Ransomed is a movie set in Beirut 1986, during the Lebanese civil war. A Korean diplomat is taken hostage without a trace. Two years later, a young diplomat, Min-jun, receives a phone call proving that the hostage is still alive. The movie follows the story of a South Korean diplomat who receives a coded message … [Read More]
People: Ha Jung-woo
Korean Film Nights: Seoul on Screen
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]
The Closet (클로젯, 2020) review: shamanic horror meets human reality
The Closet blends supernatural horror with hi-tech shamanic ritual as a grieving father searches for his missing daughter. This wholly engaging, often genuinely creepy, horror deftly uses spiritualism in the fight of light against dark and is also a serious societal critique, the palpable poignancy of which easily raises its worthiness yet further. [Read More]
Movie review double bill: Along with the Gods 1 and 2
Somehow, I managed to miss last year’s fantasy blockbuster Along with the Gods. I didn’t spot that it got a brief UK release until it was too late, and the movie didn’t make to any of the UK festivals to my knowledge. I didn’t even read any reviews. But it registered in my brain as … [Read More]
Along with the Gods: Last 49 Days gets UK release
The London East Asia Film Festival presents a special screening of the biggest box office hit in Korea, Along With The Gods: The Last 49 Days as a UK premiere. The pre-fest screening will be presenting a double bill of Along With The Gods – Part 1 and 2. Along with the Gods: The Last … [Read More]
1987: When the Day Comes (1987, 2018) review: a vital chronicle of Korea’s path to democracy
1987: When the Day Comes is an exquisitely realised, multi-layered true-life depiction of life and activism in 80s Korea, and the fact that the events portrayed are far less spoken about than the Gwangju massacre but were equally important to the ultimate democratisation of the country makes the film all the more required viewing. [Read More]
Review: 1987 – When the Day Comes
1987: When the Day Comes is one of those movies which could not have been made a couple of years ago. It would have got the director and its all-star cast included on the infamous blacklist of suspected lefties who would not get government support in future. And to have the director of this film … [Read More]
UK Premiere screening: 1987: When the Day Comes
After Save the Green Planet (2003), one of my own favourites from that decade, director Jang Joon-hwan took a long break. I’m afraid I missed his second feature, Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013), something that I’m going to have to rectify, because his third film, coming to the Picturehouse Central this month, has been getting … [Read More]
Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (신과함께, 2017) review: a spectacular odyssey of post-mortem trials
Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds is a star-studded tale of actions and consequences, guilt and forgiveness wrapped up within a visually stunning journey through the seven Hell trials of the Afterlife. Like it or not, it’s one of the biggest box office smashes in Korean film history. [Read More]
The Handmaiden (아가씨, 2016) review: a masterclass in sensual storytelling
Park Chan-wook’s ‘The Handmaiden’ is a masterful film contrasting dark with light and (male) lecherous ugliness with (female) emotional beauty in a multilayered tale of immaculate depth and indeed meaning. Ultimately, ‘The Handmaiden’ sits atop the very best of Korean cinema, both in terms of narrative content and visual sumptuousness. [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: Cyrano Agency and Fasten Your Seatbelt are October’s screenings at the KCC
The two final screenings at the KCC before we get to the London Korean Film Festival bring to an end the season of movies which look at Korean humour. Cyrano Agency (시라노;연애조작단) Director: Kim Hyeon-seok, 2010, 117 mins Cast: Uhm Tae-woong, Lee Min-jung, Park Shin-hye, Daniel Choi 13 Oct 16 7:00 pm Named after the well-known French drama Cyrano … [Read More]
Film review: Tunnel – will it be a hit outside Korea?
Tunnel (dir: Kim Sung-hoon, whose Hard Day put him on the map) has been topping the Korean box office since it was released less than four weeks ago, and amazingly now has a one-week release in the UK, until 8 September. What has contributed to its popularity in Korea? And could it attain the same … [Read More]
Film news: Tunnel gets a lightning-quick UK release
So unusual that a movie that was topping the Korean box office less than a month ago (and still is) gets a theatrical release in the UK. Tunnel (터널) Director: Kim Seong-Hun, 2016, 127 minutes Cast: Ha Jung-Woo, Doona Bae, Oh Dal-Su Based on the novel “Tunnel” by So Jae-Won (2013) Jung-soo, the manager of … [Read More]
Festival Film Reviews: the four Korean films at the BFI London Film Fest 2015
It was a very pleasing selection of Korean films at the BFI London Film Festival this year. And for the first time that I can remember, I managed to get to all of them. Here are the verdicts. The Assassination 암살, Dir Choi Dong-hoon, 2015. With a fantastic ensemble cast, including Jeon Ji-hyun as the … [Read More]
Assassination (암살, 2015) review: a sumptuous period action epic
Set during the Colonial Period, Assassination is a star-studded, high-stakes thriller involving resistance fighters and double-crosses. Even from its early stages, it’s easy to see why it was such a huge draw at the box office. Sumptuous visuals combine with a gripping narrative to provide out-and-out entertainment, albeit overlong and lacking in character depth. [Read More]