UDINE 2013: Divorce, Korean Style: All About My Wife (내 아내의 모든 것, 2012)

Part of MKC's coverage of the 15th Udine Far East Film Festival.

(by Rex Baylon)

There used to be a time when America was known as a manufacturing giant. In agriculture, electronics, and automobile design America seemed not to have any contenders. With regards to film, Hollywood was the first and last word when it came to cinema. Even as the US began its slow decline, the soft power of American cinema never seemed to waver even through all the social upheaval of the twentieth century; while presidents came and went, one hit wonders rose and fell, and wars were won or lost, Hollywood never lost its luster in the eyes of foreign and domestic audiences.

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Divorce, Korean Style: All About My Wife (내 아내의 모든 것, Nae Anaeui Modeun Geot) 2012

(by Rex Baylon)

There used to be a time when America was known as a manufacturing giant. In agriculture, electronics, and automobile design America seemed not to have any contenders. With regards to film, Hollywood was the first and last word when it came to cinema. Even as the US began its slow decline, the soft power of American cinema never seemed to waver even through all the social upheaval of the twentieth century; while presidents came and went, one hit wonders rose and fell, and wars were won or lost, Hollywood never lost its luster in the eyes of foreign and domestic audiences.

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49th Daejong Film Awards: Masquerade Wins... Everything

The largest movie awards show returned tonight as it held its 49th edition in Seoul. As the size and prestige of the industry has risen over the years, so has this awards show, which could be seen as Korean cinema's equivalent to the Oscars. It's not the only awards show in town as the Blue Dragon Awards, which take place in November, are also fairly prominent, but it's the longest running and the one with the highest profile.

Last year a couple of films, all with big box office tallies took home most of the awards but this year's event fortunately featured a few smaller films in the mix, not least Kim Ki-duk's Pieta, which picked up the Venice Film Festival's top prize, the Golden Lion, only a few weeks ago. The nominees list is still largely dominated by commercial hits, as this awards show as not traditionally been kind to independent fare, but it's nice to see a few make the cut. Though in the end it seems the variety was all for nought.

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WKR: Neighbors, R2B and Ample KOFFIA Coverage

Lots of current films reviewed in this week's WKR and a wide selection of recent releases, largely stemming for the ample KOFFIA coverage.

CURRENT FILMS

577 Project

(The Korea Times, August 30, 2012)

Grape Candy

(Joong Ang Daily, August 24, 2012)

Neighbours

(Seongyong's Private Place, August 26, 2012)

R2B: Return to Base

(allkpop August 25, 2012)

(The LA Times, August 23, 2012)

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Korean Box Office Update (07/06-07/08, 2012)

Deranged Beats Spidey in Massive Debut

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Deranged	7/5/12	39.20%	1,128,335	1,323,523	755
2	The Amazing Spiderman (us)	6/28/12	42.90%	1,059,076	3,362,773	896
3	A Letter to Momo (jp)	7/5/12	3.30%	102,728	114,887	252
4	Madascar 3 (us)	6/6/12	2.80%	83,087	1,545,255	247
5	The Raven (us)	7/5/12	2.40%	65,946	87,472	264
6	Midnight in Paris (us)	7/5/12	2.30%	61,735	80,391	187
7	All About My Wife	5/17/12	2.00%	56,070	4,516,210	184
8	The Emperor's Concubine	6/6/12	1.60%	44,226	2,569,270	252
9	Haywire (us)	7/5/12	0.90%	26,675	34,093	199
10	Cabin in the Woods (us)	6/28/12	0.80%	20,773	211,874	184

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Korean Box Office Update (06/29, 07/01, 2012)

An Amazing Start for Spiderman

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	The Amazing Spiderman (us)	6/28/12	71.40%	1,417,504	1,694,733	1,114
2	The Emperor's Concubine	6/6/12	5.20%	122,415	2,452,708	318
3	Madascar 3 (us)	6/6/12	4.90%	120,261	1,443,354	396
4	All About My Wife	5/17/12	4.70%	110,905	4,385,425	240
5	Cabin in the Woods (us)	6/28/12	4.30%	99,438	130,929	287
6	Miss GO	6/21/12	3.70%	88,346	551,625	309
7	King of XXX-Kissing	6/21/12	2.80%	68,375	432,192	272
8	Runway Cop	5/30/12	0.80%	21,134	1,325,807	114
9	Lockout (us)	6/14/12	0.30%	6,852	457,060	84
10	Two Weddings and a Funeral	6/21/12	0.20%	5,498	34,608	39

