A series for the natural Bourne lovers and the head-spinning action followers, Action Korea explores the savant, signature blend of the delightfully silly and the deadpan serious that recent Korean cinema has brought to the silver screen.
From the North Korean spy tribulations of Commitment (2013; dir. Park Hong-Soo) to the heroic feats of an ancient noble marksman in War of the Arrows (2011 dir. Kim Han-Min), the peninsula has a surfeit of heroic tales.
In co-presentation with MoMI, The Korea Society presents a showcase of these startlingly resonant spectacles, fired by primeval fantasy and hurtling from one dramatic mode to the next, whirling with the force of weightlessness and propelled by the promise of escape.
Friday, April 3 - Sunday, April 5, 2015
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Avenue at 37th Street, Astoria
The Museum of the Moving Image
Directions:
From Midtown, 10 min. taxi from The Korea Society or N/Q Train outbound to 36th Avenue
| Friday, April 3 | 7:00 KUNDO: AGE OF THE RAMPANT | |
| Saturday, April 4 | 4:00 WAR OF THE ARROWS | 7:00 CONFESSION OF MURDER |
| Sunday, April 5 | 4:00 THE MAN FROM NOWHERE | 7:00 COMMITMENT |
KUNDO: AGE OF THE RAMPANT (137 min) 2014
군도: 민란의 시대
Friday, April 3 | 7:00 PM
Dir. Yoon Jong-bin. 2014, 137 mins. With Ha Jung-woo, Kang Dong-won, Lee Kyoung-young, Lee Sung-min, Ma Dongseok, Cho Jin-woong, Yoon Ji-hye. Half kimchi epic, half spaghetti western, Kundo is a wild ride in the twilight days of the Joseon Dynasty: it’s 1859 in the Korean kingdom, when a gang of colorful bandits, or “Kundo”, decides to stand up against the tyranny of the wealthy and fight for the poor and the oppressed. The sky’s the limit for the seemingly invincible band of honorable thieves whose mission of righteous retribution takes a dramatic turn when they accept butcher Dolmuchi into their ranks. For the meat cleaver wielder, it’s not only about justice, it’s personal, and he won’t stop until he takes the life of the psychopathic nobleman who killed his loved ones.
WAR OF THE ARROWS (121 min) 2011
최종병기 활
Saturday, April 4 | 4:00 PM
In Korean with English subtitles
Dir. Kim Han-Min. 2011, 121 mins. With Park Hae-Il, Moon Chae-Won, Ryoo Seung-Ryong. The highest-grossing Korean movie of 2011, this is an epic chase film that gives audiences a taste of just how rad a Green Arrow movie would be. Park Hae-Il (The Host) and his sister are sent into hiding after their father is accused of being a traitor and murdered. 13 years later, Park has become something of an archery prodigy, while his sister (played by TV star Moon Chae-Won) is in love with the son of their host family. Park is furious at her choice, but he can’t stop the wedding. Even worse, their wedding comes on the exact same day that China’s Qing Army invades Korea. Living in a border town, the Qing military stops off at the wedding first, where they are totally uncool guests: trashing everything, taking Moon and her husband-to-be hostage, and then continuing into Korea, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. Park barely escapes with his life, but now he has a mission: with only his bow, he’ll follow the Qing army and rescue his sister. Along the way, the Qing warriors start to realize that all their men are being killed by one lone archer, and so a task force of Manchu archers, wielding heavier, more powerful bows, are assembled to take out Park. The Qing conquest of Korea in 1592 is one of the most crushing defeats in world history – it took just two months before Korea’s king surrendered and gave his son to the Chinese as a hostage. War of The Arrows tells the story, but rather than writing it on an epic scale, it focuses on just a few people fighting to survive: a bride, her groom, and her brother.
