By JANG Byung-won

 To the top-notch directors pursuing perfection, the need to give a new stimulus in every new film is just their fate. BONG Joon-ho is not shy about the task and daringly faces this fate in his new film Mother, in which a mother fights to prove her mentally handicapped son's innocence when he is suspected of committing a murder.

In a rural town, a high school girl is brutally murdered and her limp body is hung on a rooftop of a building for everyone to see. When Do-jun, a quiet “mentallyretarded” young man, comes under suspicion, his mother goes to extremes to prove his innocence. Since the police received a full confession from Do-jun, the case is considered closed, and not a single soul will stand up to his innocence. But she takes the matters into her hands by setting out an investigation on her own, where she discovers the truth little by little, even if it's not what she sought after.

The “mother”, imagined by BONG and brought to life by a top actor KIM Hyeja, is depicted not as an icon representing a holy, motherly sacrifice, but as an incarnation of unfailing belief. Therefore, Mother is about the concept of “protection” and convoked memory that lied subconsciously, as well as a fable on a wronged belief or a love turned into madness. Although foreign media compared it to Pedro ALMODOVAR's melodramas dealing with motherhood when it was first shown in Cannes, it is actually closer to dark mysteries of David LYNCH. In fact, you may even feel like Blue Velvet's curious young Peeping Tom is reincarnated as a Korean country lady (as evident by her peeping into another character's love affair by hiding in the closet). BONG mixes up so many different elements that it almost makes you dizzy: selfreproduction of his own filmography, many quotes from the works of Hitchcock and Lynch, as well as elements of melodrama, mystery, thriller, and black comedy are all harmonized in this single film. In Do-jun, you find the motif of BAIK Gwang-ho (Memories of Murder), the unlicensed nurse injecting illegal shots (Memories of Murder) turns into the mother applying unlicensed acupuncture, the body of the junior high school girl (The Host) is now replaced with the rooftop (as opposed to basement) high school girl's. However, while in his previous films the key events across the plot surrounded Korean society's issues, Mother focuses on a single character, thus representing a micronarrative and this requires a different way to appreciate it. In a way, it seems like a film describing a mysterious air surrounding a country village. The heterogeneity of elements that are seemingly not to go with each other establishes the main mood: rather surreal golf course and the isolated places, the government worker secretly trading medicinal herbs from China, a high school girl who sells herself in exchange of rice, a narrow-sighted police officer who does not carefully see the case through, and so on.
Although it's easy to highlight many elaborately directed scenes, the opening and closing scenes, bearing resemblance, produce great resonance. In the opening scene, KIM staggeringly walks across a barren field and starts dancing like a maniac. In a similar fashion, the closing scene portrays ladies on a tour bus having a blast dancing in the aisle, almost to the extent of insanity, illustrating the uncontrollable devilishness. KIM Hye-ja's performance that goes back and forth between the highs and lows of manic depressiveness, shows many faces of tranquility, uneasiness, jealousy, impulses, and murderous intent, is dazzling to indulge.

 

 

 

By KIM Hye-seon

LEE Ji-bong was once a rising sports star. He won a bronze medal in weight lifting in 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. But he was soon forgotten because he failed to win the gold, and anything less than that did not matter. Furthermore, he was injured during the Olympics and was diagnosed with a heart condition, which forced him to retire. years later, he get a coaching job at a girl's middle school in the countryside, but he has no intention of training girls because he's sick and tired of weight lifting, sports and people's fixation on winning. However, the girls eventually convince LEE to help them shape up and become great athletes and weight lifters.

Since the 2007 box office hit Forever the Moment, which chronicled the real life story of woman's national handball team, making a sports movie in Korea became a real possibility, even non-popular sports. Lifting King Kong(working title) is just that example, as it is based on a real story about a group of young female weight lifters, who in 2000 swept 14 out of 15 gold medals in weight lifting at the National Athletic Competition of Korea. Their real life coach, CHEONG In-young, died of a brain stroke at the age of 49 and became the model for LEE in the movie. Despite many similarities to Forever the Moment, Lifting King Kong(working title) has another appealing point: main characters in the movie are all losers.

