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[HanCinema's Film News] New Korean Films Inbound...

K-Films Coming Soon:

★★★★ "Blood and Ties": A daughter starts to question her father's involvement in a series of killings that devastated their family. (10/24)

★★★★★ "Rough Play": An upcoming movie star gets absorbed into the corrupt underworld of fame and fortune. (10/24)

★★★★ "Koala": Three young adults pool their efforts to try and keep their new burger business alive. (10/24)

★★ "Talking Architect, City:Hall": A documentary that follows the construction of the Seoul's new City Hall that was completed last year. (10/24)

★ "Breed - Her Inside Me": A romantic/erotic drama that showcases the sexual relationship between two young and lusty individuals.  (10/24)

★★★ "If You Were Me 6": An omnibus film that showcases three features by different directors around social issues relating to the handicapped, the elderly, and military service in Korea. (10/24)

★★★ "Top Star": A successful manager dreams of becoming a movie star and has to decide the price of his dream when opportunity knocks. (10/24)

Title: "Blood and Ties" (AKA "Blood and Ties")

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Length: 96 min

Release Date: 2013/10/24

Director: Gook Dong-seok

Screenplay: Gook Dong-seok

Stars: Son Ye-jin, Kim Kap-soo, Kang Shin-il, Im Hyung-joon, Kim Kwang-kyu

 The Short and Sweet:  A daughter starts to question her father's involvement in a series of killings that devastated their family.

Gook Dong-seok has been the assistant directing on a few features of the years, but this week will see the release of his first feature in the head chair with "Blood and Ties". Korean cinephiles will be all too familiar with nation's obsession with revenge thrillers, and Gook's debut feature plays into that genre; and like other recent thrillers (e.g. "Hide and Seek"), "Blood and Ties" situates itself in and around domestic matters. Son Ye-jin ("The Tower", "Spellbound") is young woman who starts to question her father's (Kim Kap-soo) past in relation to a serial killer that has devastated their family. Electronic evidence comes to the foreground that raises serious questions to the killer's identity, and the film appears to pit the notion of revenge not only within the family, but also problematize that fatalistic drive within the digital era.

★★★★

Title: "Rough Play"

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Length: 113 min

Release Date: 2013/10/24

Director: Shin Yeon-shick ("The Fair Love", "The Russian Novel")

Screenplay: Kim Ki-duk

Stars: Lee Joon, Seo Young-hee, Kang Shin-hyo, Min Ji-oh, Seo Bum-suk 

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The Short and Sweet: An upcoming movie star gets absorbed into the corrupt underworld of fame and fortune.

"Rough Play" had its world premiere at this year's Busan International Film Festival and is director Shin Yeon-shick's third major feature. This thrilling drama takes us to the darker side of fame and fortune, a bearing largely courtesy of the scripting efforts of one Kim Ki-duk. In "Rough Play" (previously known as "Actors Are Actors") Lee Joon plays Oh Yeong, a nameless actor whose dream of becoming rich and famous comes paired with dark and corrosive consequences as he drifts deep into the hidden world of power, fame, and pleasure. It's lead, Lee Joon, is a singer himself and has appeared in a number of recent dramas including "IRIS 2", "I Need a Fairy", "Salaryman", and made his first movie performances was in James McTeigue's "Ninja Assassin" back in 2009. Shin wrote the script for his previously two features ("The Fair Love", "The Russian Novel"), which were both drama/romances, here though Shin has handed over the scripting work to Korea's dark alchemist Kim Ki-duk. It's murkier territory here for Shin but the trailers look intense and thrilling, keep your eyes out for this one.

★★★★★

Title: "Koala"

Genre: Drama

Length: 100 min

Release Date: 2013/10/24

Director: Kim Joo-hwan

Screenplay: Kim Joo-hwan

Stars: Park Young-seo, Song Yoo-ha, Park Jin-joo, Park Yong-yeon

The Short and Sweet: Three young adults pool their efforts to try and keep their new burger business alive.

 "Koala" is the debut feature for director Kim Joo-hwan and follows three friends who try to make a success of their new burger business. Dong-bin (Park Young-seo), Jong-ik (Song Yoo-ha), Woo-ri (Park Jin-joo) seem to have all had their fair share of career failures (a common crisis in modern Korea as their job market becomes increasingly flooded with an over-qualified and young workforce) but put their eggs together in trying to keep their new business alive. Money shortages, lack of customers, and their lack of experience are just some of hurdles these young hopefuls face as they try to make a place for themselves in Korea's economic rat race. 

