Korean Film Review: Recent Episodes
Arirang Radio
Film critic Molly Kim recommends you two Korean films every week. She tells a brief story of the film with witty commentary and talks about the stars in it.
Writer: Molly Kim Producer: Goh Min-suk Edit producer: Cha Jun-mee
crime #drama #child abuse #Gong Yoo #Jung Yu-Mi #Kim Hyun-soo #Jeong In Seo #2011 #recorded in March, 2022
Gang In-ho, who is working to earn money for his daughter’s surgery, is appointed to a school for hearing-impaired children in Gwangju. But what he discovers there is an ugly truth; the children are being physically and sexually abused by their teachers. When he decides to fight for the children’s rights and expose the crimes, he teams up with human rights activist Seo Yu-Jin. But they soon realize the school’s principal and teachers, and even the police, prosecutors and churches in the community are actually trying to cover up the truth.
Silenced (Korean: 도가니; RR: Dogani) is based on events that took place at Gwangju Inwha School for the Deaf, where young deaf students were the victims of repeated sexual assaults by faculty members over a period of five years in the early 2000s. Depicting both the crimes and the court proceedings that led the teachers off with minimal punishment, the film sparked public outrage, which eventually resulted in a reopening of the investigations into the incidents. The demand for legislative reform eventually reaches its way to the National Assembly of South Korea, where a revised bill, dubbed the Dogani Bill, was passed in late October 2011 to abolish the statute of limitations for sex crimes against minors and the disabled.
drama #Youn Yuh Jung #Jeon Mu-Song #Yoon Kye-Sang #2016 #recorded in March, 2022
The story takes us through a few weeks in life of So Young (Youn Yuh Jung), an independent, spunky, and experienced ‘Bacchus Lady’ (an elderly prostitute who offers Korean energy drink Bacchus-F to potential clientele) in Seoul. One day, she happens across a young Filipino boy whose mother is arrested for assaulting a doctor for fathering her child and then abandoning them. Taking pity of the boy, So-young befriends and takes him under her wing. In the meantime, she meets a client who asks her for a strange favour: to help him commit suicide.
“The Bacchus Lady” is a film about those who have often been hidden away ad looked down upon in Korean society, particularly the elderly. Outside of the protective circle with whom she lives, she has to face down demeaning assignments. Set mostly in Beautifully maintained public parks, especially around Jungmyo Confucian Shrine in Jongno park and replete with shots of autumn leaves in their burnished splendor, the gorgeous mise-en-scene reinforces the paradox of Korea’s economic clout and her class disparity.
comedy #drama #Cho Eun-ji #Ryu Seung-ryong #Oh Na-ra #Kim Hie-won #2021 #recorded in February, 2022
Hyun is one of the most prominent writer since he published a very successful novel. However he has not written any book for seven years. One night, he meets Yoo-jin, a young aspiring writer, and he later reveals that he has had a crush on Hyun for years. Yoo-jin keeps approaching to Hyun as one of the students attending his college class, and Hyun does not know what to do about this tricky circumstance—especially after Yoo-jin gives him a short story too good to be ignored.
Deftly juggling its several plotlines, the movie smoothly moves back and forth between comedy and drama. We already get a pretty good idea of what will happen among several main characters, but we cannot help but tickled more and more thanks to the precise coming timing between the performers on the screen, and then there comes a payoff moment much more uproarious and hilarious than expected.
history #drama #Eom Yu-na #Yoo Hae-jin #Yoon Kye-sang #2019 #recorded in June, 2021
In 1941, when the use of the Japanese language was forced during the colonial rule era in Korean peninsula, Kim Pan-su(Yoo Hae-jin) gets a job running errands at the secret organization, the Korean Language Society despite being illiterate. Gradually, he realize that recording and preserving the Korean language is a crucial means to obtaining independence.
