For the past few years, Korean cinema has been swamped with various period films, in which the country’s turbulent history has been amalgamating fiction, action and frequently monotonous anti-Japanese propaganda. Although successful within the domestic market, it is rare for historical dramas to achieve an overseas 5-star rating; and one such film is Lee Joon-ik’s…
Category: Asian Cinema
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival: A Tiger In Winter Review
The topic of a creative slowdown is popular among authors in all nooks and crannies of the creative dimension, since it is the ultimate “tiger” that prays upon the auteur world. With the tiger also being one of the strongest animal representations of Korea and its people, the layers of metaphor in the title of…
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival: ‘Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?’ Review
Riding hot on the success of the last year’s Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name, producer Genki Kawamura dished out yet another animated, fantasy high-school romance film this year – but as highly expected as it was, the remake of the 1993 live-action TV drama of the same name, Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side…
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival: Glass Garden Review
South Korean filmmaker Shin Su-won is one of those rare female Asian filmmakers that have managed to break through the male-dominated walls of the industry to not only get noticed, but acknowledged. Her debut, self-produced feature Passerby #3 managed to immediately snag both domestic and international attention – it even won the Best Asian-Middle Eastern Film…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival: In Conversation with Jeon Hye-jung, the Festival Director
Jeon Hye-jung – who was once a lecturer at a prestigious university in Korea with a background in performing arts – left South Korea many years ago and settled in London. At the beginning of her UK ‘adventure’, she took a position at London Korean Cultural Centre UK, heading government projects and festivals to promote…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival Programme Announced
Here it is, here it is, hear me jump with joy! The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival has announced its programme and it looks amazing! LEAFF’s successful previous edition has led to its second year, and the festival is getting more and more attention. The 2nd LEAFF will run from 19th to 29th of…
A Taxi Driver Review
“As a journalist, you shouldn’t be in a place that’s too comfortable,” German reporter Jürgen Hinzpeter says to his colleagues as they discuss the civil unrest in Gwangju, South Korea. He craves an interesting story, a chance to uncover a hidden truth to the world so when he hears about what’s happening there, he knows he must go….
Project Itoh’s Genocidal Organ
A word, a whisper in a general’s ear, and just like that a nation will descend into chaos. Neighbour against neighbour, brother against brother, indiscriminate violence to the point where even the leaders forget exactly how it all began. How can something like this happen? And can it really be the work of one man?…
Okja Review
There is no doubt that Bong Joon-ho is a visionary filmmaker. And with six features under his belt (Snowpiercer, Mother, The Host, Memory of Murder, Barking Dogs Never Bite), including his newest production, the Netflix original Okja, there is no sign of him slowing down. Okja premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; it connects drama, family…
In Conversation with Mori Yoshitaka and Matsuyama Kenichi
This year’s Udine Far East Film Festival offered a great selection of truly excellent films, and among those, some packed an especially powerful emotional charge; in this grouping, there is no doubt that Satoshi: A Move for Tomorrow was among the very best. The film’s screening was accompanied by director Mori Yoshitaka, known best for his Space…
Satoshi: A Move for Tomorrow Review
In the Western cinematic scopes, we can find a number of chess-themed sports films and biopics, but there is a mere handful of productions that feature the Japanese cousin of the popular board game: shogi, known also as ‘Japanese chess’; a sport that has, since its 16th century beginnings, evolved into one of the most…
I Am Not Madame Bovary Review
David vs. Goliath seems to be the theme shrouding Feng Xiaogang’s newest feature, I Am Not Madame Bovary – there had been a lot of talk on what seemed to had been more than just a spat between the film director and the largest Chinese cinema chain, Wanda Cinema Line, who, at least according to…
19th Far East Film Festival: Close-Knit
Tomo has been abandoned by her mother, again. While this isn’t the first time it’s happened, and her mother has been more-or-less an absent parent since day one, it still hurts. Unable to live on her own, the eleven-year-old seeks refuge with her uncle Makio. He gladly accepts but he doesn’t live alone anymore, he…
19th Far East Film Festival: Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High
Teiichi wants to create his own empire. How’s that possible, you may ask? Well, by controlling the student council at his elite high school, of course. If he can run the school then Teiichi’s a shoe in for a prestigious government position, and from there he can even become Prime Minister. With his father’s broken…
