Blog Archives

The Red Shoes (2005)

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Posted on May 10, 2007 by Alan

Well, let’s get this straight for starters. The shoes are pink. That’s a flaw right there and up front. Could the makers of this film not locate a pair of red shoes? Were they in some way colour blind? Or did the title ‘The Pink Shoes’ just not carry the same the same weight?

Obviously this movie lifts from the Hans Christian Anderson tale, loosely adapted in 1948 into a ballet-related film that still gets the occasional late night showing. … (read more)

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A Bittersweet Life (2005)

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Posted on May 9, 2007 by Deni

There’s something about knowing at the start how things are going to end that makes some films harder, not easier, to watch. A Bittersweet Life is definitely one of those films. Borrowing with a fresh bent slick staples of the gangster film genre traditionally more characteristic of Hong Kong and some Japanese cinema, director Kim Jee-woon, already well known for films like The Quiet Family and Tale of Two Sisters, deftly renders an action film that has all the … (read more)

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Untold Scandal (2003)

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Posted on April 11, 2007 by James

Well, it had to happen: Bae Yong-joon (‘Yongsama’ to some), star of TV dramas like the phenomenally successful ‘Winter Sonata’, has graduated to the big screen. And what has he brought with him? Charm? Magnetism? Sex appeal? “No!” I hear you roar, it can’t be! And perhaps it is not, but E J-yong’s Untold Scandal, a revision of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ Les Liasions Dangereuses set during Korea’s Chosun Dynasty in the late-1880s, demands all those qualities from its … (read more)

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Shadowless Sword (2006)

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Posted on March 25, 2007 by Alison

Eyeliner. Some men can wear it, and some men really just shouldn’t. I mentioned this at the very top of the review because, if you watch Shadowless Sword, you’ll be able to see how this rule applies to about half the actors in Korea.

That’s not to say that you won’t enjoy it. There’s a lot of sword-waving, swash-buckling, high kicks, and all the other staples of historical adventure fantasy. But the eyeliner can be a mite distracting. It’s … (read more)

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Three… Extremes (2004)

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Posted on March 25, 2007 by Deni

Three… Extremes is both an obscure and a completely appropriate title for this cross-cultural horror film anthology. Obscure because, as titles go, usually you can kind of work out what you’ll be watching or at least the genre it’s going to be presented in, just from the title. This title, however, doesn’t give away a lot up front. I mean, what’s with the ellipsis? Three dot dot dot Extremes. Yeah okay. Clever way to label it a sequel to Three… (read more)

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The Quiet Family (1998)

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Posted on March 25, 2007 by Alison

Squeamish about corpses? Want to do something about it? Well, watch The Quiet Family and you’ll see enough to cure you for life. Either that or you’ll lock yourself in your bedroom and refuse to come out.

The genre is black comedy, and it is really quite black. If you can’t laugh at Mother, Father, Uncle, and Son trundling a pair of suicide-pact lovers into the woods in wheelbarrows, then I suggest you steer clear. If you’re revolted at the … (read more)

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The General’s Son (1990)

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Posted on March 25, 2007 by James

The late-1980s and early-1990s were bleak times for the Korean film industry. Market liberalisation had just opened the industry’s doors to Hollywood film companies, who quickly set up local offices and established a rival system of distribution. Audiences for local productions were in decline, with spectators favouring big budget entertainment from America, as well as Hong Kong martial arts and action movies, over films made closer to home.

Korean filmmakers needed to devise ways of combating the encroachment of foreign … (read more)

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The Beast And The Beauty (2005)

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Posted on March 25, 2007 by Alison

I like Ryoo Seung-bom – he’s a very talented actor, and he has an engaging charm in the right role. In Arahan, for example, his gormlessly likeable character made it clear he wasn’t the standard Saviour Of The World, regardless of his special skills. And in Crying Fist, he gave a damn fine showing as a bundle of unresolved tensions always on the verge of exploding.

But you’d never call him handsome. True, he’s not a beast, but … (read more)

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