The Last Princess is based on the true life story of Yi Deok-hye (Son Ye-jin), the last princess of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty and daughter of Emperor Gojong (Baek Yoon-sik). At 13 years of age, Deok-hye is sent to Japan to study but soon finds herself being used as a political pawn, her pleas to be … [Read More]
People: Park Hae-il
KCC film night: My Mother, the Mermaid (인어공주)
Na-young (Jeon Do-yeon) works at a post office and is sick and tired of being around her shamefully unyielding mother and her pushover father who’s excessively nice. The only thing that she can look forward to is her trip abroad in a few days. But one day, her father leaves home without any notice. Her … [Read More]
Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave – theatrical release
What happens when an object of suspicion becomes a case of obsession? Winner of Cannes Best Director in 2022, Park Chan-wook (OLDBOY, THE HANDMAIDEN) returns with a seductive romantic thriller that takes his renowned stylistic flair to dizzying new heights. When detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) arrives at a murder scene, he begins to suspect the … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Heaven – To the Land of Happiness
In recent years the LKFF programmers have been getting into a groove of scheduling indie, minority interest movies for the closing film of the festival. This year, they turned things upside down by programming the festival’s most appealing film (for me, at least,) to end the fortnight. Yes, the opening movie, Mogadishu, is the top … [Read More]
LKFF 2019 Teaser Screening #4: Ode to the Goose
The fourth teaser of the season: Ode to the Goose (군산: 거위를 노래하다) European Premiere Director: Zhang Lu (2018, 121 min) Cast: Park Hae-il, Moon Sori, Jung Jin-yung, Park So-dam Monday 19 August 2019, 6:20pm Picturehouse Central | Corner of Great Windmill Street and Shaftesbury Avenue | Piccadilly Circus | London W1D 7DH | www.picturehouses.com/cinema/Picturehouse_Central Tickets £7.90 … [Read More]
The Last Princess (덕혜옹주, 2016) review: a sumptuous epic of national longing and tragic exile
The Last Princess is as visually sumptuous as it is epic, with an understated emotional depth underlined by an incredible performance from Son Ye-jin which will bring tears to the eyes and a lump to the throat. This story of the last princess of the Joseon Dynasty is one that truly needed to be told. [Read More]
An introduction to “Love And…” — LKFF’s closing gala film
The London Korean Film Festival’s choice for the closing gala is an interesting one: Zhang Lu’s Love And… (the literal meaning of the Korean title, 필름시대사랑, is “Love of the Film Era”), which only recently opened at the Korean box office. Closing galas over the years have included blockbusters and mainstream movies such as Masquerade … [Read More]
Eungyo aka A Muse (은교, 2012) review: aging, loneliness, and the pursuit of a muse
Eungyo is, on the surface, the story of a controversial relationship between a 70-year-old man and a high school girl, but ultimately provides a moving dissection of age and loneliness that deserves to be described as more than simply an ‘erotic thriller’, though both thrilling and erotic it is. [Read More]
Film Festival Highlight: Eungyo – A poet looks into his glass
Korea’s most famous poet, Lee Jeok-yo, is well into old age. He has taken as a student cum in-house assistant an aspiring but not very talented novelist called Seo Ji-woo. A neighbouring high school girl starts takes a cleaning job at the poet’s house, and a connection soon forms between the poet and the young … [Read More]
Moss (이끼, 2010) review: power, corruption and secrets in a closed community
Based on an internet comic of the same name, Moss’s underlying references to power, corruption, revenge and guilt, as well as sin and redemption, create a veritable labyrinth of elements within the narrative, ultimately allowing the film to be far more worthy than one might initially imagine. [Read More]
‘War of the Arrows’ – Causing Death and Saving Lives
The opening gala of the London Korean Film Festival was a more rambunctious affair than I remember even last year’s being, due in no small part to the sudden and unexpected entrance of SHINee (I was lucky enough to be two rows behind them, but many who had specially booked seats I gather were incandescent … [Read More]
Film review: Moss
Saharial catches up with one of 2010’s top films on the in-flight entertainment system over the Christmas break. I am liking international travel, especially when the film choices on the flight I took from Vancouver to New York had ‘Moss’ in their Asian cinema collection. Starring Park Hae-il (Memories of Murder) it is a thriller … [Read More]
My Mother The Mermaid (인어공주, 2004) review: a lyrical dedication to motherhood
A reluctant daughter is transported to her parents’ past, where witnessing her mother’s youth reshapes long-held resentment into empathy. Featuring masterful dual performances by Jeon Do-yeon, My Mother The Mermaid is a simple story, beautifully conceived. Dedicated “To mother”, it, in fact, stands as a dedication to motherhood itself. [Read More]
Memories of Murder (살인의 추억, 2003) review: a masterpiece of tone and tension
Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder is a masterful blend of black humor, procedural intensity, and poignant social commentary. Based on Korea’s first serial killer case, the film follows a bumbling local detective and a focused Seoul investigator. With subtle direction, haunting cinematography, and exceptional acting, it transcends the genre to deliver a deeply sincere, atmospheric experience. [Read More]