UDINE 2013: A Muse (은교, Eungyo, 2012)

“No Muse-poet grows conscious of the Muse except by experience of a woman in whom the Goddess is to some degree resident…A Muse-poet falls in love, absolutely, and his true love is for him the embodiment of the Muse... But the real, perpetually obsessed Muse-poet distinguishes between the Goddess as manifest in the supreme power, glory, wisdom, and love of woman, and the individual woman whom the Goddess may make her instrument... The Goddess abides; and perhaps he will again have knowledge of her through his experience of another woman...”

-       Robert Graves

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Weekly Review Round-up (07/28-08/03, 2012)

It's been a few weeks since the Weekly Review Roundups have been up but I've gone back and added them all now. Lots of PiFan reviews of course and plenty more!

I also wanted to take a moment to say that I will be a little more selective about what appears on WRR from now on. Up until now I've been happy to feature anything on Korean film as long as it was legible but over time I've come across some major outlets that don't always present honest opinions. I'm not here to name and shame but I have removed a few sources from my list that I believe do not respect their audience by giving false opinions for ulterior purposes. Anyway, shouldn't change much going forward!

Thanks for reading and WRR should be back to its weekly status for the foreseeable future.

CURRENT FILMS

Deranged

(allkpop, July 31, 2012)

(The Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2012)

The Thieves

(Seongyong's Private Place, July 28, 2012)

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Korean Box Office Update (05/25-05/27)

The Men in Black Score Big After Long Absence

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Men in Black 3 (us)	5/24/12	47.50%	1,064,549	1,210,197	767
2	All About My Wife	5/17/12	24.50%	610,994	1,819,491	537
3	The Avengers (us)	4/26/12	10.30%	260,686	6,741,216	367
4	The Taste of Money	5/17/12	7.80%	193,197	951,420	412
5	As One	5/3/12	3.20%	86,339	1,775,535	277
6	Snow White and the Huntsmen (us)	5/30/12	2.90%	71,840	71,840	284
7	Inazuma Eleven Go (jp)	5/24/12	1.50%	40,393	41,668	242
8	Machine Gun Preacher (us)	5/24/12	0.40%	10,771	17,847	140
9	Mirror Mirror (us)	5/3/12	0.40%	10,443	574,969	57
10	A Muse	4/25/12	0.20%	5,498	1,337,811	52

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Korean Box Office Update (05/18-05/20, 2012)

All About My Wife Takes First Place in Close Finish

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	All About My Wife	5/17/12	28.70%	593,341	778,430	561
2	The Avengers (us)	4/26/12	28.70%	564,923	6,341,504	573
3	The Taste of Money	5/17/12	21.80%	444,859	568,327	641
4	As One	5/3/12	9.00%	200,091	1,619,089	387
5	Dark Shadows (us)	5/10/12	3.10%	66,722	549,733	270
6	Cold Light of Day (us)	5/17/12	2.20%	49,217	61,552	238
7	Mirror Mirror (us)	5/3/12	1.80%	40,355	557,229	164
8	Architecture 101	3/22/12	1.10%	23,916	4,078,012	124
9	The Lorax (us)	5/3/12	1.00%	23,262	290,162	134
10	A Muse	4/25/12	1.10%	22,065	1,319,085	160

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Korean Box Office Update (05/11-05/13, 2012)

The Avengers Easily Threepeats

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	The Avengers (us)	4/26/12	47.80%	994,319	5,446,891	734
2	As One	5/3/12	16.90%	393,323	1,227,411	512
3	Dark Shadows (us)	5/10/12	13.80%	314,355	372,745	386
4	Snow White (us)	5/3/12	5.00%	123,381	477,859	305
5	Eungyo	4/25/12	4.50%	99,840	1,226,704	310
6	All About My Wife	5/17/12	4.20%	91,426	96,751	277
7	Architecture 101	3/22/12	2.90%	67,365	4,007,674	244
8	The Lorax (us)	5/3/12	1.80%	46,562	261,893	240
9	Crayon Shin-chan (jp)	4/26/12	1.00%	26,667	259,718	130
10	The Scent	4/11/12	0.40%	10,214	1,234,209	70

