Korean hitmaker Choi Dong-hoon is back at it again with a new 1930s set action thriller purported to be in the $12 million budget range. Titled Assassination, the project is eyeing some big talent for leading roles. Ha Jung-woo, Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Jung-jae are also considering major parts in Choi's follow-up to The Thieves, the 2012 hit caper film that became the second most viewed Korean film of all time by accruing almost 13 million admissions domestically.
Korean film industry hits yet another major milestone in 2012 while some footage for the long-awaited sequel to The Host (2006) drops out of nowhere. However, outside of these items and a number of small festival tidbits, it wasn't a big week for Korean film news.
KOREAN CINEMA NEWS
First Horrific Footage for The Host 2
No beating around the bush here! A clip of the long-awaited Korean horror flick The Host 2 goes straight for the jugular with the hungry creature wrecking havoc upon an unsuspecting family, tearing up on a moving truck, and then chasing two innocent children for a quick snack. Oh my, I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of these kids when the shit hits the fan. (Twitch, November 20, 2012)
Korean Films Draw Over 100 Million Viewers This Year
Korean movies have drawn over 100 million viewers in 2012. The Korean Film Council on Monday said the number of people watching Korean films this year totaled 99.61 million as of Sunday. "Since at least 200,000 people on average watch Korean movies on a weekday, the 100-million mark will be reached on Tuesday," a council spokesman said. (The Chosun Ilbo, November 20, 2012)
Well, PiFan gets underway tomorrow and I've been burning with anticipation for a few weeks now. It'll be my first Korean film festival after landing here 6 weeks ago. The programme looks great and there are many people I'm excited to meet. I'll be at the event for the duration though I won't be able to see as many films as I'd like since I do have a fulltime job that gets in the way of most of the screenings during the weekdays but I've still devised a pretty packed schedule.
Since I won't be able to take in each day from morning to night I won't be publishing daily recaps as I did for this year's Fribourg and Udine Film Festivals but there will still be plenty of reviews, some news and hopefully a few interviews as well. Anything that comes up here will be crossposted on Twitch, where I will be covering the event with James Marsh (@Marshy00) and in addition I will also be participating in daily coverage of the event for Cine21, Korea's no. 1 film magazine.
The Korean Film Archive has launched its much anticipated "Korean Classic Film Theater" Youtube channel which features 70 different hard to find titles, all free and with English subtitles. The films range from 1949's A Hometown in My Heart to Hong Sang-soo's 1996 debut The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well. Numerous classic Im Kwon-taek, Kim Ki-young and Shin Sang-ok films are featured as well as many of the most important Korean classics of the past decades, including Yu Hyun-mok's Aimless Bullet (aka Obaltan, 1961), Park Kwang-su's Chilsu and Mansu (1988), or the original hostess film, Yeongja's Heyday (1976).
I'm dying to get stuck into the many I haven't seen but I highly recommend Im Kwon-taek's Sopyonje (1993), Kim Ki-young' Ieoh Island (aka Iodo, 1977) and the aforementioned Aimless Bullet. Truly a phenomenal resource from KOFA and cause for celebration for all Korean film fans!
Lots of great features this week and a few more 2011 wrap-ups. Also some casting news for Bong Joon-ho's hotly anticipated Snow Piercer, I certainly the Tilda Swinton piece materializes! Some great trailers and more also featured featured this week.
KOREAN CINEMA NEWS
Korean Cinema 2011: the View from Here
How do you introduce new Korean films to an American audience? US-based author and curator of film at the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington, DC, Tom VICK shares his views on recent trends he has noticed programming their Korean film festival. Korea’s film industry produces a deluge of commercial and independent releases. But recent years have brought a proliferation of young, talented filmmakers with only a film or two under their belts. (Korean Cinema Today, January 5, 2012)
Director of My Sassy Girl to Take on a More Serious Movie
Korean director Kwak Jae-yong is perhaps best known for his romantic-comedy My Sassy Girl (2001), but he’s decided to try his hand at a more somber story and will take on a film about the so-called “comfort women” of World War II. The movie, to be called Flower Shoes, will be set from 1930 to 1945 and will detail the experiences of the Korean women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese during that time period. (Joong Ang Daily, January 12, 2012)
New Stills for Ha Ji-won/Bae Doo-na Pic Korea
The first publicity stills have emerged for the upcoming film Korea (aka As One) which pairs Ha Ji-won and Bae Doo-na. Based on the true story of the victory of the South and North Korean teams at the Chiba International Table Tennis Championships in 1991, Ha Ji-won represents Hyeon Jeong-hwa and Bae Doona represents Lee Boon-hee from the North. (hancinema.net, January 12, 2012)
Cinema of Embodied Unpleasures
Rowena Santos Aquino takes an in depth look at the body of work of Korean auteur Kim Ki-duk in an engaging three part discussion called 'Spotlight on Contemporary Korean Cinema: Kim Ki-duk' over at Next Projection.
