Where Leila’s Brothers was all shouting and drama in its portrayal of a dysfunctional family, Kim Se-in shows us the quiet bitterness of an intense mother-daughter relationship.
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I liked director Davy Chou’s 2016 film Diamond Island and his latest feature, set in South Korea rather than Cambodia, has the same slow, introspective quality.
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This latest film from Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda is masterful storytelling. I came out of the screening with a similar feeling to when I watched Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (2019); contemporary South Korea where the dramatic tension comes from depth of character not plot.
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I find myself wanting to like South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo’s work. Maybe I’m choosing the wrong ones out of his huge filmography as they seem whimsically pedestrian and self-absorbed, albeit in a way that’s meant to be charming.
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Cho Min-ho gives us a measured exploration of the Korean independence protests of the 20s that thoroughly engages with its focus on one women and her plight.
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A South Korean zombie epic might not be everyone’s first choice but I have yet to get through this without crying in two particular scenes.
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A credible source told me that director Hong Sang-soo doesn’t mind if you nap in his films. Hotel by the River’s quiet contemplation lulled me into a few lengthy blinks so I missed a little of its wry, slow narrative. Continue reading
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This short South Korean virtual reality film mixes static and moving imagery to evoke words sent from a man to a woman as he revisit the places they went to together. Like a poem, we sense the emptiness of the spaces without her, the monochrome of lost punctuated by the saturated colour of memory. Continue reading
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My daughter is teaching herself Korean and before I left for MIFF, she taught me how to say, “I’m tired. However, I want to watch a movie” in Korean. I thought of her when I saw Burning in the sumptuous Versailles that is the Regent Theatre. Continue reading
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Hardly pausing to draw breath, this South Korean thriller by director Byung-gil Jung launches you into blood soaked action from the first unforgettable scene. Continue reading
