Big week for news as Kim Ki-duk scoops up the Golden Lion and BIFF unveils its programme! Much more besides including the promotional material for The Perfect Number, the Bang Eun-jin thriller based on the Keigo Higashino novel 'The Devotion of Suspect X.'
Kim Ki-duk's Pieta Takes the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival
It has been extensively reported at this point but it's wonderful to hear that Kim Ki-duk's Pieta took the Golden Lion at this year's Venice Film Festival. This marks the first time a Korean film has scooped up top honors at one of the major three European fests (Berlin, Cannes, Venice)! It is also a major comeback for Kim Ki-duk and proof of his popularity overseas. Also encouraging is the film's strong performance in Korea, which was bolstered by the international accolade, jumping four spots in the rankings in a single day. (Modern Korean Cinema, September 12, 2012)
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
CinDi 2012: The Boxes of Death, The Live (죽엄의 상자, 더 라이브) 2012
.png)
Part of MKC's Coverage of the 6th Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival.
A number of bizarre and interesting works were presented at this year’s CinDi but none fit the tag ‘meta’ better than this curious Korean cinema-centric documentary. The Boxes of Death, The Live is about a live musical staging of the debut work of a titan of classic Korean cinema which was actually a showcase at last year’s CinDi. I didn’t see it in the exact same theater but it was certainly strange witnessing the proceedings unfold at the same event.
The Boxes of Death (1955) was the first film of Kim Ki-young, a masterful Korean cineaste who is slowly, and rightly, being recognized as one of the greats of world cinema. Most famous for his incendiary work The Housemaid (1960), Kim’s oeuvre stretched over a few decades and always pushed the medium to its limits. Films like Woman of Fire (1971), The Insect Woman (1972) and Iodo (1977), explored our darkest desires and shed an often unflattering light on Korea, in stark contrast with the image that the then-authoritarian government wished to promulgate. The Boxes of Death is perhaps more interesting as an historical artifact but the truth is that it is difficult to make a proper judgment on the film as the only existing print is lacking its soundtrack.
17th Edition of Busan Film Fest Announces Powerful Lineup
Part of MKC's Coverage of the 17th Busan International Film Festival.
A new Hong Kong action film called Cold War, which is the debut of industry veterans Sunny Luk and Leung Long Man, will serve as the opening film while Mostafa Farwar Farooki's Television, which promises to announce the arrival of Bangladeshi cinema, will close out the week.
As always, among the most exciting things on offer at Busan are the Korean premieres. For many years BIFF has been the premiere showcase for new Korean films. This year's crop is particularly exciting. There will be gala presentations for the new Jeon Soo-il (Pink, 2011) film El Condor Pasa, National Security, Chun Ji-young's follow-up to Unbowed (2011) and a new effort from Park Chul-soo (301,302; 1995) called B.E.D.
Monday, September 10, 2012
PiFan 2012: Osaka Violence (大阪外道, Japan) 2012
.jpg)
The main prize-winner at this year’s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival, Takahiro Ishihara’s Osaka Violence, is a gritty film which employs both a realistic aesthetic and deadpan excessiveness to bring home its point. As its title suggests, the film concerns the prevalence of violence in Osaka, it is depicted as the most commonplace of acts, a cyclical ritual that is absorbed from a young age through the ebb and flow of everyday life.
The film begins with a group of young boys loitering on some farmland. The owner comes up to shoo away the trespassers but is subjected to a tirade of disrespect and abuse. They walk off, leaving the old man stunned. Things have changed in Japan and certain elements of society, such as respect, are evolving but not always in a good way. This demonstration of apathy is a logical starting point for the film. The boys’ trip through their Osaka neighborhood introduces us to an increasingly apathetic subset of its inhabitants. First they cross a gangster who is friendly to them and gives them money. Their new found fortune is swiftly taken away by a group of older boys who threaten them but this new gang is in turn beaten to a pulp by an older, burlier gangster who demands a toll for crossing under ‘his’ bridge. Suddenly, their lack of respect towards the old farmer from the opening scene is not so shocking.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
KBO: Hollywood Titles End Late Summer Local Streak (09/07-09/09, 2012)
Hollywood Titles End Late Summer Local Streak
.jpg)
| Title | Release Date | Market Share | Weekend | Total | Screens | |
| 1 | The Bourne Legacy (us) | 9/6/12 | 29.30% | 522,713 | 619,128 | 588 |
| 2 | Traffickers | 8/29/12 | 17.60% | 302,258 | 1,315,355 | 385 |
| 3 | The Expendables 2 (us) | 9/6/12 | 13.30% | 240,675 | 278,494 | 394 |
| 4 | Neighbors | 8/22/12 | 12.00% | 206,259 | 2,298,476 | 346 |
| 5 | The Grand Heist | 8/8/12 | 7.70% | 144,076 | 4,833,965 | 312 |
| 6 | The Thieves | 7/25/12 | 7.20% | 129,060 | 12,836,869 | 323 |
| 7 | Pieta | 8/6/12 | 3.30% | 58,061 | 68,090 | 171 |
| 8 | Step Up 4 (us) | 8/15/12 | 2.50% | 45,369 | 931,745 | 149 |
| 9 | Abrahama Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (us) | 8/30/12 | 1.90% | 31,749 | 333,276 | 230 |
| 10 | Sammy's Adventures 2 (ge) | 8/1/12 | 0.80% | 14,750 | 1,454,392 | 107 |
Preview: The Music of Jo Hyeja (조혜자의 음악) 2012
The New England weird fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft is a man whose reputation precedes his actual work. Known by many primarily for his xenophobic fear of "the mixing of races" and also his influence on Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, it is very rare to see anyone reading his work now. Yet, the man that critics oftentimes looked upon as a second-rate Poe was a huge influence on the development of horror and supernatural fiction in American literature. His Cthulu mythos alone has inspired writers as diverse as Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, musicians like Metallica, and also sword and fantasy games, e.g. The World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons. While in the realm of cinema his vast output has led to countless adaptations of his stories, many of which are of the low budget variety.
