One of my favorite films of recent years is Hong Sang-soo’s 2008 NIGHT AND DAY, which is unfortunately still unavailable on DVD. The story revolves around a Korean artist who has to stay in France because of the possibility of a drug arrest should he return to Seoul. Thus most of the film takes place in Paris, although all of the main characters are Korean and the action is confined to this small expatriate community. But in another, more symbolic way, it is an entirely appropriate setting, for French cinema has had a major impact on the work of many Korean directors. This can be traced back all the way to the work of classic Korean filmmakers, such as the late Yu Hyeon-mok. One of his earliest films, 1958’s FOREVER WITH YOU, was clearly in the tradition of the 1930s French poetic realist style. This influence certainly went more underground in the next few decades, only to re-emerge with the New Korean Cinema of the 1990. Today, many of the acclaimed directors of contemporary Korean film have stylistic and spiritual links with the French cinema of the past. (more…)

One of the more anticipated Korean films of the upcoming 2010 calendar is director Im Sang-soo’s remake of the 1960 classic THE HOUSEMAID. It will be Im’s first film since his trilogy on modern Korean history, which includes THE OLD GARDEN (2006), THE PRESIDENT’S LAST BANG (2005) and A GOOD LAWYER’S WIFE (2003). The film most well-known of these three, especially in the West, is definitely THE PRESIDENT’S LAST BANG, which details the real life events surrounding the 1979 assassination of former dictator Park Chung-hee. It was very controversial, especially with the conservative South Korean press, upon initial release, but also received high praise from Western critics, many comparing its political satire to Stanley Kubrick’s DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) (you can read my review of the film here). However, I believe the first film of the trilogy, although the least overtly political, is in fact the masterpiece of the group. A GOOD LAWYER’S WIFE (which is actually a misleading translation of the Korean, Ba-ram-nan Ga-jok, which is more literally “the adulterous family”) not only has a background dealing with the Korean War, but also explores the whole patriarchal history of the society and its films. It is one of the first mainstream releases to quite explicitly break with and even challenge many of the misogynistic narratives of the New Korean Cinema. (more…)

The Friends of the Cinematheque program continues at the Seoul Cinematheque until the end of the month, featuring a large selection of great films. This included a number of films that are being presented with new 35 mm prints. These include Milos Forman’s AMADEUS (1984), a number of John Ford classics — THE IRON HORSE (1924), STEAMBOAT ROUND THE BEND (1935), DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK (1939), THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940), HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941), MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946), THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962) — and the lone directorial effort of the actor Charles Laughton, THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955). I was able to see the later on Wednesday, and it is a film that is truly unforgettable when seen on the big screen. It is showing again next Tuesday, February 9th at 1:00 pm, and if you have any interest in this movie, seeing this 35 mm restoration is the way to experience it. The film itself is both one of the best shot works ever to come out of Hollywood as well as one of the most bizarre stories to emerge from the studio system. (more…)

In 1999, the blockbuster SHIRI dominated Korean screens, a signal of an increasingly big budget, Hollywood style popular Korean cinema that would become more and more prevalent over the next decade. But that same year, the artistically ambitious melodrama HAPPY END (literally HAE-PI EN-DEU in Korean, an example of an English expression that has infiltrated the Korean language) was the number 5 box office film amongst Korean releases, emphasizing the dual nature of the popular in Korean film at the time and a situation that still exists today. Korean cinema may have become (and continues becoming) more and more like Hollywood, but it also has a space for popular experiment that is almost non-existent within the top box office films of America. (more…)

To begin each new year at the Seoul Cinematheque, there is a rather unique film program involving the direct participation of many within the Korean film industry. The Cinematheque Friends Festival includes 13 films selected by various Korean directors, performers, and critics, who also introduce and discuss the film they select in person (unfortunately, there has not traditionally been any English translation). Among the more notable participants this year are the directors Hong Sang-soo, Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho, as well as many others. In addition, there is also another Special Section as well as a retrospective on the American filmmaker John Ford. The festival takes place over the next month and a half (January 15th to February 28th) and features a total of 29 films, most of which are screened at least twice. It is a truly impressive line-up with many of the greatest films in the history of cinema being screened, notably Jean Eustache’s THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE, Yasujiro Ozu’s TOKYO STORY, and Louis Feuillade’s serial LES VAMPIRES, to name just a few examples. The program lineup can be found here, and below is a list of the films along with subtitle information and a link to their imdb page. (more…)

In the past week, I caught up with two Korean films from the opposite end of the prestige spectrum: North American art cinema favorite Kim Ki-Duk’s 3 IRON (2004) and the mystery-thriller THE CASE OF ITAEWON HOMICIDE (aka WHERE THE TRUTH LIES) (Hong Ki-seon, 2009). Oddly enough, both have certain similarities in terms of their themes as well as what I ultimately think is their weakness. Both deal with the elusiveness of truth and reality, but unfortunately both neglect the social dimension of their tales and thus miss the opportunity to make their themes deeper and more evocative. (more…)