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January 6, 2008

Japanese Actor Jo Odagiri to Star in ‘Sad Dream’

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Staff Reporter

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Korean actress Lee Na-young

Award-winning director Kim Ki-duk chose Japanese actor Jo Odagiri and Korean actress Lee Na-young for his 15th movie "Bimong (Sad Dream)."

"Bimong," produced by Kim Ki-duk Film and Sponge Ent, is about two people who are connected by dreams. Jin (played by Jo Odagiri) is a guy who dreams because he cannot forget his ex-girlfriend. Ran (Lee Na-young) sleepwalks in accordance with Jin's dream. They meet at a traffic accident scene where Ran behaves consistently with Jin's dream.

Kim is known for his distinctive experimental cinematic works. He received Best Director awards in 2004 at two film festivals, for two of his films. At the Berlin International Film Festival, he won an award for "Samaria" (2004) while at the Venice Film Festival he took one for "3-Iron" (2004). However, some of his movies are controversial due to their depiction of the abuse of women and animal cruelty.

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Japanese actor Jo Odagiri

Odagiri, 31, is a Japanese actor who studied acting in California State University. Debuting in the drama "Kamen Rider Kuuga" (2000), Odagiri made a name for himself as a star in Korea through the movie "House of Himiko" (2005) and "Tokyo Tower" (2007).

Prominent actress Lee, 28, is said to have brought a new look to the Korean film industry. She won the Best Actress award at the 25th Blue Dragon Film Awards for her role in "Someone Special" (2004). Her last appearance was in the movie "Maundy Thursday" (2006). Lee played the character of a suicidal young woman who regularly visits a convicted murderer awaiting execution.

The movie started filming Jan. 4 in Seoul and is to be completed by the end of this month. The director, Kim, is famous for his low budget films and short shooting periods. It will be released in May.

Credits: meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2.../135_16756.html

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Thanks to huangsy for opening a thread dedicated to KKD new movie Sad Dream ! :)

(by the way, it would be a great idea to link all the movie threads from the first post ^^)

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January 9, 2008

Top Stars Join KIM Ki-duk's 15th Feature

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Controversial director KIM Ki-duk has cast South Korean leading actress LEE Na-young alongside one of Japan’s top actors, Joe Odagiri, in what will be his 15th feature film. Titled “Bi-mong” (Sad Dream), the new project began shooting January 4 in Seoul and is scheduled to wrap on January 25.

Much interest is being given the new project as actress LEE is one of Korea’s most adored stars, taking memorable roles in such films as Maundy Thursday (2006) and Someone Special (2004). Paired with Odagiri (Tokyo Tower (2007)), a favorite with women across Asia, the film carries much commercial potential despite the generally cold reception KIM’s films receive in his home country.

The new film will, as in many of KIM’s previous works, distort the boundaries between reality and dream. The story revolves around a man (Odagiri) who dreams that he caused a car accident. Waking, he goes to the place where the dream occurred, only to find that an actual hit-and-run accident has occurred, and that the police have traced it to a woman (LEE) with a sleepwalking disorder.

Director KIM has an impressive body of work, including last year’s Cannes screener Breath starring Taiwanese star Chen Chang, Time (2006), Samarian Girl (2004), Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring (2003) and Address Unknown (2001). His latest film is produced by Kim Ki-duk Film and Sponge Entertainment and is slated for a May release.

Nigel D'Sa (KOFIC)

Source: http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/

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Its nice to see this here in SOOMPI

I consider Kim Ki Duk one of my favorite Korean Directors along with Kim Ji Woon and Chan Wook-Park. I would count 3-Iron, Samaritan Girl and The Isle as my faves.

It will be interesting to see one of Japan's idol, Jo Odagiri star in Kim Ki Duks films. Looking forward to this movie

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Guest damifino

I didn't realize that there was a thread on Soompi for him. Whenever there is a Korean movie on the Sundance channel, it's by him. I must have seen at least half of his movies already and I must say, I think his movies are rather pretentious. It tries to be art house, but all it does is become stereotypical in its way of storytelling that all I can muster up after seeing one of his movies is "What the... I can't believe I wasted 2 hours on this!" The last one I saw was "The Bow" which aired a couple of weeks ago and oddly enough, I thought it was the most "normal" of his storytelling and yet it still had me rolling my eyes at the end. My sister and I now have a new question to ask each other when we want to see a Korean movie, "It isn't a KKD movie, is it?" :lol:

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April 17, 2008

Kim Ki-duk’s “The Isle” Selected a Most Difficult Movie

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Director Kim Ki-duk’s “The Isle (Seom)” was selected as one of the 10 most difficult films to watch (but still insanely awesome) movies by Killer Film, an American online film site.

