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]
People: Lee Mi-sook
Festival film review: Bae Chang-ho’s Whale Hunting
Based on a story by long-standing collaborator Choe In-ho, Whale Hunting is one of Korea’s seminal road movies. Hunting the whale, in the dark days of the dictatorship, was symbolic for yearning for things beyond the day-to-day. In Bae Chang-ho’s 1984 movie it represented the search for the things that give life meaning; in a … [Read More]
Mulberry (뽕, 1986) review: erotic commerce and female agency in Lee Doo-yong’s classic
A simple story concept that uses understated humour to draw audiences into a sumptuously erotic tale that not so long before would have been virtually taboo, ‘Mulberry’ also gives Korean cinema fans the opportunity to watch Lee Mi-sook as a young actress and realise that she was every bit as talented all those years ago [Read More]
Event news: two screenings featuring Lee Mi-sook in March
The KCCUK’s season of films illustrating different aspects of Korean humour continues with two films starring Lee Mi-sook. A nice 10th birthday present. Lee Mi-sook month The Actresses South Korea, 2009 Director: E J-yong Cast: Yoon Yeo-jeong, Lee Mi-sook, Ko Hyun-jeong, Choi Ji-woo, Kim Min-hee 104 mins | Cert. 12 | Eng Subs 17 March, … [Read More]
Actresses (여배우들, 2009) review: mockumentary fiction and celebrity reality
Set during a stalled Vogue photo shoot, Actresses observes six Korean stars across generations as boredom gives way to rivalry, confession and self-exposure. Described by director E J-yong as “a combination of reality show and fake documentary”, Actresses surely contains some truth hidden alongside the scripted scenes. [Read More]
Reality and fiction intertwine in E J-yong’s deliciously amusing fake documentary Actresses
“Which one did you think is the most beautiful?” It was one obvious conversation opener at the bar after the screening of E J-yong’s Actresses, in which six of Korea’s top actresses aged from their early 20s to their 60s, gather for a Vogue photoshoot in a film which its director calls “part reality show, … [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]
Untold Scandal (스캔들 – 조선 남녀 상열지사, 2003) review: pleasure, power, and desire in the Joseon dynasty
Untold Scandal is easily the most sensual and sumptuous of all of the adaptations of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. A tour-de-force from beginning to end, Untold Scandal is a film which everyone should be told about. [Read More]
Korea’s most beautiful face
After yesterday’s heavy post, something a bit lighter. Kim Hye-soo has been voted Korea’s most beautiful face. The picture in the Chosun Ilbo news story is a fairly low-key affair – but you can find far more glamorous images by googling her name. The image here is a still from the film Hypnotized aka Faceless … [Read More]