Eom Yu-na used to be a scriptwriter, she is know for her groundbreaking script, A Taxi Driver(2017) which presents a story about Gwangju Democratic Movement. This movie marks the young director’s successful transition from quality screenwriter to director.
comedy #drama #Lee Jae-kyu #Yoo Hae-jin #Cho Jin-woong #Lee Seo-jin #Yum Jung-ah #Kim Ji-soo #Song Ha-yoon #Yoon Kyung-ho #2018 #recorded in February, 2022
This is one of the several remake films of the 2016 Paolo Genovese’s film Perfect Strangers(Perfetti Sconosciuti). The story kicks off with seven longtime friends gathered together over a meal at a housewarming party. One of the friends suggests a game; everyone puts their mobile phones on the table, and each call is answered on speaker, whilst every alarm, email or test is read aloud. As the game progresses through the night, they find themselves in an unpredictable limbo as their secrets are spilled.
In a sense, the movie made me realize how much of a role a smartphone plays in our everyday life. Watching this show brought me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Would I watch this show again? For sure because this movie is the perfect marriage between comedy and drama.
gangster #crime #thriller #Kang Yun-sung #Ma Dong-seok(Don Lee) #Yoon Kye-sang # 2017 #recorded in February, 2022
Well known for its Chinese immigrants and foreign cultures, the Chinatown of Garibong-dong is a low-rent district outside Seoul. It’s also a breeding ground for both local and mainland Chinese gang activities. Detective Ma and his squad have the dreaded task of restoring peace and prevent bloodshed in this troublesome neighborhood.
Overall, The Outlaws is worth two hours viewing time, it’s very interesting, moves at a fast pace and is stylish filmed. The cinematography gives the back streets, seedy bars a life of their own. Don Lee is definitely the man to watch, he’s very lovable and hilarious despite his bulky physique. If you liked him in Train To Busan, you’ll love him here.
noir #drug war #Lee Hae-young #Cho Jin-woong #Kim Sung-ryoung #Ryu Jun-yeol #Kim Joo-hyuck #2018 #recorded in July, 2021
This is a noir film that deals with a drug war. It is a remake of a Hong Kong film, literally, Drug War directed by action maestro, Johnny To. Same as the original, the story follows a detective who poses as a drug dealer to score a major narcotics bust.
The director tries to reach the same existential conclusion as To’s film—everybody is a corrupt middleman, justice is a lie, and there’s no such thing as closure—by notably adding more twists, reversals of fortune, and character backstories.
A vicious Chinese-Korean drug boss is played memorably by Kim Joo-hyuck in his final role before his tragic death in October, 2017. “He is the most heated character, and it is impossible to know what his boiling point is. He makes the others nervous as he is impossible to predict,” said director Lee.
#lost generation #friendship #comedy noir #Kim Sung-soo #Jung Woo-sung #Lee Jung-jae #1999 #recorded in January, 2022
Simply become one of my favorite. The reason? Not only can I relate to the story and the characters, but every movie-making element is flawless. The acting is superb and the direction is worthy of a standing ovation.
Actor Lee Jung-jae was discovered by designer Ha Yong-soo while he was working at a cafe in the Gangnam district, then worked as a fashion model for a number of years. Upon making his acting debut with the 1993 TV drama Dinosaur Teacher, he became a star practically overnight, and was almost always cast in lead roles thereafter.
In September 2021, Lee starred as Seong Gi-hun, the main protagonist of Netflix’s hit survival drama Squid Game. Series creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk said he chose to cast Lee as Gi-hun as to ‘destroy his charismatic image portrayed in his previous roles.’
#mystery #horror #exorcism #Jang Jae-hyun #Kim Yun-seok #Gang Dong-won #Park So-dam #2015 #recorded in January, 2022
A young girl who belongs to Father Kim’s parish becomes comatose after a hit-and-run accident. Father Kim finds out she is possessed by an evil spirit. He along with a rebellious young seminarian named Choi try to exorcise the demon and confine it in a piglet.
The Priests is known to be the first-ever-commercial film in Korea to center on exorcism. Exorcism has long been a nonexistent theme in the Korean film scene. While the popularity of the horror genre itself is at stake in Korea, no brave filmmakers have dared to attempt the occult genre, which has long been the territory of Hollywood productions.
Director Jang Jae-hyun cleverly builds up suspense while mixing it up with mystery and a message about religion in Svaha: The Sixth Finger. It does have some solid moments and asks intriguing questions, so I won’t say it would be a waste of time to check it out.
history #drama #Eom Yu-na #Yoo Hae-jin #Yoon Kye-sang #2019 #recorded in June, 2021
In 1941, when the use of the Japanese language was forced during the colonial rule era in Korean peninsula, Kim Pan-su(Yoo Hae-jin) gets a job running errands at the secret organization, the Korean Language Society despite being illiterate. Gradually, he realize that recording and preserving the Korean language is a crucial means to obtaining independence.