Physically adept to be a weight lifter, Young-ja (JO An) is an orphan. Yeo-soon is desperate to bring home a medal for her sick mother. Hyun-jung joins the weight lifting team after being kicked out of the tennis team. Soo-ok, a Harvard hopeful, joins the team hoping that this sport might help her enter the university. Bo-young has nothing but strength and Minhee is an off-beat character who thinks the uniform is sexy. And through the sport, they all come to find their own identities and values. Even without a shred of talent, they overcome their lack of gift with passion and spirit. LEE takes care of the girls like his own children because he was once in their shoes and understand their difficulties. As a character LEE has changed drastically from someone who blurted out lines like “any effort that does not achieve a gold medal is pointless."

The girls give LEE a nickname of 'King Kong' because he often soothes his heart pains with beating of his chest. And as such, audience members can feel the stirring of their hearts when the girls carry intoxicated LEE after winning the championship at the Province Competition, and when they lift LEE's coffin by the end of the film, instead of bearing him on their shoulders. This film has a number of merits to make up for the outdated, conventional narrative. Like the way the characters overcome their differences and difficulties, the sparkling chemistry between characters and utilization of unpaved ideas lift this film from the group of generic sports films and into the hearts and minds of those on the edge of their seats. In addition, reflecting the competitive reality of local schools, and their ways of excessively establishing many sports teams in order to secure more budgets from the government, add elements of realism to the contemporary Korean society.

 

 

By KIM Hye-sun CHO

Phil-sung is a notorious policeman in the countryside. Although he slacks off while on duty by spending his afternoon at a coffee shop, he's still the most popular candidate for a special guest teacher at his daughter's elementary school. He also takes advantage of his vocation by taking bribes every now and then. Probably due to his less-than-stellar work ethics and morals, his family is never well-off. Even with a comic book shop managed by his wife, CHO's family can't seem to raise the quality of life. One day, he happens to get some inside information on a huge bullfighting contest and bets all his savings (even his wife's secret stash). He hits the jackpot, only to get robbed of his winnings before he could take the money home to his wife. The next morning, he finds himself handcuffed in an alley. When he stumbles back into the station, he realizes that he's been had by a dangerous fugitive named SONG Ki-tae, who has been hiding out in the village.

Thus the grand battle between a rusty detective and a notorious fugitive finally begins. Since nobody believes that CHO witnessed SONG, he decides to go after the fugitive, get his money back and also win the handsome reward. CHO manages to discover SONG's hideout, only to get beaten during the surprise raid. Not only that SONG cuts off CHO's pinky and gets away from the scene. When the incident is reported, CHO gets suspended and is accused of being an incompetent officer. Having been defeated twice, money is not the issue anymore, CHO wants to square off fairly and get back his honor as an officer of the law, as a father and a human being. His continuous efforts to capture SONG end in failure until he is finally given a chance to redeem himself.

There once was a troika leading Korean film industry, consisting of SONG Kang-ho, SUL Kyung-gu, and CHOI Minsik, but somehow KIM Yoonsuk snuck up and has since replaced CHOI in that list. Running Turtle only solidifies the change by displaying KIM's tenacious, but emotional performance. This film is not a thriller that would accompany Memories of Murder and The Chaser. It looks more like a countryside detective drama similar to an ordinary TV human documentary showing mundane life of an incompetent middle age police officer. Instead of playing a charismatic character like he did in Tazza: The High Rollers and The Chaser, KIM takes on a role of a naïve countryman who eventually uses his wits to outsmart his target. Having witness his failures over and over again, when CHO's final counterblow connects with SONG, it gives audience a long awaited catharsis. Although the director LEE Yeon-woo made a banal comedy 2424 (2002), his realistic direction and cinematography by CHO Yong-kyu (Secret Sunshine and Crying Fist) made this into a rare breed of heart warming drama.

