Seen in Jeonju

Archive for January, 2012

Trailers for Korean films opening February 2

31st January 2012

This Thursday, we have two new Korean movies opening. First up is a gangster film starring two of Korea’s best actors, Choi Min-shik (Oldboy) and Ha Jeong-woo (Yellow Sea). It is directed by Yoon Jong-bin who gave us The Unforgiven. I think sometime in the past I mentioned that I was tired of gangster movies, but I have to admit that they have become much less frequent in Korean cinema than they used to be. That fact, plus the casting, means I will be seeing this film. Here is the trailer for Nameless Gangster: Rules of Time

The other movie is a drama called Papa. It looks as if it has elements of comedy as well. It stars Park Yong-woo (Children…) as a talent manager whose client has signed with another agency and gone to America to star in a reality series. He follows her but, in order to stay past his visa, he must marry. The woman who marries him dies suddenly leaving him with a large, multi-cultural family to raise. Besides Park Yong-woo, this movie features Ko Ah-ra and Michael MacMillan.

The other new movies that are opening are The Bang Bang Club (ca), Welcome to the Rileys (uk/us), I Don’t Know How She Does It (us), and Happy Feet 2 (au).

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Korean Box Office: January 27-29

30th January 2012

012701292012

Dancing Queen and Unbowed continue to jockey for position but this time there was a reversal and Unbowed wound up on top. Another Korean film came in a distant third. On its opening weekend, the animated Tarbosaurus had just over 360 thousand viewers and earns the distinction of being the only newly opened film appearing on the charts this week.

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My 10 Favorite Films of 2011

29th January 2012

2011 favorites

Initially, I was not going to do a post about my favorite films of last year. I had returned from travelling after the new year had already begun and felt it was too late.  ‘Best of’ posts are more usually seen immediately before or after January 1, not three weeks into the month. However, a friend suggested that I write my opinion on the films I liked from last year, so here it is. Actually, I liked many more films than are on this list.. These are just what I thought were the best. 

10.  White—I am starting the list with a choice that I need to defend.  White is a horror film that as horror probably does not succeed.  The ghost in the movie is painfully predictable even if there is a nice twist in the mystery surrounding her.  There were very few, if any scares. However, I liked it as a commentary on the state of Korean pop-music and what singers have to do in order to succeed in that very competitive field. I also liked the way it depicted the public face of a singing group which we are often shown as being close friends and unified in all the bands decisions and the private, behind-the-scenes reality where there are rivalries and in-fighting.

9. Leafie: A Hen Into the Wild—When I first started writing this list, I left Leafie off and instead had War of the Arrows in this slot.  But that latter film is maybe a little too slick for its own good and I remember there was some reliance on special effects that annoyed me while I watched it. I selected Leafie instead, one of two animated movies on this list.  Leafie is the story of a hen who has escaped from a life of producing eggs on an assembly line to attempt survival in the wild. She comes to care for a duck hatchling and their tale, may remind some viewers of the classic movie/book Watership Downs.  It has some childish aspects to keep children interested, but the story is strong and moving enough that adults will also enjoy it.

8. Late Blossoms—I am a little surprised that this film has not gotten more attention. I hope it is not because the cast is made up of actors and actresses in their senior years. If someone has been avoiding watching this movie because of that, they are missing out on one of the best films of 2011.  It is the story of older two couple; one who are just beginning a new love relationship with each other and the other who have been in love with each other their whole lives. It is a very emotional film. The first couple struggles with economic hardships, the woman collects recyclables from the street and the man delivers milk but it is the second couple that won’t leave a dry eye in the house. Kim Soo-mi’s character is suffering from Alzheimer’s and is cared for by her hard-working and devoted husband. 

7. Frontline—If you compare this film with Taegukgi, then it is going to come up a little short. But if you take Frontline for what it is, a tense, well-crafted war story, then you won’t be disappointed. In the movie, a ceasefire is fast approaching toward the end of the Korean War and the North and South armies jockey for position to determine where the new border will be drawn between the new nations.  Shin Ha-gyun’s character is sent to the frontline to investigate one of the unit’s there whose commanding officer has been killed by ‘friendly fire.’  What he finds terrifies him—not simply because of the expected brutality of the war, but because of what the soldiers have become in order to cope with their daily horrors. Shin is always a joy to watch onscreen and his co-stars do an excellent job in this movie as well.

6. Dooman River— The Dooman River is a wide body of water separating North Korea from China. In the dead of winter, the river freezes solid and this enables the citizens of each country to walk back and forth between them.  In the movie, we focus on a run-down little community that had sprung up on the banks of the river. During the winter, death surrounds them through starvation and freezing temperatures.  As the winter progresses, more and more North Koreans cross the river. Some are trying to escape and start a new life in China or South Korea, but some are making raids for food to bring back to their families.  The little village begins to suffer heavily through these actions as livestock disappears and food stores are raided. When these raids take a more personal note, one young boy in the village, powerless to stop what is happening to his family and neighbors, decides to take matters into his hands the only way he can.

