Showing posts with label moby dick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moby dick. Show all posts

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Moby Dick (모비딕, Mo-bi-dik) 2011

Conspiracy theory thriller

I am quite a fan of conspiracy thrillers, indeed I believe that the genre has produced some of the most fascinating, engaging and thoroughly cinematic films of our times. Whilst its roots go back much further, I am reminded of the New Hollywood cinema of the 1970s, the point at which it was probably at its most popular. Anyone who has seen the little film that Francis Ford Coppola managed to wedge in between making the behemoths that were parts I and II of The Godfather, has probably never forgotten The Conversation (1973), and its profound atmosphere of paranoia. Another of the most enduring successes of that decade was All the President’s Men (1976). Granted, it had quite a story to start off with but it was also one of the most well-crafted and exciting films to come out in that period. Lately, conspiracy has featured frequently in films but it is no longer the sole focus of the vast majority of narratives. Although there are still some fantastic examples, such as the sadly cancelled AMC series Rubicon (2010) and one of this year’s best films (if not the best at this point), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011), the conspiracy theory genre has steadily lost its allure.

In Korean cinema, conspiracy plays a similar role as it does in other international cinemas, namely as a narrative device to create conflict, inject tension and allow for twists and reveals. Almost always, there is one recurring element at the heart of these conspiracies, Korean cinema’s trump card, the ever-present and threatening North Korea. Moby Dick isn’t particularly different from other Korean films featuring these tropes, the main difference is that here it is the narrative’s principal focus. As one would expect this is both to its advantage and to its detriment.

It seems that it is the mission of Chungmoro (Korea’s Hollywood) to create at least one Korean version of every style of film ever made. Moby Dick is the country’s first press-centric conspiracy theory thriller and to give one other example, one of this week’s Korean platform releases is The Client (2011), Korea’s first courtroom drama. Don’t get me wrong, I am quite happy to see the industry stretch its wings into every conceivable narrative dimension, lest it get stale for perpetually depicting melodramas or violent thrillers of the ‘Asia extreme’ variety. The negative side is that things often miss the mark, but the tradeoff is that we expect a lot from Korean films, especially how they reinvent genre.

Balam Bridge

Following a mysterious explosion on Balam bridge in 1994, journalist Lee Bang-woo (Hwang Jong-min) is approached by Yoon Hyuk, someone he used to know from his hometown, who claims that things aren’t as they seem. Lee enlists the help of fellow reporters Son Jin-ki (Kim Sang-ho) and Sung Hyo-kwan (Kim Min-hee) to unwrap a deep conspiracy.

Moby Dick alas is fairly straightforward and this poses two problems: as a conspiracy thriller it may be effective and hit more or less the right notes but it is also simplistic, when conspiracy, along with film noir, are the only genres where things shouldn’t be too easy to follow; the other problem, although this may be more aptly classified as a disappointment given my expectations, was that it did not reinvent the genre in any way and pretty much played out like you would expect a well-made Hollywood thriller to.

Problems like these could easily derail a film but I am pleased to report that the film’s other qualities are indeed its redeeming ones. Technically the film is quite impressive, or perhaps par for the course by excellent Korean standards. I especially liked the muted colors and the emphasis on lines and angles in the framing of the shots across the city. Since the film is set in 1994, shortly after South Korea became properly democratized but also not long before 1997’s devastating IMF crisis, this style works in its favour. Despite new civil liberties afforded civilians and a relaxation in censorship towards media in general, there is an air of reticence that pervades the diegetic world of the film. Though set only 17 years ago, it nearly feels like a period film, this is a testament both to the nation’s progress in that timeframe and to the skill of the mise-en-scene.

Lee Bang-woo in the Press room

The cast, headed by Hwang Jong-min, is very strong and perhaps the main cause for recommendation. Hwang is typically excellent as a brash and cocky reporter who has been down on his luck for a few years. Kim Sang-ho, who seems to be in at least every second Korean film these days, plays the affable buddy reporter with an effortless charm. The rest of the cast, rounded out by Ku Jin and Kim Min-hie, is all uniformly impressive.

I can’t say too much about the director, Park In-je, as the film, like so many in Korea these days, came from a first-time cineaste. I’m not quite sure why so many Korean directors seem to only get one credit. On the one hand it could be construed as democratic as many get a chance to helm a feature although I daresay that it is a shame so few talented individuals get the opportunity to develop their craft. I digress, this is a discussion for another day. Sadly I don’t know who wrote this film, after a quick search the information did not readily pop up online, but I do think that while the conspiracy theory element of the plot wasn’t as convoluted and far-reaching as I would have liked it to be, the script was nevertheless a solid genre effort that thankfully did not veer into sentimental melodrama.

