In the current global political climate, dirty politicians seem to be abound; some even appear to have strong underground connections, so it comes as no surprise that these topics wound themselves into films – in Korean cinema, it appears to be the filmmaker’s favourite topic of the year, along with Japanese occupation era films. Much…
Tag: Korean Cinema
The 11th London Korean Film Festival: Asura- The City of Madness
In Indian mythology, Asura is a god or a demon. Kim Sung-soo’s new production by no means reveals his film’s characters as gods; on the contrary, they are a group of nefarious people, including an unscrupulous detective Ha Do-kyung (Jung Woo-sung: A Moment to Remember, Cold Eyes) and covetous mayor Park Sun-bae (Hwang Jung-min: The Wailing, Veteran). Asura: The…
The 11th London Korean Film Festival: The Truth Beneath (Opening Night)
Lee Kyoung-mi’s The Truth Beneath, a superb dark thriller, was the Opening Night film at this year’s London Korean Film Festival. Co-written by Park Chan-wook, The Truth Beneath takes the audience on a terrifying journey through the dirty corners of the world of politics and through the personal pain of the protagonist, Yeon-hong (Son Ye-jin)….
The 1st London East Asia Film Festival: The World of Us
As we grow up and get busy pretending that we are fully-fledged adults, we sometimes forget the trials and losses and gains that helped us grow and shaped us while we were growing up. Childhood is the era in one’s life when friends have as much influence as family – or even more; and it…
The 1st London East Asia Film Festival: Spirits’ Homecoming
The subject of ‘comfort women’ has always been a complex and uncomfortable one for the Japanese government. 40 years after the Second World War ended, Japan finally acknowledged that the country forced many Korean women and teenagers into military brothels. Sadly, for some people and the ‘comfort women’ in particular, this wasn’t seen as sincere apology….
The 1st London East Asia Film Festival: Tunnel
Hunger, thirst, anxiety, a struggle to save a man’s life and the craft of drinking urine are the highlights of Kim Seong-hun’s new film Tunnel. Previously known for his action-packed film Hard Day, the film director has decided to put his next protagonist in a collapsed tunnel, just to make his life more depressing. It all…
The 21st Busan International Film Festival: Jane
Jane – a film about Sohyun (Lee Min-ji), a runaway – is a 2016 feature debut from Cho Hyun-hoon. The director’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…
In Conversation with Lee Dong-eun, director of ‘In Between Seasons’
Lee Dong-eun started his career path as a student of economics and journalism who – like many others – had an idea for a story and a dream to become a filmmaker; unlike many others, he managed to make his dream into reality through hard work and by being unafraid to take the long road: “In Between…
The 21st Busan International Film Festival: In Between Seasons
Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) is divided into several sections; among these, the international competition “New Currents” section holds the most importance for the new and emerging Asian directors; each year, only the select promising directors with their first or at most second features can take part in the competition to win the prestigious New Currents…
The 21st Busan International Film Festival: The Age of Shadows
Kim Jee-woon is a natural-born filmmaker who, with his alluring script-writing, has never been afraid to tackle a new film genre. With eight feature films and six shorts under his belt, he has already gone down in film history as one of the most influential Korean directors. Kim Jee-woon had no formal training in filmmaking; he…
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