One of my favourite films of 2018 gets another London screening this month in the Barbican. Well worth a second viewing. Little Forest – Chronic Youth Film Festival 2019 Dir Yim Soon-rye (2018, 103 min) With Kim Tae-ri, Ryu Jun-yeol, Jin Ki-joo, Moon So-ri 24 Mar 2019, 16:00, Barbican Cinema 3 | Book tickets Korean … [Read More]
People: Kim Tae-ri
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]
Little Forest (리틀 포레스트, 2018) review: hungry for home
In a beautiful film that encapsulates a rural downshifting trend, Little Forest is a visual gourmet feast for the eyes and sumptuous cinematic food for the modern-day soul too. Yim Soon-rye takes what was originally a Japanese manga and transplants it to Korea, speaking directly to Korean cinema audiences in the process. [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]
Moon Young (문영, 2017) review: a succinct and nuanced study of solitude and connection
While just 64 minutes in duration, Moon Young never feels anything less than a full feature. A nuanced, succinct yet in-depth narrative insightfully speaking of both urban isolation and connection, and exploring abusive homes and guarded identities, Moon Young is without a single moment’s unnecessary meandering. [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]
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]