Showing posts with label silenced. Show all posts
Showing posts with label silenced. Show all posts

Friday, April 27, 2012

Udine Far East Film Festival Day VII Report


Ongoing reports on the 14th Udine International Film Festival which Modern Korean Cinema will be covering onsite.


Wang Sib Ri, My Hometown
(South Korea, 1976)


I wish I had been able to see this film earlier so that I could have included it in last December’s ‘Jopok’ (or gangster) week on MKC.  Im Kwon-taek’s Wang Sib Ri, unlike his latter The General’s Son trilogy, is a gangster film with almost no violence but that uses the mob element to convey some sort of misguided escapism.  Joon-tae is a gangster who returns to Wang Sib Ri, his hometown, after 14 years spent in Japan.  Aside from a need to reconnect with his old girlfriend he seems a little hazy on his visit’s purpose.  He meets old friends, who fill him in on everybody’s news, and starts a casual affair with a naïve but sweet prostitute.  He says he will return to Japan but we can’t be sure that he means to, perhaps he is trying to escape from the place he escaped to, to the place where he escaped from. 

Im’s film is ostensibly about Joon-tae but really he is a surrogate for us to discover a provincial town in Korea and its downtrodden characters.  Like other films in the ‘Darkest Decade’ retrospective, it is quite bleak.  Wang Sib Ri is a drab town but rather than one that has fallen into disrepair.  Like many other films that feature a character returning to his place of origin, the town is shown to have taken side during the protagonist’s absence.  The flashbacks are certainly more colorful but I’m sure how that they are meant to represent a happier time.  Keep in mind that that when Joon-tae would have left, the country was already in the midst of Park Chung-hee’s authoritarian rule.

I don’t want to spoil the end except to say that it features the strongest sequence in the film and that its conclusions are far removed from Im’s body of work in his later career.


Yeongja’s Heyday
(South Korea, 1975)


Kim Ho-sun’s film, which was the fourth most successful local film of the decade, launched the ‘hostess film’ trend and is said to be the best example of the genre.  Like most of the retrospective’s films, women, and their restrictive positions in society, are given pride of place.  Here we follow Yeong-ja, a woman who intitally moves from the country to Seoul to work as a maid but soon begins to descend into prostitution.

What is interesting and at the same time most unfortunate about Yeong-ja is that she doesn’t seem to have a hand in her destiny.  The son of the wealthy family she serves rapes her and this gets her thrown out.  One day she rides the bus, but is pushed out by the other passengers, an episode which costs her an arm.  Maggie Lee, a reporter for Variety also in attendance, made a good point that this represents the loss of her virginity and innocence.  It is violent, cacophonous moment which is incontrovertible.

The one problem for me with the film was that its conclusions were inevitable, as is mostly the case with these fallen women films.  I imagine the director was familiar with a number of Japanese examples of the genre, which range from Mizoguchi’s The Life of Oharu (1952) and Streets of Shame (1956) and Seijun Suzuki’s Story of a Prostitute (1965), though my favorite is Naruse’s When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1959).  Kim’s film was much less subdued and while it was often effective, it came off as aggressive at times.  Nonetheless, Yeongja’s Heyday was a fascinating film and its success makes me even more curious about the role of women in society during that time.


Vulgaria
(Hong Kong, 2012)


This Pang Ho-cheung film, my first, is actually playing at midnight tonight but I caught it in the library yesterday as I knew I wouldn’t manage to make to its official screening.  I had to make time for it after so many people I met implored me to watch it.

It is another film about filmmaking, which always whets my whistle, but this is goes down a different path and employs an approach that, as the title implies, is quite vulgar.  It’s very clever though as there is no violence or nudity, rather the film is replete with obscene language and some rather shocking suggestion.

A producer of Category III films is giving a talk to film students about the film trade and launches into a description of the making of his most recent film, an erotic sequel to a 70s hit, starring an ageing porn star and being bankrolled by a depraved mob boss.

Vulgaria is hilarious and probably the most fun I’ve had all week, I was in stitches in the press room.  Pang gets the film going very quickly and the pace never drops, everthing is played for laughs and nothing is off limits.  I daresay this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but if you’ve ever enjoyed a midnight screening, this comes highly recommended.


Love in a Puff
(Hong Kong, 2010)


My second Pang Ho-cheung film of the day was a complete 180 from VulgariaLove in a Puff is a very modern story of a burgeoning romance set in Hong Kong.  It’s cute without being cloying and cool without seeming conceited. 

The title refers to smoking, which has just been outlawed in pubic places in 2009.  It is during smoking breaks, where workers in a neighbourhood have begun to fraternize in back alleys that Jimmy Cheung and Cherie Yue meet and slowly begin a relationship.

