Battlefield Heroes (평양성, Pyeongyangseong) 2011

The Villagers

Lee Jun-ik has somewhat hastily proclaimed that he has retired from the director’s chair following the poor performance of his latest film Battlefield Heroes. He has made seven films and by far the one he is most famous for is The King and the Clown (2005), a gay period comedy drama that came out of nowhere to become the highest grossing film in the peninsula’s history up until that point with over 12 million admissions. After that kind of success it must be hard to follow it up, especially since a director like Lee is not known for making high-falutin blockbusters that you would typically expect to score big at the box office, he is known for making high concept comedies and in no film market at any time in history has that been a recipe for surefire success. In each of the three years that followed The King and the Clown, Lee kept busy and released a film: Radio Star (2006), The Happy Life (2007), and Sunny (2008). Each of the aforementioned were solid midlevel players but none cracked their year’s top 10. Then in 2010 he released Blades of Blood, which has been somewhat popular overseas but a significant commercial failure at home.

This year he's back with Battlefield Heroes which once again has not been met with the breakout success that had been hoped for and following its decent performance (it was by no means a flop) he has publicly declared that he is hanging his hat, this is after having previously said he would do so were his next film not a big hit. This seems to me a little rash and I worry that a big-budget war comedy was a reckless film to gamble on, but we shall see. I recently caught up with respected film critic Chris Bourne at the NYAFF and he believes that Lee will make a return after another brief hiatus, I am inclined to agree and I certainly hope he will.

As for the film itself, also known as Pyongyang Castle, it is a big-budget war comedy set in the 600s and the plot consists of the Silla kingdom and Chinese Tang dynasty banding together to overthrow the Goguryeo kingdom by laying siege to their castle. Silla’s strategist is worried that Tang will conquer them also after winning the battle and so conspires with Goguryeo in various twists and turns. The story is somewhat straightforward and yet it is also convoluted and a bit contrived, although the fact of the matter is that it is all a stage for the bawdy comedy to play out on.

The Rice Bowl

The cast has many recognizable faces (if you’re well-versed in Korean cinema) and a number of great cameos including one from the great Hwang Jeong-min. The problem with reviewing a film like Battlefield Heroes for Western audiences, is that I feel a lot may be lost in translation. While I enjoyed it, I know there must be a number of things that I missed which is a shame but the film still has a much to offer. The comedy is often low-brow and when it is verbal it can be very quickfire, which means it can be a little difficult to follow with subtitles. My favorite parts of the film featured the villagers who were ‘drafted’ into the Silla camp and their antics. There is a funny scene where they all appear at the Goguryeo gate in a big rice pot, a play on the Trojan Horse, and pop out comically trying to persuade them to surrender for some stores of rice. The scene gets even more ridiculous when it breaks into a karaoke song, this didn’t bother me too much but I imagine it may be too silly for some.

Battlefield Heroes features a number of well-choreographed fight scenes and the action is very convincing, much more so than you would expect for a comedy. This does lead to a slight identity crisis on the part of the film as it juggles comedy, action, and melodrama but it never veers too far out of control and remains firmly a comedy. Ultimately the film was a little slight for me and I wouldn’t recommend it to casual viewers of Korean cinema. It didn’t leave me with much to go away with and was at times forgettable, but it was worth watching and I really hope to see more from Lee in the future.

★★★☆☆

Large-scale war scenes played for laughs

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 Update, Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Review Round-up, which appear weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (GMT+1).

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Haunters (Cho-neung-ryeok-ja) 2010

Science fiction is a genre that hasn’t gotten too much play in South Korean cinema, outside of monster movies (The Host, 2006), and disaster films (Tidal Wave, 2009) there are perhaps only half a dozen films that could be categorized as science fiction. One, 2009: Lost Memories (2002), is set in the near future but in an alternate universe where Japan sided with the allies in World War II and kept it’s prewar colonies, which include Korea. The only other prominent example and certainly the one that is best known to Western audiences is the delirious, deranged, and brilliant Save the Green Planet (2003), while not a strict sci-fi, as it is equal parts horror, detective thriller, social commentary, romance, and comedy, it plays with the tropes of sci-fi in a remarkably clever fashion. Another genre that has not been seen often in Korea in superhero film, granted this is an American specialty and is a relatively recent branch of cinema. Examples in Korea include Descendants of Hong Gil-dong (2009), Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard (2009), and A Man Who Was Superman (2007). Woochi was a remarkably successful action-comedy about a chosun-era wizard who ends up in modern day fighting creatures from the past, on the other hand Superman is a comedy drama that has a big emotional punch and features all the Superman imagery while featuring a protagonist who doesn’t actually have any powers it acts as a a superhero film as only a South Korean film could. Comic book movies however, are quite popular in Korea and include the immensely popular Oldboy (2003) and even different styles of film such as the recent romantic comedy Petty Romance (2010).