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Korean Box Office Update (06/22-06/24, 2012)

Miss Go Goes Straight to the Top

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Miss GO	6/21/12	17.70%	268,277	331,169	439
2	The Emperor's Concubine	6/6/12	14.90%	224,090	2,187,575	427
3	Madascar 3 (us)	6/6/12	14.70%	219,150	1,275,303	449
4	King of XXX-Kissing	6/21/12	13.60%	213,630	270,293	424
5	All About My Wife	5/17/12	12.00%	179,158	4,144,011	325
6	Lockout (us)	6/14/12	5.70%	87,409	411,636	284
7	Runway Cop	5/30/12	5.30%	81,741	1,258,758	226
8	Men in Black 3 (us)	5/24/12	4.00%	60,379	3,346,609	221
9	Prometheus (us)	6/6/12	4.50%	58,567	929,723	211
10	Faces In the Crowd (us)	6/21/12	2.80%	40,950	52,982	173

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Weekly Review Round-up (06/16-06/22, 2012)

Broad section of reviews this week as more and more Korean films see DVD, Blu-ray and theatrical releases in English-language territories, hooray!

CURRENT FILMS

All About My Wife

(8 Asians, June 20, 2012)

(Film Journal, June 21, 2012)

In Another Country

(Modern Korean Cinema, June 21, 2012)

(Twitch, June 21, 2012)

The King of XXX-Kissing

(The Korea Times, June 19, 2012)

Two Weddings and a Funeral

(The Korea Times, June 15, 2012)

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Korean Box Office Update (06/15-06/17, 2012)

Concubine Seduces the Box Office For Second Straight Week

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	The Emperor's Concubine	6/6/12	21.60%	379,354	1,720,595	536
2	Madascar 3 (us)	6/6/12	18.00%	311,454	1,000,913	557
3	All About My Wife	5/17/12	13.60%	238,402	3,820,013	370
4	Lockout (us)	6/14/12	11.10%	201,263	237,522	373
5	Runway Cop	5/30/12	7.90%	145,036	1,098,518	282
6	Men in Black 3 (us)	5/24/12	7.50%	135,452	3,231,814	332
7	Prometheus (us)	6/6/12	8.80%	129,265	801,391	322
8	Sadako 3D (jp)	6/14/12	4.90%	71,346	87,953	261
9	Don't Click	5/30/12	3.00%	57,234	837,617	254
10	The Thing (us)	6/14/12	1.50%	27,886	33,462	173

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Weekly Review Round-up (06/09-06/15, 2012)

Lots of reviews for new releases this week, including As One and Arirang which are currently screening in various English-language territories.  Sector 7 was also just released in the US on Blu-ray.

CURRENT FILMS

All About My Wife

(Between Wor(L)ds, June 10, 2012)

(The Korea Times, June 6, 2012)

As One

(allkpop, June 9, 2012)

(Film Smash, June 14, 2012)

(k-pop girl, June 9, 2012)

(The Los Angeles Times, June 8, 2012)

Talking Architect

(The Korea Blog, June 8, 2012)

The Emperor's Concubine

(Seongyong's Private Place, June 14, 2012)

The Taste of Money

(Reuters, June 13, 2012)

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Korean Box Office Update (06/08, 06/10, 2012)

The Emperor's Concubine Beats Aliens and Animals

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	The Emperor's Concubine	6/6/12	23.60%	511,462	976,696	613
2	Madagascar 3 (us)	6/6/12	16.60%	354,516	635,636	561
3	All About My Wife	5/17/12	13.70%	298,564	3,424,239	393
4	Prometheus (us)	6/6/12	14.80%	272,774	549,092	515
5	Men in Black 3 (us)	5/24/12	11.40%	254,952	3,016,581	396
6	Runway Cop	5/30/12	8.50%	194,779	860,995	351
7	Don't Click	5/30/12	7.20%	175,819	744,844	343
8	Snow White and the Huntsmen (us)	5/30/12	2.50%	57,104	605,619	235
9	The Avengers (us)	4/26/12	0.70%	16,148	7,040,163	71
10	The Taste of Money	5/17/12	0.30%	5,493	1,156,868	91