Eom Yu-na used to be a scriptwriter, she is know for her groundbreaking script, A Taxi Driver(2017) which presents a story about Gwangju Democratic Movement. This movie marks the young director’s successful transition from quality screenwriter to director.
#drama #heart-warming #Lee Jung-hyang #Yoo Seung-ho #Kim Eul-bun #Dong hyo-hee #2002 #recorded in December, 2021
The film tells a heart-warming story about a grandmother and her city-born grandson who comes to live with her in a rural village.
Yoo Seung-ho rose to fame as a child actor in this film. Since then, he has starred as a child and teenager in many television series and movie films-legal drama Remember(2015), historical films The Magician(2015) and Seondal: The Man Who Sells the River(2016) as well as historical drama The Emperor: Owner of The Mask(2017), romance comedy series I Am Not a Robot(2017) and My Strange Hero(2018).
#crime #heist #Choi Dong-hoon #Lee Jung-jae #Gianna Jun #Kim Hae-sook #Kim Soo-hyun #Kim Hye-soo #Kim Yun-seok #Secretly Greatly #2012 #recorded in December, 2021
Popie, Yenicall, Chewingum and Zampano are a team of professional thieves in Korea. After they score a valuable antique vase, they are proposed from Macao Park to join a highly lucrative new job in Macau. All of them, including Macao Park’s ex-lover Pepsi unexpectedly, head off to Hong Kong, where another four Hong Kong thieves awaits for them.
In terms of the film’s plotting, it’s difficult to differentiate The Thieves from any other heist film. But director Choi along with scriptwriter Lee Gi-cheol collectively put together a dynamic script full of wit and energy.
Actress Kim Hye-soo was in awe when she first read the script, saying, “It was a product of great effort, genius ideas and a detail-oriented, calculative thought. I think he knows who he is, the exact kind of films that he wants to make, and how to make them. The Thieves proves it.”
#horror #mystery #exorcism #Na Hong-jin #Kwak Do-won #Hwang Jung-min #Chun Woo-hee #Kunimura Jun #Kim Hwan-hee #2016 #recorded in December, 2021
The Wailing is an expansive and often excruciating horror film. Na Hong-jin’s 2009 debut feature, the action thriller The Chaser, made a huge impression not least for its almost staggering flouting of genre convention. The Wailing, about demonic possession, is similarly uncompromising.
This film received universally positive reviews-‘operating on a level that makes most American cinema seem clunky and unimaginative,’ ‘By turns funny and despairing, this village noir brings the horror of uncertainty.’
Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, who lensed Na Hong-jin’s and several Bong Joon-ho’s works, shot extensively in natural light, yielding a dusky, mist-shrouded texture. He evokes a sense of obscurity by showing human figures and clues from afar, without closeups or sharp focus.
#drama #history #suicide #Lee Chang-dong #Seol Kyung-gu #Moon So-ri #Kim Yeo-jin #2000 #recorded in December, 2021
The film is a model of ‘national cinema,’ narrating the past 20 years of South Korean society through the saga of its main protagonist. Lee Chang-dong reminds his audience that the postwar history of military rule and repression cannot be so easily forgotten.
On the railroad, Young-ho screams, “I want to go back again!” His scream breaks through the deafening roar of an approaching train, and the film begins a journey from his suicide to the past.
This is Lee’s most formally innovative work. He based the film’s structure on Harold Pinter’s 1978 play Betrayal, which charts the dissolution of a marriage, beginning with the divorce. The scenes that follow, each going back in time, climax with some further indication of the already foretold disaster.
#drama #love #Lee Kyoung-mi #Kong Hyo-jin #Lee Jong-hyuk #Seo Woo #Miss Carrot #Family Ties #2008 #recorded in November, 2021
This is the feature film debut of director Lee Kyoung-mi, and also the first film produced by Park Chan-wook. She was Park’s assistant director for Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and is well-known for Netflix’s The School Nurse Files.