Reminiscent of 'Cinema du Look'

Haunters is all of the above and more, it is a clever sci-fi, an off-kilter superhero film, a stylish comic book movie, and an intermittently effective horror. The story is relatively simple, it starts with a dark, brooding, and malevolent prologue that shows us a child in a broken home who has the ability to control minds and does so to horrifying effect. In present day we are introduced to Gyoo-nam, a young man working in a salvage yard with his two foreign friends, after an unfortunate accident he must find new work and does so at Utopia, an oddly-named pawnshop run by Jeong-sik (played by the brilliant Byeon Hee-bong) and his daughter. Meanwhile the child from the opening, Cho-in, is now grown-up and uses his powers to live a quiet, but luxurious life. One day he robs Utopia, while everyone, including Gyoo-nam’s friends, are there. Suddenly he notices something, Gyoo-nam is immune to his power and then all hell breaks loose. The film then focuses on Gyoo-nam as he pursues Cho-in in a series of explosive set pieces.

The Last Supper

It’s a fun story if somewhat thin and features a seemingly bottomless amount of plotholes and inconsistencies but with two engaging leads, strong supporting characters, and a terrific mise-en-scene, it can excused most of its errors. As I watched it I was reminded a lot of the Cinema du Look of the 80s and 90s in French cinema, a set of fiercely contemporary, visceral, aesthetic, and post-modernist works that came from young directors such as Luc Besson, Jean-Jacques Beinex, and Leo Carax. These films favored style over substance and spectacle over narrative, equipped with visual flair they featured young, alienated characters who symbolized the marginalized youth Francois Mitterand’s France. I feel that Haunters emulates this brief movement of cinema (there were only 7 films) and as a result could probably be excused its flagrant disregard for logic as it seeks to win us over with style. One scene in the film that reminded me of the Cinema du Look was early on at the salvage yard where all the multi-cultural workers sit down for lunch in a Last Supper tableau and when asked by the lunch lady who has produced their lunch ticket, it is the Jesus stand-in who gets up. It is an odd scene that doesn’t add to the narrative but is a stylish visual reference that is in line with the aforementioned French film movement. Most of the film is also played out in seedy backwater Seoul locations, and most often at night, this mimics the Cinema du Look’s propensity for shooting in the Paris Metro in an effort to symbolize an alternative society.

Standout supporting cast

While the film always looks great, if a little dark at times, it does begin to spin its wheels a little as Gyoo-nam always goes after Cho-in, who is clearly a superior opponent, without any plan. Since this blind and frankly stupid bravery leads to the death of a lot of innocent people, it is difficult to root for our hero at times. He is a simpleton who has a good heart but seemingly little brains. Haunters features good performances from its leads (Ko-soo and Kang Dong-won of Woochi and Secret Reunion) as well as its supporting characters, especially from Abu Dod and Enes Kaya who play Gyoo-nam's Ghanaian and Turkish friends. The film is Kim Min-suk's debut work and exhibits a lot of promise for good things to come, perhaps next time he will focus a little more on the narrative. Previously he collaborated with Kim Jee-woon on the script for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (2008), a delightful action romp which also suffers from some loose plotting. Haunters will infuriate a lot of viewers due to its inconsistencies but if you can look past the plotting there is a solid Korean multi-genre film to be enjoyed.


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 Update, Korean 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.

Korean Cinema News (06/20-06/26, 2011)

As we roll into Summer, the news cycle is slowing slightly but there were still some interesting stories this week, including some on theater monopolies and the huge success of Sunny.

