Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Upcoming Releases: February 2012

This monthly features previews the coming month's attractions in Korean cinema.  All of these monthly posts are available in an archive on the Upcoming Releases page.


February 2

Nameless Gangster
Papa

February 9

Two Lines

February 16

Howling

February 23

The Angel's Breath

February 29

Comic Book Store 3D
Love Fiction


Nameless Gangster


Director:  Yun Jong-bin
Screenwriter:  Yun Jong-bin
Cast:  Choi Min-sik, Ha Jung-woo
Synopsis:  Nameless Gangster chronicles the happenings in Busan, South Korea when the government in 1990 declared its war against crime. A corrupt public official (Choi Min-sik) faces criminal charges and meets Choi Hyung-bae (Ha Jung-woo), a mysterious man with connections to the Yakuza.
Release date:  February 2

Anticipation is riding high for young Yun Jong-bin's third feature after The Unforgiven (2005) and Beastie Boys (2008).  The period set gangster film pairs veteran thespian Choi Min-sik (Oldboy, 2003; I Saw the Devil, 2010) and up-and-coming star Ha Jung-woo (The Chaser, 2005; The Yellow Sea, 2010).  Numerous impressive stills and some promising trailers have already appeared on the web.  Nameless Gangster is shaping up to be one of the 2012's early hits.

Reviews:

enewsworld
Seongyeong's Private Place




Papa


Director:  Han Ji-seung
Cast:  Park Yong-roo, Ko Ah-ra, Daniel Henney
Synopsis:  Choon-Sub  (Park Yong-roo) is a talent manager who goes to the US after a client runs off.  To stay he must get married for a visa and soon he ends up with six new children.
Release date:  February 2

Papa is Han Ji-seung's second film following Venus and Mars in 2007.  90% of the film is said to have been filmed in America and it follows a rash of multicultural Korean films that have appeared recently, such as He's On Duty (2010).  Originally slated for the Lunar New Year holiday weekend, Papa was rescheduled due to an overcrowded field.




Two Lines


Director:  Ji Min
Synopsis:  Ji Min and Cheol met in university ten years ago and now live together as roomates and lovers.  People ask them why they won't get married since they're at that age but they've never seen the reason to.  Life was happy enough as it was until they come face to face with two dark red lines on a home pregnancy test.
Release date:  February 9

New documentary which premiered at the 13th International Women's Film Festival in Seoul last March from Ji Min.   Her previous film won the Ock Rang Award at the same festival and she had previously also been involved with docs To Live - Save Our Saemankum (2006) and The War, You and I (2010).  



Howling


Director:  Ha Yu
Cast:  Lee Na-young, Song Kang-ho
Synopsis:  A man dies by spontaneous combustion.  Animal teeth marks are discovered on his body.  A veteran male cop (Song Kang-ho) and rookie female (Lee Na-young) start to investigate.
Release date:  February 16

Without a doubt one of the most promising projects of 2012, Howling is acclaimed director Ha Yu's (Once Upon a Time in High School, 2004; A Dirty Carnival, 2006; A Frozen Flower, 2008) fifth feature.  As well as boasting a top cast with Song Kang-ho and Lee Na-young, the film has an intriguing premise which starts off with spontaneous combustion.  The moment this project came to light I was already very excited and there are few films I am more eager to discover.

Reviews:

The Korea Herald
Yonhap News Agency



Angel's Breath


Director:  Han Ji-won
Screenwriter:  Han Ji-won
Cast:  Kim Yeong-seon, Han Ji-won
Synopsis:  Jae-min's (Han Ji-won) dream is to become a super star.   His sick mother Yeong-ran (Kim Yeong-son) does what she can to support him. 
Release date:  February 23

Bar the information provided above and the trailed posted below, I have no further information on this low budget release.




Love Fiction


Director:  Jeon Kye-soo
Screenwriter:  Jeon Kye-soo
Cast:  Ha Jung-woo, Kong Hyo-jin
Synopsis:  A shy novelist falls for a beautiful, confident woman.
Release date:   February 29

Jeon Kye-soo's third feature, after Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater (2006) and Lost and Found (2009).  Ha Jung-woo has been very busy of late, racking up an impressive set of credits including The Yellow Sea (2010) and The Client (2010) and has a lot coming up including Breakfast at Tiffany'sThe Berlin File, and Nameless Gangster which will be released the same month.  The film also stars Kong Hyo-jin who has been equally impressive of late with stand out turns in Crush and Blush (2008) and Rolling Home With a Bull (2010).




Comic Book Store 3D


Director:  Heo Jae-hyeong
Cast: Lee Eun-mi, Lim Ah-yeong, Jang Sang-jin, Jeong I-gyeol
Synopsis:  So-ra has tough luck with her auditions and she blames the directors for her rejections. One She runs into Seung-hyeon, someone she used to act with.  He invites her to a film set and So-ra gets to fill in for an actress fails to show up.
Release date:  February 29


Reviews and features on Korean film appear regularly on Modern Korean Cinema.  For film news, external reviews, and box office analysis, take a look at the Korean Box Office UpdateKorean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up, which appear weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (GMT+1).

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