 

 

 

By JANG Byung-won

 Vietnamese girls in ao-dai are walking down a rural street. Responding to a male voice, one of the girls turns and looks at the camera. The foreshadowing opening scene Hello, Stranger Directed by KIM Dong-hyun Cast PARK In-soo, CHOI Hee-jin Release Date June 4, 2009 is followed by a story of Jinwook, a North Korean defector who just finished an orientation program that will help him adapt South Korean society. During his first night, he gets lost after coming back from a supermarket and gets in the taxi driven by another defector named Hye-jung. The two spend the entire night trying to find his apartment. The next day, Jin-wook gets on a bus heading to Busan and comes across Ting-yoon, a young Vietnamese man who mistakenly gets on the same bus when he mixes up Busan for Buan. Feeling compassionate for the young man who came to Korea looking for his lover who got married to a Korean, Jin-wook decides to accompany him to the destination. In order to buy the ticket to Buan, Tingyoon attempts robbery but gets caught. Detective CHOI finds out that Ting-yoon is an illegal migrant worker and proceeds to prosecute him but the young man's heartbreaking story lets him off the hook.

Hello, Stranger is a road movie, but one that is told through intentionally failed journeys. All the characters are off the normal track. Jinwook gets lost in the unfamiliar scenery of Seoul and Hye-jung who drives a taxi also can’t find the destination. Taking care of Ting-yoon, who is lost in a wrong bus, Jin-wook misses his destination. Thus, this film is elaborately interwoven with inevitable roaming and intentional wanderings. Encountering of characters on the street reminds us of fate. Like his previous film A Starving Day, a story about a father of a starving family who meets a compassionate old woman, KIM portrays the moment of coincidental encounters among people living on the edge. He is interested in how a miraculous encounter affects destiny, and how hope arises from sharing a small favor with others.

Following recent exemplary independent films like Old Partner, Daytime Drinking and Breathless, Hello, Stranger is another evidence to prove that the contemporary Korean independent film cinema is maturing. KIM Dong-hyun started his career as an assistant director for BAE Yong-kyoon's What is the Reason Why Bodhi- Dharma Went to the East? and The People in White. Hello, Stranger is his second feature film made with KOFIC Art Film Production Support Program, and finally gets a release 2 years after completion. “Living as an outsider myself, I do care about foreigners and isolated people” and “it gives us huge emotional sympathy when seeing foreigners on the screen” says the director. As if a slice of real life is transported onto the screen, the performances of this film should be noted. For a film that could easily embark on a journey down a darker path, the actors bring out real sense of humor and vitality to the drama. The outstanding performances of PARK In-soo, who has been a trained stage actor for 5 years, and Kkangsoo, a Vietnamese drama student currently studying at Korea National University of Arts, should be mentioned.

 

 

By JANG Byung-won

 LEE Hey-jun, who showed off his prowess with his debut feature Like a Virgin, came back with his second feature film Castaway on the Moon. It proves that people's expectations on him are not a mere lip service.

KIM, who is cornered by merciless loan sharks, throws himself into the Han-gang river in an attempt to commit suicide. He somehow survives the attempt and drifts away to a small island on the river. The one who discovers him on the little island in the middle of a metropolitan Seoul turns out to be another KIM, a girl who refuses any connection with the rest of the world and never ventured out of her bedroom for years in a condominium building overlooking the river. The two KIMs, disconnected from the outside world build their own micro-universes and communicate with each other in their own way, learning to establish a whole new relationship.

 Likewise, Castaway on the Moon, through these two drifting souls, depicts in a second- hand way how deprived and barren the real world we’re living can be. Both KIMs are extremely isolated: the male KIM, stigmatized with incompetency and insolvency, while the female KIM is indulged in a ghostly life confined to cyberspace. In this sense, the island where KIM is found adrift stands as a metaphorical space representing contemporary peoples’ fate: no hope and no place to settle down. Society alienates and excludes them, not allowing them to lead even miserable lives. The only places permitted to those drifting souls are a desert island or a messy room.

