17th Edition of Busan Film Fest Announces Powerful Lineup

Part of MKC's Coverage of the 17th Busan International Film Festival.

The 17th Busan International Film Festival, which will unfold over October 4-13, has announced its full selection and boy is it packed to the gills. Many new films from stars of world cinema will be screened and a number of high-profile Asian films will bow at the event. Throw in a bevy of retrospectives and special screenings and what you end up with is a 300+ film program of pure cinematic delight.

A new Hong Kong action film called Cold War, which is the debut of industry veterans Sunny Luk and Leung Long Man, will serve as the opening film while Mostafa Farwar Farooki's Television, which promises to announce the arrival of Bangladeshi cinema, will close out the week.

As always, among the most exciting things on offer at Busan are the Korean premieres. For many years BIFF has been the premiere showcase for new Korean films. This year's crop is particularly exciting. There will be gala presentations for the new Jeon Soo-il (Pink, 2011) film El Condor Pasa, National Security, Chun Ji-young's follow-up to Unbowed (2011) and a new effort from Park Chul-soo (301,302; 1995) called B.E.D.

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PiFan 2012: 90 Minutes (90분, 90-boon) 2012

Part of MKC's coverage of the 16th Puchon International Film Festival.

It’s a rare thing to sit down to a film and know just from the opening shot how bad it’s going to be. Sadly this was the case for me at the world premiere of 90 Minutes, a new low-budget Korean revenge thriller. Whether it was the poor framing, choppy editing or thin premise I couldn’t say.

A good-looking commercials director is living in the fast lane and every door seems to open for him until one day when, following a late afternoon tryst with a high-class hooker, he finds himself blackmailed by this femme fatale who has recorded their rendez-vous. He must now follow her commands for 90 minutes if he wants to escape with his life and career intact.

It’s a simple plot that in the right hands and with a bit of creativity might have yielded an interesting, if modest thriller. In director Park Sun-wook ‘s hands however, it becomes an unwieldy and illogical mess. The film’s first mistake is that it takes a full 40 minutes to get things going. The excessive exposition introduces us to a plethora of unlikeable characters, none of whom change throughout the narrative.

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