Shadows in the Palace (2007) - 궁녀 (Goong-nyeo)

2008/01/25 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

"Shadows in the Palace" (Goongnyeo) is a movie with an identity crisis.

It had the potential to weave in the flavor of "CSI" with the intriguing inner workings of a Joseon Dynasty palace.
The backstabbing, the petty fighting, the balance of power between the various concubines: That's what I imagined when I read the storyline.
Unfortunately, the end result was a lot of wasted potential.
The intrigue begins when Cheon Ryeong (Park Jin-hee), the medic for the court ladies, discovers Wol Ryeong, a fellow court lady, or goongyeo, dead.
While performing an autopsy on Wol, Cheon finds evidence of foul play. But higher court ladies, who fear that the murder will sway the king's affections for them, order Cheon to ignore her suspicions.
Intended to be a mystery thriller , the movie has aspects of horror that come into play out of nowhere about midway through. This just made me scratch my head. The movie tries to do too many things here and there and ends up weak overall.
Director Kim ...

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2007/12/26 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

There had been true 'Woman's power' in Korean cinema this year. The 'Cannes Lady', Jeon Do-yeon, who is sweeping through all year-end film awards, is the 2007's queens of the Queen without any further questions. From "200 pounds beauty"'s ' Cinderella ' Kim Ah-joong; 'Shadows in the Palace"'s heroin Park Jin-hee and the returned world star Kim Yoon-jin in "Seven days"; Kim Hye-soo, who never stops being one character in films such as "The War of Flower", "A Good Day to Have an Affair", "Shim's Family" and "Eleventh Mom"; Kim Tae-hee in "Venus and Mars", who tries to take off her angelic image built from various commercial films; to the newbie Han Ye-seul with her debut film, "Miss Gold Digger". Countless beautiful female actors made their own characteristic appeals and produced good results in both local and international arena.

On upcoming New Year, the top male actors are returning to screen, already heating up the atmosphere. First of all, the two most popular Hallyu stars, Song...

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2007/12/17 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

"Shadows in the Palace" Women's film of 2007

Women in Film selected director KIM Mi-jeong's "Shadows in the Palace" as the 2007 women's film deserving special attention. The court mystery is KIM's directorial debut and PARK Jin-hee was her leading lady.

PARK played a medically skilled court lady who investigates a murder cover-up and becomes entangled in power relations in the Chosun dynasty royal court where the women are suppressed. Shadows in the Palace received praise from the critics and was successful at the box office. The San Sebastian Film Festival selected the film for its competition section.

KIM's debut film was produced by Achim Pictures and distributed by Cinema Service. PARK previously acted in LEE Yoon-ki's "Love Talk", among others.

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

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2007/12/17 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Actress Jeon Do-yeon was voted as the "Best actress of the year" by the female directors. Also the president of Home Pictures, Lee Yoo-jin, was awarded as the "Best movie-person of the year", who produced movies such as the "Voice of Murderer" and the "Happiness". The award ceremony is a part of 2007 Female Directors Festival on 17th December, held at the Art hall of Seoul Sokyuk-dong Art Centre, organised by the Association of Female Directors.

In particular, Jeon Do-yeon's achievement of winning the Cannes best actress prize this year for her latest film "Secret Sunshine" was recognised. The festival was hosted by the actress Jo Eun-ji and the elder-actress Hwang Jeong-seon was awarded for her distinguishable service in film industry. She began her acting career in 1940, when she entered Dongyang Acting Company's exclusive play troupe "Chungchundan". Ever since, she appeared in hundreds of films and dramas for more than 60 years.

The "Best director/screen play of the year" ...

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2007/12/04 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

LEE Chang-dong's "Secret Sunshine" took home four of the top awards at Korea's 6th annual Korean Film Awards, held in Seoul Dec 1st. LEE's fourth feature won best film, best director, best actor (SONG Kang-ho) and best actress for show-stealer JEON Do-yeon. JEON has won a total of seven acting honors since being awarded the Cannes best actress prize in May of this year.

Other winners included a best supporting actor prize to SEONG Ji-roo in "Paradise Murdered" ("Paradise 1986"), and KONG Hyo-jin for best supporting actress in "Happiness". The best new actor and actress prizes went to Daniel Henney ("My Father") and SONG Hye-kyo ("Hwangjin-y - Movie - 2007"). KIM Mi-jeong won best new director for "Shadows in the Palace". LEE Myeong-Se's "M" picked up all three top visual awards for cinematography, lighting, and art direction.

Veteran director, YOO Hyeon-mok, known for the Korean cinema milestone "An Aimless Bullet" (1961) and many other classics, won an honorary achieveme...

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