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Korean Box Office Update (05/04-05/06, 2012)

The Avengers Grows, Korean Releases Lag

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	The Avengers (us)	4/26/12	53.50%	1,430,595	4,001,858	918
2	As One	5/3/12	16.80%	509,444	596,793	535
3	Snow White (us)	5/3/12	7.80%	248,377	285,620	385
4	The Lorax (us)	5/3/12	6.50%	194,935	202,348	462
5	A Muse	4/25/12	6.30%	182,261	1,021,437	402
6	Crayon Shin-chan (jp)	4/26/12	3.60%	121,192	230,929	293
7	Architecture 101	3/22/12	3.30%	102,765	3,879,029	248
8	The Scent	4/11/12	0.90%	27,044	1,206,640	120
9	Battleship (us)	4/11/12	0.30%	10,779	2,230,317	62
10	Untouchable (fr)	3/22/12	0.20%	5,102	1,709,560	19

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Weekly Review Round-up (04/28 - 05/04, 2012)

More review this week for My Way, various films screened at the Udine Far East Film Festival and Song Il-gon features from the KCCUK's retrospective.

FUTURE RELEASES

Dangerously Excited

(koreanfilm.org, May 2012)

(Modern Korean Cinema, April 29, 2012)

(Wildgrounds, May 1, 2012)

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Korean Box Office Update (04/27-04/29, 2012)

The Avengers Knocks Out the Competition

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	The Avengers (us)	4/26/12	64.30%	1,342,576	1,636,182	963
2	A Muse	4/25/12	15.80%	389,797	553,807	519
3	Architecture 101	3/22/12	6.20%	157,166	3,622,800	316
4	The Scent	4/11/12	4.70%	115,110	1,090,057	296
5	Battleship (us)	4/11/12	3.50%	90,458	2,171,337	299
6	Crayon Shin-chan (jp)	4/26/12	3.20%	90,099	92,885	277
7	Untouchable (fr)	3/22/12	0.70%	17,742	1,688,300	108
8	Spring Snow	4/26/12	0.20%	6,330	11,238	117
9	The Hunger Games (us)	4/5/12	0.20%	4,615	604,809	67
10	Over My Dead Body	3/29/12	0.10%	3,626	982,185	42

Well summer has truly arrived as we have our first major blockbuster performance.  There was never really any doubt what would happen this weekend but the size of The Avengers' opening was very impressive nonetheless as it captured almost two thirds of the weekend box office.

Total admissions stood at an enormous 2.1 million which is among the biggest in the history of the market, it was also well over last year's 1.5 million when Thor (one of the many predecessors to The Avengers) opened.  The Korean box office share took a big hit as it shrunk to 27%, which was a bit lower than 2011's 36%, but it will likely bounce back next weekend.

The Avengers 1,342,576 opening is huge but not a patch on last year's Transformers 3's opening bow, which stood at over two million.  This early in the summer though it is a notable achievement and one must remember that The Avengers is not as popular or well known as in the United States.  Given the film's positive reaction (Twitter netizens have been raving abut it) it should continue to play well but it will face some competition for the top spot next weekend in the form of a much anticipated Korean film.  Though I wonder how much pent up demand was spent this past weekend.  The good news is that this is definitely one of the biggest Hollywood films of the year so local fare may have to face much worse during the rest of the season.

A Muse was the major opening Korean film this weekend and I've been wondering why they scheduled at the same time as such a gigantic Hollywood blockbuster.  It had a fairly good opening with 389,797 but I imagine it would have done better without the extra competition.  Awareness for this pic is high and though I have not yet read any reviews I imagine that it could play well throughout the rest of May.

Architecture 101 stayed at number three but did drop around 40%.  Its 157,166 frame is still very impressive given it is now in its sixth week.  It will need a little more to push past the four million mark but I have a feeling that it won't quite make it that far.

Despite its increase last weekend, The Scent retreated this tie around as it lost over 60% of its business.  It made 115,110 over the frame and has crossed the one million mark but will probably disappear from theatres very soon.