Part I - Filmmaker (Next Projection, January 11, 2012)
Part II - Mentor (Next Projection, January 12, 2012)
Part III - Subject: Arirang (Next Projection, January 13, 2012)
Chris Evans in Negotiations to Star in Bong Joon-ho's Snow Piercer
Bong Joon-ho, one of South Korea's top directors, has not made one bad film so far in his career. In fact, at least two of his feature films, namely Memories of Murder (2003) and The Host (2006), are in my opinion masterpieces of modern cinema. His last film was the 2009 critical hit Mother. (Twitch, January 14, 2012)
Multiculturalism a New Theme in Korean Movies
More and more Korean movies, including Pacemaker by director Kim Dal-joong that opens next Thursday, are taking on the theme of multiculturalism that is changing the face of Korean society. In 2010, one out of every 10 marriages involved a foreign spouse, while the number of children from multicultural families has grown seven-fold from 25,000 in 2006 to 160,000 in 2010. And this trend is being portrayed more frequently on the silver screen. (The Chosun Ilbo, January 13, 2012)
The History of Korean Cinema .... on screen
The fact of the matter is, outside of Korea, Korean cinema is still a very 'new' thing. Generally most people may have seen your Oldboy's and My Sassy Girl's but outside of that the earliest film that those in the West will have likely seen would probably be JSA (2000) or Shiri (1999). This puts Korean cinema in an interesting position of only being around 14 years old (15 using the Korean birthday system!). For a national cinema so young, it really has come along leaps and bounds, but the more interesting thing is what was it like before this point. (Tully's Recall, January 14, 2012)
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y! Korean Sports Movies
Anyone who has seen the millions of Koreans flocking to the streets and plazas to cheer on the National Team during World Cup season would probably be aware how much Koreans love sports. Korea is a highly competitive society where focus, diligent attitude, eagerness for hard work, and teamwork is highly valued; all elements that can be found in sports. Add pursuit of honor to that mix and you’ve got a perfect combination for grabbing people’s attention. (The Korea Blog, January 11, 2012)
Hong Nguyen takes a look at the two versions of The Housemaid. The original from 1960 by Kim Ki-young and the remake which cam 50 years later at the hands of Im Sang-soo. (London Korea Links, January 16, 2012)
Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry Set for Release in Japan
Korean auteur director Lee Chang-dong’s film Poetry is set for release in Japan on Feb. 11, 2012. The Cannes Best Screenplay Award-winning film will be distributed by KinoEye Japan and Siglo, which released the film’s Japanese poster and trailer today. The film’s Japanese title translates to “Poetry: Agnes’ Song”. (KoBiz, January 16, 2012)
CJ CGV Opens Two More Vietnam Multiplexes
Leading South Korean exhibitor CJ CGV has opened two more multiplexes in Vietnam, bringing their total to nine cinemas with 69 screens in the country. The two multiplexes are in the center of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi with two 3D screens each. The Ho Chi Minh City cinema has eight screens while the Hanoi cinema has seven. (KoBiz, January 16, 2012)
Romance Joe to Compete at Rotterdam Tiger Awards
This year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has announced the complete line-up for its Tiger Awards Competition. The 15-film selection includes Korean director Lee Kwang-kuk’s Romance Joe, which will make its international premiere. Park Hong-min’s A Fish was announced earlier on as the competition’s first 3D film ever. (KoBiz, January 12, 2012)
Tilda Swinton to Join Snow Piercer
Tilda Swinton is in talks to join post-apocalyptic thriller Snow Piercer. The feature is based on the French comic Le Transperceneige created by Jean-Marc Rochette and is South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s first foray into English language film. Snow Piercer’s plot follows a group that is traveling by train together in a future ice age. (film-news.co.uk, January 18, 2012)
New Thai Film Fest Set to Open with Always
The first edition of Thailand's Hua Hin Film Fest is set to bow Jan. 26 with the screening of South Korean pic Always, followed by the unspooling of 50 movies over four days. (Chicago Tribune, January 17, 2012)
The director of Treeless Mountain is back with her third feature, an American independent produciton starring Paul Dano as a young rock musician whose divorce from his wife (Jena Malone) triggers a desire to bond with the 6-year-old daughter he's never really known. (The Wall Street Journal, January 18, 2012)
INTERVIEWS
Interview With Director Kim Kyung-mook
One of the Korean independent film community’s most remarkable young directors, Kim Kyung-mook made his feature debut with the unconventional Faceless Things (2005). He broadened his sights with A Cheonggyecheon Dog (2008) and has most recently been doing the film festival rounds with his third feature Stateless Things. The film debuted at the Venice Film Festival’s Orrizonti competition and is set to screen in the upcoming Rotterdam film festival’s Spectrum section. The film is about people who have no place to stay. How did Kim come to take such an interest in these people? He met with Korean Cinema Today to tell us. (KoBiz, January 16, 2012)
Park Hee-gon was in his last year of high school in May 1987 when he, like thousands of other South Koreans, watched a baseball game that became legendary. The game between the Lotte Giants and Haitai Tigers was a pitchers’ duel that lasted for 15 innings before officials called it a draw. The pitchers – Lotte’s Choi Dong-won and Haitai’s Sun Dong-yeol – had squared off before but both were near the end of their careers and fans knew it would be the last time they faced each other. (The Wall Street Journal, January 17, 2012)
Although the number crunchers in Hollywood estimate that US theatrical admissions sank to their lowest level since 1995, things were not so gloomy in Korea. With an estimated 160 million tickets sold (more precise figures will become available at a later date), it appears that Korea has approached or broken the modern-day record for admissions. (Korean Cinema Today, January 14, 2012)
Korean Cinema News is a weekly feature which provides wide-ranging news coverage on Korean cinema, including but not limited to: features; festival news; interviews; industry news; trailers; posters; and box office. It appears every Wednesday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at the Korean Box Office Update and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site.