Coming in at ninth, “The Isle” is a strange love story between a prostitute and a man on the run from the cops. The movie had shocked the audience with some of the goriest scenes involving fish hooks and genital mutilation. The list proves that director Kim’s films are too complex to understand for foreign audience as well. Kim has been known for his unique (and sometimes bizarre) interpretations of human nature. His other works include highly acclaimed “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring,” “Samaria,” and “Bad Guy.”

The film topping the 10 most difficult films to watch list was “Ichi, the Killer” directed by Japanese director Takashi Miike. Other films on the list include “Irreversable” with Monica Bellucci at second place, a mock documentary “Blair Witch Project” at fourth, and Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant” at seventh.

Source: KBS World

http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/entertainme...ail.htm?No=7434

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April 22, 2008

MoMa to screen works of award-winning director Kim Ki-duk

New Yorkers will be able to taste a series of artistic Korean movies made by director Kim Ki-duk from Wednesday (Apr. 23).

The Department of Film at New York's Museum of Modern Art, or MoMa, will hold a screening of the works of award-winning moviemaker Kim Ki-duk, 48, who has directed artistic yet controversial films since 1996.

Kim Ki-duk won award at Berlin Film Festival for Samaritan Girl in 2004 20084221551886702.jpg

During the exhibition at MoMa's Theater 1, co-organized by the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Korean Film Council, and supported by the Korean Film Archive in Seoul, movie lovers will be able to take in a total of 14 movies directed by Kim, which will include several features never before seen in the United States, according to MoMa.

Kim is a self-taught maverick filmmaker whose works have impressed international cinema industry with a focus on symbolism and his strong sense of motifs and intensity.

He was a former factory worker, soldier, seminarian and a street artist in France between 1992 and 1995 where he discovered cinema through films like Leo Carax's Les Adamants de Pont Neuf and Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs (both 1991).

The fourteen films include his debut movie "Crocodile" (1996), "Wild Animals" (1997), "Birdcage Inn" (1998), "The Isle" (2000), "Real Fiction" (2000), "Bad Guy" (2001), "Address Unknown" (2001), "The Coast Guard" (2002), "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring" (2003), "Samaritan Girl" (2004), "3-Iron" (2004), "The Bow" (2005), "Time" (2006) and "Breath" (2007).

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Kim's best known movie in America is the Buddhist-themed, "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring," which received the Most Outstanding Film Award at the second Vladivostok International Film Festival of Asia Pacific Countries and at Russia's 13th Golden Fleece Awards in 2004 and won four awards, including the Young Critics Award, at Locarno International Film Festival in 2003. Filmed at a secluded temple, the movie shows an old monk and his young charge, who discovers the secrets of the world around him.

He was named best director at the 54th Berlin Film Festival in 2004 for his film "Samaritan Girl," a movie about the sexual exploitation of a teenage girl and her detective father's revenge and forgiveness.

Kim's "3-Iron," which carries his poetic narrative of love and solitude, also won the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the 61st Venice International Film Festival in 2004. Based on a story of an eccentric young man who sneaks into homes to clean or repair them, the movie was later named the best film of 2005 by Belgium's Film Critics Association in 2006.

Kim's films cohere into a vivid and compelling body of work characterized by sweeping camera movements and long, richly composed shots. The characters in Kim's movies are uneasy in their social situations, adopt silence as a protection and tend to react in a brutal way. Kim's films are sometimes circumscribed by water, but always situated in a cinematic space a couple of degrees sharper than reality. All films are presented with English subtitles.

MoMa has been playing a leading role in introducing Korean films to theater audiences in the United States. It held an exhibition of Korean films in 1993 and held a series of film exhibitions of leading Korean directors, including internationally famous director Im Kwon-taek, Shin Sangouk (1926-2006) and Yu Hyun-mok.

