An Affair (Movie - 1998)

Lee Jae-yong Cranks in on "Actresses"

Source | 2009/07/06 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Director Lee Jae-yong, best known for his elegant and erotic period drama "Untold Scandal" (2003), is in production on his latest film, a semi-improvisational ensemble piece with the working-title "Actresses".

The low-budget feature boasts six of Korea's top female stars, all of whom have agreed to work on a deferred payment basis. The film centers on a day-long fashion shoot in which all of the actresses will be playing themselves and sharing candid stories with the camera.

The cast includes KIM Ok-bin, star of PARK Chan-wook's "Thirst" and director Lee's previous feature "Dasepo Girl"; LEE Mi-sook, who starred in Lee's "Untold Scandal" and "An Affair", KIM Min-hee who starred in Lee's "Asako in Ruby Shoes", KO Hyeon-jeong, who recently starred in HONG Sang-soo's "Like You Know It All", CHOI Ji-woo ("Shadowless Sword") and veteran actress YOON Yeo-jeong (IM Sang-soo's "A Good Lawyer's Wife")

Produced by Moongcle Pictures, presented by Sponge Entertainment and distributed ...| More

"Ice Bar" Wins Top Prize at Fukuoka Asian Film Festival

Source | 2007/07/11 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The family film "Ice Bar" won the best picture award at the 21st Fukuoka Asian Film Festival that was held in Fukuoka, Japan from Jun 29 through July 8.

The film's production company MK Pictures said that its director, Yeo In-kwang, personally attended the award ceremony last Sunday to receive the top honor.

"Ice Bar" was chosen for the top prize because of its beautiful portrayal of a local city in the 1960s and 70s, and for the natural and realistic acting of its leading actress and child actor who played the roles of mother and son.

"Ice Bar" is the fifth Korean film to win the best picture award at this film festival. The other four award-winning films were "An Affair" in 1999, "Nowhere to Hide" in 2000, "Bad Guy" in 2002, and "YMCA Baseball Team" in 2003....| More

[DVD Review] Vagueness fills DVD on having affairs

Source | 2007/07/09 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Even with some thought, it's not easy to figure out whether Jang Moon-il's "A Good Day to Have an Affair" is a movie for a girl or a guy.
The film dresses up as a girl's movie at first, starring two female heroines as married women delving into their search for lost identity and sexual desire. Yet it's unclear whether their escapes lead them to find something meaningful in life or surrender to the system.
"Tweedy" (played by Yoon Ji-seo) meets "Two Foxes" on an Internet chat line as a refuge from her meaningless marriage to her husband, who "stopped talking as soon as he entered the wedding chapel". She finds freedom in Two Foxes, an immature womanizing banker who is always too busy fondling her chest in love motels and making up cheap, dirty stories about his sexual fantasies.
"Dew" (Kim Hye-soo) has a light affair with a young boy she also meets on a chat line, "the college student", but she's constantly chased around by a private investigator hired by her husband.
The film trigg...| More

LEE Mi-sook, KIM Min-hee cast in new film

Source | 2007/04/12 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Acclaimed actress LEE Mi-sook has signed on to her first new project since the 2003 drama "...ing".

LEE first emerged as a star in the 1980s in films such as BAE Chang-ho's box-office hit "Whale Hunting" and LEE Doo-yong's "Mulberry Tree". After retiring from the cinema for close to a decade, she made a highly-praised return in 1998 in LEE Jae-yong's "An Affair". More recently, she won local awards for her performance in the period drama "Untold Scandal" (2003).

In her new film she will be joined by actress KIM Min-hee ("Asako in Ruby Shoes", "Surprise Party") in the second feature by director KWON Chil-in, who enjoyed a box-office hit with "Singles" in 2003. The film focuses on the work and love lives of three women of various generations.

LEE plays the fortysomething single mom Young-mi, who balances a professional career and an active love life. KIM takes on the role of Ami, a woman in her twenties who must decide between two men played by KIM Heung-soo and KIM Sung-...| More

[DVD review] "Dasepo Girl", Suicide, girly-talk

Source | 2007/03/28 | 0 comments | Permalink |

A glimpse of the reactions posted on the Internet regarding "Dasepo Naughty Girl" ("Dasepo Girl") gives some sense of the film's status. A user named Hidraqra writes, "it's the best film I've ever seen, but a film I would never want to see twice". Another writes: "it's a shame that the film was made in our country".
But perhaps that's exactly the response that the director, Lee Jae-yong, was looking for. Mr. Lee, who is known for his stylish, visually-alluring films about sexual taboos, has made a film that is a hard slap in the face of conventional morality, full of puns and visual cues that play with gender stereotypes and cultural taboos.
The film, which was adopted from a Korean internet comic called "Dasepo Naughty Girl", is set in a high school where the objective is to "have no religion". It has students and teachers with promiscuous habits who are dismissed after they are found to have sexually transmitted diseases. Sado-masochistic activities are part of the school traditio...| More