In Between Days (2006) - 방황의 날들 (Bang-hwang-eui Nal-deul)

Major Korean Films Offered With English Subtitles

2008/01/28 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

CGV Yongsan in central Seoul will devote a screen to the exclusive showing of popular domestic movies with English-language subtitles, an unprecedented move by a movie theater.

"It's to serve the many foreigners in Korea who want to watch Korean films. They won't have to wait for DVDs with English-language subtitles anymore", Chong Choe from CJ Entermatinment's International Strategy team told The Korea Times.

The country's largest motion picture studio, CJ Entertainment and multiplex theater giant CGV have teamed up for this long-term project, and will begin with "A Man Who Was Superman", starring high-profile actors Jeon Ji-hyeon (`My Sassy Girl's" Gianna Jeon) and Hwang Jeong-min ("Happiness"). Coming to CGV Yongsan Jan. 31, it will have regular showings for the entire duration of the film's run in Korea.

For the time being, there will be seven showings per day through Feb. 4. "That's a lot of showings, and we plan to maintain this for the ...| More

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"West 32nd" Breaks Down NY Koreatown

2007/11/15 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

It gets down-and-dirty like the gritty streets of New York. In "West 32nd", Korean-American director Michael Kang gives the classic detective genre a fresh twist as he tells the untold story of a Korea that exists in the heart of the Big Apple.

West 32nd Street is the geographic location of New York Koreatown (K-town) near the Empire State Building. But even those who are familiar with the "noraebang" (karaoke), stationary stores and "seoleongtang" (Korean beef broth) restaurants lining the strip will be shocked to know that there lies a whole new world beneath it all -- where Korean gangsters and "organized" mayhem reign.

While snippets of Koreatown have began to appear (fleetingly) as an exotic backdrop in Hollywood films like "Collateral" (2004) and "Shoot 'Em Up" (2007), it remained a relatively unexplored territory, and "West 32nd" breaks it down, once and for all.

In the dark corner of K-town, a bar owner Jin-ho (Jeong Joon-ho) is shot t...| More

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Director Espouses Intuition in Filmmaking

2007/09/16 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

The script usually plays an integral part of filmmaking, but it is virtually non-existent for internationally acclaimed director Kim So-yong. For the 39-year-old, intuition, spontaneity and creating everything from scratch with amateur actors are the special ingredients.

The Korean-American made an international breakthrough with her first film "In Between Days" (2006), winning awards at the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival among others. She is now back in Korea for her next project "Treeless Mountains", with support from the Cannes Cinema Foundation.

"You always have to keep (gut feeling and intuition). It's like natural instinct. Sometimes I think people forget it because you're trained to behave in certain ways, trained to fit into society... But I think it's really important for the creative process to keep your sense of intuition", she said in an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe near Hongdae, northern Seo...| More

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[MOVIE REVIEW] 'In Between Days' and 'Let's Not Cry!' show visual audacity

2007/08/27 | Source | Permalink |

"In Between Days" and "Let's Not Cry!" share striking similarities: Korean directors, exotic (at least in the eyes of Korean audiences) locations, and refined experimental spirits which earned the filmmakers awards at international film festivals.

"In Between Days", a debut feature by Kim So-yong, a Korean American multimedia artist, delves into the life of a Korean immigrant who has to deal with not only the strangeness of adapting to a new culture but also a sense of loneliness that deepens along with her faltering relationship with a boy she has a crush on.

This Sundance and Berlin prize-winner, to be released nationwide on Sept. 6, literally zooms in on Aimie (Jiseon Kim), a teenage girl who recently arrived in a North American city. But she finds it hard to find a comfortable place. She's already bored with her school, thanks largely to her poor English, and even the small apartment where she lives with her divorced mother looks dreary as the depressing winter cityscape the ...| More

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"In Between Days" Released in the US

2007/07/02 | Source | Permalink |

Director KIM So-yong's "In Between Days"' US release kicked off on June 27 at the New York IFC Center. From New York, the film will travel to more US destinations.

"In Between Days" premiered – in KIM's former hometown - at last year's Pusan International Film Festival. The film has been invited by numerous international film festivals since, and won several awards, including the Special Jury Prize for Independent Vision at the Sundance Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The quiet story about a young Korean immigrant girl – played by Jiseon KIM - in the US, struggling to adapt to a new life and her feelings for her friend – portrayed by Taegu Andy KANG - was supported by KOFIC through the 2006 KOFIC Marketing Support for Diversity program.

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

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