The Old Garden (Movie - 2006)

Two Korean Classics to be Remade

Source | 2009/11/13 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Two Korean classic films from 2 prolific Korean directors whose films were part of and contributed to the famous Golden Age of Korean cinema are about to be remade. This period between the 1960's and 1970's helped lay the ground work for many of today's modern directors. The original "Housemaid" (1960), a melodramatic, sexual thriller became a signature film for director KIM Ki-young known for his eclectic mix of genre combining anything from the above through intense psychological horror to realism. The careful manipulation of genre is a style now exemplified by many modern day directors such as BONG Joon-ho. The film concentrates on a family who take in a housemaid because of the wife's exhaustion working at a factory. Soon after, the housemaid starts to exhibit bizarre tendencies, catching rats with her hands, spying on the family and then finally seducing the husband who she becomes pregnant to. So starts a wicked journey of murder, intrigue and the break up of the family.
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YANG Ik-joon casts JI Jin-hee

Source | 2009/08/31 | 0 comments | Permalink |

YANG IK-joon shot up the ranks of the international cinema world with his debut feature film Breathless. His second film is titled "Runaway from Home", and JI Jin-hee has been cast in the lead role. YANG will also act besides directing.

JI will team up with LEE Moon-sik. LEE will play a husband whose wife has run away. JI's character is the wife's brother. Together they set out to find her. The drama with touches of comedy should be gold in the hands of director YANG who handled "Breathless" perfectly.

"Breathless" – written, directed, produced, and acted by YANG – won a string of awards in Asia and Europe including the tiger award at 2009 International Film Festival Rotterdam. JI turned into a pan-Asian star through the hit television series "Jewel in the Palace" ("Dae Jang Geum"). He starred in LIM Sang-soo's "The Old Garden".

Yi Ch'ang-ho (KOFIC)
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Male Actors Try New Roles in TV Dramas

Source | 2009/07/02 | 0 comments | Permalink |

One of the viewers of the KBS TV2 drama "He Who Can't Marry" has recently written that she was surprised by its main male character, Cho Jae-hee, who is played by actor Ji Jin-hee. So far, Ji has mostly played gentle and smart men, but this time he has been transformed into a narrow-minded old bachelor, whom he portrays in a comical way. The viewer said she had no idea Ji could portray comical roles and that they suited him perfectly.

Ji is not the only one to reflect the latest small-screen trend. A growing number of male actors are shedding their existing images to try on new roles. Despite the risk, so far the majority of them have succeeded in their transformations.

Ji Jin-hee, Lee Jong-won Realize Their Long-cherished Dreams

Ji Jin-hee has played only serious roles so far, such as Min Jung-ho in "Dae Jang Geum", Oh Tae-seok in "Spotlight" and his big-screen roles in the movies "Soo" and "The Old Garden". But in the TV drama "He Who Can't Marry", Ji plays a very rigid man ...| More

Most Translated Korean Writer Go Eun

Source | 2009/01/29 | 0 comments | Permalink |

51 books in 15 languages... Lee MY, Lee CJ follow

The Korean author whose works were introduced overseas the most is poet Go Eun.

According to data on overseas publications of Korean literature compiled by the Korea Literature Translation Institute (Director Kim Joo-youn), 51 books by Go have been published or are scheduled to come out abroad.

His poem collections such as "Maninbo", "Momentary Flower", "Hwaeomgyeong", "South and North Korea", and others have been introduced to foreign readers in 15 different languages.

Fourteen of them were translated into English, seven into German, six into Spanish and four into Swedish.

The next most translated Korean writer is Lee Moon-yeol, to the tune of 50 books in 16 languages.

His feature novel "Poet" has been published abroad eleven times in nine languages including English, French, Italian, Dutch, Chinese and Greek. "Our Twisted Hero", "The Son of Man" and "Geumsijo" have also been published in various languages.

The lat...| More

KIM Ki-duk's "Dream" to compete in San Sebastian

Source | 2008/06/26 | 0 comments | Permalink |

"Dream" (Korean title: "Bimong"), the fifteenth film by director KIM Ki-duk, has been selected to compete at the 56th San Sebastian International Film Festival, to be held from September 18-27.

The film, which stars Japanese heartthrob Joe ODAGIRI and Korean actress LEE Na-young, centers around a man who experiences a startlingly realistic dream about a car accident, and later discovers that the accident occurred in real life.

KIM's previous films have premiered at Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno, Karlovy Vary and Moscow, but this will be the first time for him to compete at the prestigious Spanish festival. Other Korean films that have competed at San Sebastian in recent years include BONG Joon-ho's "Memories of Murder" (2003), SONG Il-gon's "Spider Forest" (2004), HEO Jin-ho's "April Snow" (2005), LIM Sang-soo's "The Old Garden", and KIM Mi-jeong's "Shadows in the Palace" (2007).

In 2003, KIM's Spring, "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring" screened out of competiti...| More