The topic of a creative slowdown is popular among authors in all nooks and crannies of the creative dimension, since it is the ultimate “tiger” that prays upon the auteur world. With the tiger also being one of the strongest animal representations of Korea and its people, the layers of metaphor in the title of…
Tag: Korean Cinema
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival: Glass Garden Review
South Korean filmmaker Shin Su-won is one of those rare female Asian filmmakers that have managed to break through the male-dominated walls of the industry to not only get noticed, but acknowledged. Her debut, self-produced feature Passerby #3 managed to immediately snag both domestic and international attention – it even won the Best Asian-Middle Eastern Film…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival: In Conversation with Jeon Hye-jung, the Festival Director
Jeon Hye-jung – who was once a lecturer at a prestigious university in Korea with a background in performing arts – left South Korea many years ago and settled in London. At the beginning of her UK ‘adventure’, she took a position at London Korean Cultural Centre UK, heading government projects and festivals to promote…
The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival Programme Announced
Here it is, here it is, hear me jump with joy! The 2nd London East Asia Film Festival has announced its programme and it looks amazing! LEAFF’s successful previous edition has led to its second year, and the festival is getting more and more attention. The 2nd LEAFF will run from 19th to 29th of…
A Taxi Driver Review
“As a journalist, you shouldn’t be in a place that’s too comfortable,” German reporter Jürgen Hinzpeter says to his colleagues as they discuss the civil unrest in Gwangju, South Korea. He craves an interesting story, a chance to uncover a hidden truth to the world so when he hears about what’s happening there, he knows he must go….
Okja Review
There is no doubt that Bong Joon-ho is a visionary filmmaker. And with six features under his belt (Snowpiercer, Mother, The Host, Memory of Murder, Barking Dogs Never Bite), including his newest production, the Netflix original Okja, there is no sign of him slowing down. Okja premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; it connects drama, family…
19th Far East Film Festival: New Trial
Injustice, corruption, and oppression of the underprivileged are continuing topics in the South Korean motion pictures, but instead of focusing on the themes of personal vengeance, filmmakers often turn to common social issues to raise public awareness. 2000. In the southern city of Iksan, a 15-year-old boy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for…
The King Review
Jung Woo-sung. Jo In-sung. Ryu Jun-yeol. It’s hard to aim and miss with a bullet that is riding on the waves of these three audience-favourite names; and especially so when the shot is fired by Han Jae-rim, who both wrote and directed The King and who – following the success of his period drama The…
Lee Gae-byok’s Luck-Key
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…
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 Baek Yoon-sik
Baek Yoon-sik is a South Korean actor who first made a name for himself in the 1970’s as a film and TV actor, but then focused solely on his TV career – until 2003 when he decided to take a role in the now cult film Save the Green Planet – his film career got…
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…
VIEW OF THE ARTS 