For Korean cinema-philes that are going to be in the Los Angeles area around September 28-29th, the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival will be screening The Music of Jo Hyeja, Korea's first foray into the dark atmospheric world of H.P. Lovecraft. The film, directed by Park Ji-hyun and written by Canadian expat Gord Sellar, is an adaptation of Lovecraft's The Music of Erich Zann, a short story about a poor university student who befriends one of the tenants in his building who night after night plays an eerie tune on his violin. The story being a pure product of Lovecraft's unique imagination the melody that the troubled violinist plays is a tune which keeps the demons and odd creatures from entering the world through the windows of the apartment.
Friday, September 7, 2012
WKR: Pieta Bows at Venice, New Releases and KOFFIA (08/31-09/06, 2012)
A slew of reviews from all manner of sources this week including many for Kim Ki-duk's latest Pieta.
CURRENT RELEASES
(Joong Ang Daily, September 5, 2012)
(Modern Korean Cinema, September 5, 2012)
Pieta
(KKonnect, September 2, 2012)
(Modern Korean Cinema, August 30, 2012)
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Interview: 'Blood Fight in Iron-Rock Valley' Director Ji Ha-jean
.JPG)
Interpreted by Kim Nemo
Bloody Fight references many classic westerns. What drew you to this genre in the first place?
The two most important references were Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) and the second in Sergio Leone’s Man With No Name trilogy, A Few Dollars More (1965). Inside the film there are thousands of other references, such as Shane (1953), The Man From Laramie (1955) and Robert Aldrich’s Apache (1954).
What were your hopes as you embarked on making a Korean western?
I produced the film as well as directing it and even by independent film standards it had an extremely low budget ($40,000). Filmmakers with that kind of budget usually try to make experimental or dramatic films but I’m a real fan of the western genre and another aim of mine is to become a commercial film director. So I was wondering how I might be able to combine these two aims.
September 2012 Korean Releases
This monthly features previews the coming month's attractions in Korean cinema. All of these monthly posts are available in an archive on the Upcoming Releases page.
September 6
Grape Candy
Pieta
Wedding Scandal
September 13
Fighting! Family
Han Kyung-jik
Too Old Hiphop Kid
September 20
Masquerade
September 27
Jinsuk and Me
Grape Candy
Pieta
Wedding Scandal
September 13
Fighting! Family
Han Kyung-jik
Too Old Hiphop Kid
September 20
Masquerade
September 27
Jinsuk and Me
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Neighbors (이웃사람, Yiwootsaram) 2012
.jpg)
Last month, The Thieves showed how powerful an impact a well-assembled cast can make on the box office. It is currently the second highest-grossing Korean film of all time and may well ascend to first place (as of this writing held by 2006’s The Host) within the next few weeks. While it had many selling points, first and foremost was its glitzy performers. What then is the appeal of an ensemble cast? From a marketing standpoint it means that a potential viewer is far more likely to see someone that he or she likes in a longer list of stars but perhaps even more enticing is the appeal of the interaction between high-profile cast members who often sport defined on-screen personas.
KCN: Park Chan-wook takes on Western, Pieta at Venice and Busan Heats Up! (08/30-09/05, 2012)
The bis news this week is a new Park Chan-wook project, Pieta premiering at Venice and numerous Busan Film Fest announcements
The 17th Busan International Film Festival is exactly one month away and the news is starting to come in thick and fast. MKC will be on site for the entire event:
BIFF 2012
The 17th Busan International Film Festival is exactly one month away and the news is starting to come in thick and fast. MKC will be on site for the entire event:
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
PiFan 2012: The Heineken Kidnapping (De Heineken ontvoering, Holland) 2011
.jpg)
Rutger Hauer’s heyday may have come before my time but as a film lover it still feels as though I grew up with him. My teenage years were spent awash in the dream of cinema and amidst the blur of it all, some films stood out. Among them was Blade Runner (1982) which, I must admit, was a film that I did not immediately warm to but the villain of the piece has stayed with me for the decade since I first I saw it. Horror may not have featured prominently in my cinema diet but I’ll never forget The Hitcher (1986), a film that could easily have been unremarkable were it not for the terrifying presence of its antagonist.
With his pellucid blue eyes, wavy blond hair and harsh features, Hauer has always been a formidable presence on screen. However, more than his physiognomy, it is of course his talent and intensity as a performer that has made him so memorable. He seems to lose himself in his best roles. I hesitate to say that he was a method actor, a term that is ill-suited to genre cinema, but he throws himself so fully into his marginalized characters that he often seems to be in a trance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)