The character Mi-sook should be a hard character to be loved. Her character is profoundly unattractive because she has transformed herself over the years into a person who is so ground down by failure and disappointment. She insists to the world that being number one is for suckers. And still, I want to spend a couple of hours with this character.
In 2019, Kong Hyo-jin starred in romantic comedy film Crazy Romance and made her small-screen comeback in When the Camellia Blooms alongside Kang Ha-neul. Both hit commercial success, and solidified her position as a romantic comedy queen.
#political #crime #action #Woo Min-ho #Lee Byung-hun #Cho Seung-woo #Baek Yoon-sik #webtoon #The Man Standing Next #2015 #recorded in November, 2021
The film has very graphic scenes of violence, and high level of sexual representation that you might think is too much. But from my perspective, I thought it justified these scenes and choices through its plot.
Comparable with Ryoo Seung-wan’s The Unjust in its canny grasp of how the country’s venal social hierarchy thrives, Inside Men represents a classy example of the genre thanks to unpredictable character arcs and a judicious use of sex and violence in an otherwise talky and convoluted screenplay.
Inside Men represents a more raw, faithful, and ultimately poignant narrative than any other Korean political thrillers. Also, it is much more mature; a piece that’s not just entertaining, but also imbued with rich socio-political commentary and relevance.
#mystery #thriller #psychology #Lee Chang-dong #Yoo Ah-in #Jeon Jong-seo #Steven Yeun #Hong Gyeong-pyo #Murakami Haruki #2018 #recorded in November, 2021
The plot depicts a young deliveryman, Jong-su, who runs into his childhood friend, Hae-mi. They soon meet an enigmatic young man named Ben, who Jong-su becomes suspicious of and begins to believe Hae-mi is in danger.
This film has been widely regarded by several critics to be one of the best films of the 21st century, among with it being voted the all-time best Korean film by Korean Screen, with over 150 critics from 28 countries. Director Lee urges the viewers to explore the dark, unknown parts of our minds and to question whether every motive and behavior is just and ethical in the face of uncertainty.
Jeon Jong-seo started her acting career for Burning. She won the competition and landed the lead role at her very first audition. Director Lee said about her audition, “When I saw her, she seemed to have this very childlike sense of innocence, but at the same time, she carried this sense of duality—as if something much bigger was on the other side of that innocence.“
#animal #drama #adventure #Bong Joon-ho #Jon Ronson #An Seo-hyun #Byun Hee-bong #Steven Yeun #Tilda Swinton #Lily Collins #Choi Woo-shik #2017 #recorded in October, 2021
A Korean farm girl named Mija, an orphan, lives with her grandfather in a rainforest. Her constant companion is Okja, a pig with a soft pink belly and trusting eyes, which is one of the prototype pigs that the Mirando Corporation seeded the world with.
This is an international co-production of South Korea and the United States, and it stars an ensemble cast headed by Korean actors An Seo-hyun, Byun Hee-bong, and Choi Woo-shik, and Hollywood actors Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Shirley Henderson and Jake Gyllenhaal.
All the film’s many threads ultimately come back to questions of trust: what it means to keep or betray trust, whether there are circumstances where betrayal is necessary, and whether the trust between people is more meaningful than the one between human and animal.
#crime #gambler #manhwa(cartoon) #Choi Dong-hoon #Cho Seung-woo #Kim Hey-soo #Baek Yoon-sik #2006 #recorded in October, 2021
The film, arguably one of the best Korean motion pictures based on cartoons, is a film about gamblers. It boldly anatomizes and exposes the underworld of gamblers which seems to epitomize our greedy capitalist society. Director-cum-screenwriter Choi Dong-hoon weaves together all the characters and their stories in a seemingly effortless manner, showing his brilliance.
Cho Seung-woo is a screen and musical actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the films The Classic(2003), Malaton(2005), Inside Men(2015) as well as in the stage musicals Jekyll & Hyde, Hedwig And the Angry Inch, and Man of La Mancha.
Choi Dong-hoon is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He ranks as one of the most consistently successful directors working in contemporary Korean cinema, with all five of his films becoming commercial hits—The Big Swindle, Jeon Woochi: The Taoist Wizard, The Thieves, Assassination, and Tazza: The High Rollers.
