Cinema on the Park Review: J.S.A. Joint Security Area (Park Chan-wook, 2000)

Another review from our Cinema on the Park bloggers, this time Sam McCosh takes a look at Park Chan-wook's seminal classic JSA. You can also read Andy Buckle's thoughts on the film here. Send us your opinion on JSA if you managed to see it at KOFFIA2011, COTP2012 or in the comfort of your home thanks to Madman Entertainment. Email to: cinema@koreanculture.org.au

Joint Security Area (공동경비구역 JSA) marks the birth of the modern Korean blockbuster. It quickly became the highest-grossing film in Korea at the time, achieving over one million admissions in only 15 days. It was screened as part of the "Birth of the Blockbuster" month at Cinema on the Park, which is showcasing 4 fantastic films. I am especially looking forward to seeing The Host for the first time on Thursday 24th May. 

We were privileged to have Russell Edwards from Variety as the guest speaker once again, and he introduced the film by telling us a story about his experience seeing the film in a "concrete block" Korean cinema without subtitles. Even without the subtitles he knew the film was something special and enjoyed it very much. It certainly would of helped that than the first 20 minutes of the film contains a lot of dialogue in English.

JSA is very much a film of two stories. In the first story we see Major Sophie E. Jean (Yeong-ae Lee), a Swiss investigator of Korean ancestry who is travels from Switzerland to the highly sensitive demilitarized zone between North and South Korea to lead the investigation into a confusing incident which left 2 North Korean soldiers dead, and 1 South Korean solider (Sgt Lee Soo-hyeok, played by Byung-hun Lee) badly injured. The North Korean claims the Sgt Lee crossed over the demilitarized zone and murdered their soldiers, while South Korea claims that Sgt Lee was kidnapped by the North and killed the soldiers while he was escaping. Tensions between the two nations are high, and as Major Sophie delves deeper into the incident, it is clear that something more than a "border squirmish" happened.

Cinema on the Park Review: Shiri (Kang je-gyu, 1999)

Our blogging team took on the opportunity to check out some Blockbusters at Cinema on the Park in May, beginning with the one that started it all off, Shiri. Read Andrew's thoughts below. Agree, Disagree? Let us know.

I watched Shiri as part of the 'Birth of the Blockbuster' program at Cinema on the Park, held at the Korean Cultural Office. Extensive coverage of Korean film in Australia can be found at the KOFFIA Blog.

Shiri is a 1999 South Korean action film written and directed by Kang Je-gyu. With a distinctive 80’s action aesthetic – and the score played a large part in building the 80’s tone - which was either an intentional look, or a result of the filmmaker’s ambitions limited by the budget, Shiri certainly has its influences. Having said that, at the time Shiri was the highest funded Korean film in existence. I imagine setting the climax in a packed football stadium would have taken a large slice. An energetic storytelling style, strong performances from a who’s who of Korean cinema, and a couple of impressive (and violent) action sequences overcome the holes and loose ends in the plot, and the occasions where the audience’s intelligence is not respected, and make Shiri not only a significant film in Korean cinema, but the birth of the ‘Blockbuster’ in Korea.

The film opens with an extended montage introducing us to a highly skilled female soldier, Lee Bang-hee, completing a strenuous (and brutal) training regime as part of a North Korean military unit. In short, these agents learn to kill by killing their classmates. As the behest of the commander, Park Mu-young (Choi Min-sik, Oldboy), Lee Bang-hee is sent into South Korea as a sniper and assassinates key South Korean government agents.

'Remember O Goddess: FILM NOIR, ADVENTURE & LOVE'

To celebrate it being just 111 days till KOFFIA2012, we decided to announce 1 film in our selection. Raelene Loong blogs about the project below, which has been making news world-wide due to the interesting campaign behind it. Oh and in case you didn't hear, we have announced our dates for 2012. KOFFIA will take place in SYDNEY: Aug 22-28, MELBOURNE: Sept 8-12 and BRISBANE: Sept 27-30, mark it in your diary!

A few weeks ago I'd seen this Kickstarter campaign floating around the Korean film Twitter community. The campaign is for a film called Remember O Goddess: FILM NOIR, ADVENTURE & LOVE directed and written by Yoon Jung Lee. The film exists as a 25 minute short film, but Yoon Jung has started this Kickstarter campaign to turn it into a full feature length film.

A man reports the disappearance of himself at a police station. He has lost his memory, and only remembers waking up alone in an empty apartment. Struggling to find the clues as to who he might be, he meets a girl at a convenience store who seems to know him. She becomes his only hope in finding his identity, but disappears when he returns to ask her. The film is an eclectic combination of (as noted in the title) film noir, adventure and love, and it reminds me of Rian Johnson's Brick - great film, I recommend you to see it if you haven't already. If you have, well, then there is all the more reason to check our Remember O Goddess!

Actor Kim Jung-tae plays the film's lead character in his first indie feature film. Kim previously starred in Dream High 2, Miss Ripley, Siu (Teuksubon) and He's On Duty (BangaBanga) which closed the first year of Cinema On The Park screenings. Alongside Kim is up and coming Korean model A-ra Choi in her acting debut.