Battleship, after two big weekends, sank suddenly as it shed over 80% of its audience for 90,458 over the three days.  Clearly The Avengers was too much competition for it.  This also does not bode well for its stateside release.

The new Crayon Shin-chan anime film had an okay start with 90,099 while French hit Untouchable finally took a tumble as it lost most of its business, leaving it with 17,742.

Spring Snow, the other Korean film opening wide this weekend had a disastrous start this weekend as it attracted only 6,330 viewers.  I'm not surprised really as even for fans of family melodrama I can't see much appeal in this one.

The Hunger Games and Over My Dead Body were almost wiped out as they both lost over 90% for 4,615 and 3,626 respectively, the latter has likely missed its chance at getting past the one million mark.

Next week we'll see if The Avengers keeps its crown or hands it over to As One, the most anticipated Korean film of the year to date.  It has a chance but I think the band of superheroes will be taking a second victory lap.  I'm also curious to see if A Muse can improve on this week's performance.

Source: kobis.or.kr


The Korean Box Office Update is a weekly feature which provides detailed analysis of film box office sales over the Friday to Sunday period in Korea. It appears every Sunday evening or Monday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Korean Box Office Update (04/20/04/22, 2012)

Battleship Stays Afloat With Another First Place Finish

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Battleship (us)	4/11/12	34.50%	516,874	1,948,608	624
2	The Scent	4/11/12	20.20%	296,923	846,007	396
3	Architecture 101	3/22/12	17.80%	268,730	3,316,655	439
4	Untouchable (fr)	3/22/12	6.00%	89,231	1,635,275	227
5	The Hunger Games (us)	4/5/12	3.40%	52,276	584,818	253
6	Over My Dead Body	3/29/12	3.30%	50,470	962,436	235
7	Titanic (us)	2/20/98	4.60%	43,375	336,272	144
8	Beauty and the Beast (us)	7/4/92	3.60%	39,949	140,555	173
9	The Ides of March (us)	4/19/12	2.10%	29,679	35,146	93
10	Heartbreaker (fr)	4/19/12	1.70%	25,198	30,263	175

A Hollywood blockbuster continues to lord over the Korean marketplace and it will likely switch with another next weekend when The Avengers rolls around but the news isn't all bad for local fare.  Even with no new openers the market share was still decent at 42%, this was a little under last year's 47% but then again a lot more tickets were sold this year as admissions were at 1.5 million versus 1.2 for 2011's similar frame.

Battleship dipped a little but remained strong with 516,874 for a first place finish.  It has already amassed nearly two million admissions but will suffer greatly at the hands of The Avengers, which opens next weekend.

The Scent, which had a mediocre start saw its fortunes reversed over the weekend as it increased 20% for a 296,923 frame, still nothing major but an encouraging sign nonetheless.

Architecture 101 had a slight uptick, even as it dropped onew spot and is now well over the three million mark after adding 268,730 admissions over the three days.

Untouchable was steady with another 89,231 tickets sold as it continues to impress with its remarkable run.

The Hunger Games continues to disappoint after its 52,276 frame, it's only over the half million mark at this point and will not make it to the next milestone.

Over My Dead Body had a slight drop and is now very close to the one million point after selling an additional 50,470 tickets.  While not a stellar result, passing the milestone would certainly save it some face.

Re-releases Titanic and Beauty and the Beast also saw small drops for 43,375 and 39,949 respectively but they won't be around much longer.

The Ides of March had a soft 29,679 opening while Heartbreaker also opened but with a slighter smaller 25,198 admissions despite a higher theatre count.  Still though, it's not everyday that you see two French films in the Korean top 10!

Next week the focus will be shifting to The Avengers, which is almost guaranteed to lure over a million viewers during its opening.  A Muse will also debut but may have a tough time as a result, despite some good buzz.

