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…
Tag: film
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…
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…
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…
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…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 