Blog Archives

Haeundae (2009)

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Posted on September 13, 2009 by Justin

Haeundae is this year’s enormous Korean film: a big-budget blockbuster, it sold more than ten million tickets domestically, the first film to do so since The Host a couple of years ago. It’s also apparently Korea’s first disaster film, and takes as its subject the idea of a megatsunami threatening Haeundae Beach, which sees millions of visitors a year.

The film follows several sets of characters living in Haeundae: there’s Man-sik (Sol Kyung-gu), a local who looks after Yeon-hee (Ha … (read more)

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The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)

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Posted on October 5, 2008 by Justin

Not having seen Kim Jee-Woon’s previous films, but remembering that other Heroic reviewers are big fans (see A Bittersweet Life, A Tale of Two Sisters and The Foul King), I jumped at the chance to go and see it. The frenetic, action-packed trailer had caught my attention, too, reminding me of Tears of the Black Tiger with an ensemble cast and a Leone-style desert setting.

At the beginning of the film, Chang-yi (Lee Byung-heon) is hired to steal … (read more)

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Tell Me Something (1999)

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Posted on April 6, 2008 by Mark Morrison

This Korean serial killer flick slides scalpel through flesh in the opening credits. It’s basically a popcorn movie, assuming you like your popcorn with extra gristle, further proof that “subtitles” does not mean “arthouse”. It’s highly commercial, and if it wasn’t in Korean it might star Brad Pitt and be now playing in a multiplex near you (actually, if it did star Brad Pitt, he’d be a candidate for a perfect 6-part amputation – this is for Legends of the … (read more)

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Aachi and Ssipak (2006)

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Posted on December 16, 2007 by Tom

When I first heard the premise for Aachi and Ssipak, I though it was going to be one of those films that revolve mainly around toilet humour and go to extreme moments of crudeness. But I was pleasantly surprised that for the greater whole this isn’t the case. A&S actually is rarely about the goings on behind that cubicle door and is more concerned about the end result: the “Juicybars”.

In the alternate future proposed in the film, energy … (read more)

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May 18 (2007)

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Posted on November 2, 2007 by Justin

May 18 is a film that many pinned their hopes on, in Korea’s flagging film industry, which has been producing far fewer profitable films in the last year or two. And with good reason: it’s a historical epic (flavour of the month, for successful Korean films), it’s based on real events, it’s got a relatively large budget (about US$10M) and it’s got a good cast, led by Kim Sang-Kyung (Tale of Cinema, Memories of Murder).

The film … (read more)

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Bystanders (2005)

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Posted on September 30, 2007 by Alison

There must be something in the air in Korea that enables them to churn out so many tight cop thrillers. Whatever it is, they’ve got plenty of it, and they’re clearly making good use. Maybe it’s the fact that they’ve got so much rain, and know how dramatic well-photographed rain can look.

Bystanders leaps right into it during the opening credits, introducing the plot (a serial killer stalking schoolchildren) and the two cops, Ja-young (Shin) and her junior Dong-wook (Mun). … (read more)

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The King and the Clown (2005)

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Posted on September 30, 2007 by Deni

It’s no coincidence that in the IMDB entry for this film you will probably see, in the list of recommendations for similar titles you might enjoy, a copy of Branagh’s Hamlet. With a great deal of reference to the political machinations of the noble classes, to madness and to the idea that both circumstance and fate conspire hand in hand, The King and the Clown reads a lot like a Shakespearean tragedy.

It also reads a little like Thelma … (read more)

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The Host (2006)

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Posted on July 8, 2007 by Alan

This is Bong Joon-ho’s third feature film, following Barking Dogs Never Bite and the wonderful Memories of Murder. Korean film watchers will know that The Host broke box office records in Korea, surpassing the previous record set by Taegukgi two years ago.

Of course The Host has all the signifiers of ‘blockbuster’ about it. A big cast in a large budgeted monster flick. But such simple facts belie the often intimate and subversive nature of the film.

It has … (read more)

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