The crew comprises of a mix of experienced filmmakers. Director and writer Yoon Jung Lee has made many short films as well as produced experimental works that have been introduced at various galleries and museums. Yoon has also worked with some big name directors including Kim Ji-woon, having been the script supervisor for his film The Good, The Bad, The Weird. Producer Jung Youn has produced many award-winning films including Good Night, Sorry and Thanks, as well as Teamwork, which screened at the 2nd Korean Film Festival in Australia last year. The rest of the crew includes cinematographer U Young Chang (Teamwork, Good Night, The Villains) and editor Sae Kyoung Moon, who edited Mother which opened the 1st Korean Film Festival in Australia in 2010.

Jung Woo-sung, who worked with Yoon Jung Lee is quite the looker.

He also thinks you should support Remember O Goddess.

For those who do not know, Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. The way it works is you are rewarded for 'backing' the project with funds, and the project must reach its goal in order to receive the money. It's a great way to support small or independent projects like Yoon Jung's film, and to get involved!

The campaign has just six days left to accumulate its target $30,000, which will be put towards the production of the feature length version of the film. It is currently short of just under $4000 and needs all the support it can get in order to be fully funded. I encourage you to watch the above Kickstarter campaign video for Remember O Goddess and please help to fund the project. I personally think it will be a great film (watch the 25 minute short version, it's great), and am one of many who would like to see this feature film come to reality.

I'm a backer. Are you?

Spread the word, share it within your friends, family, within your circles and get involved!

Help back the project by visiting this link to the film's Kickstarter campaign page.

By Raelene Loong
@suupatrout

The short film version of "Remember O Goddess" will have its Australian premiere as part of the 3rd Korean Film Festival in Australia. It will screen in our Shorts on the Park program, a special selection of international shorts that screens for free, so make sure to come along and check it out. 

"I'm so excited to have the Australian premiere of REMEMBER O GODDESS at Korean Film Festival In Australia. I'm looking forward to hearing feedback from audiences in Australia. At this moment, we're raising funds to expand the short REMEMBER O GODDESS to a feature-length film via Kickstarter platform. Hopefully you'll check out the campaign page and consider backing us." - Yoon Jung Lee, Director

Also if you want to help fund the feature film please do so, wouldn't it be great to one day see the feature at a future KOFFIA? Well you can help make it happen but kickstarting it today!

Cinema On the Park Review: Paju (Park Chan-ok, 2009)

We welcome another new member to the blogging team today, with Sam McCosh delivering her first article on PAJU. If you are interested in joining the team just drop us an email at cinema@koreanculture.org.au. Otherwise if you are in Sydney come along to the Korean Cultural Office's free weekly film night, Cinema on the Park, each and every Thursday from 6:30pm. Did I mention its FREE! Read on to see what she thought of the film!

Russell Edwards at Cinema on the Park

Paju (파주) is an unconventional film which tells an emotionally-rich story about the relationship between two compelling characters. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to see this film at 'Cinema on the Park', which is hosted by the Korean Cultural Office. This film was playing as part of a month of films which share the theme of 'dramatic relationships'. The film was introduced by Variety Magazine film critic Russell Edwards, who offered audiences some insight about the film and a way to appreciate the film's complex nature.

We first meet Choi Eun-mo (Seo Woo) as she stares absently mindedly out of a taxi window while the driver makes unneeded and unwanted conversation. She looks sad and reflective, and we soon come to find out why. Eun-mo is returning to her hometown of Paju after an extended period away travelling in India. Paju is not really somewhere that she was happy, and it’s certainly not a joyful homecoming. Before we get to find out why she has returned the film jumps back 8 years an introduces us to Kim Joong-sik (Lee Sun Gyun). Although it’s not initially apparent who he is, we soon learn that he becomes Eun-mo’s brother-in-law, and the film is going to centre around the relationship and interactions between the two.

Cinema On the Park Review: The Yellow Sea (Na Hong-Jin, 2011)

In the build up to this years Korean Film Festival we are going to be developing the discussion around Korean cinema once more. From reviews to articles, interviews and news, we hope that this blog satisfies your hunger for film from the region. 

A new addition to the KOFFIA blogging team is Andrew Buckle, who is a Sydney based film enthusiast just beginning his discovery of Korean film. You can read more of this film thoughts over at The Film Emporium, but first up, check out his experience with The Yellow Sea at Cinema on the Park, which sparked his interest in Korean cinema. 

The Yellow Sea is a Korean action-thriller written and directed by Na Hong-Jin (The Chaser), which has screened in the Un Certain Regard at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, and at the Fantastic Asian Film Festival (FAFF) in Melbourne last year. I was lucky to attend a Sydney Premiere session of the film the other night at the Korean Cultural Office as part of Cinema On the Park's fantastic X-treme Korea program.

In Yabian, Korean Autonomous Prefecture, a town on the China-Russia-North Korea border, Cu-Nam (Ha Jung-woo), a Joseonjok (what I took to be a derogatory term to describe Chinese people of Korean descent) lives day to day as a taxi driver. He frequents at seedy gambling rackets, accumulating a substantial mahjong debt, and drinks frequently. His wife has recently left him to work in South Korea. Fearing she is having an affair, and disturbed by her lack of contact, he agrees to a job that will take him illegally across the border into South Korea with an opportunity to find her, but also provide a means to appease his debts. The job: the assassination of a businessman.