Hot Images1Hot Images2Hot Images3Hot Images4Hot Images5
Hot Images1Hot Images2Hot Images3Hot Images4Hot Images5
Showing posts with label Kim Ki-Duk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kim Ki-Duk. Show all posts

Friday, February 4

ACF 876: Special theatrical events at New People, San Francisco, this month

NEW PEOPLE PRESENTS SPECIAL THEATRICAL EVENTS
FOR THE GARDEN OF SINNERS,
KIM KI-DUK'S BREATH AND GANTZ IN FEBRUARY

VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE, the nation's only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese and Asian film, presents a trio of special movie events taking place at the venue in February. Trailers, screening times and tickets are available at www.VIZCinema.com. The venue is located inside NEW PEOPLE at 1746 Post Street in San Francisco's Japantown.

The month begins as Aniplex of America, Inc. and NEW PEOPLE present the U.S. premiere of the anime feature film, THE GARDEN OF SINNERS, on February 5th, to be followed by a discussion panel with key members of the movie's production staff. This one-day-only event will celebrate the highly anticipated release of the film's Blu-ray Box Set which will be released in North America on February 8th (a week after the Japanese release).

Also slated to screen on February 19th will be the acclaimed Korean director Kim Ki-duk's romantic prison drama, BREATH, which will be followed by a reception with The Red Lantern: Bay Area Asian Cinephiles, based in San Francisco and the world's largest Meetup group for Asian films - http://www.meetup.com/sf-asian-film.

Finally, by popular demand, VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE will offer a special one-night-only screening on February 19th of the live-action sci-fi thriller GANTZ (in Japanese with English subtitles). GANTZ is based on the smash hit manga and anime series and was world-premiered at 334 theatres nationwide in January.

(c) KINOKO NASU / Kodansha, Aniplex, Notes, ufotable

THE GARDEN OF SINNERS
Saturday, 2/5 at 1:30pm - ONE DAY ONLY!
Tickets: $15.00
Directed by Ei Aoki, Takuya Nonaka, Shinsuke Takizaw
Japan, 49min, 58min, and 119min, Digital, Japanese with English subtitles

After spending two years in a coma caused by a traffic accident, Shiki Ryougi awakens with amnesia. Inexplicably, she finds that she has also obtained the "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception" in which she can see the invisible lines of mortality that hold every living and non-living thing together. Working for a small independent agency, Shiki attempts to unravel the baffling mystery behind a series of abnormal, horrifying incidents, but are they a foreshadowing that leads to something even more tragic and ominous? Things are not what they appear to be on the surface, but what dark revelations lie underneath? This is a modern occult-action thriller where Shiki must tackle supernatural incidents with her special abilities while searching for a reason to live.

This screening will be immediately followed by a special discussion session with key members of the movie's production staff.

Image Provided Courtesy of Palisades Tartan

BREATH
Saturday, 2/19 at 5:00pm - ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Tickets: $12.00
Directed by Kim Ki-duk
Korea, 83min, 2007, Digital, Korean with English subtitles

On a cold winter day, after learning her husband has found a new woman, Yeon absent-mindedly heads for a prison where an inmate name Jin is confined. Although she doesn't know him personally, repeated news of his suicide attempts on TV have subconsciously grown in her mind which now is leading her to seek him. Jin has no visitors and normally would not agree to meet a complete stranger, but hearing that it's a woman, he accepts her request out of curiosity. Their first encounter is awkward. Yeon treats Jin like an old friend whereas Jin doesn't open up so easily. To Jin's surprise, Yeon comes back for a second visit... One day her husband follows her to the prison and witnesses an intimate exchange between Yeon and Jin. The jealous husband drags her home and tries to separate the new couple. While forced to be apart, time winds down for Jin's execution. But the two are already attached to one another more than her husband assumed -- more than life and death. And desperate Yeon finds a way to elude her husband and help Jin out of his misery.

(c) Hiroya Oku/Shueisha (c) 2011 "GANTZ" Film Partners

GANTZ (English Subtitled Version)
Saturday, 2/19 at 7:15pm - ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Tickets: $12.00 (attendees will also receive a special GANTZ poster)
Directed by Shinsuke Sato
Japan, 129min, 2011, Digital, Japanese with English subtitles

GANTZ is based on a hit manga series created by Hiroya Oku and stars leading Japanese actors Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters from Iwo Jima) and Kenichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City). The film tells the story of two childhood friends that are accidentally killed while trying to save another man's life. Rather than find themselves in the hereafter, however, they awaken in a strange apartment in which they find a mysterious black orb they come to know as 'GANTZ'. Along with similar abductees, they are provided with equipment and weaponry and manipulated into playing a kind of game in which they are sent back out to the greater world to do battle with alien beings, all while never quite knowing whether this game is an illusion or their new reality.

VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE is the nation's only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX-certified sound system.

Sunday, February 7

ACF 469: Beautiful - pre-screening review and reminder

Beautiful / A-leum-dab-da
Directed by Juhn Jai-Hong
South Korea, 2008, 88 minutes
New York Premiere

Let's start with a reminder about this coming Tuesday night's screening:

Beautiful, the next film in Korean Cultural Services' series of free screenings, will be shown on Tuesday, Feburary 9th at 7:00 PM. The screening will take place at the Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal Street, one block from the A, C, E and 1 train Canal Street stops.

Although admission is free, you must RSVP to info@koreanculture.org or call 212-759-9550 to be admitted. I suggest you do so right away, as this - not surprisingly - has proved to be a very popular series. If the screening is "sold out," and if you're willing, show up anyway for the stand-by line. My understanding is that 20-30 people made it into the first two screenings this way.

One of her male "fans" obsesses over pictures of Eun-young

Now for my review.

Eun-young (Cha Su-yeon) is a lovely, young woman who has one problem: she's beautiful. Not just beautiful. but way too beautiful. So much so that giggly, teenage girls want to take her picture and get her autograph even after she assures them that she's not an actress.

When it comes to men, her looks are a liability, because men just can't help falling in love with her, wanting to have her. Although she is not a tease and does nothing to encourage them, men fall under the enchanting spell that he ethereal beauty passively casts. When one of them takes his obsession to far, Eun-young decides to make herself less attractive, first by over-eating, then by trying anorexia. As her mental state deteriorates, a police officer who started out as her "guardian angel" begins to succumb to her charms, much like other men.

This psychological thriller is the first feature film from Juhn Jai-Hong. He also wrote the screenplay, which is based on a story written by his mentor Kim Ki-duk (The Isle, Bad Guy). Juhn has done a masterful job depicting Eun-young's plight and deterioration. I especially admire him for keeping the film to a crisp run time; so many first-time directors can't resist the urge to include more-and-more, as if it might be their last chance to put something on the screen. The film deservedly won the grand Prix at the 2008 Fukuoka Asian Film Festival. (I'm scheduled to interview Juhn on Tuesday before the screening. If that goes as planned, I'll transcribe and edit the interview and post it her as soon as I can.)

Cha Su-yeon is perfectly cast as Eun -young. Not only does she have the requisite looks for the role, but she also brings the emotional frailty and vulnerability that it calls for. She also does a mean display of primal outrage.

Elements of the film are certainly reminiscent of Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965), which starred Catherine Deneuve. The ending also brought to mind that of Nagisa Oshima's In The Realm Of The Senses (1976). But make no mistake about it, Juhn Jai-Hong's Beautiful stands on its own and does so marvelously. It's a terrific thriller that'll leave you impressed with what you've seen and looking forward to more from both the director and his female lead.

ACF rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars (highly recommended).

Thursday, November 27

ACF 186: Kim Ki-Duk's "The Bow" @ The Ruben Museum of Art

The Bow / Hwai
Directed by Kim Ki-Duk
South Korea, 2005, 90 min.
Cast: Jeon Sung-Hwan, Han Yeo-Reum, Seo Ji-Seok


Noted South Korean director Kim Ki-Duk's The Bow will be shown at the Rubin Museum of Art tomorrow night, Friday, November 28, 2008 at 9:30 PM as part of its Cabaret Cinema Series. Kim's other films include The Isle, Samaria, and Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring, each well worth seeing if you haven't already.

Storyline:
With a bow and arrow, a sixty-year old man protects the young girl he plans to marry when she turns seventeen. She’s content with their life on a fishing boat until a young man arrives and changes everything.

The Bow illustrates the Bhutanese proverb: “The arrow of divine beings with absolute wisdom: it cannot be seen when shot, but can be seen when it hits.”

Tickets available by calling the Box Office of the Rubin Museum of Art @ 212.620.5000 x344, from 11 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Tickets may also be purchased at the admissions desk or museum shop.

Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011

Co-presented with The Korea Society
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...