In South Korea, Hwang Jung-min is a member of the so-called ‘100 Million Viewer Club’. He starred in 2 od the 5 highest domestic grossing films in South Korea (Ode to my Father and Veteran) of all time and it is safe to label him as one of the Big Three; alongside Song Kang-ho and Ryu Seung-ryong, he…
20th Udine Far East Film Festival: The Blood of Wolves Review
Yakuza films, as a genre, have evolved exponentially since they first emerged in the silent movie era of the Japanese film industry. Initially depicted as sympathetic Robin Hood-like characters who were forced to live their lives as outlaws, it wasn’t until the 1970s that the violent, brutish image of Yakuza as we know it came…
20th Udine Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Lee Jang-hoon, Director of ‘Be With You’
The volunteers at the 20th Udine Far East Film festival looked in wonder as the doors of the main Teatro Udine theatre opened on Friday night – and half of the visitors came out either red-eyed, wiping their eyes or still quietly sobbing. That was the effect of Be With You, the Korean adaptation of the…
20th Udine Far East Film Festival: Be With You Review
The novels of Takuji Ichikawa are well known to numerous book lovers. His bestselling works have been adapted for the Japanese silver screen a couple of times; Be With You in 2004 by Nobuhiro Doi, and Heavenly Forest in 2006 by Takehiko Shinjo. The film adaptation of Be With You became a huge commercial success with its imaginative, beautiful and emotional love story…
20th Udine Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Jang Hang-jun, Director of ‘Forgotten’
On the second, scorching hot film festival day in Udine, the audience enthusiastically welcomed the chilling screening of Forgotten (which available also on Netflix), the film that took us for a ride in more ways than one. Only a day later, still not over the tale that gave us all a good scare even though it was…
20th Udine Far East Film Festival: Forgotten Review
Several screams pierced the air – and the girl next to me even lost her shoe – in the Teatro Nuovo theatre on the humid Sunday night screening at the 20th Udine Far East Film festival; the audience was completely immersed in a roller-coaster viewing one can only expect from a true-to-the-bone South Korean thriller….
20th Udine Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with Steel Rain’s Kwak Do-won, Jung Woo-sung and Yang Woo-suk
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 screened during the…
20th Udine Far East Film Festival: Little Forest Review
Reflection, a slow pace of life… and life, dictated by the four seasons, are themes, rarely depicted in Korean cinema; instead, more viewers are attracted to the adrenaline-packed productions, full of well-known actors. But 2018 marked a change of tide – the leading female “auteur of Korean New Wave cinema” Yim Soon-rye adopted Little Forest, the two-volume…
Love, Simon Review
The first thing that comes to mind when gay romance is thrown on the table is… tragedy. It strikes right of the bat to set the story up, or comes whirling out of a corner in the middle, or waits there at the end – or just soaks the entire story – because hey, gay…
Udine Far East Film Festival Reveals Its 20th Anniversary Edition Lineup
Today, a mere 9 days before the European audience finds its way to the little town in the Northeast Italy to explore the new and old jewels of Asian Cinema, Udine Far East Film Festival revealed its 2018 lineup. It was to be expected that the 20th anniversary edition of the festival would provide the…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 