2008 Film Festivals
London Film Festival
15 -30 October 2008
The London Film Festival is back again and it has got its far share of Korean films. The most notable inclusion is Kim Ji-woon's latest, The Good, The Bad, The Weird - this will be the UK premiere. Fans of Hong Sang-soo will be delighted with the screening of Night and Day and those who like Bong Joon-ho will be chuffed to see that his latest short (Tokyo!) is included in the festival. Also included is Hansal and Gretal directed by Yim Phil-sung.
Booking channels open on Saturday 27 September via the website, phone, post and you can book in person. More details are available here. If you become a BFI (British Film Institute) member, you can book now.
Here is some information on the films
The Good, The Bad, The Weird 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈
Screening Times: Thursday 30 October 12.45 Odeon West End 2
Thursday 30 October 20:45 Odeon West End 2
Director: Kim Ji-woon (김지운)
Starring: Song Kang-ho (송강호), Lee Byeong-Heon (이병헌) & Jeong Woo-seong (정우성)
Running Time: 139 min
Korean Release Date: 17/07/08
Korean Distributor: CJ Entertainment
UK Distributor: Icon Film Distributor
We're in Japanese-occupied Manchuria in the 1930s, and the MacGuffin is a treasure map. Everyone wants it: Chang-Yi, leader of a bandit gang, who's hired to seize it from a train across the plains; his nemesis, the bounty-hunter Do-Weon; and the accident-prone train robber Tae-Gu, who seems to have a charmed life; not to mention the Japanese army, émigré Korean freedom-fighters and assorted Chinese bandits. But MacGuffin it is, because the meat of Kim Jee-Woon's tribute to Sergio Leone is in the virtually non-stop action – and in the shifting balance of power between the three main characters, played by Korea's top male stars.
Kim has been exploring different genres since he launched his career a decade ago (he's done black comedy, social comedy-drama, psycho-horror and a gangster movie) and he's loaded this extravaganza with everything he loves about Italian Westerns, from three-way duels to opium dens. It's a measure of his smarts that all three 'heroes' are capable of goodness, badness and weirdness interchangeably. It's been the hit of the year in Korea, and here's betting you'll find it a blast too.
Tony Rayns (From LFF website)
Night and Day (밤과 낮)
Screening Times: 28 October 20:30 NFT2
Screening Times: 29 October 13:00 NFT2
Director: Hong Sang-soo (홍상수)
Starring: Kim Yeong-ho (김영호), Hwang Soo-jeong (황수정), Park Eun-hye (박은혜) & Ki Joo-bong (기주봉)
Running time: 144 min
Korean Release Date: 28/02/2008
Synposis
The first film Hong Sang-Soo has shot substantially outside Korea, Night and Day turns less on tricks and traps of structure than his other movies but finds just as much humour in patterns of repetition and variation. It's presented as a kind of diary. Middle-aged painter Kim Sung-Nam fetches up in Paris, paranoid that he was about to be arrested for smoking dope in Korea. Unable to speak French, he lodges in a fairly seedy hostel for Korean émigrés in the 14th arrondissement and wanders aimlessly around the city, periodically calling his wife back in Seoul.
On the rebound from a disconcerting encounter with a needy ex-girlfriend (now unhappily married and eager to pick up where they left off), he runs into a Korean art-student and her alluring flatmate and finds himself falling in love… Eric Rohmer's name has been bandied about as a point of reference, but this is actually pure Hong Sang-Soo: a very amusing deconstruction of male pride, male inadequacy and the male capacity for projecting hapless fantasies on to more or less innocent women. Not a reinvention, then, but a thoroughgoing refreshment of Hong's characteristic themes.
Tony Rayns (from LFF website)
Hansel and Gretel (헨젤과 그레텔)
Screenings: Friday 24 October 2008 14:00 NFT1
Saturday 25 October 2008 23:00 Odeon West End 1
Director: Lim Pil-seong (임필성)
Starring: Cheon Jeong-myeong (천정명), Eun Won-jae (은원재), Sim Eun-kyeong (심은경) & Jin Ji-hee (진지희)
Running Time: 116 min
Korean Release Date: 27/12/2007
Synopsis
Lee Eun-Soo, a callow young man with an oddly feminine name, is driving along a forest road and on the phone to his pregnant girlfriend when he swerves to avoid roadkill and crashes. Dazed, he's rescued by a mysteriously serene girl who brings him to the "House of Happy Children" in the heart of the forest. He's made very welcome for the night by the owners (an adult couple and their three children), and is only mildly disconcerted that his cellphone doesn't connect and that the housephone is out of order.