Love in a Puff chronicles the initial stages of their rapprochement and is full of texting, miscommunication and anxiety:  it’s fresh and it never seems forced.  Since its release in 2010, Pang’s film has received plenty of positive critical attention and it’s easy to see why but it just may be that I wasn’t as taken with it as others.  I can’t really fault the film or its style, I understand and appreciate what it set out to do and rather than say it failed to meet those aims, I’ll say that it didn’t quite suit my tastes.  I still enjoyed the film and would have liked to see its follow up, Love in the Buff (2012), screening later in the day but I wasn’t excited enough to queue for a long time to get a decent seat for the gala presentation with Pang in attendance.


Silenced
(South Korea, 2011)


Every so often, a film will set off a chain of events that has far greater ramifications than the production itself.  Silenced, which was 2011’s third highest grossing Korean film, is one of these.  It was a midlevel movie that became an unexpected hit and resulted in a national uproar and rapid legislative change.  The film, the story it was based on and the response it inspired were the focus of much domestic and international attention, garnering coverage in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and more.

The film’s power derives from its graphic depiction of extreme events where people in positions of authority take advantage of the weak.  But it is the details and the extent to which the film’s disabled protagonists are oppressed that make it the landmark picture it is.  While it highlights depraved and heinous crimes, Silenced is fuelled by systemic abuse that applies to most Korean citizens without wealth and powerful allies.

While a fine thriller that has the power to move and shock all but the most cynical viewers, Silenced will likely be remembered more for its enormous impact on Korean society rather than for its own merits as a narrative potboiler.  It may not be the most technically proficient production of 2011 it could very well be the one that most successfully accomplished its goals.




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.

Weekly Review Round-up (04/21-04/27, 2012)

A number reviews for My Way as it plays in limited release across the US and some reviews from the recent Terracotta Far East Film Festival and the current Udine Far East Film Festival.


RECENT RELEASES


(A Girl's Journey to the East, April 27, 2012)

(Cine Vue, April 22, 2012)

(Hangul Celluloid, April 24, 2012)

(London Korean Links, April 22, 2012)

(Seen in Jeonju, April 22, 2012)

Dancing Queen

(CUEAFS, April 22, 2012)

My Way

(The One One Four, April 22, 2012)

(Modern Korean Cinema, April 26, 2012)

(Twitch, April 25, 2012)

(Modern Korean Cinema, April 25, 2012)

Silenced

(CUEAFS, April 25, 2012)

(Drama Beans, April 22, 2012)

(Salon, April 21, 2012)

(Rockets & Robots Are Go, April 21, 2012)

(Columbia Daily Tribune, April 26, 2012)

(myreviewer.com, April 27, 2012)


PAST FILMS


(Japan Cinema, April 27, 2012)

(Otherwhere, April 23, 2012)

(Init_Scenes, April 24, 2012)

Iodo, 1977
(Modern Korean Cinema, April 24, 2012)

Mr. Wacky, 2006
(VCinema Show, April 24, 2012)

(Modern Korean Cinema, April 25, 2012)

Pollen, 1972
(Modern Korean Cinema, April 24, 2012)

Rainy Days, 1979
(Modern Korean Cinema, April 25, 2012)

(mihansa.net, April 19, 2012)

(Korean Grindhouse, April 21, 2012)

(Aidy Revies, April 26, 2012)

(Modern Korean Cinema, April 27, 2012)

(Modern Korean Cinema, April 27, 2012)


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.

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.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Weekly Review Round-up (04/07-04/13, 2012)

More great reviews this week and I imagine we'll see a lot more next friday once the writeups start flowing in from the current Terracotta Far East Film Festival.


CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES


(Time Magazine, April 10, 2012)


RECENT RELEASES


(London Korean Links, April 13, 2012)

(Hangul Celluloid, April 7, 2012)

Blind

(Init_Scenes, April 12, 2012)

(The One One Four, April 13, 2012)

(Oriental Nightmares, April 11, 2012)

(Drama Beans, April 11, 2012)

(Modern Korean Cinema, April 13, 2012)

(London Korean Links, April 13, 2012)

(Flixist, April 10, 2012)

(Tweeten Goes Korea, April 10, 2012)

(Beyond Hollywood, April 9, 2012)

Silenced

(Modern Korean Cinema, April 12, 2012)

(japancinema.net, April 12, 2012)

(koreanfilm.org, 2012)


PAST FILMS


Ditto, 2000
(Init_Scenes, April 7, 2012)

(Otherwhere, April 11, 2012)

(Init_Scenes, April 10, 2012)

(jediprincess, April 12, 2012)

(An Online Universe, April 11, 2012)

(Korean Grindhouse, April 10, 2012)

(Cinemalacrum, April 10, 2012)


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, February 10, 2012

Weekly Review Round-up (02/02-0210, 2012)

A pair of reviews for the hotly anticipated thriller Howling this week which will be opening on the 16th in Korea.  Many more reviews of past and current films also on offer from a wide range of sources.


CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES


Howling

(Seonyeong's Private Place, February 4, 2012)


RECENT FILMS


(Hanguk Yeonghwa, February 7, 2012)

(YAM Mag, February 9, 2012)

(Beyond Hollywood, February 6, 2012)

(Init_Scenes, February 3, 2012)

(Init_Scenes, February 5, 2012)

(Seen in Jeonju, February 3, 2012)

Pain

Quick

Silenced

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, February 9, 2012)

The Client

The Front Line

(The One One Four, February 8, 2012)


PAST FILMS


(Hanguk Yeonghwa, February 5, 2012)

D-Wars, 2007
(Korean Grindhouse, February 4, 2012)

(New Korean Cinema, February 9, 2012)

(Hangul Celluloid, February 8, 2012)

The Chaser, 2008
(Initi_Scenes, February 7, 2012)

Thirst, 2009
(The Daily Athanaeum, February 7, 2012)


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.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

How Korean Cinema Fared on 2011's Year-end Lists


Top 10 or end-of-year lists are one of my great guilty pleasures.  I know that ultimately they don't really mean very much and are guaranteed to be subjective, arbitrary, and divisive.  Yet I am always eager to discover other people's lists come year's end.  To see how my favorites films fared, to discover some things I may have missed and to generally scrutinize the palaver of this enduring critic's ritual.

I thought it would be fun to see how Korean films did on 2011's lists, if only to see what and how many Korean films generated international attention.  So I went ahead and tracked down every list I could find which featured a Korean film.  I found 70, including 7 which only considered Korean cinema, a pretty solid number which is spread over an impressive array of worldwide broadsheets, film websites, and a panoply of blogs.  I was also surprised to see over 30 films make it onto these diverse lists, a reflection of the depth of Korean cinema, from thrillers, horrors, and action films, all the way to melodramas and a large selection of low-budget indies.


The results of this ranking are in no way supposed to reflect some sort of objective standpoint of the best Korean films of last year.  For one thing, only a handful of films got any decent kind of exposure in the west and they were by and large 2010 releases.  Some of 2011's best films were only featured on a smattering of lists as they have not really been seen outside of Korea.  As I've said this is just a little bit of fun!

The system used for the below ranking is very simple.  1 point for making it onto a top 10 list (or the odd top 11), 2 points for a top 5 finish, and 3 points for taking first place.  The lists are available below, divided into Korean-only and international lists.  If you are aware of anything I've missed by all means let me know either here, on twitter, or by e-mailing me at pierceconran [at] gmail [dot] com.


How Korean Cinema Fared on 2011's Year-end Lists


1. Poetry (53)
2. I Saw the Devil (34)
3. The Yellow Sea (17)
4. Sunny (12)
5. The Day He Arrives (10)
6. The Journals of Musan (9)
7. Bleak Night (8)
8. Silenced (5)
9. Night Fishing (5)
10. Arirang (4)
10. King of Pigs (4)
10. Re-encounter (4)

13. Poongsan (3)
13. Punch (3)
15. Bedevilled (2)
15. Come Rain, Come Shine (2)
15. Dangerously Excited (2)
15. Pong Ddol (2)
15. Quick (2)
15. The Front Line (2)
21. Animal Town (1)
21. Barbie (1)
21. Blind (1)
21. Dooman River (1)
21. Haunters (1)
21. Invasion of Alien Bikini (1)
21. Late Autumn (1)
21. Late Blossom (2)
21. Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild (1)
21. Moby Dick (1)
21. Mother Is a Whore (2)
21. Out of the Cave (1)
21. Romantic Heaven (1)
21. War of the Arrows (1)


Lists of Korean Films

Asia Pacific Arts - Rowena Santos Aquino
Complex - Jaeki Cho
koreanfilm.org - Darcy Paquet
Modern Korean Cinema - Pierce Conran
Seen in Jeonju - Tom Giammarco