 ★★★★

Title: "Talking Architect, City:Hall"

Genre: Documentary

Length: 106 min

Release Date: 2013/10/24

Director: Jeong Jae-eun (" Take Care of My Cat", "Talking Architect")

Stars: Kerl Yoo

The Short and Sweet:  A documentary that follows the construction of the Seoul's new City Hall that was completed last year.

"D-Day 2012.10.13, a new Seoul City Hall is built. Many people have worked hard for 7 years for this day. A few years after the establishment of the Seoul City Hall started, Kerl Yoo's design was chosen after several changes. However, the construction starts without Kerl Yoo involved in the plan and everything makes slow progress. In all this repeating situation, time goes by and not much time is left until the construction is done..."

★★

Title: "Breed – Her Inside Me"

Genre: Erotic, Melodrama, Romance

Length: 73 min

Release Date: 2013/10/24

Director: Lee Se-il ("Game of Desire", "Yellow Hair - Plastic Sex")

The Short and Sweet: A romantic drama that showcases the erotic relationship between two young and lusty individuals.

Title: "If You Were Me 6"

Genre: Drama, Omnibus

Length: 107 min

Release Date: 2013/10/24

Director: Lee Sang-cheol, Min Yong-keun, Park Jung-bum, Shin A-ga

Stars: Im Seong-cheol, Lee Yeong-seok, Hwang Jae-won, Kil Hae-yeon

The Short and Sweet: An omnibus film that showcases three features by different directors around social issues relating to the handicapped, the elderly, and military service in Korea.

Perhaps one of stranger phenomenon to come out of Korean cinema is its continual return to omnibus films. In them a number of directors are asked to produce a segment for the film that revolves around a particular theme or social issues. In "If You Were Me 6" the National Human Rights Commissions has charge four directors with constructing separate stories that explore social issues (e.g. the handicapped, the elderly, and military service in Korea). 

★★★

Title: "Top Star"

Genre: Drama

Length: 107 min

Release Date: 2013/10/24

Director: Park Joong-hoon*

Screenplay: Choi Seok-hwan

Stars: Uhm Tae-woong, Kim Min-jun, So Yi-hyun, Ahn Sung-ki, Uhm Jung-hwa

The Short and Sweet:  A successful manager dreams of becoming a movie star and has to decide the price of his dream when opportunity knocks.

"Top Star" is the debut feature by actor Park Joong-hoon ("The Apprehenders", "Haeundae") who, after a busy acting career from 1999-2011, has stepped into the director's chair after being a few years out of the acting limelight. The story's premise is actually similar to this week's "Rough Play" as it tackles the human side of fame and fortune in Korea's highly competitive entertainment industry. In "Top Star", Uhm Tae-woong plays Tae-sik, a successful manger of the top actor Won-joon (Kim Min-jun) but dreams of becoming a star actor himself. Conflict arises when Tae-sik's talent gets involved in a hit-and-run incident that could potentially allow him to realise his dream.

★★★

Also Coming Soon:

 

"Captain Phillips" (2013), "Kites" (2010), "Ghost in the Shell ARISE border 1: Ghost Pain" (2013), "Wunderkinder" (2011), "What Love Is" (2007), "The Party" (1980), "Sushi Girl" (2012), "Mr. Nobody" (2009), "Camille Claudel, 1915" (2013), "Hello, My Dolly Girlfriend" (2013)

 

- C.J. Wheeler (chriscjw@gmail.com; @KoreaOnTheCouch)

Sources:

AsianWiki: http://asianwiki.com/Blood_and_Ties; http://asianwiki.com/Rough_Play; http://asianwiki.com/Koala; http://asianwiki.com/If_You_Were_Me_6;

Daum: http://movie.daum.net/movieinfo/coming/movieInfoScheduled.do?modeType=day&order=recently 

HanCinema: http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Blood_and_Ties.php; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Top_Star.php; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_If_You_Were_Me_2.php; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Breed_-_Her_Inside_Me.phpl ; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Talking_Architect_v__City_2p_Hall.php; http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Rough_Play.php 

KOBIZ: http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20129606; http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20134124; http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20125527;

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