Green Fish (Movie - 1997)

LEE Chang-dong on poetry, women, and maturity

Source | 2008/09/05 | Permalink |

Internationally revered writer/director LEE Chang-dong is writing the scenario for his fifth film which he will be producing as well. The film is titled "Si" (English translation: "poetry") and the project has been selected for Pusan International Film Festival's Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP).

"Si" chronicles the story of a woman of age who lives with her grandson. She writes her first poem for her grandson. Filming is scheduled to start at the end of the year and the highly anticipated film should be in cinemas next year.

LEE's previous film "Secret Sunshine" also revolved around a woman and a boy, her son. The film earned critical acclaim at international film festivals and JEON Do-yeon was crowned Best actress at Festival de Cannes 2007 for her leading role in "Secret Sunshine". MOON So-ri won the Marcello Mastroianni award for her role in LEE's "Oasis" at the Venice Film Festival in 2002.

LEE started out as a novelist before writing film scenarios. He debuted as a director...| More

Korean Movies Feed on Raw Action

Source | 2008/09/01 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Action movies show the human body twisting in unimaginable ways and engage the audience in the art of primal combat. Here come two films, one about the making of an unconventional action movie, and the other which documents the stuntmen who help make such films possible.

'Rough Cut': Stranger than Fiction

Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris's famous fight scene has made the 1979 film "Way of the Dragon" an action classic. Onscreen duels between top actors sell well, as demonstrated in this year's box office hits like "Public Enemy Returns" starring maverick actors Seol Kyeong-gu and Jung Jae-young. Another visible trend here is the "toughening up" of melodrama heroes. It seems to have become a rite of passage set by Jang Dong-gun, who proved he's more than just a pretty face by adopting a thug persona in "Friend". Joo Jin-mo ("A Love") and Song Seung-heon ("Fate") followed.

"Rough Cut" combines these two marking points, and features two handsome stars...| More

Culture Zone: Horror Flicks

Source | 2008/07/18 | Permalink |

Welcome back.
As is the custom on Fridays, our Yoo Jihae is in the studio to tell us about what's happening on the cultural front in the country.
Hi, Jihae.
What do you have for us this week?
Hello, Sunhee.
For this week's Culture Zone, we'll look at one of the best ways to stay out of the heat that has been gripping the nation so far this summer.
Horror films, which have long been a staple of summer movies with some already in theaters and more still to come.
Well here is a look at some to look out for.
Marnie Watson sentenced for killing her cop husband in self-defense is granted an early release but is chained to her electronic ankle bracelet that keeps her within a 100-foot radius of her home for the rest of her sentence.
Her late husband's partner keeping track of her every move and a blossoming romance are the least of her problems because now she has to deal with a dead husband that's seeking revenge.
REC, derived from the blinking text showing that a camera is recordi...| More

LEE Chang-Dong Tribute in Fribourg

Source | 2008/03/04 | Permalink |

The most comprehensive retrospective yet of critically acclaimed Korean director LEE Chang-dong will be featured at the 22nd Fribourg International Film Festival running March 1- 8 in Switzerland. Along with the director's latest film, "Secret Sunshine", which won JEON Do-yeon a Best Actress award at last year's Cannes Film Festival, LEE's three previous features will also screen. Additionally, two films directed by PARK Kwang-su, for which LEE penned the screenplays, will round out the program.

LEE's directing debut "Green Fish" (1997) was selected to screen in competition at the 38th Thessaloniki Film Festival, where he was celebrated as Korea's 'new hope'. Building on the critical success of "Green Fish", LEE wrote and directed a milestone in Korean cinema, "Peppermint Candy" (1999), a harrowing journey in reverse through 20 years of contemporary Korean history. His 2002 film "Oasis" won him the Best Director prize at Venice and brought actress MOON So-ri into the limeligh...| More

MOON Seong-geun Cast in SONG Il-gon Horror

Source | 2008/02/26 | Permalink |

Acclaimed actor MOON Seong-geun will take the lead role in "Sahwa" (meaning 'Royal Massacre') a horror from Cannes winning director SONG Il-gon. MOON has been a notable figure in the Korean film industry since the 1990's, when he starred in films by top new wave directors, PARK Kwang-soo ("Black Republic"), JANG Sun-woo ("Road to the Racetrack"), and in LEE Chang-dong's debut film "Green Fish".

MOON also provided memorable performances in such films as HONG Sang-soo's "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors" and PARK Chan-ok's "Jealousy is My Middle Name". He came late to his acting career, having first spent time as a business man in Saudi Arabia. Throughout the 90's he was deeply involved in supporting the Korean film industry and served as Vice-chairman of the Korean Film Council in 1999.

In SONG's fifth feature, a Chosun dynasty-set tale of bloody power games between rival families, MOON will play the central role of a king beset by curses and vengeful murders. Supporti...| More