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]
People: Lee Jung-jae
London East Asia Film Festival 2022 programme announced
The London East Asia Film Festival (LEAFF), the capital’s most celebrated champion of East Asian cinema and culture, headed by Festival Director Hyejung Jeon, opens its 7th year on 19th October at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square with the UK premiere of HUNT, the latest spy action drama directed by the award-winning Actor Lee Jung-Jae. This … [Read More]
LKL’s list of ten Squid Game superlatives
Well, I guess everyone who’s going to watch it has watched it already, but nevertheless I’ve tried to avoid any major spoilers in the below. Here’s the list of things that struck me most about the hit series. Most enjoyable reveal Runner up was the identity of the multi-gazillionaire who set up the game, But the … [Read More]
Home Truths season: An Affair
One of the first Korean movies I saw, and still in my top 10. An Affair (정사) Director: E J-Yong (1998, 108mins) Cast: Lee Mi-sook, Lee Jung-jae, Song Young-chang, Kim Min Thursday 9 May 2019, 7:00 pm @KCCUK | Reserve seat on Eventbrite Architect’s-wife Seo-hyun (Lee Mi-sook), is constrained and muted by domestic life, when … [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]
Festival Film Review: The Thieves – an exhilarating start to LKFF 2012
What can one say about one of the most popular Korean films ever? It’s slick, it’s got Jeon Ji-hyun and Kim Hye-su; it’s got Lee Jeong-jae, Kim Yun-seok and even Hong Kong megastar Simon Yam. Yes, it’s a real pleasure to combine in one film some of your favourite Korean eye-candy with a couple of … [Read More]
Park Kwangsu at the KCC #2: The Uprising
The attractions of today’s second screening of Park Kwang-su month include Lee Jeong-jae in period costume and a brief glimpse of Shim Eun-ha dressed as one of Jeju Island’s famous diving women. But in general people find this particular movie as dull as ditchwater. The Uprising (1999) Director: Park Kwangsu Running Time: 110 mins Date: … [Read More]
Asako in Ruby Shoes – E J-yong’s least accessible but possibly most interesting film
Asako in Ruby Shoes (Sunaebo, 순애보, 2000) is the one E J-yong feature that the KCC hasn’t managed to fit in to its February focus on the director’s work. By coincidence, it’s also the E J-yong film that Hancinema hasn’t, to date, loaded up into its database. But despite its poor showing at the box … [Read More]
On rewatching some favourite films: An Affair and Secret Sunshine
Last week, I re-watched two of my all-time favourite Korean films. Or at least, I thought they were. Film number one: E J-yong’s An Affair (1998), which was in the first dozen of Korean films I ever saw. I caught it at the 2001 London Korean Film Festival (yes, there have been Korean Film Festivals … [Read More]
A class apart: why Im Sang-soo loses to Kim Ki-young in the battle of The Housemaids
What really intrigued me about Kim Ki-young’s original Housemaid (1960) was when I read that the female audience were so incensed by the seducing housemaid’s character, that they stood up in cinema auditoriums and shouted: “Kill the wench!” I can’t help but think that a female watching Im Sang-soo’s 2010 remake would remark: “nice house.” … [Read More]