Review: REAL Makes Korean Noir Gloriously Camp, Weird and Amazing

By Pierce Conran

In the same week that a new release was embraced by the media (Bong Joon-ho's Okja), another was making headlines for all the wrong reasons. So strong was the vitriol for Real, a vehicle for Asian superstar heartthrob Kim Soo-hyun (Secretly Greatly), that lambasting it on social media quickly turned into a sport.

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BiFan 2017 Review: BEHIND THE DARK NIGHT Swedes Its Way to Victory

By Pierce Conran

Low-budget, semi-autobiographical indies about young men trying to make their feature film debuts have been done to death in Korea (Cheer Up Mr. Lee, We Will Be OK and Director's Cut come to mind), so expectations were muted for Behind the Dark Night, a new Korean competition film in BiFan this year. However, any negative assumptions were quickly dashed as this mockumentary of student filmmakers proved itself to be the most endearing debut to be seen in BiFan since Baek Sung-gi's riotous Super Virgin in 2012.

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Review: A TAXI DRIVER Rolls Up to Korean History with Grace, Humor and Tears

By Pierce Conran

History and commerce combine to terrific effect in the protest drama A Taxi Driver. Song Kang-ho is remarkable in his second film with director Jang Hoon, following Secret Reunion, while German star Thomas Kretschmann delivers what is probably the best performance by a major western actor in a Korean film. Despite some slight overreach in its final act, this is Korean blockbuster drama done right.

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Review: THE BATTLESHIP ISLAND, Impressive Action Torpedoed by Nationalism

By Pierce Conran

UPDATE (Aug 8): Following a rare change of heart after seeing the film a second time, I've decided to change my original star rating The Battleship Island. I can't say that my criticisms are any different, but watching the film without having to sort through the dense story and its characters allowed me to appreciate many of the film's impressive details.

Following a pair of blockbusters, action maestro Ryoo Seung-wan aims to outdo his past successes with The Battleship Island, the biggest Korean release of the year. Set on a Japanese labor camp island, this star-driven, big-budget period escape drama strives for greatness but falls short, with a harried narrative too consumed with nationalist sentiment. That said, a bombastic climax sees Ryoo and his team put their best feet (and fists) forward in an impressive display of choreography and staging.

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Review: A SINGLE RIDER Subtly Ponders the Small Regrets of Life

By Pierce Conran

A few months after the explosive period spy thriller The Age of Shadows from genre maestro Kim Jee-woon, Warner Bros is back with its second Korean production A Single Rider. Though both films share star Lee Byung-hun, who appears as an extended cameo in Kim’s work, A Single Rider, from debut filmmaker Lee Zoo-yong, is a far smaller work with only a handful of characters and which is largely concerned the theme of regret.

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Review: FABRICATED CITY, Mediocrity Hidden Behind Big-Budget Thrills

By Pierce Conran

Twelve years after the success of Korean War comedy-drama Welcome to Dongmakgol, director Park Kwang-hyun is finally back in theaters with the action-thriller Fabricated City. A tale of gamers and conspiracies in modern Seoul, Park's latest presents itself as a high concept twist on a familiar story but quickly abandons its ambitions and proceeds as a gratingly by-the-numbers effort.

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Berlinale 2017 Review: ON THE BEACH AT NIGHT ALONE, Hong Sang-soo's Most Personal and Cruel Film to Date

By Pierce Conran

A new year has arrived and with it the challenge of reviewing a new work from Korea's arthouse darling Hong Sang-soo. On the Beach at Night Alone, which borrows its name from the title of a Walt Whitman poem and premieres at the Berlin International Film Festival, his third time there in competition after Night and Day and Nobody's Daughter Haewon, certainly does not depart in any significant way from the stylings and themes of his body of work to date.

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Review: DONGJU: THE PORTRAIT OF A POET Offers Sober and Compelling Look at Korean History

By Pierce Conran

During the last year, the floodgates have opened for the Japanese Occupation Period in mainstream Korean cinema, yet The King and the Clown (2005) helmer Lee Joon-ik, arguably Korea's top purveyor of commercial period fare, has opted to tackle the period with his first ever indie film, and shot in black and white no less. A sober account of a difficult time in modern Korean history, Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet combines a young cast with a literary script, delivering one of the most unique Korean period films of recent memory.

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Review: PANDORA Melds Melodrama and Fukushima Fears

By Pierce Conran

Though not a new phenomenon in Korean cinema, the disaster drama has been particularly popular in 2016 and just as we wind down the year the local industry is preparing to launch one final assault on multiplexes with the release of Park Jung-woo's nuclear-themed extravaganza Pandora. From the same studio that brought us Train to Busan and featuring both the director and star of the 2012 disaster hit Deranged, the film has plenty of pandemonium pedigree behind it and already has the distinction of being the first Korean film to ever pre-sell to global online streaming giant Netflix.

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Review: CONFIDENTIAL ASSIGNMENT, A Routine Action-Comedy for the Whole Family

By Pierce Conran

After taking a back seat to Joseon Era dramas and then Japanese Colonial Era films over the last few years, tales of North Korean spies are ramping up to make a big comeback on screens in 2017. The first of four big-budget Korean spy action-thrillers on the way, Confidential Assignment landed just in time for the busy Lunar New Year holiday and has proven to be another smash success for hit making production house JK Films. But like their previous efforts, the commercial calculation of this multi-genre gambit dilutes the effectiveness of its familiar moving pieces.

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Review: THE KING, A Korean Scorsese Crime Saga

By Pierce Conran

Coming in the midst of an unprecedented political scandal and benefitting from a prime Lunar New Year holiday release date, prosecutor drama The King aims to be the first Korean hit of the year. A glossily entertaining saga with big stars, timely corruption themes and a boatload of Scorsese references, this fourth film from director Han Jae-rim aims for greatness until a finale that ultimately buckles under the weight of its own political ambitions.

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31 Most Anticipated Korean Films of 2017

By Pierce Conran

After a stellar 2016, many are keen to see if Korean cinema can muster the same quality lineup in 2017. However, though I've highlighted a few more titles than last year, I'll say right now that this year is unlikely to rival the last, when we were treated to terrific new outings from Kim Jee-woon, Park Chan-woo and Na Hong-jin, among many other outstanding new discoveries.

That said, many interesting films are on the way and a few incoming trends are noticeable. This list is very subjective and omits many films that I'm personally not excited about or may not have heard of. As always, many of the year's best films will surely be independent productions that will remain off my radar until they secure festival premieres.

Some of you may have heard that Lee Chang-dong is making a new film, but I'm sorry to inform you that due to a large production snag, that project that may never come to life, so has been omitted here.

Enjoy and please let me know if I've missed anything and what you're most looking forward to this year!

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