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Elsewhere on the Web
The Target (2014)
The Target is screening at this year’s Korean Film Festival in Australia. See the KOFFIA website for more details!
The Target begins with a rainy cold-open in which Baek Yeo-hoon (Ryu Seung-ryong) staggers out of a building, a bullet wound in his stomach and a grizzled grimace on his face. He’s pursued by a couple of literally jackbooted thugs with guns who seem intent on finishing him off — and although Baek makes it out alive, he’s hospitalised. The credits … (read more)
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The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014)
The Admiral: Roaring Currents is screening at this year’s Korean Film Festival in Australia. See the KOFFIA website for more details!
For me, not being Korean, it is hard to get behind Korean nationalism. Period piece war movies like The Admiral have this nationalistic intent, meant to inspire pride whilst reminding us of the sacrifice made by those who’ve died in history — as an almost direct connection to our present selves. Being able to empathise with the characters plays … (read more)
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A Hard Day (2014)
A Hard Day is screening at this year’s Korean Film Festival in Australia. See the KOFFIA website for more details!
There’s something to be said about throwing the audience into a film with a literal crash. Launching the story with an accident, learning about our main protagonist Go Gun-su (LEE Seon-gyun) as he makes a bad decision work is tense, exciting and wonderful setup for the unravelling of his ‘perfect crime’, something we no doubt expect from a film with … (read more)
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SPL II: A Time for Consequences (2015)
Ten years ago in 2005, Hong Kong action film SPL arrived, suggesting a triumphant return to the sort of film that Hong Kong has always done better than pretty much any industry on the planet; beautifully cheoreographed and edited hard-action cinema, the sort that’s only possible when you have a cast of martial artists and an experienced crew that knows how to shoot them to maximum effect.
In the intro to my write up back then, I called it:
A … (read more)
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Korean Film Festival (KOFFIA) 2015
The Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA) has been one of my favourite festivals over the last few years, and this year is shaping up to be as much fun as ever.
The full program has now been released, along with schedule information for all the cities they’re taking the festivities to, starting in a couple of weeks:
Sydney: Aug 12-20
Brisbane: Aug 25-31
Melbourne: Sep 3-10
Canberra Sep 5-6
Perth: Sep 17-20
Adelaide: … (read more)
This week in cinemas: ‘SPL II: A Time for Consequences’ (China/HK)
Slicing its way into Australian cinemas this week is the long-awaited sequel to modern HK classic SPL (which arrived in 2005, a fact that’s definitely making this writer feel old). The first film, which starred Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Wu Jing and Simon Yam, felt like Hong Kong reclaiming its place at the forefront of martial arts cinema after a slow decline since the early ’90s. It was slick and simple action cinema, powered by HK’s formidable fight choreography (directed … (read more)
Posted in Cinema Screenings
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This week in cinemas: ‘Northern Limit Line’ (South Korea)
Arriving in Australian cinemas tomorrow July 16 is South Korean naval drama Northern Limit Line, based on the events of the 2002 Second Battle of Yeonpyeong between North and South Korean patrol boats along the disputed sea boundary between the two. According to this Variety piece, it’s now the highest grossing local film of 2015 in South Korea — and we’ve got it in cinemas here for a little while.
Written and directed by Kim Hak-soon and starring … (read more)
Posted in Cinema Screenings
Tagged Northern Limit Line, South Korea
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Asian Cinema at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2015
It’s a little over two weeks until the 2015 edition of MIFF kicks off, and I don’t have enough time this year, sadly, to do a full rundown of every film from Asia showing at the festival like I did for SFF. Nonetheless, it would be remiss of me not to post about a few highlights; here’s a short rundown from my perusal of the program.
It’s jam-packed, as usual: the Accent on Asia stream alone has twenty-two films listed, … (read more)