The 2009 Academy Awards were handed out last week, with Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq War film THE HURT LOCKER winning Best Picture and Director. Although it wasn’t my favorite American film of the year, it was a decent selection and the Oscars have certainly done worse (FORREST GUMP or CRASH, anyone?). However, the two screenplay awards (original and adapted), which are usually when the Academy honors the deserving films of that year that get overlooked for Best Feature, were unusually weak: THE HURT LOCKER (winner for original screenplay) was mostly a triumph of direction, while PRECIOUS (winner for adapted) was mostly compelling for its performances. The writing honors should have gone to Quentin Tarantino for  INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (original) and Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for UP IN THE AIR (adapted). While INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS had a fine theatrical run both in North America and here in Korea in the fall, UP IN THE AIR was less successful, and has only opened here in Korea last Thursday. I have now seen the film three times, and think it may be the best American film this year, particularly in terms of degree of difficulty.  (SPOILERS AHEAD) (more…)

This week there are two Korean films from the late 1990s playing on 35mm at the Seoul Cinematheque: Lee Young Jae’s THE HARMONIUM IN MY MEMORY and Im Sang-soo’s debut feature GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT. I know very little about THE HARMONIUM IN MY MEMORY, a period piece set in the 1950s concerning a young girl and her teacher, and am equally unfamiliar with its director. But I have been interested in seeing the first film of Im Sang-soo, the director of THE PRESIDENT’S LAST BANG and A GOOD LAWYER’S WIFE, and have been unable to find it on DVD. Like many of Im’s films, it was something of a sensation at the time, being one of the first Korean films to feature female characters openly discussing sex (which no doubt led to its strong box office). The screening schedules are:

HARMONIUM IN MY MEMORY: Tuesday (16th) at 4:00 pm, Wednesday (17th) at 7:00 pm.

GIRLS NIGHT OUT: Thursday (18th) at 1:30 pm, Friday (19th) at 7:00 pm

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…)