The Korean film industry is making really serious inroads in world cinema. Many of its directors are considered darlings of the critics and while some even manage to bring that elusive balance of critical and box office hit.
Director Bong Joon-ho, is one of those rare directors that have managed to create a movie that made tons at the box office but was also listed as one of the better movies made in that year. His movie, The Host, expertly melded the creature feature with that of a very touching story about family.
Three years after the release of that film, Bong Joon-ho is back with a movie with Mother. This is movie is a return to his earlier roots – specifically, his old movie Memories of Murder. The story deals with an old woman whose dim-witted son was accused of murdering a girl. The mother goes on a quest to find out what happened so she can get her son back. Mother has parallelisms with Memories of Murder in that a murder and memories pay pivotal roles in developing the story.
This is a movie that’s really worth checking out.
“Roaring Currents”: Korean Propaganda?
The country that brought us Samsung and LG, Korea has been absolutely killing it when it comes to technological advances and modernization. The latest talk in the film industry is the 2014 Korean production Roaring Currents, whose trailer is below:
Directed by Kim Han-min, whose short films won many accolades in Film Festivals around the world, is getting much international attention because of this, his latest film on the 1597 Battle of Myeongnyang, which saw an important Korean naval victory against Japanese invaders.
It’s the kind of story with universal appeal, a David vs Goliath tale of Korea’s paltry 12 ships defeating Japan’s 330 ships. However, many of the film’s detractors are calling it anti-Japanese, with online commenters going so far as to call it Korean propaganda.
An understandable assumption; tensions between Korea and Japan are at an all-time high, centering mostly on the issue of comfort women- something which, ironically, Korea itself is fighting among its locals, with news of a group of US comfort women filing a lawsuit against the South Korean government for forcing them into sexual slavery for the American military based in Korea.
Roaring Currents reportedly had the highest weekend receipt in South Korean cinema history:
In the five days since it hit screens, it has earned around 36.8 billion won, according to the Korean Film Council’s official tally. On both Saturday and Sunday, more than one million paying customers went to watch the movie, the first time that level was broken. (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Actor Choi Min-sik won Actor of the Year at the Asia Star Awards as well as Best Actor at the Buil Film Awards this year. The film had its US opening last August.