Source: kobis.or.kr


The Korean Box Office Update is a weekly feature which provides detailed analysis of film box office sales over the Friday to Sunday period in Korea. It appears every Sunday evening or Monday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Korean Box Office Update (04/13-04/15, 2012)

Battleship Sinks the Competition

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Battleship (us)	4/11/12	41.80%	673,952	1,195,202	734
2	Architecture 101	3/22/12	15.90%	254,381	2,917,429	450
3	The Scent	4/11/12	15.60%	242,544	396,547	348
4	Untouchable (fr)	3/22/12	5.20%	84,418	1,502,292	242
5	Hunger Games (us)	4/5/12	4.30%	69,271	504,807	323
6	Over My Dead Body	3/29/12	4.20%	67,258	880,154	268
7	Titanic 3D (us)	2/20/98	5.70%	56,092	269,254	159
8	Beauty and the Beast (us)	7/4/92	3.80%	44,552	96,480	220
9	Doomsday Book	4/11/12	1.90%	31,564	73,836	236
10	Wrath of the Titans (us)	3/29/12	0.60%	10,086	883,711	114

The summer season got off to an early start this year as Battleship opened in most global territories, except for the United States.  Things over there kick off in early May with The Avengers and perhaps since Battleship will be playing in its wake when it opens two weeks later, the studio felt it should get a head start in the increasingly relevant international markets.  As such, business was up about 60% year-on-year with 1.6 million tickets sold versus just shy of a million in 2011.  Hollywood competition forced the domestic market share down to 38% which was down significantly from last year's 67%.

Battleship shot into first place with 673,952 and has already accumulated nearly 1.2 million admissions since it opened on Election Day, a holiday in Korea.  While certainly a strong figure it doesn't come close to some of the bigger openings of the past 12 months and will need to battle poor reviews to become a bonafide blockbuster.

In its fourth weekend, local hit Architecture 101 finally dropped a rank as it lost about 45% of its business for a 254,381 frame.  This probably means it has enjoyed the best part of its run and will start to make its exit from theaters in the coming weeks.  Currently it's a stone's throw from the three million mark and may go as far as 3.5.

The major new Korean release of the week was the thriller The Scent, starring Park Hee-soon and Park Si-yeon, which had a so-so start with 242,544.  The only thing that will save it now is very positive word of mouth but I have yet to hear anything about it and more than likely it will fade quickly.

French feelgood hit Untouchable dropped one more spot but lost over 60% of its steam for an 84,418 weekend.  In the meantime it has crossed the 1.5 million admissions mark which is a remarkable feat for a continental European film.

Hunger Games crumbled after its poor opening, sliding three spots and 75% for a lousy 69,271.  Its haul stands at just over half a million admissions and it will disappear fast.

Over My Dead Body lost two thirds of its business as it added 67,258 admissions to its total which could still reach the one million mark.  It will be close but next week's dearth of new openings could give it its chance.

At number seven, the 3D rerelease of Titanic added 56,092 to its bounty while the Disney rerelease of The Beauty and the Beast managed 44,552 in its opening weekend.

The anticipated Kim Jee-woon and Lim Pil-sung directed omnibus Doomsday Book garnered a less than impressive 31,564 during its debut but this should come as no surprise.  Short collections never make a the box office, actually this is a pretty good result in light of that fact.

Rounding out the chart was Wrath of the Titans third weekend where it eked out a minuscule 10,086 after a gargantuan 95% drop.

I'm curious to see what will happen next weekend as there does not seem to be any new wide releases.  Battleship stands a very strong chance of staying in number one but Architecture 101, which is a proven hit, also has a good shot of reclaiming the top spot.  Business will be down overall so holdovers will have a chance to see better returns but this is all just the calm before the storm as summer will really take off on April 26 when both the Hollywood The Avengers and Korean A Muse (Eungyo) see the light of day.

Source: kobis.or.kr


The Korean Box Office Update is a weekly feature which provides detailed analysis of film box office sales over the Friday to Sunday period in Korea. It appears every Sunday evening or Monday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

April 2012 Korean Releases

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.