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The Daejong film awards are the oldest and most prestigious film industry awards in Korea. They are essentially the Korean oscars and they will soon be celebrating their 50th edition. Just like the Oscars, they feature musical performances, celebrity presenters, and a host of other similarities.
Tonight the ceremony for the 48th Daejong film awards took place in Seoul. A very even field battled it out this year as many films walked away with multiple awards and there was no outright champion of the event. That said, while the films represented in this year's nominations were more-or-less all worthy contenders, they did not compare favorably to the stellar lineups of years past. Last year's big winner was Lee Chang-dong's formidable Poetry, while Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil and newcomer Jang Cheol-su's Bedevilled were among the other films that ranked high on the nominations list.
This year, the most nominated films were (wins in parentheses):
The six most nominated films were all big performers at the box office, each scored over two million admissions. Currently I have only seen seven of the films listed above but it does seem like a poorer than usual roster. As excited as I am to see The Front Line, War of the Arrows, Sunny, and Blind, I am not expecting them to make significant impressions on me like other Korean films have, but I hope I am wrong!
That said, this year's films are all solid and I am especially happy that Ryoo Seung-wan's brilliant The Unjust wound up with 7 nominations, although it is unfortunate that it wasn't able to bag a single win. I thought it would pick up Best Screenplay at the very least but this went to Blind.
I was also happy to see that Late Blossom score 4 nominations even if it didn't win anything. Personally I think it should have been nominated for Best Cinematography which is always a great category for Korean film. So far I've only seen one of the nominees so I'm exited to how the rest look, including winner The Front Line.
I was surprised that neither Quick nor the much-Ballyhooed Sector 7 managed to score nominations for Best Visual Effects. The films were not well-received but by all accounts the effects were very impressive. War of the Arrows ended up taking the prize.
The biggest successes of the night were the big blockbusters The Front Line and War of the Arrows with 4 wins each, including Best Film for the former. That result was not surprising as it is also the Korean selection for next year's Oscars.
In the face of some pretty stiff competition, Kang Hyung-chul won Best Director for the small but wildly popular Sunny, which also won Best Editing.
The acting categories all went to different films this year. Best Actor and Actress went to Park Hae-il for War of the Arrows and Kim Ha-neul for Blind, while Jo Sung-ha and Shim Eun-kyun walked away which the Supporting Actor/Actress prizes for The Yellow Sea and Romantic Heaven.
Bleak Night, which has very well-received critically but failed to draw much of an audience in Korea, was a big success tonight, winning its two nominations for Best New Director (Yoon Sung-hyun) and Best New Actor (Lee Je-hun, also nominated for The Front Line). Meanwhile, best New Actress went to Moon Chae-won for War of the Arrows.
Best Production and Best Lighting went to The Front Line, Best Song went to Late Autumn, Best Costume Design went to The Yellow Sea, Best Art Design went to Detective K, and Best Sound Effects went to War of the Arrows.
Won Bin, who won last year's Best Actor for his role in The Man From Nowhere, was the recipient of the Popularity Award. This year's Lifetime Achievement Award went to actor Lee Dae-Geun.
Special thanks to Asian Media Wiki, which live-tweeted the results.
Best Art Design Winner:
Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow (Chae Gyung-sun) Nominees:
Late Autumn
Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow
War of the Arrows Hindsight
The Yellow Sea
Best Costume Design Winner:
The Yellow Sea (Chae Kyung-hwa) Nominees:The Front Line Sunny Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow
War of the Arrows
The Yellow Sea
Best Visual Effects Winner:
War of the Arrows (Han Young-woo) Nominees: The Front Line Romantic Heaven Blind
War of the Arrows
The Yellow Sea
Best Sound Effects Winner:
War of the Arrows (Choi Tae-young) Nominees: The Front Line Blind
Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow
War of the Arrows
The Yellow Sea
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