#comedy #drama #radio #DJ #rock star #Lee Joon-ik #Park Joong-hoon #Ahn Sung-ki #The Book of Fish #2006 #recorded in October, 2021
Once a superstar with a music award on his belt, rocker Choi Gon now sings in a rundown cafe. His manager for more than 20 years, Min-soo makes a deal with the radio station producer to have Gon DJ at a remote radio station in the suburbs. Reluctant to work at first, Gon soon finds out that the little things matter the most, and his attitude towards his pal and manager Min-soo gradually changes.
Like King and the Clown, Lee Joon-ik wanted his next film to also be about the lives of outsiders, saying, “I think the tragedy of capitalist society is that so many people endlessly struggle to become part of the mainstream. I want to keep showing that those outside the mainstream of society can also be happy.“
Park Joong-hoon and Ahn Sung-ki had starred together in three previous films, namely, Chil-su And Man-su(1988), Two Cops(1993), Nowhere To Hide(1999). Ahn said, “If we did not sustain our 20-year friendship, we could not have done justice to the touching scenes in Radio Star.”
#space #Sci-Fi #humanoid #Jo Sung-hee #Kim Tae-ri #Song Joong-ki #Jin Seon-kyu #Yoo Hae-in #Hellbound #2021 #recorded in September, 2021
It’s 2092, and the earth is dying. The sky is full of dust, the soil is burned and acidic, and humanity is masked up and barely getting by. A massive conglomerate called UTS has developed a floating paradise in space. Terraforming and colonization of Mars is next, but many people live their lives as ‘sweepers,’ scavenging for space debris they can salvage for hard cash.
Song Joong-ki was first included in the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list in 2013. The success of his works internationally established him as a top Hallyu star and one of the highest-paid actors in Korea.
In 2016, Kim Tae-ri made her feature film debut in Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden, where she was chosen from 1,500 actresses who auditioned for the role. Park recounted his first impression of Kim reminded him strongly of his first meeting with actress Kang Hye-jeong, who had her career breakthrough in his 2003 film Oldboy.
#comedy #drama #webtoon #Choi Jeong-yeol #Ma Dong-seok(Don Lee) #Park Jeong-min #Jung Hae-in #The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil #2019 #recorded in September, 2021
The film traces out the struggle of two teens who throw aside all decorum and seek to make a new start of their own lives before their adolescence ends.
Ma Dong-seok’s signature humor and slapstick comedy, along with comical chemistry with Park Jeong-min, jazz up the onscreen atmosphere from the beginning as he looks just like a character springing out from a cartoon.
Ma’s role in the zombie film Train To Busan propelled him to international popularity. In 2019, he joined the cast of Eternals as Gilgamesh which is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, also marking his Hollywood debut.
#mystery #thriller #occult #Jang Jae-hyun #Lee Jung-jae #Park Jeong-min #Lee Jae-in #Lee David #2019 #recorded in September, 2021
Svaha starts off in 1999 with the birth of twin girls in a Korean village, one of whom turns out to be possessed by a demon. Paster Park is always looking to make money in running an independent organization that exposes religious cults and groups. Once he begins investigating a new religious group ‘Deer Hill,’ Park stumbles upon a conspiracy involving a series of killings.
The actors are the best part of this film apart from its well-researched material. Lee Jung-jae has an unbreakable star power to carry the movie. Park Jeong-min’s efficiency, complete with a dash of humanity definitely paved the road for bigger things like the hit movie, Time to Hunt.
#comedy #action #remake #Lee Gae-byok #Yoo Hae-jin #Lee Joon #Jo Yoon-hee #2016 #recorded in September, 2021
Hyung-wook is a contract killer with a 100% success rate. One day, he goes to a public bathhouse and slips on a soap bar. Waking up at a hospital, he can’t remember anything, even about himself. Jae-sung, a fledging actor, sees the accident at the same bathhouse, and pretends to be Hyung-wook by switching their locker keys. The two men adjust to their new lives. The twist is that Hyung-wook slowly regains his memories from his past, finds out that he is actually a killer.
Luck-Key was Yoo Hae-jin’s first film that he appeared as a leading role. In the beginning, he ran errands for the other actors which is common for new, young actors. They usually begin as an apprentice and he tried to copy what they did from a distance. Yoo began doing small roles in films and then he took supporting roles where he acquired a reputation as a scene stealer.