Moby Dick is another strong genre offering from Korea that kept me engaged from start to finish. Though I was disappointed by the functional but straightforward conspiracy element, this didn’t prevent me from enjoying myself thoroughly.

★★★★☆

Kim Sang-ho, Kim Min-hee and Hwang Jong-min


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).

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.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Preview: 14th Udine Far East Film Festival


This Friday, the 14th Udine Far East Film Festival gets underway presenting one of the best lineups of Asian cinema to be found outside of the continent.  MKC will be onsite covering the event though since I only get there on Sunday night I will have missed the first few days, which sadly include some of the films I was most excited about.  Long have I known about the FEFF and wanted to go so I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to attend this year and sample the many films on offer.

Unlike last month's excellent Fribourg International Film Festivsl, which MKC also covered, the FEFF's programme is much more closely aligned to this site's focus, namely Korean cinema.  In the standard section of the festival, which encompasses the majority of the films, there will be ten Korean films presented.  Outside of this there are an additional ten films selected in the 'Darkest Decade: Korean Filmmakers in the 1970s' sidebar, curated by Darcy Paquet.

Among the remaining 40-odd films there is a lot I'm looking forward to.  One film that jumped out to me was Seediq Bale (2011), the Taiwanese epic but unfortunately that will be playing before I arrive.  There are a few Hiroki Ryuichi (The Egoists, 2010; River, 2012) and Pang Ho-cheung (Love In a Puff, 2010; Love in the Buff, 2012; Vulgaria, 2012) films I will checking out as well as offering from all over Asia like Malaysia (Songlap, 2011), Thailand (It Gets Better, 2011), Philippines (6 Degrees of Separation From Lilia Cuntapay, 2011), Hong Kong (The Bounty, 2012; The Viral Factor, 2012) and Japan (Sukiyaki, 2011; The Woodsman and the Rain, 2011).


New Korean Films


Kicking off the festival will be the popular Korean hit Sunny (2011) which has been winning over audiences the world over.  In attendance will be director Kang Hyeong-cheol and producer Lee Anna.  Also playing will be Dangerously Excited (2012), the only Korean film on the program that has yet to be released in theatres.  I was also dangerously excited for this until I realised that I won't be there for it.

Not to worry though as I will get the chance to see Unbowed (2012) and Punch (2011) on the big screen.  I have seen the other new Korean films and it's a strong selection, particularly with the presence of Moby Dick (2011) and Silenced (2011), though I was surprised to see Perfect Partner (2011) included.  Below are MKC's available reviews for the selection:



Darkest Decade: Korean Filmmakers in the 1970s


The most exciting thing about this year's FEFF for me is without a doubt this retrospective of 1970s Korean cinema.  Heavyweights of classic Korean cinema Im Kwon-taek, Kim Ki-young, Kim Soo-yong and Yu Hyun-mok are all featured twice and make this sidebar a must.

I'll be leaving from Switzerland at 7am by train on Sunday and should arrive about 12 hours later in Udine after a stop in Milan.  I'm dying to get there and if you will also be making your way to the festival, please don't hesitate to contact me (pierceconran [at] modernkoreancinema [dot] com).




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).

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.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Top 10 Korean Films of 2011


All in all 2011 was a bit of a disappointing year for Korean cinema, at least as far as commercial cinema was concerned.  On the other hand, independent films continued to build on their success of the last few years.  However, I'm not overly worried about the state of the industry because at the end of the day it doesn't produce a huge amount of films and is more susceptible to the ebbs and flows of projects than a larger filmmaking centre like Hollywood.  In any case, 2012 looks to be a much stronger year for Korean film.

For a while I was getting very worried about what my top 10 for the year would like, a month ago I'd only seen four of the films listed here.  Thankfully a number of more recent releases became available and things suddenly started to look a lot better.  That being said, I've seen about 45 films from last year but there's a lot that I haven't had a chance to see yet so this list will likely look quite different six month down the line, and if I feel so inclined perhaps I'll change it!

In the below links are my top 10 Korean films for 2011, followed by honourable mentions and my bottom 5.  The only criteria I go by to consider a film from 2011 is if it was released in Korea during that calendar year.

