Jung Ryeo-won never really thought of becoming an actress, but fate had other ideas. Korean-Australian Ryeo-won spent her teenage years in Australia, where she graduated from Griffith University with a major in International Business. One day, while visiting Korea, she was picked by a talent agent and relatively quickly became a part of a K-pop…
Category: General
Netflix’s “Little Women” – In Conversation with Park Ji-hu and Nam Ji-hyun
Little Women is Korean drama at its best. While we can all agree that 2022 was an extraordinary year for female-based K-dramas, this 12-episode show is a true gem produced by the renowned Studio Dragon. The title, Little Women, has tricked many into considering it a mere adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same…
“I had such good help on this project. I feel incredibly blessed.” – In Conversation with Christine Ko, Director of “The Woman in the White Car”
Although there has been some visible progress over the past few years, female filmmakers still remain largely unseen either in front of the camera or behind it. While pushing through a world that is dominated by men, female filmmakers have shown that there are still countless stories to tell, stories that the opposite gender might…
17th London Korean Film Festival: “Stellar: A Magical Ride” Review
There’s something inherently comforting about the road trip movie. Always following the same narrative formula, with little room to innovate due to its constraints, a film within this subgenre is always about a journey both literal and metaphorical – the lead character experiencing emotional growth, whilst ticking off all the expected beats you’d expect on…
17th London Korean Film Festival: “Alienoid” Review
Some films require patience to watch and some require energy. Writer-director Choi Dong-hoon’s Alienoid belongs to the latter camp for its hyperactivity. An ambitious mashup of multiple genres – sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, action, thriller, you name it – Choi’s sixth feature is, in a sense, a culmination of his filmography and much more. Alienoid does…
7th London East Asia Film Festival: In Conversation with Kim Se-in, Director of “The Apartment with Two Women”
Kim Se-in, a South Korean filmmaker, began her journey in the film industry as a screenplay writer and editor. She directed a few shorts, including Hamster (2016), Playing with Fire (2018), and Container (2018). Kim’s feature debut, The Apartment with Two Women, received its world premiere at last year’s Busan International Film Festival and had…
7th London East Asia Film Festival: 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…
66th BFI London Film Festival: “The Woman in the White Car” Review
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),…
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 fans are the 11th member of Golden Child, and we don’t [and wouldn’t] exist without them” – In Conversation with Golden Child, a K-Pop Idol Group
Golden Child distinguish themselves by their musical variety. Although they represent K-pop in its pure form, the group finds it easy to combine the genre with funk, disco, and electronic sounds. Visually, when it comes to their music videos, the group values simplistic aesthetics blended with satisfying choreography instead of the flashy, complex music videos…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 