Tag: South Korea
REVIEW: Swing Kids (2018)
1951: Ro Ki-soo (Do Kyung-soo) is a rebellious young North Korean prisoner in an American POW camp. He is a troublemaker in the camp and given minor celebrity status by his comrades thanks to his war hero brother. When the American Sgt Jackson (Jared Grimes) attempts to put together a tap dancing revue for the ...
REVIEW: Asako in Ruby Shoes (2000)
U-In (Lee Jung-jae) is a disenfranchised Korean public servant who has a boring life, constantly under-achieves and spends most of his spare time masturbating to Internet pornography. Aya (Misato Tachibana) is a depressed Japanese health centre employee who buys shoes he can't afford and plans to commit suicide by holding her breath. To earn some ...
REVIEW: Portrait of a Beauty (2008)
Shin Yun Bok (Kim Min-sun) is a painter-in-training in 18th century Korea. While skilled and creative, he has two problems. Firstly, he is constantly driven to explore unconventional styles and subject matters for his art - matter which is oftentimes controversial and obscene. Secondly, he is actually a young woman, disguising her true identity to ...
REVIEW: The Last Princess (2016)
Following the death of her emperor father, Deok-hye (Son Ye-jin) - the last princess of Joseon dynasty - is forcibly relocated to Japan as part of that country's ongoing occupation of Korea. Trapped in Japan alongside her brother, Deok-hye struggles to return home to her people - and to assist in the resistance efforts against ...
REVIEW: In Another Country (2012)
Isabelle Huppert plays three different women, all named Anne, all visiting the Korean seaside town of Mohang during the off-season. It is an odd little set-up for this South Korean portmanteau film, written and directed by arthouse darling Hong Sang-soo and screened in competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. I generally find Hong a ...