Next day, though, when he tries to find his way back to his car, he finds himself trapped in a heavily wooded version of the Bermuda Triangle … Second-time director Yim Phil-Sung (he's a friend of Bong Joon-Ho and played a small role in The Host) delivers a grown-up re-reading of fairy tales to rival Angela Carter's, complete with childish tantrums that have demonic consequences. There are several horror-movie shocks, but the film's great strength is Yim's ability to render conceptual mysteries in sinister, dream-like images. Sudden snowfall has never been creepier.
Tony Rayns (from LFF website)
Tokyo!
Screening Times: Saturday 18 October 2008 Odeon West End 1
Tuesday 21 October 2008 Odeon West End 2
Directors: Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Bong Joon-Ho
Starring: Ryo Kase, Denis Lavant, Teruyuki Kagawa
Running Time: 107 min
UK Distrbutor: Optimum Releasing
Synopsis
Omnibus films are uneven almost by definition, but the idea of letting one Korean and two French directors loose in Tokyo was a pretty good one. Michel Gondry, working with Gabrielle Bell on the story she originally set in New York, starts out in sitcom territory: a randy young 'artist' and his girlfriend arrive in Tokyo on a very rainy night and soon face the challenge of finding places to live and park the car. But the episode delicately mutates into something darker: a surreal allegory of the collapse of the girl's confidence and sense of self-worth.
Bong Joon-Ho (director of Memories of Murder and The Host) focuses on two quintessentially Japanese phenomena – earthquakes and hikikomori, those individuals who lead 'shut-in' lives, shunning human contact – to construct a wonderfully original love story. A young man who never leaves his anally retentive home makes his first eye-contact in eleven years with the strange young woman who delivers his pizza one Saturday. Finding her again entails summoning up the courage to venture out on to the mysteriously empty streets of the city… Not exactly a primer in Japanese studies, but tremors of desire will never seem the same again.
Tony Rayns (from LFF website)
Source: London Film Festival website
The Asia House
Festival of Asian Film 2008
22 - 28 August 2008
In its first year, Asia House are delighted to host the 'Asia House Festival of Asian Film.' It is great news for Asian film fans, since they are screening 5 films in total: 881 (Singapore), Seven Days (South Korea), Night Bus (Iran), The Photograph (Indonesia) and Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon (China).
Seven Days (세븐 데이즈), which will be screened on 23 August at 6.30pm is a fairly recent release - it was released in Korea in November last year and made over 2 million admissions, which is not bad at all. This was probably aided by the star profile of Kim Yun-jin who returned to Korea to shoot the film. Many, if not everybody who has a TV will recognise her from the U.S hit TV series Lost.I have reviewed Seven Days here, so please have a look!
This screening does clash with the Frightfest screening of The Chaser, so given The Chaser will see a theatrical release in September, it is probably a wise move to go to this screening. That said, however, Icon Film Dsitribution UK do hold the rights for this film and I am not sure whether this screening will be in aid of promoting the film prior to a DVD release or for a theatrical run. I will let you know as soon as I find out.
Here is some info on the film and screening.
Seven Days 세븐 데이즈
Date and Time of screening: Saturday 23 August, 6.30pm.
Venue: Renoir Cinema, The Brunswick, London, WC1N 1AW
Nearest Tube: Russell Square
Ticket bookings: Please call 0871 7033 991 or visit www.curzoncinemas.com
Director: Won Sin-yeon (원신연)
Starring: Kim Yoon-jin (김윤진), Kim Mi-Sook (김미숙), Park Hee-soon (박희순), Choi Myeong-su (최명수) & Jang Hang-seon (장항선)
Running Time: 125 min
Korean Release Date: 14/11/2007
Number of Korean Admissions: 2,020,310 admissions (as of 23/12/2007)
Synopsis
Ji-yeon is a successful lawyer and single mother to a seven-year-old girl. On her daughter’s field day, Ji-yeon competes with other parents in a running race and almost comes in the first place. However, nowhere could she find the girl who’s been watching and rooting for her mother to win. Later that day, Ji-yeon’s receives a phone call from an anonymous man, who tells her he has her daughter in custody and proposes a deal. To see her daughter alive, Ji-yeon needs to prove a convicted murderer not guilty on his second trial, only within a week. Ji-yeon tries to convince herself the murderer should be innocent, but the encounter with the victim’s mother makes her understand what drove crime-to-crime.