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Korean Box Office Update (06/01-06/03, 2012)

Men in Black Stays Up Top While Domestic Releases Nibble at Its Heels

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Men in Black 3 (us)	5/24/12	26.20%	533,557	2,455,318	540
2	All About My Wife	5/17/12	22.30%	474,494	2,784,894	474
3	Runway Cop	5/30/12	15.30%	334,254	453,570	431
4	Don't Click	5/30/12	12.40%	295,733	353,034	360
5	Snow White and the Huntsmen (us)	5/30/12	11.80%	261,558	452,589	443
6	The Avengers (us)	4/26/12	4.60%	96,753	6,996,984	281
7	The Taste of Money	5/17/12	2.40%	50,357	1,131,158	248
8	Madagascar 3 (us)	6/6/12	2.60%	39,738	40,912	186
9	As One	5/3/12	0.80%	19,625	1,856,843	139
10	Inazuma Eleven Go (jp)	5/24/12	0.40%	10,872	81,756	96

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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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Weekly Review Round-up (05/19-05/25, 2012)

A bevvy of reviews this week for Hong Sang-soo's latest as it vies for the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival.  Also a lot of great pieces on current Korean films and for Helpless which recently opened on limited in the US.

FUTURE FILMS

In Another Country - Out 03/31

(Cine Vue, May 24, 2012) 

(gulfnews.com, May 22, 2012)

(Indiewire, May 21, 2012)

(Plume Noir, May 24, 2012)

(Screen Daily, May 21, 2012)

(The Guardian, May 21, 2012)

(The Hollywood Reporter, May 21, 2012)

(The Huffington Post, May 22, 2012)

(The Telegraph, May 22, 2012)

(Variety, May 21, 2012)

(Village Voice, May 21, 2012)

The Emperor's Concubine - Out 06/06

(The Korea Times, May 22, 2012)

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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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May 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.

May 3

As One (aka Korea)

Just Friends

May 10

Du-re Sori Story

I Am

The Strangers

May 17

All About My Wife

Granny Is in 1st Grade

The Taste of Money

May 24

Children of Heaven
Hello!

U.F.O.

May 31

Don't Click

In Another Country
Runway Cop
Still Strange

May TBC

Rosa

Tummy

As One (aka Korea)

Director:  Moon Hyun-sung

Cast:  Ha Ji-won, Bae Doo-na

Synopsis:  As One chronicles the victory of the first inter-Korean team at the 1991 Chiba Worldwide Table Tennis Championships.

Release date:  May 3

There's a lot of buzz surrounding this project, especially with its two big female stars and theme of rapprochement of the divided Korean nations.  It the film clicks with audiences it may be one of the highest-grossing films of the year. 

Just Friends

Director:  Ahn Cheol-ho

Cast:  Oh Yeon-so, Lee Young-hoon

Synopsis:  Just Friends is a romance about an unemployed art school graduate who has recently been dumped but meets an aspiring musician at a concert

Release date:  May 3

I Am.

Director:  Choi Jin-sung

Synopsis:  A documentary of SM Entertainment's recent Madison Square Garden concert.
Release date:  May 10

Du-re Sori Story

Director:  Cho Jung-rae

Screenplay:  Baek Jong-min

Cast:  Kim Seul-gi, Jo Ah-reum, Ham Hyeong-sang, Choi Eun-yeong

Synopsis:  Two friends at the National High School of the Traditional Arts take a special class taught by a teacher with conflicting western influences. The class will compete as a chorus in contest.

Release date: May 10

The Strangers

Director:  Choi Yong-seok

Cast:  Yeo Hyeon-soo, Han Soo-yeon, Kim Joong-ki

Synopsis:  Yeon-hee returns to her hometown following the death of her mother in a fire and there she meets Seok who has lost in father in the same accident.  They bond and attempt to overcome their grief while Yeon-hee revisits the reason she left in the first place.

Release date:  May 10

All About My Wife

Director:  Min Gyoo-dong

Screenplay:  Min Gyoo-dong

Cast:  Im Soo-jeong, Lee Seon-gyoon, Ryoo Seung-yong

Synopsis:  A romantic comedy about a man who, in a bid to cleanly divorce his wife, hires a playboy to seduce his spouse.

