Duelist (2005) - 형사 (Hyeong-sa)

2008/05/07 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

The 2008 Chungmuro International Film Festival in Seoul will introduce a competition section this year in a bid to expand its coverage and attract more foreign movies for local moviegoers, organizers said yesterday.

"The Chungmuro festival will feature the international feature film category as a competition section so that local fans can enjoy watching more quality foreign films", festival planning chief Cha Seung-jae said at a press conference at the Daehan Cinema in Chungmuro, Seoul, yesterday. "All the foreign films in the section will be Korean premieres, and four awards, including the Grand Award, will be presented".

The second edition of the fledgling film festival will be held Sept. 3-11, during which time about 170 films from 40 countries will be screened.

But a string of pre-festival events will start from June in Chungmuro, the symbolic center for Korean filmmakers and actors, and Myeong-dong, with an emphasis on participation by Seoul citizens, Cha said.

The Jun...

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2008/03/21 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

In the last few years, Korean films, TV dramas and pop music have become immensely popular abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave. This is the 25th in a series of essays by a select group of scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.

"Hallyu", or the Korean Wave, marks the long overdue re-emergence of Korean culture into the global arena. Korean culture's newfound international vogue situates South Korean cinema, TV melodramas, K-pop, and computer games as active participants in the transformation of world culture.

These "domestic" electronic audio-visual cultural creations are no longer limited to just the Korean peninsula and the global Korean diaspora despite that they are produced in the Korean language - a language that is not one of the globalized imperial languages such as English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese.

Despite this linguistic barrier, hallyu is now a recognized agent of gl...

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2008/03/13 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Veteran actor Ahn Seong-gi returns with another leading role in comedy-caper "My New Partner", opening March 6 across Korea. AHN is a face familiar to audiences of all ages, with a screen career that spans some 50 years. By the mid-80's he was Korea's most bankable lead, starring in many of the decade's top films.

In "My New Partner", AHN plays Min-ho, a veteran police detective who winds up teaming with his estranged son Yeong-joon (played by JO Han-seon), a cold-hearted cop fresh on the job. The pair have a chance to mend their damaged relationship as they try to crack a big drug case in Busan.

Actor AHN has appeared in over 100 films, winning numerous awards and working with top directors such as IM Kwon-taek, BAE Chang-ho, LEE Chang-ho, PARK Kwang-su and LEE Myeong-se. His most recent films include "May 18" (2007), "Radio Star" (2006), "Hanbando" (2006), "Duelist" (2005) and "Silmido" (2003).

My New Parnter has already drawn positive reviews from the local press f...

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2008/02/26 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

"BA:BO" (Babo) tells a warm tale set in a village during a winter. The feel-good film's line-up includes the popular actors HA Ji-won and CHA Tae-hyeon. KIM Jeong-kwon directed the comedy.

CHA plays a likeable fool who stopped developing intellectually since an accident at a very young age which took his father's life. He is now a grown-up and tries to make a living for himself and his younger sister after his mother also passed away.

The sister – a role by PARK Ha-seon – is a high school student who tries to hide the fact that the rather simple man selling toast near her school is her brother out of embarrassment and she ignores him at home.

CHA's character's only friend used to be the tough kid at school, a role by PARK Hee-seon. CHA's character was expelled from school as a boy for something PARK's character was guilty.

HA portrays a pianist who returns to her parent's house because of her stage fright. The first person to greet her is CHA's character who spends a lo...

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2008/02/05 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

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...

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