Friday, November 25, 2011

32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards

A little over two hours ago the proceedings for the 32nd 'Blue Dragon Awards' show wrapped up at the KBS Hall in Seoul.  Along with the 'Daejong (or Grand Bell) Film Awards', the 48th Edition of which was held last month, this is one of South Korea's most prestigious Film Awards ceremonies.  Unlike 'Daejong', the 'Blue Dragon Awards' has been privately funded since it was launched in 1963 by The Chosun Ilbo, a national newspaper.  It was discontinued in the 1970s but then revived by the Sports Chosun in 1990 and has occurred on a yearly basis since.

When I covered the 'Daejong' awards last month my analysis was somewhat impaired by the fact that I hadn't seen many of the main contenders.  Thankfully, in the time since, I have managed to catch up.  Out of the films that scored three or more nominations, I have only War of the Arrows and Silenced left to see, both of which I am looking forward to.

There was not a great deal of difference between the nominations for both events.  The Front Line led both with the same amount (12).  Silenced was the main difference as it scored 7 nominations, it received none at Daejong as it it was not eligible, having been released too late.  The Yellow Sea wound up with half the nominations it garnered at last month's event (5 vs. 9), and Hindsight was almost completely shut out (1 vs. 5).  Besides that, the main change was a slightly less even distribution outside of the top six or seven contenders.

This year, the most nominated films were (wins in parentheses):

The Front Line - 12 (2)
War of the Arrows - 8 (5)
Sunny - 8 (0)
Silenced - 7 (1)
The Unjust - 6 (3)
The Yellow Sea - 5 (1)
Blind - 4 (1)
Petty Romance - 4 (0)
Bleak Night - 3 (2)
Detective K - 2 (0)
Hello Ghost - 2 (0)
Late Autumn - 2 (0)
The Journals of Musan - 2 (0)

As I mentioned in last month's analysis, this year's roster of films duking it out for the major awards has been poorer than usual.  It has by no means been a bad year for Korean cinema as there have been numerous strong mid-level entries but, without a great many offerings from marquee names like Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, Kim Jee-woon, Im Sang-soo, or Lee Chang-dong, there have been relatively few breakout films that have made big impressions on critics.  In terms of audiences though 2011 looks to be the best year since the peak of 2006.  Both Sunny and War of the Arrows played long in theaters and attracted over 7 million admissions, well over what was expected of them.  Similarly, the controversial Silenced and the enjoyable but unambitious Detective K both nearly broke the 5 million admissions mark.  Punch, which came out too late to be considered for either of this year's awards looks set to cruise past that mark and may reach further milestones as it shows no signs of abating just yet at the Korean box office.

Jang Hoon's The Front Line came in as a heavy favorite, with 12 nominations and having already bagged the top prizes at the Daejong Awards and the Critics' Film Awards, as well being selected to represent Korea at the Oscars.  In the end it lost out in all of the major categories and only picked up two technical awards, for Best Art Design, which it wasn't even nominated for at 'Daejong', and for Best Cinematography, which it also won last month.  Personally I don't think it deserved that last award as I belive many films featured stronger cinematography this year, including some that weren't even nominated such as Late Blossom and Moby Dick.

The surprise big winner tonight, to my delight, was Ryoo Seung-wan's excellent The Unjust which deservedly took the awards for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.  In the Best Film category it routed some stiff competition from the heavily favored The Front Line and from the immensely popular Sunny, which, despite being loved by critics and audiences alike, has failed to score many accolades (save for Best Director at the 'Daejong Awards') this awards season, and War of the Arrows.  

Ryoo Seung-wan's Best Director win was equally impressive.  While the nominees were identical to the Best Film category, which is quite common, the last time a film has won both awards at a major awards show was Na Hong-jin's The Chaser back in 2008 at Daejong.

Park Hoon-jun walked away with the Best Screenplay prize after the tacky (but enjoyable) Blind had bizarrely picked it up last month.  However, it must be said that in a recent interview with Paul Quinn over at Hangul Celluloid, Ryoo Seung-wan did mention that "I changed the script entirely according to my own style but, in truth, I never actually saw the version that Hoon-jung wrote, and I still haven’t seen it. It had been through the hands of many other writers who had been adapting it and it was only at that point that I saw the script."  Park also wrote last year's popular I Saw the Devil

Park Hae-il won Best Actor for War of the Arrows, as he did last month, against heavy competition from Kim Yun-seok (The Yellow Sea) and Ko Soo (The Front Line) but I think many great performance were shut out of this category like Lee Soo-jae in Late Blossom (who was nominated at 'Daejong') or Hwang Jeong-min in both The Unjust and Moby Dick.

