What motivates acts of betrayal and revenge, two of cinema’s favourite subjects that have been characterised in popular culture in various ways? There is no direct answer to that, but it seems like the attempts to illustrate them as destructive powers had worked out sufficiently thus far. The theme of revenge became somewhat of a speciality…
The 12th London Korean Film Festival: The Outlaws Review
Gangster themes have been featured in South Korean cinema since the 1970’s, but they only became popular in the early 1990’s. Various productions ‘promoted’ the image of an ‘honourable’ mobster; however, in the past decade or so, films took on a more vicious approach to the subject matter; they became more brutal, with homicides and…
The 12th London Korean Film Festival: In Conversation with Kang Yoon-sung, Director of ‘The Outlaws’
Kang Yoon-sung was once an actor with a single credit under his name. He himself stated “I knew I had no talent in acting” – and one could say thank god for that, since because of it, Korean cinema gained a talented writer and film director, whose debut feature conquered both domestic and overseas markets….
The 12th London Korean Film Festival: Jamsil Review
Lee Wan-min is a young South Korean filmmaker. She directed several shorts, including Chima (2006), Mensrea (2008), Sang (2009) and Mock or Die (2010), and in 2016, she presented her first feature, Jamsil (2016), which she both wrote and directed, at the 21st Busan International Film Festival; this year, the film was screened in the Women’s…
The 12th London Korean Film Festival: In Conversation with Lee Wan-min and Kim Sae-byuk
Lee Wan-min is a young South Korean film director; after directing several shorts, including Chima (2006), Mensrea (2008), Sang (2009) and Mock or Die (2010), she presented her first feature, Jamsil (2016), for the first time to the audience at the 21st Busan International Film Festival last year; the film was also screened in the Women’s Voices strand…
Blade Runner 2049 Review
35 years ago, Ridley Scott released Blade Runner, a film that eventually marked a major spot in film history, even though its future did not seem bright back in 1982 – the futuristic, neo-noir sci-fi film flopped on all levels and found itself drowned in harsh criticism that was only dispelled a decade later, with…
The 12th London Korean Film Festival: Master Review
In the world where corruption and scams have become a multilevel maze, it is hard not to notice that the contemporary film industry started making more films that expose the current state of the world’s society, including politics, juridical system and commercial establishments. South Korean cinema is one of those tools that bring the aforementioned…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival: The Mimic Review
In 2013, Huh Jung’s feature directorial debut Hide and Seek was up against blockbusters such as The Terror Live, Flu and Snowpiercer, and no one expected that the low-budget thriller would on the domestic South Korean market become a hit alongside the three aforementioned productions. 4 years later, Huh Jung is back with The Mimic and it is as…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival: V.I.P Review
Park Hoon-jung, a South Korean filmmaker, has – thanks to his distinctive and thoughtful writing style – attracted a vast number of international and domestic viewers to Kim Jee-woon’s I Saw the Devil and Ryoo Seung-wan’s The Unjust. His directing skills then allowed him to make New World, an intriguing film and one of the most gripping Korean gangster productions…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival: Anarchist from Colony Review
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…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 