By Yoon Sojung, Korea.net Staff writer

http://www.korea.net/news/news/newsView.as...Day=&page=1

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Thursday, 26 June 2008

Kim "Dreams" of San Sebastian

Written by Patrick Frater

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HONG KONG – "Dream," the new film by Korean cinema bad boy Kim Ki-duk, will play in competition in September's San Sebastian festival.

"Dream" ("Bi Mong",) drama about a man whose dreams are acted out by another person, was confirmed Thursday when the fest announced first selections for its main competition line-up.

Other films in competition include "El Nido Vacio" by Argentina's Daniel Burman, "La Belle Personne" by France's Christophe Honore, "Tiro en la Cabeza" by Jaime Rosales, "Du Frygter" ("Fear Me Not") by Denmark's Kristian Levring and "Eid Milad Laila ("Laila’s Birthday") by Palestinian helmer Rashid Masharawi.

"Dream" stars Odagiri Joe and Lee Na-young. It is sold in int'l markets by Showbox. Company has the pic for all territories outside Japan, where investor Stylejam has the rights, and Korea, where local distribber Sponge is producer.

Source: Variety Asia, poster courtesy Twitchfilm.net

http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/6354/

Karlovy Vary favors Kim

Written by Nick Holdsworth

Ask a Czech college student his or her favorite director, and the answer is just as likely to be Kim Ki-duk as Jiri Menzel or Martin Scorsese. Local hero Menzel may seem an obvious choice, as does Scorsese. But a (relatively) obscure Korean filmmaker with little widespread exposure outside the festival circuit? Where does he spring from?

Step forward and take a typically modest bow, Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival.

The annual nine-day movie marathon in the picturesque Bohemian spa town a couple of hours' drive from Prague has done more to popularize the director of "The Coast Guard," "Time" and "Breath" than virtually any other festival.

Karlovy Vary was the first festival in Europe to program a retrospective of Kim's work in 2002, the year after it first introduced him to Czech audiences in a section on New Korean Cinema.

Kim was so impressed by the welcome he received -- thousands of students and other festival denizens packed his screenings -- that he returned as a festival guest in 2003.

According to Derek Malcolm, film critic for the London Evening Standard who has been a regular visitor to Karlovy Vary for the past 40 years, it is just such sidebars and the fest's friendly informality and intimacy that makes Karlovy Vary so special.

"It is almost impossible to come to Karlovy Vary and not meet directors or producers at the frequent parties, and that is very good for a critic. The festival really benefits from its artistic director, Eva Zaoralova, who is very well known and well liked on the circuit," Malcolm says.

Although the competish is sometimes a little weak in the number of entries from certain countries -- British film, for example -- the sheer breadth and variety of Karlovy Vary's sidebars makes the fest a magnet for thousands of ticketbuying members of the public, with students sleeping out in tent cities on the town's outskirts. Kids roughing it on park benches is a ubiquitous sight.

Last year, more than 11,000 accredited visitors flocked to the 327 movies that unspooled, 115,800 tickets were sold, and attendees included 234 directors, actors and producers, 752 film professionals and 574 journalists.

This year's 43rd edition features 40 world, international and European premieres. Cannes closer ''What Just Happened?," starring Robert De Niro, opens the fest. The thesp will be in attendance to pick up the Crystal Globe award for his contribution of world cinema.

The competition lineup includes Amy Redford's directorial debut, "The Guitar," starring previous Karlovy Vary guest Saffron Burrows.

The world premiere of Tom Thurman's documentary "Nick Nolte: No Exit," in which the thesp questions himself rather than talking to an interviewer, plays out of competition.

Last year's hugely popular sidebar on American indie film of the 1970s, the New Hollywood, returns this year with a fresh batch of groundbreaking movies, including Paul Mazursky's 1969 comedy "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," and there's a retrospective on British director Nicolas Roeg, now 80, who will personally present five of his acclaimed films including "Performance," his 1970 movie starring Mick Jagger.