The Japanese original for Luck-Key, Key of Life was directed by Kenji Uchida. His theatrical feature film debut, A Stranger of Mine(2005), won four awards at the Cannes Film Festival, which I was very impressed with.
#satire #black comedy #assassination #Im Sang-soo #Han Seok-gyu #Song Jae-ho #2005 #recorded in August, 2021
The film is about the events leading to and the aftermath of the assassination of Park Chung-hee, then South Korean President, by his close friend and Korean Intelligence Agency director Kim Jae-gyu.
I like this film a lot. I know the film took a lot of risks and it paid its price for doing it, but I thought it was worthy. Before this film, we never had a film that specifically centers around this assassination, which I think is the important part of the history of contemporary Korea.
Im Sang-soo is actress Youn Yuh-jung’s favorite director. They did three films together, including The Taste of Money, The Housemaid, and A Good Lawyer’s Wife.
#crime #thriller #love triangle #Jung Ji-woo #Jeon Do-yeon #Choi Min-sik #Joo Jin-mo #1999 #recorded in August, 2021
Married Choi Bora is a successful career woman who becomes involved with her ex-lover. She is unable to stop going back to him even though she seems physically and emotionally damaged by their continued affair. One day, she abandons her infant just to see him and her husband decides to commit a perfect crime killing these two.
Choi Min-sik’s first real success came with his role of a North Korean agent in Swiri. In 2003, he starred in Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy, which made him popular not only in Korea but also won him international recognition.
Choi’s movies have been favorites at Cannes. The Cannes Film Festival awarded the Best Director Prize to Chihwaseon where he played a renowned Korean painter and granted the Grand Prix of the Jury to a bloody revenge epic Oldboy.
#mystery #suspense #alibi #Bang Eun-jin #Ryoo Seung-bum #Lee Yo-won #Cho Jin-woong #2012 #recorded in August, 2021
Adapted from Keigo Higashino’s novel The Devotion of Suspect X, it centers around a timid, yet very well mannered, mathematics teacher. He uses his genius mind in meticulously planning the perfect alibi for a woman, who killed her ex-husband.
The film received critical acclaim, especially for the performance of actors.
Known for his manic energy, Ryoo Seung-bum has cemented his status as one of Korea’s top actors. His older brother Ryoo Seung-wan shot his feature directorial debut Die Band starring Seung-bum, and the film became an instant cult hit, earning attention for the Ryoo brothers.
#crime #action #Byun Sung-hyun #Seol Kyung-gu #Yim Si-wan #2017 #recorded in July, 2021
This is a story about the loyalty and betrayal between an inmate leader and an undercover cop, who teams up to prosecute a gang.
Prior to its local release, the film has been pre-sold to 85 countries including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Australia, India, Taiwan, the Philippines and Singapore at the 2017 Hong Kong Film Market. A Japanese film distributor called the work ‘the best crime film from Korea in the past several years.’
The relationship between the two main characters and the emotions they show is the man focus of this movie. The director himself described this as a queer romance.
#comedy #action #chicken #Lee Byung-hun #Ryu Seung-ryong #Lee Ha-nee #Shin Ha-kyun #Kevin Hart #2019 #recorded in July, 2021
Captain Ko and his anti-narcotics team runs a chicken restaurant so that they could keep observing a gang. The only problem is that, at some point, the team has to stop turning away customers and actually sell chicken if they don’t want to blow their cover. The chicken they sell becomes the talk of the town and the restaurant gets so crowded that Ko’s team isn’t sure anymore whether they are still working an undercover job or just running a successful restaurant.
Ryu Seung-ryong(a main cast on the Netflix’s Kingdom) headlined Miracle in Cell No.7(2013), and starred in the film Extreme Job, which makes Ryu the first Korean to star in four movies that have drawn over 10 million viewers each.
#child abuse #violence #drama #Lee Ji-won #Han Ji-min #Kim Sia #Lee Hee-jun #2018 #recorded in July, 2021
The film follows a story of a woman who grew up abused and neglected, meets a little girl with similar past whom she is determined to save.
In a recent interview with Han Ji-min, she said she accepted the role because the film deals with the painful subject of child abuse but viewed it with a warm heart and solace.
