2009 Archive

Review: The Sword With No Name (Kim Yong-gyun / 2009)

Posted on August 31, 2010 | No Comments
Ja Yeong takes a trip to the coast to see the sea before leaving to be married. She meets Moo Myeong, a rough, low class bodyguard who immediately falls in love with her. When Moo Myeong finds out that the person Ja Yeong is to...
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Non-Korean Review: City of Life and Death (Lu Chuan / 2009)

Posted on August 15, 2010 | No Comments
In December 1937 the Japanese army captured the city of Nanjing, early on in the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the brutal weeks that followed, hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed… Review Written and directed by Lu Chuan, CITY OF LIFE AND...
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Non-Korean Review: Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (Tôya Satô / 2009)

Posted on June 10, 2010 | No Comments
Kaiji Ito is in a dead-end job and finds himself facing a debt collector who tells him that he needs to pay back the money from a bad loan. Unable to repay her, Kaiji agrees to board a boat where a night of gambling will...
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Review: Breathless (2009 / Yang Ik-joon)

Posted on June 1, 2010 | 1 Comment
Sang-hoon is a debt collector with an uncontrollable temper and a foul mouth whose daily routine involves beating up anyone who can’t repay the money they owe. A chance incident with a young schoolgirl results in a violent confrontation, but Sang-hoon also finds himself making...
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Book Review: New Korean Cinema: Breaking The Waves (Darcy Paquet / 2009)

Posted on June 1, 2010 | No Comments
The ‘Short Cuts’ series of books are introductory texts to different aspects, genres, histories and critical ideas of cinema. In volume 46 of this long running series the South Korean film industry falls under the spotlight as the democratization of the country, the political and...
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Review: Chaw (Shin Jung-won / 2009)

Posted on February 7, 2010 | No Comments
A peaceful rural village becomes terrorised when the remains of several missing people are found. The local investigators – who are joined by two city policemen in the investigation – think that there is a wild animal on the lose and try to work out...
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Review: Haeundae (Yun Je-gyun / 2009)

Posted on January 7, 2010 | 2 Comments
Scientist Kim Hwi believes that a recent spate of earthquakes are signposts towards an impending disaster. As he puts together evidence for his theory, he tells everyone who should listen that there is crisis ahead. Do they listen? Of course they don’t! This is a...
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