Fribourg 2013: Meaningful Stillness in Jang Kun-jae's Sleepless Night (2012)

Playing at the 27th Fribourg International Film Festival (March 16-23, 2013)

Of late, Korean Cinema has made for rather bleak viewing. Hushed up sexual violence has been very prevalent but politics, torture and much else besides have also found their way into these recent narratives. For this reason, among many others, I am particularly grateful for Jang Kun-jae's magnificent sophomore feature Sleepless Night. His new film, though not without its portrayal of injustice and hardship, is a film about happiness, or at least one loving couple's pursuit of it in modern day Seoul.

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Korean Box Office: Warm Bodies First Foreign No.1 of 2013 (03/15-03/17, 2013)

Warm Bodies First Foreign No.1 of 2013

Business was once again a little slow this weekend in what is generally on off period for the movies in Korea. That said both admissions (1.63 million) and local market share (60%) were marginally up from last year. However it was a Hollywood film that took the top spot, breaking an 11-week streak of local chart-toppers. It was also the first non-Korean first place finish of 2013.

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Fribourg 2013: A Brand New Life (여행자, Yeo-haeng-ja) 2009

Playing at the 27th Fribourg International Film Festival (March 16-23, 2013)

Oomie Lecomte’s film A Brand New Life fills an interesting position in the pantheon of Korean cinema. It is a woman’s film made by a foreigner, and by that token alone it is somewhat of an anomaly. While decidedly European in many aspects, it still succeeds in engaging with many thematic elements commonly associated with Korean cinema. In addition, the film is set in 1975 and features a storyline where characters with unfortunate pasts come and go as circumstances beyond their control dictate.

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When Winter Screams (설인, Seolin) 2012

I’ve made no secret of my admiration for Korea’s wonderful film schools, which are responsible for some of the best professionals working in the industry today. One such institution is the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), a government-sponsored school affiliated with the Korean Film Council that sports such illustrious alumni as MKC favorite Bong Joon-ho. A few years ago, KAFA began to make full-blown feature length films as graduation projects (with the support of industry giant CJ Entertainment) and the results have been formidable. 2010 featured the one-two punch of Bleak Night and End of Animal while 2011’s crop included Choked and Mirage.

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New Korean Films: The Coming of New Indie Filmmakers (2013 Week 11)

(by Fabien Schneider)

This week is all to the glory of independent cinema since the Korean Academy of Art Films delivers two films from its students and a third debut movie completes the series. But don't get your hopes up, success will only smile upon My Paparoti, as this one has all the cards in hand to propel itself to the top of the box office. There is also a particular challenger that I decided not to include in my article despite being quite interesting for what it tells about the foreign interests in the Korean market: The Fifth Execution, a Russian film co-produced with South Korea and the U.S., where the main character is embodied by Kim Bo-seong, a famous actor of the 90s who starred in the trilogy of Two Cops, a few comedies and some soap operas.

Your Time is Up 

(누구나 제 명 에 죽고 싶다)

 

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An Ambitious Korean Gangster Film: New World (신세계, Sinsegye) 2013

Ever since I discovered Korean cinema, I’ve been a fan of the industry’s frequent experimentations with genre. Almost every film that comes out of the country seems to be an amalgamation of different tropes but there is one genre that has remained for the most part untouched: the gangster film. When Korean filmmakers decide to make a gangster film, they tend to leave experimentation aside and instead look to emulate some of world cinema’s most beloved criminal narratives.

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Between Memory and Awareness: Jiseul (지슬) 2012

(by Fabien Schneider)

MKC is co-presenting Jiseul as part of this year's CAAMFest. Film screens on March 15th & 19th. Click here for more details.

Film watched at the 19th Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema

As soon as the moving silhouettes detaching themselves from the ambient darkness begin to raise their voices, the fire that provided their scant comfort peters out. Suddenly, all of them realize that they are now trapped in the black under a few meters of rock. They do not know how many days they have lurked there like hibernating animals, but one thing is certain, they still need to wait one more day. And then another. Who knows when this nightmare will come to an end? With little historical context, the young director O Muel ruthlessly immerses us into one of the darkest episodes of the Cold War. One that is seldom documented in South Korea, and that the U.S. has preferred to ignore. With a careful, solemn aesthetic, the director tackles the process of remembrance, one equal to that of the dramatic event. Though it will surely be appreciated by the local population as the outlet that they expected for so long, the film remains too hermetic to allow a foreign audience to understand the true value of its drama. Spectators have to make due with a simple introductory text, insufficient and somewhat dubious from a historical perspective.

