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It’s often easy to forget korean cinema has much more to offer than taught thrillers and action films, and Hong Sang-soo is a great example of a much ‘quieter’ filmmaker whose work is often overlooked, despite his film Hahaha being awarded the Un Certain Regard prize this year at Cannes this year.

From Wednesday 1 to 28 September, the BFI Southbank celebrates his work with a complete overview of his work, including a preview of Hahaha and a personal appearance by Hong Sang-soo himself this Friday. Curated by the ICO, the 10-film retrospective will tour major cities in the UK over the next few months.

For more information on the retrospective and to book, see the BFI’s website »

A masterful piece of cinema from Bong Joon-ho, director of The Host and Memories Of Murder… (more…)

Optimum have finally committed to a UK cinema release for Bong Joon-ho’s Mother (or Maedo) – Yey!

According to Launchingfilms.com this will be a collaborative release from Optimum Releasing and ICO in cinemas from Friday, 20 August. There is no information yet on how limited it might be, or when we can expect a following UK DVD and Blu-Ray release (perhaps October/November?)

UPDATE: The official UK DVD release will be 20 September.

Yang Ik-june’s Breathless comes to DVD in the UK courtesy of Terracotta Distribution as a two-disc collector’s edition laden with bonus features, many of which are exclusive to this version.

The exhausting list of features includes: an interview with director Yang Ik-june; an interview with actress Kim Kkobbi; behind the scenes at the Rotterdam Film Festival; special Korean Film Industry Preview Screening footage; London Korean Film Festival Q&A at the Barbican Centre; London Press Junket footage; trailers (including Korean, UK and French); and a stills gallery.

This is a superb edition from Terracotta limited to just 2,000 copies. It even includes a collector’s booklet featuring sleeve notes personally written by Yang Ik-june and co-star Kim Kkobbi. Hopefully this will help the film continue to find a wider audience, as it really deserves it.

We interviewed both star and director Yang Ik-June, and his co-star Kim Kkobbi.

Read our full review here »

We chat to Kim Kkobbi, co-star of Yang Ik-June’s Breathless – out Monday 22 March as a two-disc collector’s edition DVD… (more…)

“ONE OF THE YEAR’S BOLDEST AND MOST THRILLING DEBUT FEATURES.” – EYE WEEKLY.COM

Following its critically acclaimed UK theatrical release in January, Yang Ik-june’s award winning Breathless comes to DVD in March 2010 as a two-disc Special Collector’s Edition featuring a host of exclusive extras including interviews with the director and cast members, specially filmed festival footage and Q&As, plus a collector’s booklet featuring sleeve notes personally written by Yang Ik-june and co-star Kim Kkobbi.

The winner of numerous international film awards in 2009, including the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, the Jury Prize for Best Film and Best Male Performance at Montreal’s Fant-Asia Film Festival and the Best Film award and Critics’ Prize at the Deauville Asian Film Festival, the debut feature from South Korean writer-director and star Yang Ik-june, Breathless is a brutal, uncompromising and profanity-filled look at the cause and effect of domestic violence.

Giving a stunning performance in the film’s lead role, Yang Ik-june stars as Sang-hoon, a deeply troubled man prone to violent outbursts, who freelances as a hired thug at his friend’s debt collecting firm. His private life revolves around his extremely strained relationship with his ex-convict father, who was directly responsible for the tragic breakdown of their family, and a slightly more subdued, but still difficult, connection with his stepsister and her young son.

Seemingly possessed by the pent-up rage caused by the domestic events from his past, Sang-hoon finds an opportunity for salvation when he encounters a similarly emotionally damaged schoolgirl ((Kot-bi Kim), who is as foul-mouthed, headstrong and fearless as he is. The two begin an offbeat and touching friendship, not realising that their lives are already connected in ways that will have a profound effect on both their fates.

As moving as it is shocking in its portrayal of people struggling to live in a world of routine violence and abuse, Breathless was hailed by ReelAsian.com as “one of the most powerful films of the year” and by Screen International as a film that marks director Yang Ik-june as a name to watch.

Breathless (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£14.99) by Terracotta Distribution on 22nd March 2010.

Special Features include: interview with director Yang Ik-june (20 minutes); interview with actress Kim Kkobbi (10 minutes); behind the scenes at the Rotterdam Film Festival (20 minutes); special Korean Film Industry Preview Screening footage (10 minutes); London Korean Film Festival Q&A at the Barbican Centre; London Press Junket footage; trailers (Korean theatrical, Korean teaser, three UK trailers, French trailer); stills gallery.

Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Memories of Murder) spoke at a preview of Mother about the influences on his latest film, and how his own mother hasn’t talked to him about it since it’s release… (more…)

It seemed rather odd that the one place Park Chan-wook’s revisionist vampire flick hadn’t been released was in his home Korea, but maybe that makes sense now with the announcement of the limited edition 3-disc DVD, which includes not only the original version but the extended director’s cut (which premiered at the London Korean Festival late last year).

This version adds some 10 minutes of new scenes to the film. The DVD itself also includes audio commentary, plus a Bonus Disc containing making of, previews, featurettes on art direction and music, the Director’s Choice animated short film “Dust Kid” directed by Jung Yu Mi, and other special features – though how much of that will have English subtitles is questionable.

The DVD is expected to be released 17 March, and currently available from YesAsia.com. No word of a Blu-Ray release yet, though.

Surely, no need to highlight that Park Chan-wook critically acclaimed Thirst gets released by Palisades Tartan on Blu-ray and DVD? Highly enjoyable, funny and intelligent, it’s everything you’d want from a post-modern vampire film but were too afraid you’d end up with Twilight, instead.

Also out today – and sharing a common theme in Catholism – is the four-hour epic Love Exposure, from writer-director Sion Sono (Exte: Hair Extensions). Highly inventive and less of an endurance test than you might expect at that length, to my mind the end result is flawed – not helped by the lack of chemistry between leads Takahiro Nishijima and the delightful Hikari Mitsushima.

We talk exclusively to Yang Ik-June about his fantastic debut feature Breathless… (more…)

Something of a reduced service here at easternKicks, while I move house and wait an eternity to get my broadband sorted out, but time to highlight the success of Breathless, the debut film by Korean actor turned director Yang Ik-June, at this years Tokyo Filmex, walking off with both the Grand Prize and Audience Award.

Already the recipient of numerous international film awards, the film is an accomplished first work, brutal and uncompromising in its portrayal of the caise and effect of domestic violence, it’s also poetic, funny, and surprisingly uplifting. On paper, a strange mix, but on screen easily one of the best Asian films of the year. The film opens in selected cinemas around the UK on 29 January 2010, distributed by Terracotta Distribution, and is a must-see.

We’ll be bringing you an exclusive interview with Yang Ik-June, who also stars, wrote and edited Breathless, and happens to be a lot more affable in real life than you might expect from his role, as well as a review of the film itself.

A solid, good looking action film with great fight sequences by choreographer Corey Yuen, but plot inconsistencies and a baffling conclusion don’t make the best for Chris Nahon’s live-action adaption… (more…)

One of the worlds finest directors returns with a superb deconstructionist take on the Vampire myth… (more…)

Tony Jaa’s back with one heck of a finale fight scene – but will this film finally put him back on the martial arts map? (more…)

The second feature from Kim Dae-seung, the award-winning director of the 2001 romantic drama, “Bungee Jumping Of Their Own”, BLOOD RAIN is a gripping and grisly period detective thriller set in 19th century Korea starring Cha Seung-won (Eye For An Eye; Kick The Moon).

It is a time of feudal barons and superstition. An island community is shocked when a ship bound for the imperial courts inexplicably bursts into flames. On board was a cargo of handcrafted paper from the island’s factory, a place harbouring something sinister.

Detective Won-kyu (Cha Seung-won) is dispatched to investigate only to discover the community in the grip of terror. A series of murders convinces them a malevolent spirit is responsible, taking revenge for crimes that no one wants to talk about, pronouncing predictions of doom when the blood rain falls. Won-kyu follows an increasingly corpse-riddled trail that not only threatens his life but also is set to reveal a dark secret that links him to the village’s shameful past.

A refreshing and fiendishly intriguing serial killer mystery thriller, BLOOD RAIN takes a traditional detective tale and relocates it to an earlier age, much in the spirit of “In The Name Of The Rose” and “Brotherhood Of The Wolf”.

The film’s lavish production values add a pleasing richness to the proceeding whilst the unexpected and extremely grisly violence is at times as shocking as that in any current Asian thriller. BLOOD RAIN is a delightfully darkand devious who-dunnit told with style and intelligence.

BLOOD RAIN (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Palisades Tartan on 26th October 2009. Special Features include: trailer; 2.0 Dolby Digital, 5.1 Dolby Digital and 5.1 DTS Surround audio options; optional English subtitles.

Kudos for the release, but this Korean black comedy musical falls, well, a bit flat. Literally… (more…)