Lists Featuring Korean Films

Boston Globe - Wesley Morris
Chicago Reader - Ben Sachs
Chicago Tribune - Michael Phillips
Cineawesome! - Jeff
Cinema Salem - Kereth
Cinema Salem - Peter
Cinetology - Luke
Cleveland Plain Dealer - Clint O'Connor
CNN - Tom Charity
College Times - Aaron Tavena
Culture Mob - Matthew Wayt
Dad's Big Plan - Mr. Sparkles
Film Freak Central - Angelo Muredda
Film Freak Central - Walter Chaw
Film School Rejects - Brian Salisbury
Film School Rejects - Luke Mullen
Film School Rejects - Rob Hunter
Film Threat - Don Lewis
Film Threat - John Wildman
Film Threat - Mark Bell
Film Threat - Noah Lee
firstshowing.net - Jeremy Kirk
Front Room Cinema - Tom Bielby
Hollywood Hubbub - Frantic Monkey
Hydra Mag - Jose-Luis Moctezuma
indieWire - Anne Thompson
insidepulse - Robert Sutton
Left Field Cinema - M. Dawson
Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan
Living in Cinema - Michael Phillips
Miami Herald - Rene Rodriguez
Mile High Cinema - Jason Cangialosi
MSN Movies - Sean Axmaker
NOW Magazine - Radheyan Simonpillai
Palo Alto Online - Susan Tavernetti
playbackstl.com - Pete Timmermann
playbackstl.com - Sean Lass
Rich on Film - Rich
Salon - Andrew O'Hehir
Shock Till You Drop - Jeff Alard
Slant - Diego Costa
Slant - Nick Schager
Sounds Like Cinema - Greg Bennett
southcoasttoday.com - Alexis Hauk
St. Louis Today - Joe Williams
The Austin Chronicle - Marc Savlov
The Daily Texan - Alex Williams
the-dispatch.com - Matthew Lucas
The Globe and Mail - Liam Lacey and Rick Groen
The Guardian - Peter Bradshaw
The Hollywood Reporter - Todd McCarthy
The Montreal Gazette - T'cha Dunlevy
The New York Times - Manohla Dargis
The Screening Room - Mark Humphreys
Time Out New York - Keith Uhlich
Total Film - Sam Ashurst
Twitch - James Marsh
Twitch - Kwenton Bellette
Wildgrounds - Ki Mun


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.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Weekly Review Round-up (01/21-01/27, 2012)

Another slew of The Front Line reviews and much else besides including a number for current Korean films and the longest review of Penny Pinchers that is ever likely to be written!

This edition of the Weekly Review Round-up marks the 6-month anniversary of the weekly feature and I'm happy that it has met with such a strong reception over that time.  Thank you all for supporting it!


CURRENT KOREAN RELEASES


(The Jeju Weekly, January 20, 2012)

(Seongyong's Private Place, December 24, 2012)

(Seongyong's Private Place, January 18, 2012)


RECENT RELEASES


(Hanguk Yeonghwa, January 22, 2012)

(Film Business Asia, January 22, 2012)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, January 24, 2012)

(Film Smash, January 22, 2012)

(dramabeans, January 24, 2012)

(Business Week, January 19, 2012)

(The Banana Times, January 25, 2012)

(Modern Korean Cinema, January 25, 2012)

The Front Line


PAST FILMS


(Init_Scenes, January 20, 2012)

Failan, 2001
(New Korean Cinema, January 26, 2012)

M, 2007
(Hanguk Yeonghwa, January 25, 2012)

Pulgasari, 1985
(London Korea Links, January 23, 2012)

Rough Cut, 2008
(flixist, January 23, 2012)

Save the Green Planet, 2003
(New Korean Cinema, January 24, 2012)

The Chaser, 2008
(blogcritics.org, January 22, 2012)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, January 23, 2012)


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, December 30, 2011

Weekly Review Round-up (12/24-12/30, 2011)

A little slow this week but another wide variety of films covered, good, bad, old and new.

Enjoy!


RECENT RELEASES


(Modern Korean Cinema, December 29, 2011)

(Init_Scenes, December 27, 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, December 27, 2011)

(Film in Asian, December 27, 2011)

(Film Business Asia, December 28, 2011)

(Init_Scenes, December 25, 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, December 23, 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, December 24, 2011)

(The Hollywood Reporter, December 26, 2011)

(Rainy Day movies, December 28, 2011)

(Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal, December 24, 2011)

(hancinema.net, December 24, 2011)

(Asian Movie Web, December 27, 2011)


PAST FILMS


3-Iron, 2004
(Otherwhere, December 25, 2011)

(Korean Class Massive, December 24, 2011)

Hellcats, 2008
(Init_Scenes, December 23, 2011)

(Hanguk Yeonghwa, December 23, 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, 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