This film shows a surprisingly fresh approach by overthrowing the paradigm that is prevalent in our time where artificial networks, such as cell phones and the internet, control communication. In a situation where telecommunication networking is disabled, you witness the old fashion communication methods (ex. writing, photos, letters) connect islands. The islands of the KIMs, seemingly hideouts where the two losers, who did not have the courage to face the real world head-on, turn into a whole new nirvana from the moment they begin their fascinating communication. Despite the sorrowful landscapes of their lives, you may be pleasantly surprised to find this optimistic fantasy that tides over their utmost infelicities.

 

By JANG Byung-won

 A group of friends at a funeral recollects memories of a friend, Sang-tae. Everyone has an anecdote to tell and often times their stories overlap. As one anecdote triggers another, the story of their mutual friend sidesteps endlessly and in the end Sang-tae's story morphs into something of a mystery. Showing the power of 'ultimately proliferating story without a point”, The Pit and the Pendulum is testing a new form of structure for storytelling and renovating the old tradition of narrative by blending in many popular genres. The multiple perspective structure is influenced by Akira KUROSAWA's Rashomon, and the film feels like a transition that goes through PARK Chanwook and HONG Sangsoo and onto Quentin TARANTINO.

 

The complex nature of this Korean Academy of Film Arts graduation project, which had a miniscule budget of US $50,000 and 25 shooting day, makes it difficult to explain the vision it aspires for. Director SON Youngsung audaciously steals and sews scenes from other films and results in a never-seenbefore hybrid film that blends melodrama, comedy, mystery, and horror. SON explains the concept, which cannot be adequately described by a word or phrase: “if you excavate a cave, you expect to encounter a lake. Instead, you will encounter a cliff in this film”. Although there are some drawbacks, such as unsolved narrative devices and a highly selfconsciousness and banal theme on the subjectivity of truth, an aspiring vision for renovating the cinematic narrative should be highlighted.

 

By SONG Soon-jin

 Five Senses of Eros is an omnibus film based on the theme of ‘eros’, directed by five leading directors. His Concern by Daniel H. BYUN follows the monologue of a white collar worker attracted to a woman who happened to sit in front of him in a train. HUR Jin-ho's Me, I’m Here tells a story about a wife's soul which visits her husband who has been mourning for the wife. YU Young-sik's 33rd Man is a comic horror fantasy which takes place on the set of a horror film, where a veteran actress makes a rookie actress to seduce the director because he is too demanding. And In the End is My Beginning by MIN Kyu-dong is a fantasy about a woman's desperation, resignation and understanding who has come to live together with her deceased husband's girlfriend. Finally, OH Ki-hwan's One Fine Day is a story about three teenage couples who decide to swap partners for a day in order to prove their love for one another. Five Senses of Eros is influeced by the erotic theme of 2007 Ang LEE film Lust, Caution, with a low-budget of approximately US $800,000. The new faces as well as wellknown, experienced stars like BAE Jong-ok are brought together in this film. Each episode deals with human's natural desire, whether it be homo or heterosexual, based on ‘eros’ filtered by each director's vision. Enjoying short films of such popular directors like HUR and MIN is also one of the main attractions of this film.

 

 

By SONG Soon-jin

Min-suh, a high school girl whose summer vacation has just started, encounters Karim, an migrant laborer from Bangladesh on a bus ride. Karim drops his wallet and Min-suh gets busted when she picks it up and tries to steal it. To straighten things out, she promises to help Karim on his quest to track down his ex-boss, who has been evading paying off his salary. Min-suh, who at first feels uneasy keeping him company, begins to feel sympathetic for him little by little as she notices how he gets hurt by double standards towards white-skinned foreigners and migrant laborers.