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

A Look at Asia's Take on Spaghetti Westerns

Based on the spaghetti westerns that emanated from Europe in the 60s and 70s, Asia has recently taken to shifting what is chiefly an American genre to the East. Korea's The Good, the Bad and the Weird (2008)is the most popular example thus far. (Bleedingcool.com, June 20, 2011)

Kim Ki-duk's Latest Selected for Karlovy Vary Film Fest
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has invited Kim Ki-duk's latest film, the documentary Arirang to screen in its 'Another View' section. (Yahoo! News, June 21, 2011)

New Character Posters for Sector 7
The much anticipated Sector 7 has released some new posters, they are characters shots for the main stars of the picture. Sector 7 will be released on August 4. (Film Smash, June 21, 2011)

Upcoming Blockbuster Quick Promises Speedy Thrills
Quick, a summer action film focusing on motorcycle will be released on July 21 in Korea and producers are promising that it will be the fastest Korean blockbuster ever. (The Korea Times, June 21, 2011)

Seoul Begins Showing Local Films with Japanese Subtitles
The City of Seoul, with the help of CGV Theaters, will begin to exhibit Korean films with Japanese subtitles. This follows the increasing popularity and viability of English subtitles being added to local films in Korea's capital. (The Korea Herald, June 21, 2011)

Poongsan Readying for Big Splash
The Kim Ki-duk scripted Poongsan, directed by his protege Jeon Jae-hong, was just released this past weekend in Korea, and its producers have high expectations that their low-budget film will make a big impact on the marketplace. (Joong Ang Daily, June 22, 2011)

Korean Stars Owed 2.2 Billion Won in Backpay
The Korean Entertainment Management Association (KEMA), is claiming that various stars are owed a total of 2.2 billion won in backpay. Affected screen talent includes Hyeon Bin and Song Hye-kyo. (Manila Bulletin, June 23, 2011)

Quick Presold to 7 Countries
Incoming blockbuster Quick has been presold to 7 countries, including France. The film is reported to have cost around 8 million dollars. (hancinema.net, June 23, 2011)

Outcry from Independent Producers as Multiplexes Monopolize Screenings
Following previous complaints, the Korean Film Producers Association (KFPA) has outlined new grievances against multiplexes which continue to exhibit monopolistic tendencies. The main problem is that in Korea the main exhibitor are also the main film producers, thus they control access to their films and smaller, independent features are often squeezed out of the marketplace. (Joon Ang Daily, June 24, 2011)

Will Sector 7 Be the Next Hit to Crack 10 Million?
This summer sees the return of potent Ha Ji-won/Yoon Je-kyoon team, who previously collaborated on Haeundae (2009). Many are wondering if they will again have a hit on their hands that will cross the 10 million viewer mark. (Hancinema.net, June 26, 2011)

TRAILERS

Dr. Jump (no subs)

Pain (no subs)

Quick (no subs)

BOX OFFICE

Sunny Back on Top
After 4 weeks coming in behind Kung Fu Panda 2, Sunny saw its weekend take increase by 50% (330,000) and handily took first place, it has no accrued an enormous 5.7 million admissions. Kung Fu Panda is still going strong and looks set to cross 5 million next week. Poongsan was the big new release and did well with 240,000 while holdover White added 100,000 to its total, which stands at 615,000. (Hancinema.net, June 26, 2011)



Korean Cinema News is a weekly feature which provides wide-ranging news coverage on Korean cinema, including but not limited to: features; festival news; interviews; industry news; trailers; posters; and box office. It appears every Wednesday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at the Korean Box Office Update and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews 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.

Blades of Blood (구르믈 버서난 달처럼, Gooreumeul beoeonan dalcheoreom) 2010

Most national film industries have their own variant of the period film and depending on the length and volatility of their history, they may have a few different epochs rendered in these offerings. Korea revels in genre cinema so it is no surprise that period films are numerous in the marketplace. Like other genres it is frequently cross-blended with other styles of filmmaking, and frequently it is twisted into something you may not expect: The King and the Clown, a gay period romp, became the nation’s top grossing film when it was released in 2005; Woochi mingled period, action, and science fiction into a high concept comedy and went on to be the second best performing film at the local box office last year; and Detective K, the first installment of an episodic procedural comedy was the most successful film in the first quarter of this year. These clever and original examples are joined by many more straightforward but exceptionally well-made period dramas such as Chunhyang (2000), Untold Scandal (2003), and The Servant (2010) all of which scored big with Korean audiences.

