Director Cho Jungrae discusses his deep personal connection to Pansori, his hands-on role shaping the music “The Singer”, and the film’s dialogue between tradition and modernity. In this wide-ranging interview with Hangul Celluloid and LKL, he reflects on legacy, influence, and how traditional sound can still resonate with audiences today. [Read More]
Tag: Movie Q&As
Bong Joon-ho’s and Tilda Swinton’s Q+A after Snowpiercer
After the success of Parasite, BFI held the first major UK public screening of Snowpiercer on 1 March. Here is the BFI’s video of the Q+A that followed the screening. [Read More]
Parasite: a non-review
What can one say about a movie that has won Best Picture at Cannes and the Oscars, that has won best screenplay at the Oscars and BAFTAs, best edited drama feature at the Eddies, and best ensemble performance at the Screen Actors Guild? A movie that has been seen more widely in this country, and … [Read More]
Bong Joon-ho’s BAFTA talk has now been uploaded
Bong Joon-ho’s BAFTA lecture at the Curzon Mayfair on 12 December 2019 has now been uploaded to the BAFTA Guru Youtube channel. The talk was part of a lecture series that “exists to celebrate screenwriters’ authorial contribution to film and gives esteemed writers a platform to share highlights and insights from their careers with an … [Read More]
Review roundup: Korean films at the 2019 BFI London filmfest
I was particularly looking forward to the Korean screenings in the London Film Festival this year. Both LEAFF and LKFF in prior years have been championing the talent among Korea’s female directors and the trend has now spread to the BFI programme: of this year’s BFI festival, four out of the five Korean movies were … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Dark Figure of Crime
In a standard police procedural about a serial killer, a detective – maybe a bit of a loner, often with a drink problem – goes from crime scene to crime scene, from victim to victim, trying to fit together the pieces of the jigsaw that will eventually lead to the murderer, before the next crime … [Read More]
Recording: Screen talk with Lee Chang-dong at BFI London Film Festival 2018
In case like me you couldn’t get tickets to the Screen Talk with Lee Chang-dong as part of the BFI London Film Festival, here’s the recording on the BFI YouTube channel. The interview took place on 20 October 2018, the day of an anti-Brexit demonstration in London – which is mentioned more than once in … [Read More]
Bae Chang-ho retrospective: the highlight of LKFF 2017
For me, the highlight of this year’s London Korean Film Festival was the brief retrospective of some of Bae Chang-ho’s early output. I’ve had a soft spot for Director Bae’s work for over 15 years now: My Heart was one of the first Korean movies I saw, back in the London Korean Film Festival in 2001. … [Read More]
Rituals, Reflections, and 3D: Director Park Hong-min on A Fish
Director Park Hong-min discusses the shamanistic inspirations behind his debut film, A Fish. He explains his unconventional use of 3D to create a distorted reality, the symbolic role of mirrors and doppelgängers, and the influence of Jindo’s healing rituals. Park also details his collaborative approach to the film’s restrained, atmospheric sound design. [Read More]
Park Chan-wook talks about Handmaiden, octopuses and more
Park Chan-wook discusses adapting Fingersmith to colonial Korea, adding racial and class barriers, collaborating with Jung Seo-kyung and filming intimate scenes. He reflects on lessons from Stoker, violence and symbolism, octopus imagery, working with his brother on Night Fishing, shamanistic themes, adaptation processes and making films for future Korean audiences. [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Ode to My Father
The time is the present. Yoon Deok-su, a grandfather living in Busan but born in South Hamgyong province in North Korea, looks back at his life of hardship which has coincided exactly with the life of the Republic of Korea. Surrounded by his grandchildren, he has managed to raise his family from nothing to relative prosperity, … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Ryoo Seung-wan’s Veteran
It was the first screening in the the trial “0th” iteration of the London East Asia Film Festival, but this really didn’t feel like a new film festival – more a continuation of past ones. We were opening in a venue that felt familiar, a lot of the faces front of house and on stage … [Read More]
Kwak Kyung-taek quizzed at the first LKFF on Typhoon, filming in Russia and more
Director Kwak Kyung-taek discusses the personal and political inspiration behind Typhoon, sharing stories of filming in Thailand and Russia, near-misses with natural disasters, and the challenges of producing one of Korea’s most expensive films. He also reflects on audience reactions, international perspectives, and his plans for future projects beyond big-budget action cinema. [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 11: a visit to Studio MWP
A behind-the-scenes glimpse inside Studio Meditation with a Pencil, home of Green Days and This Road Called Life. Director Ahn Jae-huun shares insights on upcoming projects, including A Thousand Years Together and short story adaptations Shower and The Shaman Sorceress, while visitors discover the charming, pencil-filled world where Korean animation comes to life. [Read More]
LKFF 2014: the conversations
The London Korean Film Festival is not just about getting acquainted with the latest in Korean movies. It is also an opportunity to meet some of the people behind those movies – actors, directors and producers. Opportunities for engaging with these film professionals vary: for an ever-growing group of aficionados there is the offer of round-table … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Hwajang / Revivre
Well, I was right. Ahn Sung-ki confessed in the Q+A which followed the screening of Hwajang that one of his most difficult tasks in portraying Oh Sang-moo, a senior executive in a cosmetics company, was to project certain aspects of being old – of being blocked inside because of the swollen prostate, of being more … [Read More]