For more info, please click here
Edinburgh Film Festival
18 -29 June 2008
Edinburgh Film Festival has become well known for its exhibition of Korean films. Last year saw the UK premiere of Park Chan-wook's I'm a Cyborg, the year before saw the premiere of The Host by Bong Joon-ho. Both directors went to Edinburgh to answer questions. This year the festival has moved from August to June, so it doesn't clash with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which attracts thousands of people each year. As a result, it makes it easier to get ot Edinburgh for a cheaper price and find a cheaper hotel - good news all round really...
Edinburgh has a strong history of combining art house features with more commerical titles; this year is no exception. The commerical title for this year is Cadaver and its art house features are as follows: Life Track, Milky Way Liberation Front and With a Girl of Black Soil. There is also a short animation on show, THe Mouse Trap, which is part of the International Ainmation programme.
Film Information, Times and short analysis
Cadaver (해부학교실)
Director: Son Tae-woong (손태웅) aka Derek Son
Starring: Han Ji-min (한지민), Oh Tae-kyeong (오태경), On Joo-wan (온주완) & Jo Min-ki (조민기)
Running Time: 107 mins
Korean Release Date: 15/07/2007
Korean Distributors: ChungEoRahm, M &FC Co
Number of Korean Admissions: 542,403 (as of 22/07/2007)
Synopsis
A group of medical students approach their first autopsy class -but there’s something very strange about one of the bodies, and only their stern professor seems to know what’s happening. With an ominous atmosphere rivalling that of the original Dark Water, and an energetic style echoing Battle Royale, this ghostly tale of subterfuge and intrigue -featuring disappearing corpses, murderous zombies and a whodunnit plot that transcends death – is a must for fright fans. (from Edinburgh Film Festival website)
Date and Times of screening
Mon 23 June, 22:00 Cameo 1
Fri, 27 June, 23:00 Cameo 1
BOOK TICKETS HERE
Analysis
It is the director's first feature film, so there is no other mainstream work to judge him by, other than two short films he made (Pen-case Free-fall Test and The Love of Grape Seeds), which he made in 1996 and 1994, respectively. He is very good friends with Bong joon-ho as studied with him at the Korean Academy of Arts in 1995 and also co-wrote the script to Bong's first film, Barking Dogs Never Bite, so he certainly has some talent. However the film itself didn't perform well in the box office in Korea - it disappeared out of the top 10 after two weeks, but Koreans are becoming more difficult to please, not least with horror films, which is why there is no Korean horror season this year. But from the tailer, it certainly looks like a compelling horror, even if a bit to familiar, so if this takes you fancy, don't let any criticism stop you.
Life Track
Director: Jin Guang-ho (Korean name: Kim Kwang-ho)
Starring: Chui Jing-hu, Jang So-yeon
Running time: 99 mins
Synopsis
Quiet, beguiling, timeless, this Chinese/Korean co-production unspools like an elegant minimalist painting. Xiangshu, a disabled man who lives alone and has formed extraordinary coping structures for his physical limitations, is forced to re-enter the world when a young woman on the run takes refuge on his land. With its amazing photography and unconventional but compelling characters, this is a most unusual depiction of friendship and responsibility (from Edinburgh Film Festival website).
Date and Times of screening
Mon 23 June, 20:15 Filmhouse 3
Fri, 25 June, 19:15 Filmhouse 3
BOOK TICKETS HERE
Analysis
It won support from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) in the form of Post-production support and production support for Low Budget films for Overseas Koreans and as a result was screened at the Pusan International Film Festival in 2007 part of the New Currents season. With only a budget of $165,000, its striking cinematography will make it favouarble amongst audiences, but the reviews it has recieved have been relatively poor due to its slow and seemingly lifeless plot despite impressive performances from the unprofessional actor/actress. But this Mandarin film made by Chinese Koreans is certainly something that it worth a look for its cultural value and stylistic appeal.