Repeating her Daejong success, Kim Na-heul picked up the Best Actress prize for Blind.  Frankly I don't understand this decision at all, her performance is passable but nothing very noteworthy. Kim Hye-soo (Villain and Widow) or Yun So-jeong (Late Blossom), who sadly wasn't nominated, would have been more deserving.

The fantastic veterans Ryoo Seung-ryong (War of the Arrows) and Kim Soo-mi (Late Blossom) were awarded the supporting actor prizes for their roles.  Ryoo in particular had to fend off some strong competition from Yu Hae-jin (The Unjust) and Jo Sung-ha (The Yellow Sea), though I was disappointed that Kim Sang-ho didn't get a nod for his fantastic turn in Moby Dick.

Bleak Night, which has been hoarding numerous awards these past few weeks, once again picked up prizes for Best New Director, for Yoon Sung-hyun, and Best New Actor, for Lee Je-hoon.  Meanwhile Moon Chae-won was awarded Best New Actress for War of the Arrows.

The blockbuster War of the Arrows won the most prizes of the night (5) including the
Audience Choice Award for Most Popular Movie and the 
Best Technical Award for its action sequences.  However its most impressive accomplishment was scoring three acting prizes, no mean feat for an action film!

Despite all of the hullaballoo and its 7 nominations, Silenced only picked up on award, for Best Music.  The Yellow Sea was similarly unsuccessful with only one win for Best Lighting.  Perhaps the biggest shock of the night was that the wonderful Sunny failed to win in any of the 8 categories it was nominated for.

The other awards went to Yanh Hyo-joo who won Best Short Film for Broken Night and Ko Soo, Gong Yoo, Choi Gang-Hee, and Kim Hye-Soo who shared the Popularity Award.

Petty Romance surprised with 4 nods though it didn't pick up any prizes and the huge critical darling The Journals of Musan was also unable to convert either of its nominations into wins at tonight's ceremony.

Just as I was about to write off this year's Korean film industry awards, the Blue Dragon's managed to surprise me by awarding a great film (The Unjust) some richly deserved accolades.  By and large however, the awards show's nominees and winners were often short-sighted, perplexing, and not very evenly distributed.  Though I must confess that I am looking forward to seeing what will be in the mix next year.

Special thanks to Asian Media Wiki, which live-tweeted the results.


32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards Winners and Nominees:


Best Film
Winner: 
The Unjust
Nominees:
Silenced
War of the Arrows

Best Director
Winner: 
Ryoo Seung-wan (The Unjust)
Nominees:
Kang Hyung-chul (Sunny)
Kim Han-min (War of the Arrows)
Ryoo Seung-wan (The Unjust)
Jang Hun (The Front Line)
Hwang Dong-hyuk (Silenced)

Best Actor
Winner: 
Park Hae-il (War of the Arrows)
Nominees:
Ko Soo (The Front Line)
Gong Yoo (Silenced)
Kim Yun-seok (The Yellow Sea)
Park Hae-il (War of the Arrows)
Yoon Kye-sang (Poongsan)

Best Actress
Winner: 
Kim Ha-neul (Blind)
Nominees:
Kim Ha-neul (Blind)
Kim Hye-soo (Villain and Widow)
Jung Yu-mi (Silenced)
Choi Gang-hee (Petty Romance)
Wei Tang (Late Autumn)

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: 
Ryoo Seung-ryong (War of the Arrows)
Nominees:
Ko Chang-seok (The Front Line)
Ryoo Seung-ryong (War of the Arrows)
Yu Hae-jin (The Unjust)
Jang Gwang (Silenced)
Jo Sung-ha (The Yellow Sea)

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: 
Kim Soo-mi (Late Blossom)
Nominees:
Kim Soo-mi (Late Blossom)
Ryoo Hyoun-kyoung (Petty Romance)
Yoo Sun (GLove)
Jang Yeong-nam (Hello Ghost)
Cheon Woo-hee (Sunny)

Best New Actor
Winner: 
Lee Je-hoon (Bleak Night)
Nominees:
Park Jung-bum (The Journals of Musan)
Seo Jun-young (Bleak Night)
Song Yoo-ha (Petty Romance)
Lee David (The Front Line)
Lee Je-hoon (Bleak Night)

Best New Actress
Winner: 
Moon Chae-won (War of the Arrows)
Nominees:
Kang So-ra (Sunny)
Moon Chae-won (War of the Arrows)
Baek Jin-hee (Foxy Festival)
Shin Se-kyung (Hindsight)
You Da-in (Re-encounter)

