The 7th New York Korean Film Festival

Details: Category: Featured Events

I blinked and a whole month passed by, so to speak. While the blog was plunged in deep sleep, due to some translating duties and the writing of my first work of fiction, much has happened, particularly in the way of Asian film festivals. After Subway Cinema’s Asian Film Festival and “Japan Cuts”, after Asian CineVision’s Asian American International Film Festival (obviously, it takes some skill for the layman not to get confused between these super-subtle titular distinguos), and after sitting through more films than I thought was humanly possible, the New York Korean Film Festival team (or, NYKFF, since everybody uses abbreviations these days) will present its 7th incarnation: from Tuesday, August 21 to Sunday, September 2, a line-up of 15 award-winning contemporary films from Korea will be shown at Cinema Village, the IFC Center and the BAM Cinématek.

The team has selected:

- A couple of documentaries: Between, an intriguing exploration of Korean shamanism, and Our School, which chronicles a year in the life of senior students at a North Korean high school on Hokkaido island, in Japan.

Between

- Bloody Ties. Bloody, brutal, a hardball noir film about corrupt cops, lowlifes and drugs in Pusan, literally electrified by the high-octane performances by Hwang Jeong-Min and Ryu Seung-Beom.

- A Dirty Carnival. One of my favorites of 2006, reviewed here. A Dirty Carnival practically redefines the whole gangster genre. Since then, Jo In-Seong’s performance has earned him recognition for his (new-found) talent as an actor (rather than pretty boy) and the fifth spot on the Chosun Ilbo’s list of stars with the greatest “pulling power”.

- Family Ties. An understated and ingenious melodrama. Excellent writing, excellent acting. As family melodramas go, this is probably the best you can get.

- Herb. A melodrama starring Kang Hye-Jeong, an habituée of madwomen-in-the-attic and other oddball characters… (Welcome to Dongmakgol, Rules of Dating, Love Phobia). She does excel at playing this kind of parts, and in Herb, she pulls off, once again, a most compelling performance (aside from the fact that she has a brand-new set of teeth in this)

- The King and the Clown. Historical, in every sense of the word, the film (released in December 2005) was one of South Korea’s biggest commercial and critical hits of all times. This superlative period piece was directed by Lee Joon-Ik.

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- Radio Star. By the same director. Reviewed here.

- The Old Garden. Adapted from the novel by Hwang Sok-Yong, Im Sang-Soo’s film is both a fated love story and a fable of political dissidence set against the backdrop of the Gwangju uprising. Reviewed above.

- Once in a Summer. Romance in the summer of 1969, graced by the manly charms of Lee Byung-Hun and the beauty of Soo Ae (Best New Actress 2005 for A Family).

- You are My Sunshine. Harrowing melodrama with this year’s winner of Cannes’ Best Actress Award, Jeon Do-Yeon. One of her best performances to date.

- Paradise Murdered. Released in April of this year, Paradise Murdered/1986 is a tricky thriller set in the late 1980’s, about the sudden vanishing of 17 villagers on a remote island.
Written and directed by Kim Han-min, who will be present to introduce his work, the film, starring Park Hae-Il (The Host) and Park Sol-Mi, topped the Korean box office for three consecutive weeks.

- Tazza: The High Rollers. Superb stylish gambling film, reviewed in these pages: here.

- 200 Pound Beauty. A plastic-surgery pop comedy that brought Kim A-Joong stardom and all the things that go with it. Director Kim Yong-Hwa will be there to talk about his movie.

- Unstoppable Marriage. A hit comedy about two young lovers who struggle to get parental permission to tie the knot. A good occasion to watch the charming Eugene from S.E.S. (sigh), who has been quite low-profile since her glorious bygone pop days.

- A 5-film retrospective of veteran director Im Kwon-Taek, who has made his 100th work this year (the aptly named Across The Years, which will be shown in Toronto in September): Chunhyang, Festival, Seopyonje, Come Come Upward, The General’s Son.

- “Tartan Asia Extreme presents Korean Horror Day” - a collection of 7 films, courtesy of Tartan Asia.