Every year over 100 films are made in Korea but only a dozen or so are marketed overseas. Blades of Blood is one of these and my guess is the film’s producers were hoping that foreign audiences would find something to connect with in this expensive and frequently gloomy enterprise because it certainly didn’t at home. The film only managed 200,000 admissions, a far cry from break-even point. The film features major, bankable stars, is technically competent, and can be quite good at times, so why did it flounder so badly?

The film is more than passable, if somewhat unremarkable, and I’m sure the filmmakers were a little surprised by its poor showing. Out of the two marquee names, Hwang Jeong-min is very good as the blind swordsman Hwang (more than a little reminiscent of Zatoichi) but Cha Seoung-won is problematic as the ambivalent villain Mong-hak. This perception could be entirely my own since I associate him with Kim Sang-jin’s blithely irreverent comedies. Cha portrays characters who are always over-the-top, goofy, and unsure of themselves: a disrespectful youth in Attack the Gas Station (1999); the fighting teacher in Kick the Moon (2001); the wannabe homeowner in Ghost Story (2004); or even as the jailed father in A Day With My Son (2007). To see him in such a startlingly different role is jarring and I couldn’t really get over it. Hwang on the other hand is familiar with oddball characters, A Man Who Was Superman (2007) being a great example, and he excels and seems to revel in this role.

Technically the film is very proficient, the cinematography is solid, the production design and costumes detailed, and the sound is very effective, if a little overbearing at times (like when the soundtrack is inundated with dozens of swooshing swords). One thing I couldn’t possibly understand was the prosthetic vampire teeth they attached to Cha, I suppose they were symbolic of his descent into mayhem, his craving for bloodletting and power, but frankly they looked ridiculous. The final shot of the film is also immensely perplexing, I’m sure that it means something but I really couldn’t be bothered to figure out what that is.

I think the film’s major flaw, at least what pervaded most of its running time, was the uneven plotting and the plodding exposition that went along with it. From the very beginning I had a little trouble following what was going on. I knew there was a rebellion that were forced to compromise and Mong-hwa wasn’t going along with it, he set out hellbent on revenge (possibly, I’m not sure) and killed Gyeon-ja's family. Then Gyeon-ja and Hwang (a former member of the rebellious alliance) went after Mong-hak. There’s also something about the Japanese invading, the rival faction in the King’s court, and a girl but she is so poorly written I can’t quite figure the role she played in it all.

I’ve racked up quite a few negative points, but I must say that I enjoyed a lot of this film. When I could follow it, it was at times engaging and the fight scenes were very good. The comical scenes involving Hwang mentoring Gyeon-ja were played for cheap chuckles but they work well, because they are well choreographed and because of Hwang. A lot of the narrative is an excuse for swordplay, characters get killed with hardly any provocation, but I suppose that’s par for the course and I think it benefits the film. The ending is quite melodramatic and somewhat apart from the rest of the film, but it’s done very well and I wonder had rest of the film had been done this way, could it have struck a deeper chord with Korean audiences? I definitely enjoyed myself with Blades of Blood despite its numerous flaws but I daresay that for many viewers it may be a step too far in the wrong direction.

★★★☆☆

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 Update, Korean 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.

Petty Romance (Jje-jje-han Ro-maen-seu) 2010

Korean romcoms are a dime a dozen in Korea, this is well known, the good news is that most of them are quite good, which is also well know but more than a little surprising to people who may not have seen any. I remember when I first saw My Sassy Girl (2001) and was whole-heartedly enjoying myself, even in spite of my previous prejudice to the genre. Back then I would talk anyone’s ear off who would listen about Korean cinema, truth be told I still do that. It was easy to recommend films to film buffs, most of my colleagues in college, but I struggled to honestly recommend Korean films to many other people. Save the Green Planet (2003) and Oldboy (2003) may have left an impression on me but doubtless those who may not be so keen on stylized violence would be left in the cold. Similarly, Peppermint Candy (1999) and The Power of Kangwon Province (1998) may have been perfect fodder for intellects (would be and otherwise) but those who go to the theater purely for entertainment could not hope to find much to their liking in these films. It was then with great joy and relief that I came across My Sassy Girl, a wonderfully entertaining film that was clever, well-made, and would appeal to a different kind of film viewer. I was able to recommend Korean cinema to people who don’t ever seek out foreign film.

