Body- and identity-swaps have been explored by Hollywood since the 1970’s; unfortunately, most of those films are just wacky comedies. Unexpectedly, Asian cinema has been keeping up with this trend of the la la land and has produced a few worthy productions, including the Japanese Key of Life by Kenji Uchida (Weekend Blues, A Stranger of…
Hong Ji-young’s Will You Be There?
Surprisingly, last year was fairly fruitful for the female filmmakers in South Korea. Most of their films – perhaps slightly unappreciated by the mainstream cinema critics – have been cherished by many film goers. One of those films is Will You Be There?, the first adaptation of Guillaume Musso’s 2006 bestselling novel with the same…
Damien Chazelle’s La La Land
“City of stars – Are you shining just for me?” There are two main artistic centres in the once “promised” land of USA; we could say that one is the city of dreams, while the other is the city of stars – and in both, you probably have to be at least a bit “la…
Missing Review
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…
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…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 