We didn’t get around to writing any detailed reviews of the films that screened at the two big festivals in the autumn of 2023, so it’s time to try to pull some thoughts together before the memories fade entirely, jostled sideways by new ones. There were some sparkly new films which were fun to watch … [Read More]
People: Sol Kyung-gu
A look back at some of the movies in the 2021 London Korean Film Festival
One month after the close of LKFF we’re finally getting around to penning some thoughts on the movies we saw there. We’ve already commented on Im Sang-soo’s latest, which left us with very warm feelings about the festival as a whole. What about the rest of the programme? Let’s get this out of the way … [Read More]
Love without Boundaries: Oasis
One of LKL’s films of the noughties screens as the final movie in the Love without Boundaries season. Oasis (오아시스) Director: Lee Chang-dong (2002, 132 mins) Cast: Moon So-ri, Sul Kyung-gu, Ahn Nae-sang Thursday 8 August 2019, 7pm @KCCUK | Book here Jong-du (Sul Kyung-gu, Memoir of a Murderer), introduced to the viewer as he … [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]
LKFF 2018 Teaser Screening #2: Memoir of a Murderer
The second LKFF2018 Teaser screening is Won Shin-yeon’s adaptation of Kim Young-ha’s Memoir of a Murderer: Memoir of a Murderer (살인자의 기억법) Dir Won Shin-yeon (2017, 118min) With Sol Kyung-gu, Kim Nam-gil, Kim Seol-hyun Monday 21 May 2018, 7pm | Regent Street Cinema | Book tickets Serial killers are popular figures in South Korean cinema, … [Read More]
Film review: Memoir of a Murderer
Memoir of a Murderer asks us to step inside the mind of someone who is losing his memory, a sufferer of Alzheimer’s disease. The movie opens with a scene focusing on the face of a gaunt and aged-looking Sol Kyung-gu as single dad Kim Byung-soo. As we watch, his face begins to twitch. At first … [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]
Brief film review: Hope / Wish (Lee Jun-ik, 2013)
One of the more anticipated films of the 2013 London Korean Film Festival was Lee Jun-ik’s Hope, a harrowing family drama examining the long-term effects caused by the traumatic sexual assault on a young girl by a construction worker near her school. It’s a powerful film which one won’t watch for pleasure, or indeed watch … [Read More]
Lee Chang-dong’s Oasis screens at the KCC
Lee Chang-dong’s Oasis figures in most people’s list of top ten Korean films of all time, or at least of the first decade of this century: a compelling storyline which is both moving and shocking, with stand-out performances from Sol Kyung-gu and Moon So-ri. It will be screening this Thursday at the KCC as part … [Read More]
Haeundae – a rather disappointing disaster movie
Just watched Haeundae on Region 2 DVD. What was the fuss about? Dull, dull, dull. Maybe the domestic cut was better (17 mins longer). Maybe the international cut just focused on the things which might appeal to an international audience, and so they edited out anything that might be remotely interesting. I was wondering how … [Read More]
Festival film Review: Lost in Love (사랑을 놓치다)
Dir: Chu Chang-min 2006. Stars: Sol Kyung-gu Thu 25 May 2006, 8:50pm, Prince Charles Cinema “Dull, dull, dull” is how I thought this review would read as I watched the first half of this film last night. It got better, but not much. This is a story about a non-relationship. There were some great observations … [Read More]