In a small Korean town, a police officer, Kim Hyun-ju (Lee Jeong-eun: Parasite, Hommage), alongside her partner, are called to a hospital to check on two sisters with one being severely injured and unconscious. We quickly learn that one of the siblings is called Do-kyung (Jung Ryeowon: Castaway on the Moon, Wok of Love, Gate),…
Category: Korean Cinema
66th BFI London Film Festival: “Decision to Leave” Review
It may not seem like it at first glance, but Park Chan-wook’s films are those of a distinctly romantic disposition. His narratives typically explore the tension that arises when erotic and emotional idealism meets cold, hard reality; in his films, the only happy romances can be found in either the dispassionate confines of a mental…
“The Roundup” Review
When The Outlaws, written and directed by Kang Yoon-sung, came out in 2017, the film became the third highest-grossing film of that year in South Korea. The production had enough thrills and suspense to satisfy even the most jaded sensation-seekers. It took a few years before the second instalment, The Roundup, was released onto the…
“Perhaps Love” Review
Do not be fooled by the title: Perhaps Love is not your typical rom-com. In fact, it is not a rom-com at all. This emotionally honest, amusing screwball comedy offers us different angles on what love is and what it can be, more in line with the Greek differentiations of the concept. The most interesting…
Netflix’s “Carter” Review
Playing a video game is fun, but watching someone else play one can become tiresome pretty quickly. This is the most rational explanation as to why any action film that aims to mimic the medium’s aesthetic, be it 2015’s Hardcore Henry or the collected oeuvre of Neveldine and Taylor, will become exhausting by the end…
“Deciding to Venture into an Acting Career Was up to Me Alone.” – In Conversation with Sung Hoon, a South Korean Actor
Originating from South Korea, Sung Hoon had always dreamed of being an athlete. He was a promising swimmer, but his career abruptly ended due to a spinal injury. Nevertheless, he managed to move on from professional swimming to a more unexpected career: acting. Sung Hoon debuted in 2009 with White Brown’s Because I Love You….
In Conversation with Pil Gam-sung, Writer and Director of “Hostage: Missing Celebrity”
In recent years, Korean cinema has been very successful not only with releasing hits on the big screen, but also with producing a new generation of superb, first-time filmmakers. One of those talented filmmakers is Pil Gam-sung, writer and director of Hostage: Missing Celebrity, starring Hwang Jung-min. “Hostage: Missing Celebrity is Pil’s feature film debut,…
In Conversation with Yoon Jong-seok, Director of “Confession”, and Won Dong-yeon, Producer of “Confession”
The 2022 Udine Far East Film Festival was a real treat. Not only because of the great films in the programme, but because it was the first year that film guests were able to attend the event since Covid restrictions had been lifted. Mostly consisting of producers and filmmakers, we had a very productive and…
“Yaksha: Ruthless Operations” Review
On paper, it sounds like a recipe for a formulaic crime caper. One lawmaker who has always followed the rules and played everything by the book is forced by circumstance to team up with a maverick who will happily ignore standard procedure if it means getting results. It’s no surprise that, over the course of…
24th Udine Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Yoon Young-bin, Director of “Tomb of the River”
For the past 30 years or so, Asian cinema has become a part of life for European filmgoers. Although the Western continent itself has a lot to offer, the films from the Far East are the ones that grab viewers by their throats. It is important to remember that Far East cinema does not only…
24th Udine Far East Film Festival: “Tomb of the River” Review
The fact that in recent years it has been difficult to find a true representation of the noir genre shows that there are still opportunities out there for filmmakers to bring it back to life. In 2021, however, Yoon Young-bin, an emerging South Korean filmmaker, grabbed that chance by domestically releasing Tomb of the River,…
24th Udine Far East Film Festival: “Hostage: Missing Celebrity” Review
Breaking news! Hwang Jung-min, Korea’s top star, has been kidnapped by a gang of thugs and taken to a remote location. Well, not really, but that’s the concept of Pil Gam-sung’s action-thriller Hostage: Missing Celebrity. As per the previous (joke) announcement, Hostage: Missing Celebrity is what you probably expect it to be about: It follows…
24th Udine Far East Film Festival: “Special Delivery” Review
Sometimes, when you have seen too many dramas, you just wish to chill out while watching a good action film. And Special Delivery, written and directed by Park Dae-min, is one of those films. Eun-ha (Park So-dam: Parasite) is a delivery driver who asks no questions. She works for Baek Sa-jang (Kim Eui-sung: Taxi Driver),…
“Aloners” Review
There’s nothing groundbreaking in the idea that, rather than bringing us closer together, technology has left us more divided and isolated than ever before. There have been several films in recent years that have criticised the dehumanisation of the digital age, and almost all of them have invited immediate parody (most notably, Jason Reitman’s Men,…