Bandhobi, which means girlfriend in Bengali—in the film it is used as “friend”— represents director SHIN Dongil‘ s third feature film following Host & Guest and My Friend & His Wife. SHIN, who talked about establishing relationships between strangers, takes a step further to 'open hearts' between an migrant worker and a high school girl, two people who come to connect with each other. The role of Karim is played by Mabub ALAM, a media activist and executive commissioner of the Migrant Workers’ Film Festival, while a 20-year old new face BAEK Jin-hui plays the part of the rebellious high school girl Minsuh. The film was shot during the heated waves of candlelight vigils against government's agreement to bring in American beef, which swept through South Korea in May 2008. Minsuh, who wears a 'candlelightvigil- girl' pin on her chest, is also modeled on spunky teens refusing the nation's muchdebated educational system. Thanks to such attention to details, SHIN's unique black comedy criticizing the society feels even more noticeable and authentic. In a pleasant and perky way, SHIN brings out his sarcasm towards Koreans in minor details that one could easily miss, including mini buses from after school academies in the background, contents displayed on computer monitors, and newspapers on coffee tables.

By SONG Soon-jin High school student Won-u suffers from lethargy and periodically falls asleep during class and even on the streets. Her mother Yeon-hee can’t stop worrying about her daughter. Won-u feels she is becoming a burden not only to her family but also to her friends at school. But with the help of a boy from her class, Won-u begins opening up and feels more positive about herself. Yeon-hee too feels consolation from a photographer, who works in the same building.

Direcetor CHE Ji-young had gathered much attention in 2005 from several international film festivals with his short film Stand By Me, a story about a mother and her daughter. One Step More to the Sea is his feature debut, another story about love and hate among 3 generations of women. He completes this family/ adolescent film of warm and simple senses by choosing an old villa as backdrop and using time-forgotten items like handmade clay dolls. The mother and daughter are played by PARK Ji-young, a veteran actress who is better known for her roles on TV screens in Korea, and KIM Ye-ri, a fresh face who will star in PARK Chan-ok's next film Paju. One Step More to the Sea is the second collaboration between cable TV channel MBC Drama Net and representative independent cinema distributor INDIESTORY, following Fantastic Parasuicides in 2007.

 

By CHOI Kwang-hee

Taekwondo master In-ho is forced to participate in a crackdown organized by the neighborhood merchants’ association on a street vendor named Ronny, an immigrant laborer from Bangladesh. Later, while demonstrating Taekwondo at an event to promote his ailing academy, he comes face to face with Ronny, who has showed up unexpectedly and beats up In-ho with a single swift blow. In-ho, crushed with humiliation, launches a feverish search for Ronny in an attempt to get his pride back. During his search, In-ho comes across another immigrant laborer, Tuheen, who agrees to help look for Ronny. However, Tuheen leads him on a journey that allows In-ho to understand that foreign laborers, whom he has always despised and thought very little of, are also human beings just like himself. This buddy movie focuses on the bleak and biased view towards immigrants deeply embedded in Korean society. Through In-ho, this heartwarming film shows how such prejudice is unfounded and how these underprivileged people can become good neighbors and friends when you choose to open up and accept them. Apart from SIM Sang-kook's direction—experienced as well as refined, not expected from a debutant—the two main characters’ (played by YU Junsang and Robin SHEAK) wellmatched harmony is evident throughout the film.

 

 

By JANG Byung-won

3xFTM is an independent documentary film made by “Pinks” - cultural activists collective for sexual minorities. This documentary film has won a number of prizes, including Documentary Ock Rang Award at the 10th International Women's Film Festival in Seoul and the Best Film Award at Seoul Independent Film Festival. This documentary deals with stories of so-called 3 FTMs (Female to(ward) Male) who underwent gender transformation from female to male. While these three individuals have a common in gaining their new sexual identity, the reasons for abandoning their former selves are all different. “To” or “Toward” shown in the title is the result of the political decisions as one underwent this process “to male” and another did it “toward male”. Thus, this documentary delicately examines the aspects of accepting the topic of transsexual by revealing the subtle differences of attitudes and thoughts those three have. The virtues of this documentary area steady attitude to reach the core of the subject matter and ultimate affection contained within, rather than focusing on a serious social matter or accomplishing cinematic achievement. Through their interviews and portrayals of daily lives, 3xFTM steadily excavates the multi-layers containing sufferings of the sexual minorities living in sexually oppressed and unjust society. Ultimately it is a journey in search of true meaning of life and a matter of social responsibility.

