Park Chan-wook’s latest offering is, as expected of the legendary director, a dark and morally complex exploration of its subject matter – overtly the state of the contemporary job market, and covertly cycles of generational trauma and violence. It is dark and violent, like many Park Chan-wook films, but also at times deeply funny. [Read More]
People: Son Ye-jin
The Last Princess (덕혜옹주) screens at the KCC
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]
Why Crash Landing on You had us hooked
What a preposterous scenario for a drama. A chaebol heiress goes paragliding, gets swept away by a freak tornado and lands north of the DMZ, where she is discovered by a North Korean soldier and ends up getting emotionally entangled. I loved it. Of course, the scenario is a lot more complicated than that. How … [Read More]
8 Netflix K-Dramas for people who don’t like zombies
With the extra time spent at home, the lockdown is the perfect time for many of us to catch up on television dramas. Besides being a great way to pass the time without leaving the home, dramas can provide us all with a little escapism, giving a much-needed break from the often overwhelming news cycle. … [Read More]
The Negotiation (협상, 2018) review: a static game of cat and mouse
The Negotiation begins confidently but its early strength is somewhat marred by the later story requirement to have various seated, static characters talking repeatedly through video calls on immoveable desktop monitors, and though the film does largely succeeds in building tension, tension doesn’t always equate to exhilaration. [Read More]
Be With You (지금 만나러 갑니다, 2018) review: a beautiful, classic, archetypal Son Ye-jin melodrama
Heartbreaking, uplifting and life-affirming at once, Be With You positively screams of classic Korean melodrama, in spite of being based on a Japanese novel… and that’s before we even consider the fact that the star of the film is New Korean Cinema’s ‘Queen of Melodrama’, Son Ye-jin. [Read More]
Film review: Be With You
Ten years ago or so I was watching a rather good relationship drama on DVD when my wife came into the room and asked: “so which of the two has the mysterious incurable disease?” “It’s not one of those films,” I replied, somewhat tetchily. Ten minutes later, a car crash killed off one half of … [Read More]
LKFF 2018 Teaser Screening: Be With You
The plot of this movie, the first teaser screening for the 2018 film festival, makes me think of those yearning, understated love stories of the early 2000s such as The Classic. It’ll be interesting to see the genre re-booted. Be With You (지금 만나러 갑니다) Director: Lee Chang-hoon (2018, 132 ins) Cast: So Ji-sub | … [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]
Festival film review: The Truth Beneath
Lee Kyoung-mi (이경미): The Truth Beneath (비밀은 없다, 2016) Review by Robert Cottingham Lee Kyoung-mi got her start in films working with Park Chan-wook, and from watching this film it seems she has taken his lead when it comes to violent revenge. When a politician’s daughter goes missing the scandal threatens to upset his ambitions … [Read More]
LKFF report: the opening night and The Truth Beneath
The eleventh of the London Korean Film Festivals organised by the KCCUK opened on Thursday with a little sprinkling of stardust. Jung Woo-sung, who electrified the audience during the 2014 festival where he was the headline attraction, came to the opening night as just a regular guy wanting to watch a movie. But that didn’t … [Read More]
The Truth Beneath (비밀은 없다, 2016) review: politics, betrayal and a mother’s descent into reckoning
Initially appearing to be a tale of politics and family, ‘The Truth Beneath’ ultimately shows itself to be a far more personal and poignant story of one woman’s efforts to uncover the truth of what happened to her daughter, and her discovery in the process of the lies and betrayal that permeate her entire life. [Read More]
Event news: The Pirates screens at the KCC
The third screening of the year at the KCC. It would be rude to miss this one. The Pirates (해적: 바다로 간 산적) Dir Lee Seok Hoon (2014) 130 mins 25 February 2016, 7pm Register on the KCC website Just 15 days after the founding of the Kingdom of Joseon, an ambassadorial ship is carrying … [Read More]
The Pirates (해적: 바다로 간 산적, 2014) review: blockbuster spectacle on the high seas
Lee Seok-hoon’s nautical adventure film follows rival pirates, bandits and soldiers chasing a royal seal swallowed by a whale. It’s a big budget, enjoyable romp but there are numerous elements that are less accomplished than others and ultimately the lingering thought is just how easily the film could have been so much better. [Read More]
Blood and Ties (공범, 2013) review: family loyalty and a faltering moral thriller
While ‘Blood and Ties’ tries to be an original take on a familiar narrative subject in its attempted dissection of familial ties, any chance of insightful commentary is marred by plot holes and predictably. Ultimately, the appearance and performances of Son Ye-jin and Kim Kap-soo are by far the strongest aspects of the film. [Read More]
The Tower (타워, 2012) review: high-spectacle disaster and classic genre thrills
The Tower is a visually breathtaking high-spectacle disaster movie that, in spite of predictability, ultimately succeeds in being more entertaining and exciting than many films of its genre; remaining engaging throughout and even managing to be somewhat moving, on occasion… [Read More]