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Blog Archives
Moss (2010)
From the outset, Moss, by director Kang Woo-Suk (Public Enemy, Silmido), wasn’t quite what I expected. I expected long, and yes, it was that, clocking in at 2 hours and 43 minutes from opening to closing credits. Not that I was wishing it was over half way through, of course, but a run time of 163 minutes is something that you want to know about before you buy a ticket, generally speaking.
I expected a suspense … (read more)
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Punch (2011)
A high school kid with a temper grows up fast when he’s forced to deal with his handicapped uncle and father and runaway foreign mother. With help from a tough-love spouting teacher he channels his rage into kickboxing and finally into a more assured sense of self.
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No Blood No Tears (2002)
This year’s KOFFIA festival opened with a bang, with director Ryoo Seung-wan presenting his huge hit from last year, The Unjust — an action thriller in which policemen, prosecutors and property developers are caught in an endless cycle of corruption. A couple of days into the festival, as part of their Bloody Friday match-up, the KOFFIA team programmed another Ryoo film: 2002’s No Blood No Tears.
As with the opening film, director Ryoo himself got up on stage and … (read more)
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Bedevilled (2010)
It is always interesting when folks see a film and call it ‘hard to classify’. Such was some of the pre-buzz I had heard about Jang Chul-soo’s debut film Bedevilled. Of course, not all films present themselves as classifiable genre flicks. But while some do so awkwardly (Cowboys and Aliens, anyone?), others deliberately skirt with and deconstruct genre conventions, and Bedevilled certainly does that. In fact, while the title resonates throughout the plot, it could be seen to … (read more)
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Shim’s Family (2007)
Screening in both Sydney and Melbourne at this year’s KOFFIA festival, Shim’s Family is a character drama with bits of ensemble comedy sticking out. Or perhaps it’s the other way around. South Korean director Jeong Yoon-Chul presents us with a darkly funny look at the chaotic life of a small family (the film’s other English title is Skeletons in the Closet), shot through with the occasional rapid shifts in mood that I’ve come to love from Korean cinema.
Yong-sun … (read more)
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End of Animal (2010)
I saw End Of Animal last night at its first screening at this year’s Sydney Film Festival, in an almost full house. I got the feeling that nobody knew what to expect — I heard murmurs to that effect as we lined up on George Street, and the SFF writeup throws down quite a challenge:
“There’s almost nothing in contemporary cinema to compare with Jo Sung-hee’s stunning debut.”
They’re right, though. At least nothing I’ve seen. End of Animal was … (read more)
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The Yellow Sea (2010)
Na Hong-jin’s second film confirms that he is the number one crime-action auteur to emerge from Asia in recent memory. I like his films more than Park Chan-wook’s head-scratchingly abstract work since Oldboy and also Kim Ji-woon’s fun but sadly empty and pointless excursions post-A Tale of Two Sisters. Na’s first film, The Chaser, is a taut, horrific thriller with great momentum and some shocking surprises. It starred two very good but nonprominent Korean actors, Kim and … (read more)
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A Million (2009)
What would you do for a million dollars? Among the things I wouldn’t do is take part in a reality show – I think I’d rather eat my own toenails, or anyone else’s toenails for that matter. But unlike cranky folk like me, there’s a lot of people who’d like nothing better than to spend several weeks exposing their every breath to millions of viewers. Even when the ‘reality’ involves spending 7 days in the Australian outback, in an arduous … (read more)
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