Jeong-bae and Da-rim

This was a turning point in my appreciation of Korea’s film industry, revenge picks and arthouse flicks were all well and good, and they were oh so good, but I learnt that Korea had a lot more to offer to a broader audience. My Sassy Girl was a complete departure from what I’d seen and yet the skill, craftsmanship, and many of the inherent themes still made this evidently cut from the same cloth as what I had previously digested. It’s just that the cloth was bigger than I had once thought, if such a commercial film, a romantic comedy could be produced by an emerging industry, what else was in store? I quickly found out that the answer was a lot, I opened myself to films that on paper may not have been my cup of tea. I was wholly democratic in my Korean film selection and the treasures I uncovered were rich and plenty.

Petty Romance is not My Sassy Girl, and likely it will not motivate the same kind of response as it did in me, but it is a more than serviceable film that reminded me of that same feeling. If it were an American film I would probably hate it, because it would have displayed less ingenuity, quality, and verve, but I admit also because it wouldn’t have been Korean. I am completely biased at this point, and unashamedly so. I will watch any Korean film and pretty much always find something to like in them or link them to others I’ve seen. On paper, Petty Romance is a film that I would have no interest in, but I trust Korean filmmakers to do something new and I also trust the online community of filmmakers that have been quite taken with this new offering.

Externalizing the internal with animation

The film is about an amateur comic book writer Jeong-bae who is a great illustrator but has some problems when it comes to writing a story. After being rejected everywhere with his 3-years in the making oeuvre, he decides to enter a competition for an adult comic with a $100,000 prize. He must do this in order to buy back his late father’s painting, which otherwise will be auctioned off to cover his debt to one of his father’s friends. Da-rim is a struggling sex columnist who can’t hold down a job and is staying with her playboy brother. Jeong-bae interviews for a story writer to help him win the competition and selects Da-rim, they bicker their way through the project and of course fall in love but not without a few obstacles.

It’s a simple story that is told effectively but it does approach its subject matter in a clever fashion. As the two create the story for the comic it becomes apparent that it is just a externalization of their sexual anxieties, not least because Da-rim is a virgin. Debut director Kim Jeong-hoon-Il, who previously penned Sword in the Moon (2003), capitalizes on these moments with well-rendered animation sequences which also serve to quicken the pace of the film, which is not always up to speed with the snappiness of the film’s characters. In fact the film’s main flaw is probably its length. At 117 minutes it is not an overly long Korean film but the story struggles across it at points. A curious amount of counterpoint is achieved throughout the film, especially due to the animation scenes which are explicitly violent and sexual that are placed in this quirky good-natured romcom. I think it is a good addition as it adds some gravitas to the inner frustrations of the characters.

A very modern film

The lead performances from Lee Seon-gyoon and Choi Kang-hee are quite charming and their chemistry is engaging. The supporting characters are the typical placeholders you would expect in this kind of a film and while the resolutions are visible from a distance the journey is entertaining enough for this to be a worthwhile venture. One last thing I should say about this film is that it is definitely one of the most modern Korean films I’ve seen. It was released last December and besides its use of iPhones and the various other trappings of modern society it has an extremely modern look and feel: one scene features Da-rim and her friend at a club where the music is very downbeat minimalist techno and the patrons dance in a trance. I can’t quite explain all it but it felt a little different from what I’ve seen previously. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who doesn’t already know they like Korean romcoms but if you have any interest in them Petty Romance is definitely worth a look.

Korean Cinema News (06/13-06/19, 2011)

A pair of great features lead off this week, on legendary filmmaker Lee Doo-yong and emerging artist and filmmaker Park Chan-kyong. A number of industry related items follow as well as a good number of trailers, including a fantastic new one for The Front Line.

