A wide variety of genres was presented to the London audience this year, from the return of the romantic melodrama (Be With You) to big budget fantasy (Along with the Gods). We also saw #MeToo beginning to have an impact, not just in the themes of movies such as Land of Seonghye and Testimony but … [Read More]
Event tag: LKFF 2018
Interviews, reviews and articles relating to screenings at the 2018 London Korean Film Festival.
Festival Film Review: The Return
I was as delighted as I was surprised when I saw that the London Korean Film Festival had selected The Return for its closing gala screening. The huge numbers of overseas adoptions from Korea is often a sidelined subject and understandably wouldn’t be a natural choice when showcasing Korean culture and arts. But the 2018 … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Microhabitat
Miso just about gets by, living in a cockroach-infested room, earning just enough to pay the rent by taking low-paid cleaning jobs. She has to budget carefully, and can just afford a couple of her little indulgences: smoking cigarettes (preferably foreign brands), and frequenting whisky bars for a drop of single malt on the way … [Read More]
Festival mini movie review: Love+Sling
A sporting rom-com involving a love triangle whose vertices are a well-meaning but over controlling single father (Yoo Hae-jin, 1987); his dutiful son (Kim Min-jae) who is obliging his father by training hard in the skill of greco-Roman wrestling; and the pretty girl next door (Lee Sung-kyung), who inconveniently and inexplicably fancies the father rather … [Read More]
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]
Park Ki-yong interview: implication, independence and time in Korean cinema
The veteran director discusses restrained portrayals of sexuality, lessons in economical filmmaking, the pressures facing independent Korean cinema, education and animation at KAFA, improvisation versus scripting, and how Old Love links personal memory with contemporary politics, generational reflection, and Korea’s recent historical moments. [Read More]
Lee Myung-se interview: love, action and creative freedom in filmmaking
Le Myung-se reflects on his 1990s love stories, the shift to action in Nowhere to Hide, and his dedication to creative autonomy. He discusses remakes, music choices, visual storytelling, and concerns over data-driven filmmaking, emphasizing the interplay of narrative, visuals, and emotional expression as central to his films. [Read More]
Kim Yang-hee and Yang Ik-june: a softer way of seeing
Director Kim Yang-hee and actor Yang Ik-june discuss The Poet and the Boy as a gentle portrayal of same-sex affection, shifting social attitudes toward homosexuality in Korea, and resisting fixed labels. They address casting risks, performance choices, poetry as emotional structure, and the role of film in reflecting gradual human-rights change. [Read More]
Jeon Go-woon interview: fragility, freedom and refusing norms
Director Jeon Go-woon discusses Microhabitat as a story about choosing personal values over stability. She explains Miso’s refusal of conventional comfort, the symbolism of ex-musicians and youth, male vulnerability, collaborative character-building with actors, and the realities of making independent films within tight economic and emotional constraints. [Read More]
Mini review round-up: the 2018 LKFF Teaser screenings
Sometimes I just don’t have the time to marshal any thoughts about a movie after seeing it. Daily life takes over any before I know it I’ve watched another movie and the memory of the previous one is dimming fast. But as I’ve been on holiday for a few days away from the daily grind, … [Read More]
The film festivals approach – as does the annual battle for our diaries
Last year I had a little rant about the hectic and competing schedules of the two overlapping film festivals of interest to the Korean film audience. The London Korean Film Festival has had a long history of packing so many films into their programme that it’s impossible to go to everything you want to see. … [Read More]
Seven Years of Night (7년의밤, 2018) review: guilt, inherited sin and uneasy revenge
As a hard-hitting, brutal revenge thriller balanced with emotion and pathos detailing guilt and regret, Seven Years of Night stands up well to scrutiny. However director Choo Chang-min’s decision to repeatedly leave supposedly supernatural elements open to question brings with it a feeling of missed opportunities. [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]
Another World We Are Making: a look at LKFF’s focus on Kim Dong-won
Almost inexplicably, when compared with previous documentary screenings, the KCC’s mini festival of Korean documentaries, spread over two weekends, was over-subscribed, with latecomers for one session needing to sit on the floor. The decision to break out the documentary strand from the main London Korean Film Festival has probably been vindicated, and the strategy of … [Read More]
Final LKFF Teaser: A Tiger in Winter
So glad we’re getting to see another Lee Kwang-guk movie in London. I really enjoyed the focus on his movies back in the 2015 festival. This final LKFF 2018 teaser screening gives the opportunity for the official launch of the 2018 festival programme. The main festival runs 1 – 14 November 2018. A Tiger in … [Read More]