Director Won Shin-yeon takes Kim Young-ha’s story of an ex-serial killer suffering from dementia and successfully elicits both viewer sympathy for the character in his fight to retain his memories and indeed himself and empathy, to as much a degree as possible, for him in his battle against an even greater monster. [Read More]
Hangul Celluloid Korean film reviews (page 4)
One Day (어느날, 2017) review: a nuanced and affecting study of grief and abandonment
With One Day, director Lee Yoon-ki uses his almost trademark ability of showing characters’ innermost thoughts and emotions within outwardly simple stories to create an intelligent, nuanced and genuinely affecting tearjerker that deftly discusses abandonment, both perceived and actual. Understated performances and minimal special effects complement this classic melodrama. [Read More]
Does the Cuckoo Cry at Night (뻐꾸기도 밤에 우는가, 1980) review: innocence, desire and a changing Korea
Jung Jin-woo’s classic film, following the idyllic but threatened lives of a charcoal maker and his wife, dissects themes of traditional versus modern Korea, while its veiled eroticism predates the more overt “Three S” cinematic period. Its use of cuckoo symbolism to reveal the protagonist’s tragic family legacy is inspired. [Read More]
The Villainess (악녀, 2017) review: spectacular action, limited character depth
While the action set pieces of The Villainess are frankly incredible, a lack of character depth largely prevents the film from saying much thematically. The character of Sook-hee is certainly on a vengeance trip but she’s a person seeking revenge who just happens to female, rather than speaking specifically of female revenge in Korean cinema… [Read More]
Snowy Road (눈길, 2017) review: friendship, trauma and survival under the Japanese military
Originally a two-part television production, subsequently spliced together into a full length feature release, Snowy Road is a hugely emotional and indeed important story which uses social commentary to deftly create layer upon layer within an already in-depth and gripping narrative. [Read More]
Bluebeard (해빙, 2017) review: probing the serial killer genre
In her second feature, Bluebeard, director Lee Soo-yeon infuses elements of both horror and psychological thriller within a fast-paced serial killer tale. While Bluebeard may not necessarily be mentioned alongside the best of the best of the genre, it nonetheless largely succeeds where some other serial killer films have failed, anal probes notwithstanding. [Read More]
Okja (옥자, 2017) review: a topical and eccentric critique of corporate lunacy
Accomplished, quirky, eccentric and wholly memorable, Okja is not only a David & Goliath tale for the 21st century but also a hugely entertaining and insightful story of the ordinary pushed to extraordinary lengths by corporate lunacy, albeit with a couple of minor caveats. [Read More]
Canola (계춘 할망, 2016) review: grandmother’s love and lost innocence
Set between Jeju and Seoul, Canola follows a grandmother and granddaughter torn apart by disappearance and reunited years later. Through stark contrasts of beauty and hardship, and featuring powerhouse performances from actresses Youn Yuh-jung and Kim Go-eun, ‘Canola’ is an unashamed tearjerker that gives a heartfelt and poignant definition of what family truly is. [Read More]
Missing (aka Missing Woman, 미씽: 사라진여자, 2016) review: a poignant study of motherhood and societal despair
While the societal issues critiqued in ‘Missing’ – and indeed its child abduction story as a whole – can be found in a virtual plethora of Korean films, director Lee Eon-hee wholly succeeds in weaving them together into a worthy, grippingly intricate and ultimately deeply poignant tale of motherhood and female understanding of female pain. [Read More]
My Heart (정, 情, 2000) review: a life led by empathy
Spanning decades of rural Korean history and depicting a life of hardship and resilience, Director Bae Chang-ho and actress Kim Yoo-mee’s co-written narrative is sometimes gently funny, often heartbreaking and ultimately wholly uplifting. A story told with so much genuine heart that My Heart is the only adequately fitting title. [Read More]
Remember You (나를 잊지 말아요, 2016) review: forgotten love, lingering pain
Yoon-jung Lee’s feature version of ‘Remember O Goddess’ follows an amnesiac man whose new romance is shadowed by a past he cannot recall. A genuinely poignant tale of forgotten love and remembered pain, ‘Remember You’ is at once beautifully romantic and utterly heartbreaking, ultimately asking if ignorance, perhaps, truly is bliss. [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]
Will you be there? (당신거기있어줄래요, 2016) review: love, regret and the weight of time
Based on Guillaume Musso’s French novel Seras-tu là?, director Hong Ji-young’s gently engaging ‘Will You Be There?’ fits so well with a number of utterly classic Korean cinema tropes, genres and sub-genres that it wholly succeeds on both a specifically Korean and generally international level… [Read More]
Operation Chromite (인천상륙작전, 2016) review: high-stakes espionage marred by caricatures and casting
This war drama excels in its tense spy narrative and expertly directed action sequences but suffers from one-dimensional characterizations. A film is only as strong as its weakest link, and in the case of Operation Chromite the weakest link by far is Liam Neeson’s cringe-worthy dialogue, and indeed tortured performance, as General Douglas MacArthur [Read More]
Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned (가려진 시간, 2016) review — childhood, time and impossible love
Blending fantasy, mystery and coming-of-age drama, Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned tells a hauntingly beautiful story of childhood, belief and love across impossible boundaries. With striking visuals, subtle special effects and strong performances, Uhm Tae-hwa’s film contrasts adult scepticism with the boundless imagination and emotional truth of youth. [Read More]
The Wailing (곡성, 2016) review: a relentless descent into fear and paranoia
The Wailing takes director Na Hong-jin’s almost trademark intricate, pulse-pounding narrative intensity and ramps it up yet further with palpable character fear, paranoia and desperation. Thriller by name, utterly thrilling in nature, this darkly violent, three-pronged horror ‘whodunit’ is a worthy successor to The Chaser and The Yellow Sea. [Read More]