In the past few years the UK has benefited from a number of theatrical releases of recent Korean box office movies. Sometimes, the UK release has occurred while the movie is still showing in cinemas back in Korea, indicating a certain amount of confidence on the part of the distributors to invest in a title … [Read More]
People: Jung Woo-sung
12.12 The Day (서울의 봄) Theatrical release
After the assassination of President Park, martial law has been declared. A coup d’état bursts out by Defense Security Commander Chun Doo-gwang and a private band of officers following him. Capital Defense Commander Lee Tae-shin, an obstinate soldier who believes the military should not take political actions, fights against Chun Doo-gwang to stop him. According … [Read More]
Hunt: UK theatrical release
Agents of the Korean National Intelligence Service (KNIS), Park Pyung-ho (Lee Jung-jae) and Kim Jung-do (Jung Woo-sung) are both independently hunting a North Korean spy within the agency. When the leaked top secret intel jeopardises national security, they are ordered to investigate each other and slowly start to uncover the shocking truth. HUNT is a … [Read More]
Beasts Clawing at Straws (지푸라기라도 잡고 싶은 짐승들, 2020) review: murder and mayhem in a droll game of cat and mouse
Intersecting stories of debt-ridden lives converge around a cash-filled bag, revealing an intricately structured, non-linear thriller. Beasts Clawing at Straws is a twisted cat and mouse tale of betrayal and mayhem with a genuinely droll tone throughout, virtually guaranteeing audience enjoyment and even (guilty) smiles in the face of murder. [Read More]
Illang: The Wolf Brigade (인랑, 2018) review: stunning spectacle, cardboard empathy in sci-fi actioner
While the action set pieces of Illang: The Wolf Brigade are without exception visually jaw-dropping and grippingly frenetic, it is actor Gang Dong-won’s frozen, slightly pained yet kind of blank expression regardless of what emotion is required to be conveyed that is by far Illang’s weakest link. [Read More]
Innocent Witness (증인, 2019) review: learning to listen
Part courtroom thriller, part relationship drama, Innocent Witness is wholly engaging throughout but it is the palpable, uplifting warmth seen in the depiction of the growing trust between an autistic young girl and an able-bodied man (helped yet further by a superlative performance from actress Kim Hyang-gi) that is the film’s greatest strength. [Read More]
Steel Rain (강철비, 2017) review: action, politics, and trust across the Korean divide
While Steel Rain’s action set pieces are always exemplary, often visually breathtaking, it is the growing trust between the two main characters from either side of the Peninsula that is the film’s true and lasting strength; speaking of humanity’s similarities across a seemingly insurmountable divide, problems with accents and the English language notwithstanding… [Read More]
Film review: Hur Jin-ho’s Season of Good Rain
How reassuring it is, after the disappointment that was Bong Joon-ho’s Okja, to find that there are still directors out there who can serve up what you expect. Maybe that’s a bad thing: maybe you need to be surprised every now and then. On the other hand, there’s no shame in wanting a dose of … [Read More]
Remember You (나를 잊지 말아요, 2016) review: forgotten love, lingering pain
Yoon-jung Lee’s feature version of ‘Remember O Goddess’ follows an amnesiac man whose new romance is shadowed by a past he cannot recall. A genuinely poignant tale of forgotten love and remembered pain, ‘Remember You’ is at once beautifully romantic and utterly heartbreaking, ultimately asking if ignorance, perhaps, truly is bliss. [Read More]
Jung Woo-sung and Kim Sung-soo interview: “Hyung, this is really tough!”
Actor Jung Woo-sung and director Kim Sung-soo discuss Asura: The City of Madness, focusing on its fictional setting, extreme characters, and themes of power, corruption, and moral collapse. They reflect on their long collaboration, challenging performances, shifting career choices, and the responsibility of senior artists to support new filmmakers. [Read More]
Scarlet Innocence (마담 뺑덕, 2014) review: from illicit desire to ruthless revenge
While this present day reinterpretation of classic Korean folktale ‘Simcheongga’ deviates from the original story, the intricately twisted, deeply involved and emotional nature of Yim Pil-sung’s sexually charged thriller positively screams of its pansori origin. A cautionary tale perfectly wrapped within a story of revenge and retribution, Scarlet Innocence is as unpredictable as it is gripping. [Read More]
Festival Film reviews: we also went to…
We’ve almost finished clearing the London Korean Film Festival backlog, the only major review outstanding now being Park Chan-kyong’s fascinating documentary Manshin. While I’m polishing that, here are a few brief reviews of the films I didn’t feel moved to write dedicated articles about. Han Gong-ju A heavy and depressing story redeemed by the sensitive … [Read More]
LKFF 2014: the conversations
The London Korean Film Festival is not just about getting acquainted with the latest in Korean movies. It is also an opportunity to meet some of the people behind those movies – actors, directors and producers. Opportunities for engaging with these film professionals vary: for an ever-growing group of aficionados there is the offer of round-table … [Read More]
Cold Eyes (감시자들, 2013) review: a high-octane remake of a Hong Kong surveillance thriller
A remake/reworking of 2007 Hong Kong thriller ‘Eye in the Sky’, ‘Cold Eyes’ steps up scale, pace and warmth to stand on its own as a wholly engaging and thoroughly entertaining blockbuster that even largely manages to feel specifically Korean in nature, in spite of never straying too far from the original. [Read More]
The Fox with Nine Tails (구미호, 1994) review: gumiho folklore meets modern melodrama
With the age-old Korean folklore of a fox spirit attempting to become human at its core, The Fox with Nine Tails merges fantasy, horror, romance and melodrama to create a tale with a moral worthy of the legend on which it’s based. Also notable as the first Korean feature to use CGI. [Read More]
Sad Movie (새드무비, 2005) review: when heartbreak becomes overkill
Interweaving four relationships with richly drawn characters and strong performances that invite empathy, Sad Movie initially succeeds as an engaging romantic drama with genuinely funny comedic elements, but ultimately pushes too many heartbreaks too far. [Read More]