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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The Shower (소나기, Sonagi) 1979

One thing that I’ve noticed time and again in Korean cinema, especially when I began to discover it many years ago, was the use of rain.  What struck me about it was its prevalence but most of all its impressive depiction on screen.  The first point is mostly due to the climate in Korea, which shares more with the wet climes of my native Ireland than Hollywood’s perpetually clear and balmy days.  The latter comes down to a keen appreciation on my part of the aesthetic and technical brilliance of the nation’s film industry.  Of course there’s also more to it than the above points, which are merely practical.

‘Pathetic fallacy’ is a term used to denote the attribution of human emotions to inanimate objects.  In poetry and literature, as well as in film, it typically references the metaphorical use of nature.  Rain is one of the most frequently used devices for pathetic fallacy used in art or media and in cinema it works particularly well due to its heavy physical presence and its potential to heighten the mise-en-scene through visual and aural means.  But in Korean films it has been brought to a new level as just about every important Korean work of the last 15 years has featured an important scene whose staging and emotional impact have been amplified by rainfall.

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June 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.

June 6


The Emperor's Concubine

June 7

Superstar

June 21

2 Doors
Miss Conspirator
The Heaven Is Only Open to the Single
The King of XXX-Kissing
Two Weddings and a Funeral

June TBC

A Company Man
Boys, Dreams and Sansevieria

I Am

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Weekly Review Round-up (06/02-06/08, 2012)

First Weekly Review Round-up live from Seoul!  A few write-ups on As One and Kim Ki-duk's Arirang this week as they are release in Australia and the UK respectively.

CURRENT FILMS

As One

(Film Journal, June 1, 2012)

(SBS, June 2, 2012)

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Korean Cinema News (05/31-06/06, 2012)

First Korean Cinema News update live from Seoul!  However, pretty light this week as I get myself up to speed in my new home.

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

Clint Mansell To Score Park Chan-Wook’s Vampire Film Stoker
When you’ve got the director of Oldboy (2003) making an intimate vampire film, you know the score will be as important as the lead actors.  In the case of Park Chan-wook‘s English-language debut, Stoker, that certainly seems to be the case.  He’s recruited Clint Mansellto score the film, which stars Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman and Alice in Wonderland herself, Mia Waskiowska.  (/Film, June 5, 2012)

Korea's Oldest Silent Film Revived
As the black and white film began rolling, a four-piece band — keyboard, violin, cello and piano accordion — played music and a narrator explained the first scene of the film Crossroads of Youth (1934) at Ewha Centennial Hall located in Jeong-dong, central Seoul, Saturday.  The silent film was revived with a modern twist after enormous effort from staff including a programmer, a director, a composer, musicians, singers and a narrator.  (The Korea Times, May 30, 2012)

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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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MKC Leaves for Seoul

Part of an ongoing series about my trip to and discovery of Seoul...

Well the day is here and as I'm about to leave so I'll keep it short.  I'll be touching down in Seoul in 23 hours with my scant 28kgs of baggage.

I'm supposed to have internet in my new apartment but if there is any problem upon arrival please bear with me as I get myself set up in a few days.  Though baring any major problems I expect the flow of news and content to go uninterrupted, only the box office update will be delayed due to the flight.

See you on the other side!