| Meet Directors in Seoul Theaters (Source) |
2010/01/13 |
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
This weekend in Seoul, movie buffs can re-watch a handful of contemporary classics of Korean cinema on the big screen and meet directors: Hong Sang-soo and Song Il-gon.
The Korean Film Archive is hosting a retrospective of 10 films by the minimal realist Hong through Jan. 24 at Cinematheque KOFA, Sangam-dong, Seoul, while "The Magicians", by artsy experimentalist Song, will reopen Sunday in Daehango.
Hong has established an international reputation as a unique minimalist with video journal-style movies reminiscent of the late Eric Rohmer. The retrospective lineup includes his 1996 directorial debut piece, "The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well", to his latest works ― "Like You Know It All" and the short "Lost in the Mountains".
Following Sunday's 4:30 p.m. screening of "Night and Day", which competed at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival, Hong will join the audience. He will give a special talk with film critic Huh Moon-young, director of Cinemat... |More
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| Actress Hwang Returns to Movie (Source) |
2009/08/12 |
Actress Hwang Soo-jeong will return to the silver screen for the first time in two years.
Hwang, 37, starred in "A Time to Leave", the first episode of the omnibus movie "Sai" directed by Eo Il-seon, with actor Ki Tae-yeong.
She played the role of a wife who falls victim to habitual violence inflicted by her husband. She meets Ki, a seaman and jail-breaker, while traveling and the two fall into love.
In the movie, Hwang shakes off her fixed image of a good-natured woman and shows a much stronger image. The movie is to be released early next year.
Hwang had her acting career suspended in 2001 after being arrested on drug charges. She made a comeback in 2007 with the TV drama "Salt Doll". She starred in the movie "Night and Day" last year.... |More
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| 'Know': Hong's Realm of Comic Realism (Source) |
2009/05/14 |
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
New in local theaters and currently showing in the out-of-competition section of the Cannes Film Festival is Hong Sang-soo's latest feature "Like You Know It All".
Like Hong's other films, "Know" is told in a live journal-like format that is reminiscent of Eric Rohmer. While it is set in a couple of Korea's top vacation spots, the movie, as typical of its minimalist director, features characterless hotel rooms and drinking spots and showcases more of the mirror-image structures inherent to Hong's stories of frustrated ideals and sexual desires.
Modest, fragmented and meandering it may be, but the low-budget digital franchise stars some of South Korea's most high-profile actors tangled up in mundane yet comic situations and engaged in phony talks about art, philosophy and love.
Like his previous feature "Night and Day", which was shown at last year's Berlinale, "Know" stars another one of the director's archetypal womanizing anti-heroes. Actor... |More
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| Director Hong Invited as Judge in Locarno Fest (Source) |
2009/05/07 |
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
South Korean director Hong Sang-soo has been invited to be a judge at the Locarno International Film Festival in Italy, festival organizers announced Thursday. The 62nd edition of the premier Italian film festival will open in Locarno, Switzerland, from August 5 to 15.
The "Night and Day" director will judge films in the International Competition section alongside French screenwriter and filmmaker Pascal Bonitzer, noted German actress Nina Hoss and Catalan producer Luis Minarro.
Meanwhile, Hong's latest short film "Lost in the Mountains" was featured as part of an omnibus digital project in the 10th Jeonju International Film Festival, "the Locarno of Asia", which ends today. "Like You Know It All", the latest feature by the minimal realist, starring top local stars Ko Hyeon-jeong and Kim Tae-woo, will be shown in the out-of-competition section of the Cannes Film Festival, from May 13 to 24.
Last year, Korean newcomer Noh Young-seok received sp... |More
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| Cleveland Invites 3 Korean Pearls (Source) |
2009/03/06 |
The 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival gets underway this month and its Asian sidebar Pacific Pearls will present award-winning fare from South Korea. NA Hong-jin's "The Chaser" and KIM So-yong's "Treeless Mountain" will screen in this section while HONG Sang-soo's "Night and Day" will screen in the Continental Airlines World Tour program.
The festival, which takes place in Cleveland, Ohio, opens March 19 and runs through to the 29th. Korean-American director KIM's sophomore effort, "Treeless Mountain" is her first shot entirely in Korea and tells the tale of two young sisters shuffled off from mother to aunt to grandparents. It has won numerous prizes including best film at the Dubai Int'l Film Festival.
NA's multiple award-winner "The Chaser" is the tale of an ex-cop-turned-pimp hunting down an elusive serial killer (played by HA Jeong-woo). It was the first sleeper hit at the 2008 Korean box office and has had its remake rights bought up by Hollywood.
HONG... |More
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