 

 

By KIM Su-yeon

Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells is the newest film by JEON Soo-il, the director of With a Girl of Black Soil. However, it seems the spotlight is on CHOI Min-sik, as this is his first film in four years since Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. His character CHOI can almost be described as the actor himself. In the movie, CHOI, who's been going through a long period of slump, struggles through a 5-week journey in the Himalayas, hidden away from the outside world. The journey in itself appears to be a process to confirm something by pushing himself to the limits. There is not one moment that does not seem so in the movie.

CHOI (CHOI Min-sik) is a 43-year old father whose family lives abroad, a lonely man with not much joy in his life. Perhaps that is why he volunteers to deliver the remains of a Nepalese young man Dorji, who died in an accident at the factory of CHOI's brother. To get to Zarkot, Dorji's home village deep in the mountains of Nepal, CHOI packs his bag without thinking further. Then he walks absentmindedly in suits and dress shoes until he reaches Zarkot at 3,350m above sea level right at the foot of snowy peaks of the Himalayas. Only after a series of hardships does he meet Dorji's family but CHOI does not have the heart to hand the urn to these innocent people. Tired and exhausted, CHOI falls ill. Along the magnificent ridge of the Himalayas covered in clouds and embraced by the wind, there stands wretched CHOI, with a small peace in mind. Looking back, there is a moment that is painful, but at the same time touched with silent wind, and that is when the charms of life and the actor CHOI Min-sik are once again confirmed.

 

By KIM Su-yeon

Chang-sik became a debt collector in order to pay back his own debt. He dreams of becoming the ‘King of debt collector’, but reality is not so bright. He is not only the worst of the debt collectors but he sympathizes and helps one of his debtors: a 20-something single mother Seon-ju. Though he himself is deep in financial troubles, he recklessly lends her money. The situation became an ironical comedy that's not funny at all. Even though every character in Thirsty, Thirsty leads a tough life, they are stubbornly strong. They struggle and fight so that they will somehow survive through this vicious food chain. Thus, Chang-sik sings the song ‘Mul Jom Juso(Give me some water)’ to console Seon-ju, a gesture with much meanings and insights. The director's true intention and message are compressed into that scene, of trying to shower their dry, rough life with some hope. The film is a debut work of HONG Hyeon-gi who has worked on assistant director of director LEE Chang-dong in Peppermint Candy and Oasis. HONG has also received the Best Director Award in ‘Asian New Talent Award’ category at last year's 11th Shanghai International Film Festival with this film.

 

 

By KIM Su-yeon

National Human Rights Commission presents its fourth If You Were Me installment, the omnibus project that began in 2002. This time the film discusses human rights of young adults from the ages of 13 to 18. Children of modern days are seen through the eyes of 5 directors: some are mentally stressed because of school grades (Blue Birds on the Desk, directed by PANG Eun-jin), or leave the country against their will to study (U and Me, directed by JEON Kyesoo). Some have to face the problem of raising a child as teenage mom (Relay, directed by LEE Hyeon-seung), while others are discriminated just because one of her family members is a foreigner (Girl on the Run, directed by KIM Taeyong). Chatter of the children who have already realized the barrier of reality as the deprived generation with high unemployment rate (The Theory & Practice of Teenage Drama, directed by YOON Seongho), is bitter yet significant. Among the episodes, it was Girl on the Run that earned the most support. The episode tells the story of Cha-eun, a girl who dreams of becoming a track athlete, and how she grows little by little through the relationship with her Filipino stepmom. Followed by his previous film Family Ties, director KIM Tae-yong attempts to make fundamental study on family, and further more the relationship between humans. His meticulous observation on the truthfulness of communication and relationship is indeed remarkable.