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

An Appreciation of Filmmakers Lee Doo-yong
A detailed feature on Lee Doo-yong, who was a prominent Korean filmmaker in the 1970s and 80s, second only to Im Kwon-taek on the international scene. (Korean Cinema Today, May 28, 2011)

Artist Park Chan-kyong Explores Space Between the Koreas

Korea's bustling art scene is beginning to have quite an impact at home and abroad. One influential artist,  Park Chan-kyong, seeks to highlight the middle ground betweens the Koreas. He is filmmaker and photographer who most recently worked with his brother, famed director Park Chan-wook, on Night Fishing, a short film shot on an iPhone. (The New York Times, June 13, 2011)

Korean Film Archive Releases A Hometown in Heart
The Korea Film Archive is releasing a new classic film on DVD. A Hometown in Heart, adapted from Ham Se-deok's play A Little Monk, will be released on June 20th. (Far East Films, June 13, 2011)

Korean iPhone Film Competing at Shanghai

Kwon Jin-hee's The Idea of Creation in competing in the Shanghai International Film Festival's iPhone film competition. The film follows life's up and downs from the perspective of a bug. (Joong Ang Daily, June 13, 2011)

CJ's 4D Cinemas to Launch in Thailand
Major Cineplex Group plc is joining with CJ 4Dplex Co in order to launch the later's new 4D technology screens across Thailand. This makes Thailand the fourth country to offer such a cinematic experience, after South Korea, China, and Mexico. (Bangkok Post, June 14, 2011)

Kim Ki-duk on the Benefits on Low-Budget Filmmaking
After making a splash at Cannes with his new documentary feature Arirang, Kim Ki-duk is prepping for the release of his protege Juhn Jai-hong's Poongsan. He extols the virtues of low-budget filmmaking against the commercial Korean film market. (The Korea Times, Junes 14, 2011)

Lineup Announced for 15th PiFan
The 15th Puchon International Film Festival, which will open its gates on July 14th for 10 days, has announced its lineup. Na Hong-jin's The Yellow Sea will be in competition and the upcoming thriller Blind will serve as the closing film. (Film Business Asia, June 15, 2011)

Jang Hoon Explains The Front Line and Tensions with Mentor Kim Ki-duk
Jang Hoon's anticipated third feature, The Front Line, is being released in Korea on July 21st, it tells the story of the 'forgotten' war by highlighting lesser-known incidents of the Korean War (1950-1953. Jang also explains the state of his relations with Kim Ki-duk, his former mentor, who has recently spoken out against him. (Hancinema.net, June 16, 2011)

Movie Version of K-Drama Dae Jang Geum on the Way
One of Korea's most popular TV shows, the historical drama Dae Jang Geum is set to be remade as a film. It is aiming for an international release in 2013. (Hancinema.net, June 16, 2011)

TRAILERS

Lots of new trailers this week for a variety of films, including romance, action, war, horror, and thriller. Three are new full length trailers, in addition to previously released teasers.

Always (no subs)

Blind (no subs)

Don't Click (no subs)

The Cat (no subs)

The Front Line (no subs)

The Ultimate Weapon (no subs)

BOX OFFICE

Close Race for No.1 from Three Holdovers
Kung Fu Panda 2 had a slight edge at the box office this weekend with its 280,000 admissions versus 270,000 for Sunny, which crossed the 5 million mark on Saturday, and 260,000 for the latest X-Men installment. Super 8 had a decent opening (235,000) while The Green Lantern barely made an impression (120,000). Among Korean holdovers, K-horror White held very well and now has nearly half a million admissions, while Moby Dick floundered in its sophomore frame. (Hancinema.net, June 19, 2011)



Korean Cinema News is a weekly feature which provides wide-ranging news coverage on Korean cinema, including but not limited to: features; festival news; interviews; industry news; trailers; posters; and box office. It appears every Wednesday morning (GMT+1) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at the Korean Box Office Update and the Weekly Review Round-up. Reviews 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.

