Musicals are a rarity in South Korean cinema, even if there are South Korean productions out there with traces of music themes, thrown into the middle of the film or found close to the end credits – but that does not qualify those movies as musicals. Swing Kids, directed by Kang Hyeong-cheol (Tazza: The Hidden Card),…
Category: Asian Cinema
In Conversation with Lee Min-jae and Uhm Ji-won of ‘The Odd Family: Zombie On Sale’
Uhm Ji-won is a South Korean actress whose career started in the late 1990’s. Her talent’s were first recognized with her performance of a subdued wife in the erotic thriller The Scarlet Letter (2004). She later played the leading role in Hong Sang-soo’s Tale of Cinema (2005), and worked with Hong again on his 2008…
The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale Review
Train to Busan (2016) established that there is both room and potential for zombie flicks in Korean cinema, and there has been a flood of undead-themed films and TV series in the past few years, with their makers hell-bent on achieving the same success as Yeon Sang-ho‘s action thriller. Some of the K-zombie projects, surprisingly,…
21st Udine Far East Film Festival: Extreme Job Review
A fried chicken restaurant and a highly incompetent narcotic squad – what could possibly go wrong? Extreme Job is Lee Byeong-heon’s newest production that has unexpectedly become the second highest grossing film in the history of Korean cinema, with over $120 million box-office profit against a $5.8 million budget – it is no wonder that a Hollywood…
21st Udine Far East Film Festival: JK Rock Review
In the colorful world of Japanese manga live-action adaptations and musical-themed film productions, we can find a series of films that center around pop- and rock-bands that practically ooze ‘ikemen’ (good looking men) by the seams, while there is an (un)surprising lack of such films centering on female music groups. The reason for that lies…
21st Udine Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Gong Hyo-jin
The entire theatre, full to the brink with fans of Asian cinema, buzzed, then started applauding with gusto as South Korean actress Gong Hyo-jin took her seat for the Udine Far East Film Festival screening of the thriller Door Lock. After the screening, the applause only got louder, reaffirming that Gong Hyo-jin is not only…
21st Udine Far East Film Festival: Door Lock Review
In a society, tightly dominated by men, is there a safe place for a woman? And what if the threat finds its way into the very hearth? Lee Kwon, who previously wrote and directed the horror-laced romantic comedy My Ordinary Love Story (2014), took on the adaptation of Jaume Balagueró’s Spanish film Sleep Tight. His…
21st Udine Far East Film Festival: Project Gutenberg Review
Felix Chong, a Hong Kong filmmaker, scriptwriter, and an actor, has been interested in cinema ever since he was a child. The filmmaker found his passion for storytelling when he co-wrote Afraid of Nothing the Jobless King with Joe Ma. With over 20 films under his belt, Felix Chong has been primarily recognised for scripting the…
21st Udine Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Lee Han, Jung Woo-sung and Lee Gyoo-hyung
In 2019, director Lee Han (Thread of Lies, Punch) made a return with a courtroom drama with elements of comedy and thriller that revolves around a defense lawyer (Jung Woo-sung) who is trying to get his client acquitted by getting the only witness to murder, an autistic girl (Kim Hyang-gi), to testify. Innocent Witness got…
21st Udine Far East Film Festival: Rampant Review
For the past few years, South Korea has been overflown with its own zombie-themed films and TV shows whose format ranges from classic horror to period dramas and even comedies, with various levels of quality. The recently released Netflix’s Kingdom, with its perfect narrative and direction, now ranks among the best Korean products of the…
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