Source: Variety Asia

http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/6355/

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Wednesday, 6 August 2008

KOFIC to support films overseas

Written by Han Sunhee

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L - R: Secret Sunshine, The Chaser, Dream, The Man Who Was Superman, Happiness

Posters in clickable-thumbnail format, please click to expand the images

SEOUL – The Korean Film Council (Kofic) Wednesday announced $54,000 of financial support to overseas distributors releasing Korean movies. Stichting Nederlands Filmmuseum was awarded Euros12,000 ($18,700) aid to help with its Netherlands release of Lee Chang-dong's "Secret Sunshine" on Sept 12. Hong Kong's Golden Scene receives $12,000 to underwrite its Sept 4 release of Na Hong-jin-helmed "The Chaser" and a further $23,000 to assist November outings of "A man who was Superman," Hur Jin-ho's "Happiness" and the December release of Kim Ki-duk's "Dream."

Source: Variety Asia

http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/6650/

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Guest Love-Formula

I am a huge fan of Kim Ki Duk! I do watch arthouse movies a lot and I can easily say that he's one of my favourite directors. It's so sad that he's so underrated in Korea, although I can understand why: He shows in his movies all the aspects that are concidered taboo in the middle and upper-classes in Korea. His characters are poor peaple, mixed people, murderers... In summary: otsiders. So it's kind of obvious that he can't have a large audience in such a conformist country like Korea.

Anyway, I love his movies. "The coast guard", "3-iron", "Samaria", etc. He's truly a wonderful director.

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September 24, 2008

Kim Ki-duk's 'Dream' provocative, deep

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Award-winning director Kim Ki-duk has built up an international reputation with his films that starkly differ from other mainstream movies in Korea and elsewhere. He stands out largely because he never veers off from his obsessive pursuit of provocative styles and thought-provoking themes.

For better or worse, Kim did not pull any punches in making his 15th feature, "Dream (Bi-Mong)," to be released on Oct. 9. The movie is drawing keen media attention by signing on high-profile actors -- Lee Na-young from Korea and Joe Odagiri Japan -- but viewers should be aware of the cinematic puzzles director Kim routinely inserts in his films in order to grasp what is really going on in this mixture of reality and fantasy.

In the film, Odagiri plays Jin, an artist who sees himself causing a car crash in his dream. What he discovers, however, is that his dream is not a mere creation of his brain because all the details he witnessed while sleeping turns out to be true in the reality. Or that's what viewers are supposed to assume, given the quirky plot turns provided by director Kim who never shies away from purposeful ambiguity and ambivalence.

Jin encounters a woman named Ran (Lee Na-young), a character who has plenty of grievances about her own life, especially concerning the shattered relationships with her former boyfriend. Strange as it may be, what Jin believes he has done in his dream is what Ran has done in reality. Although the car accident happens in Jin's dream, the same incident plays out real in Ran's life, with police suspecting her as the prime suspect in the case.

The key proposition of the movie is that the two main characters are connected through dreams in a way that blurs the boundary between reality and fantasy. And a butterfly emerges as the core image symbolizing the significance of dreams. In fact, this metaphor comes from a well-known ancient Chinese thinker, and its implication is rather straightforward: A person may dream about his life and discovers that it's just a dream when he wakes up, but how can he be sure about the possibility that what seems the reality is also another dream?

Director Kim's presentation of dream's implication, however, is far from straightforward. The subplots, for instance, seem utterly confusing. Jin used to have his girlfriend, but the relationship is now over. But he finds himself dreaming about his former girlfriend and he vaguely senses that he still loves her. While Jin is struggling in his dreams, Ran is visiting her former boyfriend, not in her dream but while sleeping because she is a somnambulist. She hates the man deeply and when she realizes what she has done at night, she gets mad at Jin, the man whose dream goes in lockstep with her nightly visits.

To resolve the situation, Jin and Ran attempt to do the almost impossible: no sleep at night. The assumption is that if Jin does not sleep, Ran does not have to walk around in her sleep. Jin can also sleep without his much-dreaded dream that generates real events in dream when Ran is awake.

Their struggle to stay awake is, as some of director Kim's fans might correctly predict, depicted in a gruesome manner. Self-inflicted torture abounds on the screen, which will make the audiences twist and turn in their seats.

