Song Kang-ho

Film review: A Taxi Driver

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by Philip Gowman on 31 August, 2017

in 1960-1993 | Film reviews and comment

I went along to watch A Taxi Driver out of a sense of duty. What can be said about Gwangju, I thought, that hasn’t been said already? I’d rather see a documentary. Plus, Korean movies with foreign actors always raise slight alarm bells with me (Isabelle Huppert in Hong Sang-soo’s In Another Country left me […]

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6th LKFF 2017 Teaser: Jang Hoon’s Taxi Driver

by Events Editor 23 July 2017
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How did we manage to squeeze in six teasers this year? Anyway, the latest is possibly one of the most anticipated Korean movies of the year so far. Here’s hoping it lives up to expectation. Taxi Driver (택시 운전사) Director: Jang Hoon, 2017, 137mins Cast: Song Kang-ho, Thomas Kretschmann, Yoo Hai-jin, Ryu Jun-yeol UK Premiere […]

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Kim Jee-woon’s Age of Shadows gets UK release

by Events Editor 5 March 2017
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The official UK release date for Kim Jee-woon’s colonial era spy thriller is 24 March. The Age of Shadows, released in the UK by Soda Pictures, opened last year’s London East Asia Film Festival. At the time of writing no London screenings have been announced, but the movie will be screened in Sheffield, and earlier previews are […]

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Lee Joon-ik’s The Throne: a familiar tale made a believable tragedy

by Philip Gowman 22 April 2016
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The first of the KCCUK’s “Teaser Screenings” for the London Korean Film Festival 2016 took place on Monday in the presence of Director Lee Joon-ik and the recently-arrived Korean ambassador. The chosen film was The Throne (사도) – a movie which was #5 in the 2015 Korean box office and deals with an incident in […]

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Antarctic Journal: a promising start, a confusing end, and a film to be avoided

by Philip Gowman 27 April 2014
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Antarctic Journal (Im Pil-seong, 2004) screened at the KCC on 24 April as part of the Year of the Film Professionals. The second professional to be so featured was cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon, who gives Park Chan-wook movies their distinctive look. Antarctic Journal is one of Chung’s rare films with another director. Given the poor reviews […]

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The President’s Barber – an awkward film that’s difficult to categorise

by Philip Gowman 28 March 2013
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Lim Chan-sang’s The President’s Barber (효자동 이발사, 2004) was the first KCC screening of 2013, in which we will be seeing films featuring four actors each of who will be coming to London for a Q&A. The first three months feature Moon So-ri, who will be in London for a screening of Hahaha on 4 […]

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Moon So-ri is the first of 2013’s four actors. First up, The President’s Barber.

by Events Editor 14 January 2013
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Following on from the year of the 12 directors, we have the year of the 4 actors. The first to be confirmed is Moon So-ri, who for me is pretty high up in the list of my favourites – particularly for her role in Im Sang-soo’s A Good Lawyer’s Wife, which I hope will get […]

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On rewatching some favourite films: An Affair and Secret Sunshine

by Philip Gowman 11 February 2012
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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 […]

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The Chosun Ilbo’s movie popularity poll

by Philip Gowman 16 April 2011
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Heartened (and puzzled) to see Im Kown-taek as best director in the same poll which has Ha Ji-won most popular actress http://bit.ly/f6zVYN #. “Most popular” stars were Won Bin and Ha Ji-won while the “best” were Song Kang-ho and Jeon Do-yeon. Keywords: Directors: Im Kwon-taek People: Ha Ji-won | Jeon Do-yeon | Song Kang-ho | […]

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Choi Min-sik season: A Quiet Family screens at the KCC

by Events Editor 24 November 2010
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After seeing how unoriginal Kim Ji-woon can be when presented with someone else’s script (did ANYONE think that I saw the Devil was worth two hours of your life?), it’s a relief to be reminded that when he writes his own stuff he’s on sparkling form. This Thursday sees the start of a Choi Min-sik […]

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Saharial reviews Thirst

by Saharial 12 October 2009
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5th October 2009 Curzon Cinema, Soho, London Being a big fan of Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy, I was definitely excited and keen to see Thirst (박쥐; Bakjwi) his newest release that won the Jury prize at Cannes this year. The story is of Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho), a priest who willingly undergoes a medical experiment to […]

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Lead us not into temptation – Q&A with Director Park at UK “Thirst” premiere

by Philip Gowman 7 October 2009
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Appropriately enough, Director Park cast a sombre red shadow on the screen as he walked onto the stage to answer questions following the London premiere of Thirst. The film delivered all the blood you have come to expect from a Park Chan-wook movie, this time with some justification, given the vampire theme. But as always […]

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Good, bad or weird?

by Philip Gowman 13 November 2008
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A review of Kim Ji-woon’s kimchi western, The Good the Bad and the Weird

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Festival Film Review: Secret Sunshine at the BFI London Film Festival

by Philip Gowman 29 October 2007
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Caution: this post contains spoilers. It was slightly disappointing to see Screen One of the Odeon West End (seating capacity: 500) somewhat under half full for the London premiere of Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine last Monday. By contrast, No Mercy for the Rude, a film which (from its description at least) is much more in […]

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