The gritty, bleak content is supported by Kang Guk-hyun’s equally bleak yet beautiful cinematography, which gives the film a noir-ish look. The fantastic music, another strong high point of the film, by Mowg will tell you why he is one of the most in-demand composers in Korean cinema.
#thriller #history #truth #Jang Joon-hwan #Kim Yun-seok #Ha Jung-woo #Yoo Hae-jin #Kim Tae-ri #2017 #recorded in October, 2021
The film is based on a heroic real-life incident in June 1987, when people took to the streets for about 20 days to end the iron-fist rule of the military regime led by ex-president Chun Doo-hwan. It realistically documents one of the most dramatic chapters in modern Korean history while trying to find as much drama as possible in the story.
Another highlight of the movie is the lead actor Kim Yun-seok’s exceptional performance as Chief Park. In 2019, Kim made his directorial debut with Another Child, a family drama film. His latest film, Mogadishu was the biggest hit film of the year.
#action #crime #friendship #Ryoo Seung-wan #Jung Doo-hong #2006 #recorded in June, 2021
“Young Ryoo often went for the more kinetic and free-spirited action films from the Shaw Brothers canon. Watching Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master turned him into a lifelong fan, and Ryoo spent his youth building his knowledge of and love for Hong Kong-style action films.”
“Constantly innovating, Jung is the acknowledged creator of ‘Koreanized’ action, the rough-and-realistic Korean style of action and fight choreography.”
“If you are a fan of hard action film, this is a must. We played this film in four different regions in the US and there were great responses after the screening. I guarantee you this movie won’t disappoint you.”
#thriller #vengeance #Park Chan-wook #Lee Young-ae #Choi Min-sik #Blue Dragon Awards #2005 #recorded in June, 2021
“The film is the third and final installment in Park Chan-wook’s ‘Vengeance Trilogy,’ following Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance(2002) and Oldboy(2003).”
“Two versions of the film exist, the standard version and the ‘fade to black and white’ version. The latter version begins in full color, but throughout the film the color gradually fades until it is totally black and white at the end of the film.”
“Lee Young-ae stepped up as a character actor with this film. In 2000, she starred in the mystery thriller film Joint Security Area(JSA), which became the highest-grossing Korean film at that time.”
#drama #happiness #nomad #Jeon Go-woon #ESom #Ahn Jae-hong #2018 #recorded in June, 2021
“Mi-so, whose name in Korean means both ‘smile’ and ‘micro,’ lives in a small, one room, unheated house in Seoul. No matter how hard her life is, she never compromises her taste in cigarette and single malt whisky.”
“While Mi-so comes to us as a vivid, likable human character to watch, the other substantial characters in the movie are depicted with considerable humor and personality, and its main cast members are all wonderful in their respective roles.”
“Frankly speaking, I have often wondered whether South Korean movies are actually going downhill these days due to their serious lack of diversity, but there are still some excellent ones out there, and I can assure you that Microhabitat is one of such fabulous films.”
#romance #love #bittersweet #Hur Jin-ho #Lee Young-ae #Yoo Ji-tae #2001 #recorded in August, 2021
“The film is one of the most beloved romance films in Korea. This is another very quiet film by Hur about the relationship between two people. Like Christmas In August the director is such that excessive dialogue is unnecessary.”
“This film gave a birth to this famous phrase, ”Do you want to get some ramyeon?“ which implies ‘if you want to stay with me tonight’ in Korean culture. Later on, Hur Jin-ho directed April Snow(2005) and Happiness(2007) to complete the so-called ‘Ramyeon Trilogy’.”
“Yoo Ji-tae gained acting recognition by working with acclaimed directors such as Hur Jin-ho in One Fine Spring Day(2001), Park Chan-wook in Oldboy(2003), and Hong Sang-soo in Woman Is The Future Of Man(2004).”
#music #drama #Yim Soon-rye #Lee Eol #Park Hae-il #Hwang Jung-min #Ryoo Seung-bum #BIFF #2021 #recorded in May, 2021
“The film is set in the 1980s, and tells a story about a group of high school friends who form a band.”
“Waikiki Brothers established an important voice in Korean New Wave Cinema, one who would later be overlooked by canonizing texts in favor of her male peers like Hong Sang-soo and Park Chan-wook.”
