers, and listeners to identify the ghosts that haunt them…’ (Isabella van Elferan, 2012, Gothic Music, p. 15). 1. SHINee “Married to the Music” (2015) “Married to the Music” doesn’t sound … [Read More]
Korean films at the 2018 BFI London Film Fest
An exciting selection of Korean movies is lined up for the BFI London Film Festival, of which the highlight is undoubtedly Burning. Finally: Lee Chang-dong will be in town! All details below are from the BFI LFF website. Become a member and get access to tickets from 6 September, a week earlier than general release. … [Read More]
Handmaiden nominated for foreign language BAFTA
It’s up against four others including Paul Verhoeven’s Elle, but Park Chan-wook’s Handmaiden has made the shortlist announced yesterday for best feature film not in the English language. The shortlist was determined by an “opt-in chapter” of BAFTA voting members. The winners will be announced on 18 February. Films are only eligible to be entered into … [Read More]
Park Chan-wook talks about Handmaiden, octopuses and more
I’ve now lost count of the number of times that Park Chan-wook has come to London. But it’s always nice to see him, especially when there’s his latest film to enjoy as part of a retrospective of his work at the London East Asia Film Festival. We got to see the amazing Handmaiden at the BFI … [Read More]
Brief review: Park Chan-wook’s Handmaiden
I’ll leave others to do the detailed review of Park Chan-wook’s Handmaiden (아가씨), which screened at the London Film Festival this week and which will return later in the month at the London East Asia Film Festival. Suffice it to say that it’s gorgeous-looking, both in terms of costume and interiors, great story-telling and totally … [Read More]
Event news: Park Chan-wook retrospective @LEAFF 2016
The London East Asia Film Festival, in its first full outing (20-30 October), hosts a Park Chan-wook retrospective, including a screening of his 2016 movie Handmaiden. The director will be present for that screening, and to introduce a remastering of his Lady Vengeance. It’s nice that a few of his shorts will be screened as … [Read More]
Festival film review: Bitter, Sweet, Seoul
Bitter, Sweet, Seoul is an ambitious crowd-sourced project in which people from around the world were invited by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to submit videos which would be made into feature length film. Directors (and brothers) Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyong (collectively PARKing CHANce) were commissioned to organise the submissions, attracted to the project by … [Read More]
Cho Young-wuk on waltzes, playgrounds and working with Park Chan-wook
So much has changed over the past few years. Nearly 10 years ago Asia House organised the London premiere screening of Lady Vengeance including a Q&A with the director, Park Chan-wook. It was hard not to squirm in embarrassment at the shallowness of some of the questions from the audience, and the moderator could have … [Read More]
Lady Vengeance continues the Choi Min-sik season at the KCC
Is it wrong like Lady Vengeance? I have to admit it’s one of my guilty pleasures. I sense in Lady V a slightly cocky director consciously aiming his work at an international audience for the first time, after the success of Oldboy. After all, Koreans don’t need to have it explained that prisoners might want … [Read More]
Joint Security Area screens at the Terracotta Film Club
If you haven’t yet managed to see the film that launched Park Chan-wook’s career, try this Wednesday at the Prince Charles Cinema (6:45pm on 31 July), courtesy of the Terracotta Film Club. JSA: JOINT SECURITY AREA: A tense thriller where an incident one night jeopardises the delicately balanced North and South Korean ceasefire agreement. Set … [Read More]
Oldboy screens at the KCC
Well, you can’t have a Choi Min-sik season without a screening of possibly the best-known film to have come out of Korea this century. Oldboy Director: Park Chan-wook Running Time: 120min Screening Date: 7pm, 25 July 2013 Synopsis: Oh Dae-su is an average businessman, but after celebrating his daughter’s birthday he finds himself kidnapped and … [Read More]
Stoker fails to impress FT
Oh dear. The FT really doesn’t like Park Chan-wook’s Stoker. “Stoker aims for enigmatic but bulleyes incoherent instead,” says Raphael Abraham, reviewing the DVD release in the Weekend edition on 6 July 2013. “Park Chan-wook constructs every shot with maximum flourish while plotlines appear fitfully and then die from neglect,” he adds, concluding that “after … [Read More]