The Old Garden (Movie - 2006)

Male Actors Try New Roles in TV Dramas

Source | 2009/07/02 | 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 | 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 | 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

Actress Jeon Picks Another Top Award

Source | 2008/03/18 | Permalink |

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

The internationally acclaimed Korean film "Secret Sunshine" (Miryang) grabbed the spotlight at the second annual Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, picking up three top awards including Best Film.

"Secret Sunshine", which is about a young widow moving to her late husband's hometown, beat other Asian films such as the controversial thriller "Lust, Caution", Hong Kong's "The Sun Also Rises" and Japan's "I Just Didn't Do It".

Actress Jeon Do-yeon won Best Actress, adding another award to her collection, which includes several Korean acting awards and the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival last May. She won over Korean actress Kim Yun-jin and Chinese actress Tang Wei.

"I don't usually need time to recover from most of the roles I portray. But this time, because my character was so damaged, it took some time to recover from it", Jeon was quoted by the Associated Press, after winning the award.

The film's director Lee Chang-dong...| More

"The President's Last Bang" Released in Japan

Source | 2007/12/26 | Permalink |

Lim Sang-soo's black comical take on the assassination of military dictator PARK Chung Hee "The President's Last Bang" has been released in Tokyo, Japan, on the 15th. From there the film will travel to other Japanese cities for screenings. The film stars HAN Seok-kyu and BAEK Yoon-sik.

Lim told Japanese fans that up until now "The President's Last Bang" is the film he wanted to make the most. The film was somewhat controversial in Korea, since it deals with a sensitive event in Korea's modern history. However, the film was praised by critics for its bold and humorous approach of the subject matter.

Writer/director Lim enriches Korean cinema by not shying away from possible controversial subjects. In "A Good Lawyer's Wife", he tackled the institution marriage and conservative concepts about relationships between men and women. With his latest "The Old Garden", he returned to Korea's tumultuous modern history by portraying a man who is released after seventeen years of imprisonme...| More