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….
Category: Asian Cinema
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: “Confession” Review
Confession, a remake of 2016’s Spanish thriller, The Invisible Guest, written and directed by Yoon Jong-seok, is truly one of the most interesting remakes of the past decade. The dark atmosphere and mysterious characters not only draw the viewer in, but also provoke deeper reflections on human behaviour in extreme situations. Undoubtedly, Yoon’s Confession keeps…
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: “One Day You Will Reach the Sea” Review
Mana Kotani’s (Yukino Kishii) world is turned upside down the moment she learned that her best friend, and first love, Sumire Utsuki (Minami Hamabe) has died. The bright and bubbly woman she met on her first day of college has gone, there one moment and gone the next. It takes everything she has to keep…
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),…
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