April 5

Mother

April 11

Doomsday Book

The Scent

April 19

Duet

April 26

Eungyo (A Muse)

Rain and Rain

Red Maria

Spring, Snow

April TBC

The Peach Tree

Mother

Director:  Tae Jun-seek

Release date:  April 5

A documentary about an elderly woman and her impact on the people with difficult lives.  Mother has screened at a number of documentary festivals including the DMZ International Documentary Festival.

Doomsday Book

Director:  Yim Pil-seong, Kim Jee-woon

Cast:  Kim Kang-woo, Kim Gyoo-Ri, Ryoo Seung-beom, Song Sae-byeok

Synopsis:  Three unique stories of human self-destruction in the modern high-tech era.  In a hope to restore the humane compassion in the insusceptible modern age, the film displays an alternative form of genuine humanity.  And thus you are stepping into the world of future, where a series of unexpected stories awaits you.  All these stories originate from the earth. From the very earth you live on. 

Release date:  April 11

An eagerly anticipated omnibus film which initially went into production in 2006 but halted due to financing problems, recently the project was put back on track.  and will sate us as we await Kim Jee-woon's debut American feature in 2013.  This will be Yim Pil-seong (Antarctic Journal, 2005; Hansel and Gretel, 2007) first work in 5 years.  Han Jae-rim was initially to directed a segment before the production shut down.  The final segment was recently completed with Yim Pil-seong directing and Kim Jee-woon in a supporting role.  I am not certain about the release date, since no trailer has appeared to date the film may be pushed back.

The Scent

Director:  Kim Hyung-jun

Cast:  Park Hee-soon, Park Si-yeon, Joo Sang-wook, Cha Soo-yeon

Synopsis:  A woman asks a detective, who does some PI work on the side, to investigate her husband whom she suspects is having an affair.  When the husband winds up dead it's the detective who becomes a suspect.

Release date:  April 11

Kim Hyung-jun's second feature following 2010's No Mercy.

Duet

Director:  Lee Sang-bin

Writer:  Lee Sang-bin

Cast:  Ko Ah-sung, James Page

Synopsis:  Nanye is a young musician who takes a 15-day trip to England and meets James who becomes her guide.

Release date:  April 19

Eungyo

Director:  Jeong Ji-woo

Cast:  Lee Paul, Yeom Hyeon-joon, Kim Sae-byeok

Synopsis:  Lee Juk-Yo, a respected poet, is an old man who cares fondly for his younger disciple Seo Ji-Woo.  When a teenage 17-year-old enters their lives, their lives are turned upside down.
Release date:  April 26

Jeong Ji-woo, the director of Happy End is back with an adaptation of popular novel Eungyo starring Park Hae-il, hot off his multiple Best Actor wins for War of the Arrows, who will portray a 70-year old man.  This vaguely reminds me of 2010's Moss which featured Jeong Jae-yeong under layers of makeup and also starred Park.

Spring, Snow

Director:  Kim Tae-gyoon

Cast:  Yoon Seok-hwa, Lim Ji-gyoo, Lee Kyeong-yeong, Kim Ha-jin

Synopsis:  A drama about a typical mother Soon-ok and her family's process of getting ready to say goodbye.

Release date: April 26

Red Maria

Director:  Kyung-soon

Cast:  Yoon Seok-hwa, Lim Ji-gyoo, Lee Kyeong-yeong, Kim Ha-jin

Synopsis:  A documentary that follows suffering women across Asia who work in the sex trade, as immigrants, are homeless and more.

Release date: April 26

Rain and Rain

Director:  Kim Nam-kyung

Cast:  Im Chang-jeong, Yu In-young, Lee Kyeong-jin

Synopsis:  A romance story between musicians Soo-Hyun and Ji-eun.

Release date:  April 26

The Peach Tree

Director:  Ku Hye-sun

Cast:  Nam Sang-mi, Ryu Deok-hwan, Cho Seung-woo

Synopsis:  A complicated love triangle of siamese twins who fall for the same girl.

Release date:  April

The Peach Tree bowed at the Busan International Film Festival last October.


Resources:

Asian Wiki
Han Cinema
KOBIS

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 Update, Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up, which appear weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (GMT+1).

To keep up with the best in Korean film you can sign up to our RSS Feed, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.