Best New Director
Winner: 
Yoon Sung-hyun (Bleak Night)
Nominees:
Kim Min-suk (Haunters)
Kim Young-tak (Hello Ghost)
Kim Jung-hoon (Petty Romance)
Park Jung-bum (The Journals of Musan)
Yoon Sung-hyun (Bleak Night)

Best Cinematography
Winner: 
Kim Woo-hyung (The Front Line)
Nominees:
Kim Woo-hyung (The Front Line)
Kim Tae-sung (War of the Arrows)
Son Won-ho (Blind)
Lee Sung-jae (The Yellow Sea)
Jung Jung-hoon (The Unjust)

Best Lighting
Winner: 
Hwang Soon-wook (The Yellow Sea)
Nominees:
War of the Arrows
The Yellow Sea

Best Music
Winner: 
Mogue (Silenced)
Nominees:
Sunny
War of the Arrows
Silenced
Late Autumn

Best Art Design
Winner: 
Ryoo Sung-hee (The Front Line)
Nominees:
The Front Line
Sunny
The Yellow Sea
War of the Arrows
Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow

Best Technical Award
Winner: 
Oh Se-young (War of the Arrows) (action)
Nominees:
Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow (costume)
Sunny (edting)
War of the Arrows (action)
Sector 7 (CG)
The Front Line (fx)

Best Screenplay
Winner: 
Park Hoon-jung (The Unjust)
Nominees:
Kang Hyung-chul (Sunny)
Park Sang-yeon (The Front Line)
Park Hoon-jung (The Unjust)
Choi Min-suk (Blind)
Hwang Dong-hyuk (Silenced)

Best Short Film
Winner: 
Yang Hyo-joo (Broken Night)

Popularity Award
Winners: 
Ko Soo
Gong Yoo
Choi Gang-hee
Kim Hye-soo

Audience Choice Award for Most Popular Movie
Winner: 
War of the Arrows

Friday, October 7, 2011

Weekly Review Round-up (10/01-10/07, 2011)

Another good week for reviews spread over a wide range of films. A number of reviews for I Saw the Devil (not sure why) and trio for BIFF opener Always. I anticipate that next week's edition will feature a lot fo BIFF reviews, until then!


NEW KOREAN RELEASES


(Init_Scenes, October 3, 2011)

(Seen in Jeonju, September 28, 2011)

(Soul's Rebel, October 1, 2011)


RECENT RELEASES

(cut print review, September 15, 2011)

I Saw the Devil

(Init_Scenes, October 4, 2011)

(hancinema.net, October 1, 2011)

(examiner.com, October 1, 2011)

(Radar Redux, October 3, 2011)

(collider.com, October 3, 2011)

(Modern Koreaa Cinema, October 6, 2011)


PAST FILMS

(shantalks.wordpress.com, October 2, 2011)

Daisy, 2006
(poptastictees.com, October 2, 2011)

Death Bell, 2008
(Hangul Celluloid, October 3, 2011)

(Init_Scens, September 30, 2011)

(cut print review, September 20, 2011)

(10 Mag, September 28, 2011)

Turn It Up to 11, 2009
(Twitch, September 22, 2011)


The Weekly Review Round-up is a weekly feature which brings together all available reviews of Korean films in the English language (and sometimes French) that have recently appeared on the internet. It is by no means a comprehensive feature and additions are welcome (email pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com). It appears every Friday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News, and the Korean Box Office UpdateReviews 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.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Weekly Review Round-up (09/24-09/30, 2011)

An enormous amount of reviews this week (53!) due in part to Austin's Fantasia Fest and the release of Poetry in Toronto. I'm sure I've missed a couple though but if you can point me towards any more I will gladly include them!


NEW KOREAN RELEASES

(koreanfilm.org, September 2011)

Blind

Countdown


RECENT RELEASES

(hancinema.net, September 24, 2011)

(Twitch, September 24, 2011)

Haunters

Invasion of Alien Bikini

(Modern Korean Cinema, September 30, 2011)

Poetry

(Init_Scenes, September 29, 2011)

The Yellow Sea


PAST FILMS

(Hangul Celluloid, September 16, 2011)

(buzzfocus.com, September 28, 2011)

(The New Yorker, September 28, 2011)


The Weekly Review Round-up is a weekly feature which brings together all available reviews of Korean films in the English language (and sometimes French) that have recently appeared on the internet. It is by no means a comprehensive feature and additions are welcome (email pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com). It appears every Friday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News, and the Korean Box Office UpdateReviews 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.