Heo Jin-ho (허진호)

KIM Ki-duk's "Dream" to compete in San Sebastian

2008/06/26 | Source | Permalink |

"Dream" (Korean title: "Bimong"), the fifteenth film by director KIM Ki-duk, has been selected to compete at the 56th San Sebastian International Film Festival, to be held from September 18-27.

The film, which stars Japanese heartthrob ODAGIRI Joe and Korean actress LEE Na-young, centers around a man who experiences a startlingly realistic dream about a car accident, and later discovers that the accident occurred in real life.

KIM's previous films have premiered at Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno, Karlovy Vary and Moscow, but this will be the first time for him to compete at the prestigious Spanish festival. Other Korean films that have competed at San Sebastian in recent years include BONG Joon-ho's "Memories of Murder" (2003), SONG Il-gon's "Spider Forest" (2004), HEO Jin-ho's "April Snow" (2005), LIM Sang-soo's "The Old Garden", and KIM Mi-jeong's "Shadows in the Palace" (2007).

In 2003, KIM's Spring, "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring" screened out of competiti...| More

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Varied Korean line-up at NYC fest

2008/06/13 | Source | Permalink |

This year's New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) will feature: LEE Myeong-se's "M",KANG Woo-suk's "Public Enemy Returns" (Gangcheoljoong: Gonggongui jeok 1-1), HEO Jin-ho's "Happiness" (Haengbok), KIM Mi-jeong's "Shadows in the Palace" (Goongnyeo), JEONG Byeong-gil's "Action Boys" (Woori Aeksyeonbaewooda), and KIM Ji-won's "The Butcher" (Dosalja).

New York City will host the Asian festival from June 20 until July 6. Other main films include the Japanese films Then Summer Came, and Always: Sunset on Third Street and the Chinese Assembly. NYAFF also selected films from Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The seventh NYAFF is organized by Subway Cinema (http://www.subwaycinema.com/), a New York based organization for the increased exposure of Asian cinema through annual events. It was also involved in the establishment of the New York Korean Film Festival in 2001. NYAFF is covered by leading media in the U.S., Europe, and Korea's leading film magazine Cine21.

Yi Ch'ang-ho (KOFIC)...| More

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Complex thrillers lead the pack in annual film awards

2008/06/11 | Source | Permalink |

The biggest event in the Korean film industry is back.

On June 27, the 45th Daejong Film Awards will take place at COEX, southern Seoul. This year one of the Korean films under the spotlight is "The Chaser", a film about a serial murderer.

The film drew audiences of more than 5 million, and as of April it is the most successful Korean film of 2008, according to the Korean Film Council.

"Forever the Moment" trailed behind "The Chaser" with over 4 million viewers.

"The Chaser" currently is nominated in 11 categories, hoping to win the hearts of film critics as well.

This year thrillers are garnering the most interest in Chungmuro, Korea's Hollywood.

Currently the top three films on the most nominated lists are from this genre.

"Seven Days", a thriller about a child who gets kidnapped, is second in the number of nominations.

The film is nominated in all 10 categories. "Shadows in the Palace", a thriller that takes place within the palace of the Joseon Dynasty, is n...| More

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"M" and "Happiness" Picked Up by Japan

2008/02/05 | Source | Permalink |

Major local film player Showbox has sold rights to LEE Myeong-Se's "M" and HEO Jin-ho's "Happiness" to music and film giant Avex Entertainment in Japan. Avex, known as one of the largest independent record-labels in the world, made a move into the film industry last year, picking up its first Korean title "Highway Star" (2007).

Both LEE's "M" and HEO's Happiness premiered last September at the Toronto International Film Festival. They feature prominent Korean Wave stars with KANG Dong-won as the bemused lead in director LEE's stylish mystery and actress IM Soo-jeong along with HWANG Jeong-min as the ill-fraught lovers in HEO's melodrama.

Both LEE and HEO have had their previous films released in Japan. LEE's "Duelist", also starring actor KANG, opened on about 200 screens across Japan in 2006. HEO's "April Snow", starring Korean Wave sensation BAE Yong-joon, became the top grossing Korean film of all time in Japan, with earnings of over US$26 million in 2005.

Overall K...| More

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'One Fine Spring Day' [DVD Review] Directed by Heo Jin-ho (2007)

2008/01/13 | Source | Permalink |

Howard Schumann (howard16)

Although Alfred Lord Tennyson said, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all", anyone who has endured the breakup of an intense relationship would not necessarily agree. Certainly not Lee Sang-woo (Yoo Ji-tae), the young sound engineer from Seoul, South Korea, in Heo Jin-ho's exquisite second feature "One Fine Spring Day" (literally "Spring Day Goes").

In this film of quiet power, two young people meet, fall in love, then gradually pull back and withdraw, but the film is not about their circumstances, it's about the impermanence of life and how we must learn to ride the roller coaster. Like Heo's 1998 film "Christmas in August ", it is a realistic and intimate work, filled with a touching lyricism that never succumbs to manipulative devices.

Working to record sounds of nature for a radio station, Sang-woo and radio disc jockey Han Eun-su (Lee Young-ae) meet at a bus station in a most unusual way. Unable to wake her from a b...| More

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