Lee Jeong-beom (이정범)

Korean Films Attack the Big Apple

Source | 2007/06/19 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Korean cinema will take a big bite of the Big Apple as the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) begins Friday. The festival will feature more than 30 works from the East, of which almost a third are Korean. The event will take place at the IFC Center until July 5 and at Japan Society July 5 - 8.

"A 17-day-long festival will feature films from Park Chan-wook, Johnnie To, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Takashi Miike. This year's festival will introduce you to buffalo-busting action flicks from Thailand, cartilage-cracking gangster films from Korea, and the first gore flick ever made in Pakistan!" the festival said in a statement.

Dubbed "one of the city's most valuable events" by the New York Times, the film festival is America's leading showcase for Asian movies. Launched in 2002 by Subway Cinema, the festival has featured over 100 films from China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.

This year, Ryoo Seung-wan's old school...| More

14 Korean Films go to Italy's Far East Fest

Source | 2007/04/17 | Permalink |

The 9th Udine Far East Film Festival boasts one of the largest showcases of Asian cinema in Europe. This year around 60 titles from across Asia were selected to screen at the event which runs April 20th to 28th in the picturesque northern Italian city. This year 14 top Korean films were invited, of which several will have their International Premiere at the festival.

Making their International festival debut are LEE Jeong-beom's gangster-themed drama "Cruel Winter Blues", JANG Jin's comedy-noir "Righteous Ties", JANG Moon-il's romantic-comedy "A Good Day for an Affair", BYEON Seung-wook's drama "Solace". Two of Korea's top-grossing hits of late 2006 will have their European Premier: CHOI Dong-hoon's high-stakes comedy-thriller "Tazza: The High Rollers" ("The War of Flower") and KIM Yong-hwa's weighty satire "200 Pounds Beauty", a look at the culture of plastic-surgery in the entertainment industry. The latter film went on to become the highest-grossing Korean comedy of all time...| More

[DVD review] Drama wins the day in 'Cruel Winter'

Source | 2007/03/14 | Permalink |

The film "Cruel Winter Blues" pays an uncomfortable tribute to immature male heroes from Korean gangster films by casting Jeom-sim (played by Na Moon-hee) in the role of a strong, self-sacrificing mother who has no choice but to endure her hardships.
Yet by the end of the film, it's hard not to share a sense of sympathy with the sufferings and love exchanged between Jeom-sim and Jae-mun (Seol Kyeong-gu), who arrived in the rural town of Beolgyo on a mission to kill Jeom-sim's eldest son as a form of revenge against the man who killed Jae-mun's childhood friend.
Perhaps it's due to the duo's exceptional acting or to the fact that the film was set in a rural landscape, but the story beautifully portrays their love-hate relationship.
Jeom-sim lost her younger son to an accident, but doesn't want to admit it; Jae-mun feels guilty about his dead mother, and he feels a filial attachment for Jeom-sim when he sees her.
It's a pity that "Cruel Winter Blues", which failed miserably at the bo...| More