The movie's dramatic intensity accelerate at a precarious pace when the two character's former lovers, played by Park Ji-ah and Kim Tae-hyun, join a crucial scene where four people shout at each other, trying to reverse what has already happened. At this point, it is no longer possible to identify where the reality starts and where the fantasy ends. All the conflicting elements get mixed up while the characters go through an enormous amount of pain and suffering.

One hint about director Kim's message is the peculiar existence of Jin. Japanese actor Odagiri plays the role in Japanese, while all the other characters speak in Korean. Strangely enough, Jin communicates perfectly with other Koreans even though he continues to speak in Japanese. His otherworldly identity that gets to go beyond the language barrier is certainly unrealistic, but director Kim leaves more questions than answers about his new cinematic dreamland that is depressingly desolate.

By Yang Sung-jin (insight@heraldm.com)

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/

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I haven't watch all of his movies but i think Kiduk is a brilliant director. He use different approach to describe his movie. Some of my friend told me that his movies are weird, illogical, too much gore, difficult to understand and quite disturbing, but to me all his movies had good quality. He is an art director that's why he like to use symbol and unusual approach in his movie which represent the feeling that he wants to show, and sometimes the viewer is really hard to interpret the meaning.

I myself start with binjip aka 3-iron and after watching it i fell in love with his way of directing movie. So strong, so powerfull even with not much conversation. Samaria and the isle is starting make me think and learn more about his directing style. Coast guard is good too. The bow quite confusing but i still enjoying it. Time, breath, beautiful is his new way in brought the social issue in his movies, and i think his movie is getting various.

I'm so waiting his new movie sad dream.., I read about the review and by reading it i already feel this movie is another good one. Both of the lead try not to sleep in order to prevent the accident happen in real life. Both of them should not sleep, if they do, joe will influence Lee Na young to walk in her sleep and cause an accident which is appear exactly in joe dream. That's an unusual plot to me. A must watch to me.

thank's so much for making this thread.

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Guest huangsy

16 Dec 2008, last movie award event of the year, 11th Director's CUT Awards

◇제11회 디렉터스 컷 어워드(Director’s CUT Awards) 부문별 수상자(작) 명단. Winners' List

▲감독상=김지운(좋은 놈 나쁜 놈 이상한 놈, 이하 놈놈놈)

Best Director = Kim Ji Woon (GBW)

▲제작자상=김기덕(영화는 영화다) 박찬욱(미쓰 홍당무)

Best Producer = Kim Ki Duk (Rough Cut) Park Chan Wook (Miss Carrot/Crush & Blush)

▲연기자상=하정우(추격자, 멋진하루) 공효진(미쓰 홍당무)

Best Actor/Actress = Ha Jung Woo (The Chaser, One Fine Day) Gong Hyo Jin (Miss Carrot/Crush & Blush)

▲신인감독상=나홍진(추격자)

Best New Director = Na Hong Jin (The Chaser)

▲신인연기자상=유아인(서양골동양과자점 앤티크) 서우(미쓰 홍당무)

Best New Actor/Actress = Yoo Ah In (Antique Bakery) Suh Woo (Miss Carrot/Crush & Blush)

▲독립영화감독상=정병길(우린 액션배우다)

Best Independent Film Director = Jung Byung Gil (Action Boys)

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Guest Kristy Thomas

He deserves all the recognition he can get. I am in love with him just through his movies. Binjip is so amazing...I rewatch it quite often. I don't really like Bad Guy, The Isle...but he made Spring Summer Fall Winter...and Spring. I want to kiss his feet.

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March 11, 2011

An A to Z Guide to Korean Cinema – Part 1

Posted by Samson heroic-cinema.com

Since I first discovered the wonderful world of Korean cinema in 1999, I have seen an impressive number of great Korean films. So as I started working on a top 10 list to contribute to this year’s Korean Blogathon, I actually found it incredibly difficult to narrow the number down to ten. Because of this, I have decided to do something a bit different instead – a list of my favourite Korean movies from A to Z.

I hope you will enjoy reading this article, share fond memories of the Korean films that you have seen, and possibly discover something that you may want to check out in the future. This list is by no means exhaustive, but here are some of the best:

Attack the Gas Station (1999): Filled with youthful energy, unexpected twists and funny situations, this enjoyable comedy was a big hit in Korea, scoring the second highest number of admissions for a local film in the year it was released. Outside of Korea, it has (sadly) not received a lot of attention, but its DVD shouldn’t be too hard to track down.

