Drawing on interviews and Q&As, this piece reflects on Im Kwon-taek’s vast career, from early genre films to Seopyeonje and beyond, examining tradition, literature, Buddhism, and his lifelong pursuit of cinematic perfection. [Read More]
Event tag: Year of the 12 Directors
Lee Joon-ik interview: clowns, kings and wounded souls
A group conversation with The King and the Clown director Lee Joon-ik on filmmaking without formal training, the role of history and humour in Korean cinema, artistic risk, and why healing human wounds lies at the heart of his work. [Read More]
Song Hae-sung: A Better Tomorrow – not worth the time
I have a huge admiration for Alua at Otherwhere and Colette at Oriental Nightmares for dedicating the time and energy to writing reviews of Song Hae-seong’s remake of the classic A Better Tomorrow. I only had the enthusiasm to stay for the first half hour (which I found confusing and uninteresting) before deciding my time … [Read More]
Im Soon-rye month – the Director Q&A is on 20 December
In a slight but understandable change from the normal schedule, December’s director Q&A is on the 3rd Thursday, 20th December, not the 4th Thursday – to catch you in London before you leave for the festive season. But there’s still a screening on the 27th for those who remain in London. I’ve had a soft … [Read More]
Im Kwon-taek and the wounds of the Korean War
The Im Kwon Taek retrospective has given us all a chance to catch up on some of the films of the master that we haven’t seen before, rounding out our picture of Korea’s national director. Im is probably best known nowadays for his films which highlight some of the unique aspects of Korea’s cultural heritage: … [Read More]
Im Kwon-taek interview: tradition, social norms, and a life in Korean cinema
Im Kwon-taek reflects on depicting women’s suffering, Confucian traditions, and communal rituals in Korean society. He discusses pansori and cultural transmission, artistic freedom, life experience as the basis of filmmaking, his long career of 101 films, and his belief that Korean cinema evolves alongside national history. [Read More]
Im Kwon-Taek’s Village in the Mist — affairs on an Anonymous Island
Han Su-ok, a young schoolteacher, arrives in an isolated mountain village to take up her first job in an elementary school. As she gets off the bus, the village initially seems deserted, like a ghost town, hemmed in by the high forbidding walls of the surrounding mountains like a prison. You wonder what sort of … [Read More]
The big London Im Kwon-taek retrospective – confirmed screening dates and times
There’s truly an over-indulgence in K-film over the next few weeks. In between the BFI London Film Festival which features no fewer than six Korean films, and the regular London Korean Film Festival at the beginning of November, we have an Im Kwon-taek retrospective, organised by the KCC in collaboration with the BFI and the … [Read More]
Jeon Kyu-hwan interview: marginal lives, independent filmmaking, creative survival
Director Jeon Kyu-hwan discusses realism and graphic content, his focus on marginalised lives, and the making of low-budget films outside Korea’s commercial system. He reflects on creative independence, financial precarity, narrative experimentation, the Town trilogy, and his belief that cinema must embrace diversity beyond standardised genres. [Read More]
Note the different venue for the 4th Jeon Kyu-hwan screening this month
The Jeon Kyu-hwan month rounds off with From Seoul to Varanasi, followed by director Q&A. Note that this screening is at Vue West End / Leicester Square, not the more usual Apollo Piccadilly. From Seoul to Varanasi (바라나시) Director: Jeon Kyu-hwan Cast: Dong-hwan Yoon, Shin Ye-an, Nigel D’Sa Running Time: 98 mins (Cert 18, South … [Read More]
Jeon Kyu-hwan’s Town Trilogy is complete with Dance Town, Thursday at the KCC
If you didn’t manage to catch Dance Town at the London Korean Film Festival last year, now’s your chance – as part of this month’s Jeon Kyu-hwan retrospective at the KCC: Dance Town (댄스 타운, 2010) 7pm, 20th Sept 2012 Director: Jeon Kyu-hwan Cast: Rha Mi-ran, Seong-tae Oh. Genre: Drama Certificate: 18 (South Korea) Nobody … [Read More]
Animal Town screens at the KCC
The second film in the KCC’s Jeon Kyu-hwan season this Thursday is Animal Town, the second of his ‘Town Trilogy’. Read a review of Mozart Town, last week’s screening, over on Eastern Kicks. Animal Town (애니멀 타운, 2009) 7pm, 13th Sept 2012, KCC Director: Jeon Kyu-hwan Cast: LEE Jun-hyeok, OH Seong-tae Genre: Drama Certificate: 18 … [Read More]
Mozart Town screens at the KCC
September’s director at the KCC is Jeon Kyu-hwan. Not a well-known director in this country, but I’m rather looking forward to these particular screenings. Mozart Town (모차르트 타운, 2008) 7pm, 6th Sept 2012 Director: Jeon Kyu-hwan Cast: Gbato Blaise, Yoo-rang Joo and Seong-tae Oh Genre: Drama Certificate: 18 (South Korea). Nobody under the age of … [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]