At 121 minutes, you might think there’s some fat on these bones, but once the emotional core is forged, it becomes one massive chase sequence, studded with masterful set pieces that involve everything from man-eating tigers to a battle on the side of a cliff. If you were ever a kid who pretended to be Robin Hood, this one’s for you. Director and writer Kim Han-Min has made a blockbuster that does for archery what The Dark Knight did for bats.
CONFESSION OF MURDER (119 min) 2012
내가 살인범이다
Saturday, April 4 | 7:00 PM
In Korean with English subtitles
Dir. Jeong Byeong-Gil. 2012, 119 mins. With Jung Jae-Young, Park Si-Hoo. From the director of the hit documentary Action Boys (about the tough lives of stuntmen in the Korean movie biz), comes this thriller that’s got more twists than a snake with a broken back. Launching itself off the screen and coming at viewers like a runaway train in the first 50 seconds, this flick kicks off with lieutenant Choi (Jung Jae-Young, Castaway on the Moon) ending his investigation of a serial killer who’s murdered 10 women in a shower of broken glass, insane rootop leaps, and breathless sprints down dark alleys which climaxes with the masked killer slashing his face to shreds and getting away.
Years later, Choi’s a drunk, obsessed by the one who got away, and suddenly his world splits open when a handsome young man appears on the day the statute of limitations expires on the killings and declares that not only is he the murderer but you can read all about it in his tell-all book. Is the killer confessing? Is he a wannabe craving attention? Hard to tell. But it’s not just the impressive action set pieces that keep this movie hopping (although the centerpiece car chase should get a special award for insanity). With the addition of a vigilante group made up of the victim’s families, several bloodthirsty TV producers who want ratings, and a serial killer so slick he’s surrounded by fans wherever he goes, this movie changes pace every ten minutes. Even better, the killer is played by Park Si-Hoo, a TV star so famous that in the scenes of the killer’s fans going bananas the director simply let Park’s real-life fans on the set and filmed them.
Despite the life-or-death stakes, Confession of Murder still smells like real life: people have to borrow cars, they get giddy over celebrities, and live interviews with serial killers are interrupted by commercial breaks. Refusing to get bogged down in scenes of psychopathic sadism or needless suffering, Confession of Murder is this summer’s cinematic built-for-the-beach crime thriller that sends your pulse racing as you flip the pages faster and faster, caught up in the excitement what on earth could possibly happen next.
Description courtesy of Subway Cinema.
THE MAN FROM NOWHERE (119 min) 2010
아저씨
Sunday, April 5 | 4:00 PM
In Korean with English subtitles
Dir. Lee Jeong-Beom. 2010, 119 mins. With Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Hee-won. One part Batman, one part Bourne, Korean mega-star, Won Bin, revamped his image as a hard man of action with this movie about a spy coming out of retirement to take on a ring of organ harvesters. The number one movie at the Korean box office in 2010 (beating Inception and Iron Man 2), it took home 16 film awards! The cast includes Won Bin, Kim Sae-Ron, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Tae-hoon and Lee Jong-Pil. Part of The Sea of Revenge Focus, The Man From Nowhere will screen in Korean with English subtitles.
Description courtesy of Subway Cinema.
Sunday, April 5 | 7:00 PM
Dir. Park Hong-Soo. 2013, 113 mins. With Choi Seung-Hyun (T.O.P.), Han Ye-Ri, Kim You-Jeong. Bending the hard-boiled North Korean spy genre into the confines of an affecting adolescent drama, director Park Hong-soo packs balls-to-the-wall action, political intrigue and poignant romance in one detonating bundle. After the failure of their father, North Korean teenager Myung-hoon (Choi Seung-hyun, aka T.O.P) and his young sister Hye-in (Han Ye-ri) are condemned to a labor camp. To save his sister’s life, Myung-hoon volunteers to become a spy and, posing as a defector, infiltrates the South as a high school boy. Despite his innocent good looks, the young man is actually a mean, highly-trained war machine, cleverly concealing his ability for combat behind his bashful demeanor.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council.