Bittersweet Life, A (2005): Directed by Kim Jee-woon, a filmmaker with that special gift of being able to master different genres with ease, this gorgeous-looking ultra-cool gangster film is one of the best examples of the genre to come out of Asia. It stars Lee Byung-heon (GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra), one of Korea’s coolest actors, as the male lead.

Chaser (2008): This gritty serial-killer film builds up suspense to an almost unbearable level and maintains the intensity till the final frame. Anyone after edge-of-the-seat entertainment should really enjoy this movie. The fact that it is the work of first-time director Na Hong-jin makes him someone worth looking out for in the coming years.

Dirty Carnival, A (2006): This is another fine gangster film to come out of Korea in recent years. The script is tightly written, the performances are superb, and the fight scenes are incredibly realistic. All these factors combine to make this one immensely exciting film. There are also a lot of dramatic elements that help set this film apart from other gangster flicks.

Eye for an Eye (2008): This is a more recent film that stars Han Suk-kyu, one of Korea’s great actors who played key roles in many of the films from the ‘Korean New Wave’ (Shiri, Tell Me Something). While it may not qualify as a great film, it is nevertheless a solid and satisfying thriller. Still, this is not director Kwak Kyung-taek’s best work. The next film is.

Friend (2001): Based on Kwak Kyung-taek’s true story of himself and his childhood friends, this is clearly a personal film for the director. It is a tale about friendship, loyalty and growing up. All of the 4 lead actors give wonderful performances. Also deserving a special mention is the cinematography that beautifully captures the city on screen.

Good, the Bad and the Weird, The (2008): Coming from director Kim Jee-woon, this Western offers one huge dose of exhilarating fun. There are plenty of heart-pumping chases and frantic action scenes to be enjoyed. The cast is full of big name actors, including Song Kang-ho (The Foul King, Secret Sunshine), Lee Byung-heon and Jung Woo-sung (Musa).

Host, The (2006): From my favourite Korean director Bong Joon-ho comes this amazing creature feature. The well-designed creature and great performances from the cast make this film totally believable. The Host is multilayered and goes well beyond the basic premise of humans vs creature. In short, it is a monster masterpiece!

Isle, The (2000): One cannot write a best-of-Korean-films list without mentioning any work by director Kim Ki-duk. This strangely mesmerising film may make some people nauseated, but for those who can appreciate its beauty, it is a little gem. Certainly not as accessible as many of Kim’s later films, but this one has left an impression on me for its uniqueness.

Joint Security Area (2000): While director Park Chan-wook may be best known for his revenge trilogy (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Old Boy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance), his older film Joint Security Area is equally as worthy of film lovers’ attention for its assured direction, skillful story-telling and excellent performances.

King and the Clown (2005): This was the surprise Korean hit of 2005. This period drama without star casting became a phenomenon in Korea upon its release. In retrospect, it is not hard to see why it was so popular. It is touching, it is charming and above all, it is entertaining. After all, entertainment is what we are after when we watch movies, isn’t it?

Next time.. the rest of the list from L to Z!

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May 16, 2011

Cannes cheers for Korean 'self-portrait'

Source: joongangdaily.com

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Korean director and actor Kim Ki-duk poses during a photo call for the film "Arirang," which is part of the out-of-competition

Un Certain Regard category, at the 64th Cannes Film Festival on Friday. [REUTERS]

CANNES, France - Korean filmmaker and festival favorite Kim Ki-duk drew a standing ovation at Cannes for an emotionally raw self-portrait aimed at curing a crippling bout of "director's block."

"Arirang," screening in the Un Certain Regard section at the world's top cinema showcase, features Kim living in self-imposed exile and grilling himself about his own perceived failings as a director and a human being.

A guilt-wracked Kim, who won prizes at Venice and Berlin for "3-Iron" and "Samaritan Girl," reveals on camera that an actress in his 2008 drama "Dream" was almost killed while filming a scene in which her character hangs herself. Kim rescued her but the near fatal accident and a series of mysterious "betrayals" by colleagues send him on a downward spiral of depression and self-doubt.

