Antarctic Journal (2004) - 남극일기 (Nam-geuk-il-gi)

"Hansel and Gretel" ends the year on a high

2008/01/02 | Source | Permalink |

Director Lim Pil-seong assembled a fine cast and a great team of experts, the result is a well-crafted film, finely calibrated on every level.

Production designer Ryoo Seong-hee's ("The Host", "A Bittersweet Life", "Memories of Murder", "Old Boy") fairy tale world is beautifully shot by director of photography KIM Jee-yong ("A Bittersweet Life"). The visual style is at times complemented and at times contrasted by the music of LEE Byeong-woo ("The King and the Clown", "Voice of Murderer"). The result is a warm fairy tale feeling; but some unsettling events are foreboded, tangibly in the air.

The palpable darker edges create tension early on and keep the viewers captivated. The child actors admirably sensed the particular atmosphere of the film and their awareness – in combination with acting skills – is another highly beneficial factor to the collaborative achievement that is "Hansel and Gretel".

The oldest of the three children is a boy with paranormal abilities played by E...| More

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Cruel Innocence

2007/12/27 | Source | Permalink |

The production company, as well as its director Lim Pil-seong ("Antarctic Journal", 2004), was concerned that the movie was "not scary enough", and kept emphasizing that the movie does not belong to the "horror" genre.

They are right. The move due to open today, "Hansel and Gretel", has "sadness" as its main theme. The movie is a cruel fairy tale and shows a role reversal unlike the original tale of Hansel and Gretel that we know. In the original tale, a witch captured the children, while the movie is about children spooking grown-ups.

Eun-soo (Cheon Jeong-myeong) wakes up after getting lost in the middle of a forest. He comes across a girl named Yeong-hee (Sim Eun-kyeong) and she takes him to a house where her older brother Manbok (Eun Won-jae) and younger sister Jeong-soon (Jin Ji-hee) live along with their parents. He arrives in a picturesque house but there is something strange about the family. He cannot find his way out of the forest, even though he tries hard to.

Ryoo S...| More

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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

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Lim Hyung-joo 'Deeply Moved' by 'La Vie En Rose'

2007/11/28 | Source | Permalink |

The title track of Korean pop opera singer Lim Hyung-joo's special album entitled 'Without You' will be presented with scenes from 'La Vie En Rose', a biographical film about the tragic life of French singer Edith Piaf.

Lim's management company said the singer, who was invited to the Korean premiere of 'La Vie En Rose', was deeply moved by the love story of Edith Piaf and Marcel Cerdan and expressed his wish to use scenes from the film for the music video of 'Without You'. He added that the film importer agreed to Lim's proposal.

'La Vie En Rose' which opened in theaters nationwide on November 22 also attracted media attention for actress Marion Cotillard's outstanding performance.

Lim has sung theme songs for Korean films including 'Antarctic Journal' and 'My Boss, My Teacher'....| More

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CJ Ent. to Back Kim's Epic Western

2007/07/03 | Source | Permalink |

Director KIM Ji-woon's big budget 'oriental western', "The Good, the Bad and the Weird" witnessed a weird change of financial hands while in the midst of production. Investor and distributor Showbox made a strange last-minute decision to pull out of the almost US$11 million project, while powerhouse competitor CJ Entertainment seems quite content to fill its place.

A new deal is currently underway for CJ to takeover chief financing and distribution of both KIM's film and the US$4.5 million fairy-tale-horror "Hansel and Gretel" by director LIM Pil-seong, known for his previous film "Antarctic Journal". Barunson Co. is producing both films while Cineclick Asia is handling international sales. KIM's western has already pre-sold to France's ARP Selection during the Cannes Market last May.

Many were perplexed by Showbox's withdrawal, speculating on whether the major local player was running short on investment capital. KIM's western is one of the most anticipated Korean films on ...| More

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