Typhoon (Tae-poong) 2005

Kwak Kyung-taek’s Typhoon was a major blockbuster that hit South Korean screens in the winter of 2005 and wound up with an impressive 4 million admissions. Kwak is no stranger to success, his autobiographical feature Friend (2001) was the highest-grossing film of its time when it attracted 8 million viewers across the peninsula with its tale of boyhood friends following different, and often violent, paths into adulthood. Typhoon reunites the director with Jang Dong-gum, a major star who, as well as Friend, has headlined blockbusters such as Taegugki (2004) and the forthcoming My Way (2011), he has also appeared in foreign language films such as China’s The Promise (2005) and New Zealand’s The Warrior’s Way (2010). The film also stars Lee Jung-jae another big star who has featured in Il Mare (2000) and The Housemaid (2010). Armed with a $15 million budget Kwak took his production across Asia, with various sequences of the film shot in Thailand, Singapore, Russia, and Seoul and Busan in South Korea.

The Vengeful Sin (Jang Dong-gum)

Like many Korean blockbusters that preceded it and those that would follow it, the film derives it central tension from the divide between the Koreas. In this narrative Jang portrays Sin, a North Korean defector who has become a pan-Asian outlaw seeking retribution against the whole peninsula and Lee ass Gang Se-jong, the top Navy operative enlisted to take him down. Throw in some nuclear materials, big ships, submarines, lots of explosions, and a heavy dollop of melodrama and what follows is a fairly standard and messy Korean actioneer. The results aren’t all bad though and as many other reviewers have noted, the production design and many of the set pieces are engaging, and of course the weepy sentimentality, so keenly perfected by Korean filmmakers, succeeds here even though it really shouldn’t.

It's clear that Kwak took a page or three out of Hollywood's book while he made this film. Examples like the Mission Impossible (1995) reference (magazine on the plane, like the 'recommended' movies of the MI franchise), the fancy, high-tech command center, and the general style of the mise-en-scene, are all reminiscent of America's big-budget summer movies. I mention this because what bothered me the most about the film was the lack of focus in its plot. The exposition was far from clear and at many points I found myself unsure of what was going on. I think this is a casualty of the blending of the American and Korean aesthetics and moviemaking styles.

Se-jong (Lee Jung-jae) is briefed a la Mission Impossible

After the success of Friend, Kwak has endured as one of Korea’s most successful directors. All of his films beside Mutt Boy (2003), have finished in the Top 10 for the Year, this streak is not likely to end any time soon with the imminent release the The Battle of Yellow Sea (2011), a hotly anticipated 3D action pic. At his best his films are very effective productions that combine technical skill, pathos, and action, Friend being the most popular example. My personal favorite is A Love (2007), which despite its overplayed Shakesperean dramatics, is a very well rounded piece of cinema and easily the most tightly plotted film in Kwak’s career. He seems to use the same devices and techniques in most of his work and I appreciate that he favors focusing on characters and their stories and uses these to heighten our investment in the action sequences that populate his narratives but with Typhoon this poses a problem. Sin’s sad story is well rendered and easy to understand, thus his motivations are clear but all the diplomatic and military wrangling between the Blue House, and other foreign powers, in addition to the terrorist plot that drives the film, are so haphazard and byzantine that they overwhelm what should be a fairly straightforward thriller. 

Knife fight in the belly of the ship 

Besides Sin’s backstory, Typhoon is also a film which focuses on two alpha males, both portrayed by huge stars with sculpted, masculine physiques. Just like John Woo’s old Hong Kong films, a major element is the friendship that potentially develops between them, even as they stick knives into each other (I could read into this, but I’ll leave it up to you). Se-jong is sympathetic to the plight of Sin and his sister but he cannot condone the terrorism that the outlaw plans to perpetrate, although he is also ill at ease with the dirty tactics employed by the Blue House (Korea’s White House). This potentially interesting relationship is not given enough time to develop and ends up as little more than an afterthought. During the climax, their relationship comes to a head in the belly of a cargo ship, but the subtleties have been glossed over and sidelined by the attempts to make this film a larger affair, replete with international and political overtones. 

I think that if Kwak had stuck with what he was good at, even if he can’t be very subtle about it, and had opted to tone down the political machinations that weigh down the film, Typhoon could have been an effective and engaging pan-Asian thriller. Instead the film is a bit of a mess, interspersed with some good moments and some great music but let down by a poor script and some bad decision-making. A little judicious editing wouldn’t have hurt either.