At the film's rapturously received premiere late Friday, the 50-year-old Kim told the audience he needed to make the film as a kind of self-therapy to find his muse again.

"I was in a sleep and Cannes has woken me up," he said. "This film is a way of asking myself who I am and what cinema is."

Camped out in a remote cabin without running water, Kim recounts trying to develop a film to star Willem Dafoe as a US soldier who returns to Korea decades after the war to find the body of a man he killed. But the project quickly runs aground, compounding the humiliation he experiences when a few of his proteges abandon him to go to the "majors" of the Korean film industry.

"They left to be drawn to capitalism," he laments.

As he wallows in self-pity, another "Kim Ki-duk" appears on screen in silhouette to harangue him, telling the director that if his own characters, known for their cool determination, saw him "they would feel sorry for you".

So Kim decides to take action, fashioning his own handgun that he takes on a darkly comic rampage. With a bullet reserved for each of his perceived enemies, Kim drives through Seoul, arrives at a series of buildings, and films the facade while the audience hears a single shot ring out each time. The final bullet has Kim's own name on it but after the gun is fired off camera, he returns, alive, to sing "Arirang," underscoring that this was just a movie, and his own rebirth as a director.

Festival director Thierry Fremaux expressed relief that Kim had returned to the screen.

"People were terrified that he had disappeared," he said. "Then last winter he resurfaced with this film. He is like an author who uses his craft to tell about his life, but in this case using the tools of cinema. "

AFP

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May 16, 2011

Kim Ki-duk’s one-man production creates a stir

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com) koreaherald.com

South Korean director under spotlight for his bitter reproaches in ‘Arirang,’ attacks his colleagues

Kim Ki-duk, one of the best known South Korean auteurs overseas, is causing a stir with his film “Arirang” that was screened at the Cannes Film Festival’s side bar section, the Un Certain Regard, on Friday.

Naming actual figures, Kim aggressively poured out his anger and criticism toward his colleagues, Korea’s film industry and the government.

The dark film which Kim wrote, directed, produced and acted in all by himself, is his emotional self-portrait filled with personal lamentations about the reasons he is stuck at an impasse. Kim acts as three personas ― the interviewee camping out in a desolated mountain where there is no running water; the interviewer whose hair is tied up; and a shadow Kim.

In the movie, he calls director Jang Hoon, who used to work with him, a “betrayer.” Soon after Jang became known with his first film “Rough Cut” for which Kim wrote the script, he signed up with Showbox, a major movie production house. Jang became a star director with his next movie “Blood Brothers” which drew 5.46 million.

“I feel miserable that he betrayed me and signed a contract with a major producer for ‘Blood Brothers’ because he could not resist the temptation of capitalism,” Kim says in the movie.

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Kim Ki-duk demonstrates martial art-like movements at Cannes Film Festival on Friday. (AFP-Yonhap News)

Kim also criticizes Korea’s movie industry overall, reproaching that there are “so many movies about death ― chopping with axes and hammering to death.”

“The government gave me an award for winning a prize at a foreign film festival. There were even scenes where Korea was portrayed negatively. Did they even watch the movie? What an irony,” he said.

Though he did not name anyone in particular, he sent a message to actors and actresses who usually take roles as villains that “when you act villains that well it means that you are that evil.”

Kim is a representative figure of Korea’s low-budget art films. He gained international fame in 2004 after winning prizes at Venice and Berlin film festivals for “3-Iron” and “Samaritan Girl,” respectively. However, he was never really popular with the Korean audience.

Kim broke his three-year-long hiatus with “Arirang.” Rumors about his poor situation had spread ― that he was nearly crippled because of a string of shocks and betrayals he suffered.

He disappeared from sight after his 2008 movie “Dream” in which the main actress ― Lee Na-young ― nearly died while shooting a scene of hanging herself. For the film “Movie is Movie” which he wrote and produced, he received no earnings because the distributor went bankrupt.

But his anticipated comeback was not the only reason spotlights were on him Friday. He attracted eyes, appearing to be more eccentric and strange than usual. Decked in a gray coat with his hair tied up, he demonstrated some martial art-like-movements. In stark contrast to his eerie film, he constantly grinned.