“The film was sensational and received frenetic critical acclaims when it was first exposed at BIFF. It won NETPAC Award Special Mention, followed by numerous other awards including Best Director, 2001 Korean Association of Film Critics Award.”
#mystery #investigation #Park Ji-wan #Kim Hye-soo #Lee Jung-eun #Baeksang Arts Awards #2020 #recorded in March, 2021
“Lee Jung-eun, who took the impressive role of the housekeeper in the Oscar-winning Parasite, seems to know how to speak only with her eyes and face even though her character doesn’t say a word.”
“Kim Hye-soo is the most prolific actress and also known for her great personality and manners on the film set. How can we not love an actress with great talent, and also with great heart.”
“I want to emphasize the fact that this movie has a great ending. There is a big twist but it is a pleasant one.”
#crime #kidnapping #Veteran #Burning #Hong Eu-jeong #Yoo Ah-in #Yoo Jae-myung #Blue Dragon Awards #2020 #recorded in May, 2021
“Their job is to dispose of corpses and clean up crime scenes for an organized crime syndicate.”
“So rarely has there been a film so gentle and heart-warming that also so deeply challenges your sense of morality.”
“Yoo Ah-in is an outstanding actor. He plays a character with no lines. I think it must have been difficult to act even more so than speaking lines.”
#music #drama #history #Kim Hyun-seok #Kang Haneul #Jung Woo #Han Hyo-joo #2015 #recorded in April, 2021
“C’est si bong was an actual place. It was a legendary, real-life acoustic music lounge in the 1970s in Myeongdong, Seoul.”
“The film sets in the late 1960s. C’est Si Bong was the music lounge every unknown acoustic band dreamed of play, and where Korea’s leading folk musicians were born.”
“Kang Haneul began his career in musical theatre, notably in Thrill Me(2010), and later shifted to the screen, starring in the television dramas To the Beautiful You(2012), and Misaeng: Incomplete Life(2014).”
#drama #war #music #Vietnam #Lee Joon-ik #Soo Ae #Jung Jin-young #2008 #recorded in April, 2021
“As many newspaper articles have indicated, this is the first movie directly depicting the sweat of some 320,000 Korean soldiers that fought with American forces.”
“Lee Joon-ik mentioned in his interview that he made this film because ge wanted to show her-story from woman’s perspective you know instead of his-story.”
“He is one of the most prolific directors of Korea. He made a lot of historical films including ‘King and the Clown(2005),’ ‘The Throne(2015),’ ‘Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet(2016),’ and ‘The Book of Fish(2019).’”
comedy #music #high school #friends #Kang Hyeong-cheol #Shim Eun-kyung #Kang So-ra #Grand Bell Awards #2021 #recorded in April, 2021
“This film is about a middle-aged woman who tries to fulfill her friend’s dying wish of finding their old friends.”
“The superb use of 80s pop songs not merely furnishes the story with a vivid nostalgic background. The careful choice of lyrics helps to articulate feelings the characters unable to express in words.”
“It may not have the noir, pessimistic tone of most popular Korean films, but it’s nice to have a movie with a happy ending.”
#history #crime #gangster #Woo Min-ho #Song Kang-ho #Cho Jung-seok #Cho Young-wuk #2017 #recorded in April, 2021
“It is a story about Lee Doo-sam, a small-time smuggler at the beginning and then an infamous drug king at the end.”
“Performance by Song Kang-ho is strong enough to make you dive into the character, who was one of the earliest drug dealers.”
“Its worth of watching this film is the music. Every single song and score is incredible in own light.”
#erotic #thriller #family #Im Sang-soo #Youn Yuh-jung #Kim Kang-woo #2012 #recorded in May, 2021
“Every time I am asked my recommendations about Youn Yuh-jung’s work, I always recommend this film along with Kim Ki-young’s movies.”
“The movie triggered controversy and hype with its portrayal of the lives of the privileged in Korean society, exploring themes of sex and money, greed and ambition.”
“The New York Times reviewed ‘It feeds an insatiable curiosity about how the other half - or, in current parlance, the 1 percent - lives, and what it shows us is gorgeous, grotesque and disconcertingly human.’”