Milky Way Liberation Front (은하해방전선)
Director: Yoon Seong-ho (윤성호),
Starring: Lim Ji-gyoo (임지규), Park Hyeok-kwon (박혁권) & Seo Yeong-joo (서영주)
Running Time: 85 mins
Korean Release Date (selected cinemas): 29/11/2007
Number of Korean Admissions: 4,313 (as of 08/06/2008)
Synopsis
Fledgling scriptwriter Ryu Young-Jae is being pressured by his director to write an arthouse film "like an Eric Rohmer". Ryu, on the other hand, prefers his own idee fixe: a yarn about an aphasiac bodyguard's love for a Siamese twin. Something has just got to give... With a self-awareness not found often in South Korean cinema, this is as funny, smart, and sassy as a film can be about filmmaking. Lights! Camera! Action! Meltdown?
Date and Times of screening
Thu 19 June, 20:00 Filmhouse 2
Thu 26 June, 15:00, Filmhouse 2
BOOK TICKETS HERE
Analysis
Shot on HD, I would say this is probably the most advertising film of the festival, It has received solid reviews across the board and the fact that it is still making money in Korea 6 months since its release is a sure sign that there is something in this film that is special. Its reflexive appeal looks quirky and intelligent; it is probably one of finest Korean independent features of the year!
With a Girl of Black Soil (검은 땅의 소녀와)
Director: Jeon Soo-il (전수일)
Starring: Yoo Yeon-mi (유연미), Park Hyeon-woo (박현우), Jo Yeong-jin (조영진) & Yoo Soon-cheol (유순철)
Running Time: 97 mins
Korean Release Date: 15/11/2007
Synopsis
While nine year old Yeonglim minds her mentally handicapped brother, her exminer father struggles to cope with the loss of his job, and a lack of compensation. Setting Truffaut’s respect for a child’s interiority within the landscapes and silences of South Korea’s economically dispossessed, Sooil’s film stands as a startlingly poetic exfoliation of South Korea’s perceived prosperity. A formal beauty as crisp as onyx in Inchon’s sunlight.
Date and Times of screening
Mon 23 June, 19:45 Filmhouse 2
Tue 24 June, 19:00, Filmhouse 3
BOOK TICKETS HERE
Analysis
Not as well recieved as Milky Way Liberation Front due to its arty focus and lack of dramatic appeal, but its beautiful cinematography and challenging subject matter are just a couple of reasons to put this on your list to watch. It was also screened at the Venice Film Festival and the director's other work has frequently appeared on the festival circuit - his first film Wind Echoing in My Being was screened in the Un Certain Regard Section of the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. Director Jeon Soo-il is currently a professor at the Department of theatre and Film at Kyungsung University of Pusan and given the film was co-produced with French, this is likely to have an intellectual touch.
The Mouse Trap (쥐덪)
Director: Han Woon (한운)
Running Time: 6 min 14 secs
Synopsis
A man is like a mousetrap and the city is like a minefield (sourced from Korean Film 2007, KOFIC).
It is running part of the Interantional Animation programme 1 (73 mins), which the Edinburgh Film Festival summarises as follows:
This year sees Russian work continuing to confound the fashion for 3D modelling with more beautiful painterly films; and France showing its support for short animation with many serious topics delivered with characteristic chic.
Date and Times of screening
Mon 23 June, 14:00 Filmhouse 3
Tue 24 June, 21:15, Filmhouse 3
BOOK TICKETS HERE
Analysis
Unfortunately, there is very little written about this film, but Korean animations have always faired well in competitions (just look at Cannes - Stop by Park Jae-ok won the 3rd Prize Cinefondaton Ex-aequo), so I wouldn't just ignore this film, just because it is only 6 minutes long and part of a longer animation programme. The Mouse Trap has travelled far and wide to various film festivals all over the world from Madrid to Brazil, so there is quite alot of interest.
For more information regarding the Edinburgh FIlm Festival and the Korean films on show, please go to their website.