Il Mare (Movie - 2000)

'If You Were Me 4', Omnibus Treat

Source | 2009/05/28 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

For its sixth omnibus feature film "If You Were Me 4", the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has brought together five directors to capture the magic and complexities of being a teenager. The closing film for the 2008 Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) makes a promising theatrical release June 4 despite tough competition with big Hollywood flicks.

Along with JIFF's popular digital franchise, the human rights project continues to positively contribute to the omnibus genre. In past years, directors such as Park Chan-wook participated ("If You Were Me", 2003), and this time Bang Eun-jin, Jeon Gye-soo, Lee Hyeon-seung, Yoon Seong-ho and Kim Tae-yong each offer a small gem of a piece.

Bang, who debuted with the bloody thriller "Princess Aurora", offers something bright in "Blue Birds on the Desk". The story itself is rather typical of 1990s TV dramas on growing pains, but cheerful melodies, school uniform-clad dance sequences and slight...| More

[TALK OF THE TOWN] Haunting tale of mother's death gets Hollywood makeover

Source | 2009/01/20 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Keep your eyes wide open for "The Uninvited", a Hollywood remake of the Korean horror film, "A Tale of Two Sisters" (2003).

The remake, directed by Charles Guard and Thomas Guard, and starring Emily Browning and Elizabeth Banks, will be released next Friday in U.S. theaters.

The story revolves around Anna (Browning) who suffers mentally after her mother's tragic death.

Anna returns home after receiving treatment in the hospital, but she suffers even more after she finds out that her father (David Strathairn) is dating Rachel (Banks), a hospital nurse who looked after her mother.

Every night, Anna is constantly awakened by her mother's ghost who warns her anxious and vulnerable daughter about Rachel.

There have been several successful Hollywood remakes of Korean films: "The Lake House" (2006), a remake of the Korean drama film "Il Mare" (2000); and "Mirror" (2008), a remake of the horror thriller "Into the Mirror" (2003)....| More

LEE Jeong-jae fights over KIM Ok-bin

Source | 2008/11/20 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Young actress KIM Ok-bin plays a gisaeng (female entertainer) in the historic action comedy "The Accidental Gangster and the Mistaken Courtesan" (English working title; Korean title: 1724 Gibang Nandong Sageon). LEE Jeong-jae plays a skilled fighter who somehow attracts fights. His character falls in love with KIM's character and takes on her boss, a notorious criminal leader, to free her.

LEE told reporters that he wanted to try his hand at playing a different kind of character, a comical loose cannon type of character like in "The Accidental Gangster and the Mistaken Courtesan". The action comedy will mark LEE's first film since 2005's "Typhoon". In 2000, he was seen in "Il Mare" with JEON Ji-hyeon (aka Gianna JUN).

KIM said that she found acting in historical films more difficult, but she was helped by director YEO Gyoon-dong's consultations. KIM practiced traditional dances for two months in preparation of the film. She will next star in PARK Chan-wook's highly anticipated ...| More

Another Korean hit movie remade in Hollywood

Source | 2008/10/24 | 0 comments | Permalink |

A 2003 Korean horror film has joined the ranks of other Korean movies that have been, or are going to be, issued as American remakes. The Uninvited, to be released in the United States on Jan. 30, 2009, is a remake of Janghwa, Hongryeon (the title translates as "Rose and Lotus" but the film was known as "A Tale of Two Sisters" in its international release).

Earlier Korean films to be remade in the United States include The Lake House (a 2006 remake of "Il Mare"), "My Sassy Girl" in 2008, remade from the 2000 Korean smash hit of the same name. Other Korean films to which rights have been bought for Hollywood-ization include "My Wife is a Gangster", "Old Boy" and "JSA - Joint Security Area". In the case of "A Tale of Two Sisters", DreamWorks are reported to have paid US$1 million for the remake rights.

All this is a significant recognition of Korean film as a rising force in global cultural content creation. It comes only a decade after many in Korea feared that the end of the scre...| More

"Into the Mirror" U.S. remake opens on August 15

Source | 2008/08/14 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Director KIM Szong-ho's "Into the Mirror" is remade in Hollywood under the title Mirrors (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790686/). Mirrors will open on 2600 North American screens from August 15. The Korean release will follow a few weeks later.

Kiefer Sutherland takes on the lead role originally played by YOO Ji-tae. The story is about a family under siege of an evil force who uses mirrors to transport.

The U.S. remake was helmed by French director Alexandre Aja whose filmography includes the horror title The Hills have Eyes.

Remakes of Korean films have sparked the interest of Hollywood's leading stars. Kiefer Sutherland is the star of the popular series 24. The Lake House, a remake of "Il Mare", starred Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, and Elisha Cuthbert played in "My Sassy Girl". The latest Korean film lined-up for a Hollywood make-over is "The Chaser".

Yi Ch'ang-ho (KOFIC)...| More