Release date:  May 17

The Taste of Money

Director:  Im Sang-soo

Screenwriter:  Im Sang-soo

Cast:  Kim Kang-woo, Kim Hyo-jin, Baek Yoon-shik, Yoon Yeo-joong

Synopsis:  A woman divorces a salaryman and becomes wealthy.  A tale of greed and sex in the upper strata of Korean society

Release date:  May 17

Im Sang-soo's new film wrapped in January and looks to be another fascinating exposé of our darkest desires.  The film will have its world premier at Cannes where it is in the main competition vying for the Palm d'Or.  The Taste of Money will also feature a small role for the founder of koreanfilm.org and MKC contributor Darcy Paquet.

Granny Is in 1st Grade

Director:  Jin Kwang-gyo

Cast:  Kim Jin-goo, Shin Chae-yeon

Synopsis:  A 70-year-old woman loses her son but she can't read the final letter he sent her so her 7-year-old granddaughter teaches her how to read.

Release date:  May 17

Children of Heaven

Director:  Park Heung-shik

Cast:  You Da-in, Park Ji-bin, Kim Bo-ra

Synopsis:  A new teacher begins a three month stint at a school for troubled children.  She hopes to involve some of new students in a talent contest by staging a musical.

Release date:  May 24

U.F.O.

Director:  Kong Quee-hyun

Screenwriter:  Kong Quee-hyun

Cast:  Lee Joo-seung, Kim Chang-hwan, Kim Tae-yoon

Synopsis:  A group of students catch sight of an alien spacecraft and decide to travel to UFO mountain but on the way there they are warned to turn back.

Release date:  May 24

This sci-fi comedy opened last July at the Puchon International Film Festival and has since played at the Digital Seoul Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival.

Hello!

Director:  Lim Tae-hyeong

Cast:  Lee Sang-bong

Synopsis:  Documentary chronicling the lives of 14 blind schoolchildren

Release date:  May 24

In Another Country

Director:  Hong Sang-soo

Screenwriter:  Hong Sang-soo

Cast:  Isabelle Huppert, Yoo Joon-sang, Jeong Yu-mi, Yoon Yeo-jeong, Moon Seong-gun, Kwon Hae-hyo

Release date:  May 31

The new Hong Sang-soo film stars a major French actress and will be premiering in Cannes ahead of its Korean release, not to be missed.

Don't Click

Director:  Kim Tae-kyeong

Screenwriter:  Kim Tae-kyeong

Cast:  Park Bo-young, Joo Won, Kang Byul

Synopsis:  Bizarre events occur after a pair watch a mysterious video.

Release date:  May 31

This sounds like a blatant ripoff of The Ring (1998), given the poor quality of last summer's horrors, I'm not expecting much from this one.  Also, as you'll notice on the poster, Don't Click was scheduled for release last August but got pushed back, never a good sign.

Runway Cop

Director:  Sin Tae-ra

Cast:  Kang Ji-hwan, Sung Yu-ri, Kim Young-kwang, Lee Soo-hyuk

Synopsis:  In order to break a case, a determined detective goes undercover in the fashion world.

Release date:  May 31

Still Strange

Director:  Lee Hong-jae

Screenwriter:  Kim Tae-kyeong

Cast:  Jang Si-won, Kim Soo-woong, Lee So-hee

Synopsis:  An old couple and their grown up children gather during the first New Year's Day following their only son's death.

Release date:  May 31

Rosa

Director:  Maeng Gwan-pyo

Cast:  Ruzmetova Dayana, Jo Ha-seok

Synopsis:  16-year-old Uzbeki ballet dancer Diana loses her chance at a scholarship as the iron curtain rolls back.  She then goes to Korea with a stranger in the hope of following her dreams.

Release date:  May

Tummy

Director:  Park Bo-sang

Cast:  Cheon Ho-jin, Lee Mi-sook, Seo Yoon, Ye Hak-yeong

Synopsis:  A sex comedy about a family's romantic entanglements.
Release date:  May

This film was made in 2008 and is finally seeing the light of day.

Resources:

Asian Wiki
Daum
Han Cinema
KMDb
KOBIS


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