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KBO: New World Holds Firm During Slow Weekend (03/08-03/10, 2013)

New World Holds Firm During Slow Weekend

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	New World	13/02/21	30.90%	508,893	3,369,650	555
2	Miracle in Cell No.7	13/01/23	16.70%	291,884	12,177,983	433
3	Psychometry	13/03/07	14.80%	242,319	297,330	429
4	Oz: The Great and Powerful (us)	13/03/07	13.60%	208,962	228,696	425
5	Jack the Giant Slayer (us)	13/02/28	8.60%	147,478	885,989	364
6	Zero Dark Thirty (us)	13/03/07	3.50%	61,171	72,222	258
7	The Berlin File	13/01/30	3.40%	56,401	7,100,309	287
8	12 Chinese Zodiac Heads (cn)	13/02/27	2.40%	41,665	296,010	187
9	Stoker (us)	13/02/28	2.40%	38,430	343,752	204
10	b (In)	13/02/21	0.90%	17,266	302,550	168

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New Korean Films: Is There Room For Yet Another Thriller? (2013 Week 10)

(by Fabien Schneider)

This week will probably see no new hit for Korean films and thus should maintain the established order at the box office. With a short movie for film buffs and a collection of independent short films in very limited distribution, only Psychometry has the ability to attract thousands of spectators, but finds itself in the worst possible situations, being released after two big successful thrillers.

Psychometry

(사이코메트리) 

 

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Why Hollywood Genre Flicks Need Korean Film, Not Korean Filmmakers

(by Peter Gutiérrez)

Here’s a snobby confession for you: I don’t read the New York Times much for insights into international cinema. But when it recently ran a piece entitled South Korean Crossover in Hollywood, I had to pay attention. Rather predictably it compared and contrasted Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, and Kim Ji-woon, taking an approach that cited previous waves of foreign-born directors arriving in the US and making the entire issue seem like one of immigration.

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BIFF 2012: Perfect Number (용의자X, Yong-eui-ja-X) 2012

Part of MKC's coverage of the 17th Busan International Film Festival.

I originally saw Bang Eun-jin’s sophomore film Perfect Number at the Busan International Film Festival last October. I am a big fan of the Japanese book (‘The Devotion of Suspect X’ by Keigo Hegashino) that it was based on and as I felt that the story would be a great fit for Korean cinema my expectations were very high. Too high it seems as I found myself a little disappointed by a film delivering something I wasn’t expecting.

A reclusive math teacher is smitten with his next-door neighbor who lives with her niece. One day her ex-husband comes to visit and a violent altercation ends with his lifeless corpse hitting the ground. The teacher has heard what transpired and knocks on their door. Quiet, composed and intelligent, he offers to help his distressed neighbors.

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KBO: New World Repeats up Top, Stoker Unconvincing (03/1-03/03, 2013)

New World Repeats up Top, Stoker Unconvincing

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	New World	13/02/21	29.40%	849,376	2,530,048	604
2	Miracle in Cell No.7	13/01/23	25.10%	777,968	11,704,634	577
3	Jack the Giant Slayer (us)	13/02/28	19.40%	545,550	659,854	507
4	The Berlin File	13/01/30	6.40%	189,296	6,997,749	362
5	Stoker (us)	13/02/28	5.80%	165,408	240,639	329
6	12 Chinese Zodiac Heads (cn)	13/02/27	5.20%	162,566	217,242	300
7	Delhi Safair (In)	13/02/21	2.50%	83,606	280,563	263
8	The Giant King (us/th)	13/02/21	1.00%	33,808	149,067	180
9	Sky Force 3D (us, hk)	13/02/28	0.90%	30,991	43,496	183
10	An Ethics Lesson	13/02/21	0.60%	18,065	215,985	147

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