London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet – the perfect opening to BFI Flare 2025

BFI Flare launched yesterday with a humdinger of an opening movie: Andrew Ahn’s reimagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 The Wedding Banquet. Ahn’s partner in creating this update, James Schamus, also co-wrote Ang Lee’s version. While the original film features a single gay couple and a marriage of convenience, the reboot has two gay couples, which … [Read More]

A review of the Korean cultural year 2021

Each year when I come to write this review, I wonder whether Korean culture in the West has reached its high water mark. And every year so far I’ve come to the same conclusion. Korean music and film, TV and food continue to win admirers, and we can expect to see it continue to thrive … [Read More]

Minari: a movie re-viewed

After my first viewing, I was wondering whether to recommend Minari to my friends and family. If I’d bought an expensive cinema ticket to see it then I would have only seen it once. However, I bought a ticket that licensed me to view it as many times as I wanted within a 24 hour … [Read More]

Home Truths season: Woman of Fire

The fifth screening in the Home Truths season brings one of Kim Ki-young’s remakes of his classic Housemaid. Woman of Fire (화녀) Director: Kim Ki-young (1971, 98mins) Cast: Youn Yuh-jung, Jeon Gye-hyeon, Nam Koong Won 13 June 2019 7:00 pm @KCCUK | Reserve your seat Woman of Fire sees Kim Ki-young remake his stunning classic … [Read More]

Seven ways in which Hill of Freedom is different from other Hong Sang-soo films

… and some ways in which it isn’t. Hill of Freedom (자유의 언덕) is Hong Sang-soo’s 16th feature, and could not have been made by anyother director. The awkwardness of human interaction and conversation, the bonding over alcohol, the fragmentation of the narrative, the aim to rekindle lost love – all are common features of … [Read More]

Festival Film Review: Behind the Camera — the Q&A of the feature of the documentary of the making of the …

British cinema-goers are used to a short commercial before the main feature in which a film director is pitching his latest movie idea to some corporate suits whose only interest is that the film should promote a certain mobile phone network at every opportunity. So it’s not such a strange idea that a well-known Korean … [Read More]