“I was in a sleep and Cannes has woken me up. This film is a way of asking myself who I am and what cinema is,” said Kim before the screening of “Arirang.”

In the single interview he did ― he turned down most interview requests saying that “the film tells everything” ― with French broadcaster Canal Plus, he suddenly started to sob while singing “Arirang.”

“I am peaceful compared to a year, two years or three years ago. I am in the middle of curing myself, so I am my doctor. But I do not want to be perfectly cured. Making movies is in a way sort of a disease,” he said after mentioning that he really needed this film.

“I am aware that my movies could produce many patients, and in that sense, that it could be big crime. I believe that somewhere, there could be people who changed because of my movies. So I do have inner conflicts about that,” he added.

He cried his heart out while belting out the song in the movie as well, drunk. He constantly swore and blurted out comments such as, “I am most happy when I am making movies but devils are trying to stop me from making them.”

The most shocking part of the movie is the ending where he makes a hand gun and sets out of his tent, saying he is “going out to kill the betrayers.” Gun shots are heard three times at three different buildings and the movie ends with him pulling the trigger with the gun pointing at himself.

Opinions are split about the movie ― some praise Kim’s experimental efforts while some criticize it for being nothing more than a personal grumble.

“It is a movie that only Kim Ki-duk can make. It tried many things that cannot be seen in other movies. He presented it like a documentary but it is actually a drama that will turn over his film career and life,” movie critic Jeong Chan-il told the press after the screening.

Indiewire, an influential U.S.-based online news and networking media for independent filmmakers reported that, “A first-person therapy session of sorts, Kim’s upfront treatise on his life’s unusual trajectory is alternatively beautiful, frustrating and extraordinarily astute.”

The Film Stage, another U.S. online media, however, commented that it is “the type of thing you’d expect to see from a video blog.”

“The film should be released for free online since it’s the kind that most people would not want to pay for,” it reported.

Variety, a U.S. entertainment news media, mentioned that the movie is “an experience that can be likened only to being stuck next to a drunk in a bar who keeps reminding you he used to be famous.”

“It’s a grind to watch, even for fans of the maverick writer-director’s work. Kim’s rep will inevitably ensure further fest bookings for what is essentially one long whine, but theatrical distribution anywhere looks highly unlikely,” it said.

No local distributor has picked up the movie yet, so it is not clear if it will be released in Korea.

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May 21, 2011

Kim Ki-duk’s Arirang wins at Cannes

Via 10 Asia, Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal Scene Asia by javabeans dramabeans.com

Director Kim Ki-duk has picked an award at Cannes International Film Festival for his film Arirang, taking home the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section along with Andreas Dresen’s Halt Auf Freier Strecke (Stopped On Track).

The film received a standing ovation at Cannes when it screened to approximately 2,000 viewers there, and it’ll be interesting to see how that affects its response in Korea, if at all, as it’s been peppered with criticism there. (Here’s a well-written review in English, from The Hollywood Reporter.)

Kim has long had a contentious relationship with the industry in Korea, while being lauded overseas for his indie arthouse films (3-Iron, Samaritan Girl, Coast Guard and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…And Spring are some of his more well-known films). While other Korean directors like Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho are respected both at home and abroad, it’s not quite the case for Kim, whose movies are often commercial flops domestically. He’s developed a reputation for being a “bad boy” of cinema, and Arirang takes that reputation, inflates it by about a thousand percent, and flings it back in the faces of his detractors.

The film is documentary-style and features himself in a cabin, edited in an experimental fashion as a dialogue with himself (in three distinct personas), reflecting on his 15-year-long career. He doesn’t hold anything back, and at points swears and rails at the camera, and himself, about the pains and betrayals he’s felt by moviegoers and others in the industry, including his protégé Jang Hoon (who left to work on a major film production).

Kim was reportedly spurred to make Arirang after the traumatizing accident on set of his 2008 film Dream, in which Lee Na-young almost died while filming a suicide (hanging) scene. In a letter posted on the film festival website, Kim wrote, “The countless people I’ve meet while making films…Human relationships that come together as if forever only to rip apart like tissue paper…All of us entangled by love, passion, hate and the urge to kill…To me all this is Arirang.”

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