After a lengthy hiatus, Lee Eon-hie finally grabbed a pen and paper – as well as camera – and created (with some help from Hong Eun-mi) her first thriller Missing, which features two well-known Korean actresses: Uhm Ji-won (Master, The Silenced, Wish) and Kong Hyo-jin (Single Rider, Boomerang Family, Crush and Blush). Missing depicts a story…
Category: Film
In Conversation with Kristof Deak
There is a high possibility that in a little under a week, the first Hungarian short film in over fifty years will find itself on the list of the prestigious Academy Awards nominations – Sing (also Mindenki), the excellent 25-minute short about the competitive world of children’s choirs that is based on a true story…
A Monster Calls Review
I have to admit that the Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona wrung almost everything he possibly could from Patrick Ness’ fantasy novel A Monster Calls. Even though the novel is short, it is very rich in content; and that is what the audience gets to see on the big screen: the filmmaker serves the viewers…
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
It has been 45 years since in 1971, George Lucas conceived an idea for a space fantasy film that has in the following years taken on many a transformation – at first, it was supposed to be a feature set in the Flash Gordon universe – and has undergone several treatments, before it finally found…
In Conversation with Maude Hirst of ‘Vikings’
Maude Hirst, the daughter of Michael Hirst – a screenwriter and producer (Elizabeth, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Tudors, Vikings) – started her acting career with the role of Sophie in 2008’s Crush and Curry, a fast-paced comedy drama which was followed by 2009’s Nuryan, where she portrayed Ellie. From 2008 to 2010, Maude played…
Moana Review
Disney’s animations, alongside Marvel’s unputdownable films, have dominated the big screen for years; nevertheless, it is Disney’s productions that I find more appealing. Disney’s films are simply meant for everyone, and that’s how the new work from Ron Clements and John Musker comes through; Moana is full of humour, action, great pace and sheer adventure; the…
Ben Younger’s Bleed for This
The 21st Busan International Film Festival served us this year with a multitude of great Asian films and with several amazing Western film creations, among which Bleed For This, written and directed by Ben Younger, perhaps stood out the most – not only because Ben Younger himself attended the festival, along with his two all-star…
In Conversation with Baek Yoon-sik
Baek Yoon-sik is a South Korean actor who first made a name for himself in the 1970’s as a film and TV actor, but then focused solely on his TV career – until 2003 when he decided to take a role in the now cult film Save the Green Planet – his film career got…
A Hundred Streets Review
In 1777, an English writer Samuel Johnson wrote: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” And surely he was right. The UK’s capital has always been full of life as well as diverse in every aspect of its existence. Jim O’Hanlon set his debut feature – A Hundred Streets – against London’s…
The 11th London Korean Film Festival: Alone
Imagine yourself waking up in a nightmare, a nightmare that you can not escape; what would you do? Park Hong-min’s Alone traps his key character Su-min (Lee Ju-won) in the endless ephialtes which occur in silent, hovel and labyrinthine alleys. Su-min, an avid photographer, captures on his camera – while taking pictures from his apartment’s roof…
The 11th London Korean Film Festival: Breathing Underwater
On the gorgeous Korean islands of Jeju and Udo (and the surrounding islets of Jeju province), almost every day, over 4000 women risk their lives to challenge the sea in order to bring out its treasures – sea urchin, conch, algae, octopus, and the highly treasured abalone. They are called haenyo – sea women – and…
In Conversation with Cho Hyun-hoon, director of ‘Jane’
Cho Hyun-hoon’s professional voyage into filmmaking started when his short film Metamorphosis got invited to Busan Asian Short Film Festival in 2007. In 2013, another short film of his, The Mother’s Family, was invited to Indie Forum Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival; the short was relatively successful; it won the Acting Award during Busan International Short…
The Net (그물) Review
Kim Ki-duk. You either dislike him or admire him for his extraordinary – and every so often, repulsive – filmmaking. That said, no matter what subject matter he tackles, he always finds an appreciative audience. Despite his lack of formal education, he has become one of the most prominent film directors of modern cinema; and…
The 11th London Korean Film Festival: In Conversation with Jung Woo-sung & Kim Sung-soo
During this year’s London Korean Film Festival, we had a chance to meet and interview- along with MyM, Hangul Celluloid- Kim Sung-soo and Jung Woo-sung. Hangul Celluloid: You’re here promoting Asura: The City of Madness, your latest film, why did you decide to set it in a fictional city rather than in a normal Korean…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 