Les Formidables (2006) - 강적 (强敵) (Gang-jeok)

Hansel and Gretel: Lim's Dark Fantasy Opens

2007/12/26 | Source | Permalink |

Director Lim Pil-seong is back with his second feature, Hansel and Gretel, a fantasy-horror loosely based on the famous Brothers Grimm's fairy tale and updated to modern day Korea. While his debut feature "Antarctic Journal" (2005) placed a group of men in an icy, barren polar landscape, where the human psyche preys on itself, in "Hansel and Gretel", director Lim uses a strange forest and house to explore even deeper recesses of the psyche and imagination.

It stars Cheon Jeong-myeong ("Les Formidables") as the Hansel figure, Eun Won-jae and Sim Eun-Kyeong. Cheon plays Eun-soo, a man who, while left wandering on a country road after an accident, meets a mysterious young girl and is led to her house in the middle of the forest. There, he meets her siblings and parents who live a fairytale-like life, eating cakes and sweets. The next day, when Eun-soo tries to leave, the forest brings him back again and he soon realizes he is trapped with the girl and her siblings who never age. Th...| More

To participate to HanCinema, you must sign up or log in. Sign up, Why ?

A story held hostage to camera tricks

2006/08/22 | Source | Permalink |

It is probably every film director's nightmare to tell a story that's already been told before (especially one that's been told better). It's that fear that is behind the bad habit of many directors to omit or manipulate critical parts of their narratives, opting for cinematic cliches over straightforward explanations.
Sure, there's no one proper way to tell a story. Yet in films such as "Gangjeok" (Les Formidables), the editing is so choppy that by the time the closing credits start rolling you wonder whether everything you just saw was completely delusional.
It's understandable why the director Jo Min-ho had to take this approach. Drama overwhelms the film, which is about a strung-out cop who is taken hostage by an escaped inmate of a prison.
Sung-woo (played by Park Joong-hoon) is desperately trying to pay for an operation for his sick son; Su-hyun (Cheon Jeong-myeon) eats broken pieces of his lunch plate in prison to protest that he was falsely accused of a murder charge. He esc...| More

To participate to HanCinema, you must sign up or log in. Sign up, Why ?

“A Dirty Carnival” Beats “X-Men”

2006/06/22 | Source | Permalink |

"A Dirty Carnival" directed by "Yoo Ha" drew the most viewers at the box office on Tuesday, with some 80,000 viewers at 390 theaters nationwide, leaving U.S. blockbuster "X-Men: The Last Stand" behind, which tallied some 75,000 viewers at 428 theaters.

"A Dirty Carnival" has become the first Korean movie in seven weeks to beat Hollywood blockbusters that had topped the box office here since "Mission: Impossible 3" was released on May 3. The top spot has since been occupied by "The Da Vinci Code", "Poseidon", and "X-Men" before "A Dirty Carnival" captured it on Tuesday.

The news particularly pleased the Korean film industry, although it is just a daily tally. CJ Entertainment, the movie's distributor, said, "We expected that the movie would draw more viewers than 'X-Men' from Monday, and it finally did on Tuesday. The difference is no more than several thousand people, but we are really happy". On Monday, "A Dirty Carnival" drew 55,000 viewers, closely following "X-Men" with 60,60...| More

To participate to HanCinema, you must sign up or log in. Sign up, Why ?

Less 'Formidable,' But Enjoyable

2006/06/22 | Source | Permalink |

By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

The movie "Les Formidables" (Kangjok) may lack originality, a well-organized plot and a strong message, but it entertains with action-packed scenes well blended with hilarious jokes.

Directed by Jo Min-ho, the film revolves around detective Sung-woo and jailbreaker Su-hyun, who team up to help each other.

Sung-woo (played by Park Joong-hoon) is a corrupt detective who frequents bars, often leaving his partner alone on duty.

One day when busy collecting dirty money from a bar owner, his partner is killed, an event Sung-woo could have stopped if he had been with him.

Meanwhile, Su-hyun (by Cheon Jeong-myeong) begins a new life after breaking away from a criminal gang and begins running a small restaurant with his girlfriend in the hopes of leading an ordinary life.

But one of his best friends from the gang asks him to do a favor, which leads him to be falsely accused of a murdering Sung-woo's partner. The accusation ends in a prison term ...| More

To participate to HanCinema, you must sign up or log in. Sign up, Why ?