5. Silenced—Never mind the minor indignation of the men’s groups when they protested the film You’re My Pet this year, Silenced is hand down the most controversial movie on 2011.  It will leave you feeling frustrated and angry, which is exactly what it set out to do.  The film is based on a novel which itself is based on actual events. (But as we were reminded each night on the news for about two weeks while this movie was screening, “based on a true story’ is not the same as ‘is a true story.’)  The story is about a new teacher coming to work in a school for the hearing impaired and the abuse and corruption he finds there.  The tension is high whether the scenes are taking place within the horrible conditions of the school or in the courthouse which takes up the latter half of the movie.  This film led to a much wider understanding and awareness of what physically challenged members of society have had to endure and gave them a voice. Many demonstrations in support of people with physical and mental challenges sprung up in the wake of this movie.

4. Punch—There could have been a danger of this film being horribly gloomy or unbearably preachy given the subject matter, however it is neither. Instead, Punch is a lighthearted tale of a boy named Wan-deuk, his unusual family, and the teacher who takes an interest in his success. Wan-deuk’s father and ‘uncle’ are disabled. His mother, who had abandoned the family years ago but who has once again appeared, is a Filipina. His family is quite poor and his scores in school are not good at all and he is considered a troublemaker. The new teacher, who at first appears antagonistic to Wan-deuk and, as his neighbor, never leaves the boy alone even after school, understands Wan-deuk’s hardships completely as the two are quite similar. The teacher takes on the role of mentor for the boy and attempts to save him from the role society already seems to have picked out for him.

3. King of Pigs— A year or two ago, I had seen one of director Yoon Sang-ho’s short animations and, to this day, I cannot tell you if I liked it or not. It was violent and it was cruel but most of all, it was memorable. King of Pigs strikes me in the same way. I do not care for the themes of merciless bullying and the quest for revenge taken to extremes, but the film is extremely well done and is really unforgettable.  The story is of two adults, one of whom has just brutally murdered his wife, trying to sort out where their lives went wrong. Their memories take us to their childhood and the middle school they attended which was divided into the ‘dogs’, popular, well-to-do boys who ruled the school and the ‘pigs’ who were the rest of the students, not financially well off and maybe a little quieter or more timid. Among the pigs, a hero eventually rises to put an end to the bullying in a violent manner that frankly removes all sympathy I had for them.  This is a disturbing animated movie that will make you think and is as far removed from the other animated film on this list, Leafie, as you can get.

2.  Journal of Musan— We often think that when someone from North Korea defects to the South, that they will have a better life. In fact, that is rarely the case. National identification numbers immediately show a defector’s status even if speech patterns do not and this negatively affects the chances of getting good employment.  In fact, it may be easier to be an illegal immigrant in South Korea than it is to live as a North Korean refugee.  The movie follows a man from the northern town of Musan, Seung-cheol, as he tries to create a new life for himself based on honesty and hard work only to be thwarted at every turn by the cruelty of others.  He is considered a second-class citizen and stereotyped as lazy or a thief.  The horrible treatment he endures is softened for his growing love of a woman who goes to his church and the companionship of his dog, but even these are uncomfortably unstable and could vanish from his life at any minute.  The movie is based on the life of a friend of the director, a North Korean immigrant who passed away of stomach cancer at the age of 30. It is a wonderfully crafted film with a story that may leave the viewer feeling a little angry at the treatment the characters receive.

1. Sunny—Despite the fact that most of the films I really enjoyed have rather a heavy theme to them, the light, happy film of Sunny was my favorite film of 2011. Oh, it is not without its emotional ups and downs, but the film never becomes mired in sadness or even in the nostalgia which it depicts so well.  When I first walked into the film I did not really have much in the way of expectations.  The story was about a group of middle-aged women reflecting on the events in their childhood that cemented their friendship. I did not know if the movie was going to hold my interest.  I should not have worried. As soon as you are transported into Sunny’s 1980s Korea, you will be captivated as I was. Her cheerful nature is contagious and her quirky friends are people whom you want to know.  The film even touches on some of the historical events of the time such as rioting, but they do not take precedence in the movie which is told from a schoolgirl’s perspective. The battles and triumphs of herself and her friends are what is important to her and by extension, us.  If you can only see one film from 2011, I think this should be it.

 

So there is my list of my favorite films from last year.  How about my least favorite? Well, if I think something will be bad I won’t watch it. I suspect Super Monkey Returns would have been the worst film, but as I have not seen it, I cannot say for sure. Among the movies I saw last year, there was only one I really hated, Sector 7.  I was tricked into seeing it by the cast, flashy trailers and the lure of it being a monster movie.  I know eventually I will wind up with the DVD just because I wind up buying everything, but if I watch it again, it will be with the sound off….

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Index of the 1970s: Directors Jeon Woo-yeol -Jeong Hwe-cheol

26th January 2012

In this post, I will finish listing the 1970s creations of three more directors, starting with Jeon Woo-yeol.  1974 would be the last of Jeon’s films. He started his career as an assistant director in 1962 and moved on to become a full director in 1968.  He made 16 movies in the 1970s –eight of them were in the first year of that decade. I had previously uploaded the information on fifteen of these, the remaining film is below.  Jeon stopped directing in the mid-70s and went to live in the USA under the name William W Jun. There he founded an organization for Korean-American movie-makers.

The next director completed here is Jeong Chang-hwa–not an easy man to work on. That is because his films were all Korean/Hong Kong coproductions and that makes sorting out his movies quite difficult. I opted to list only the Korean staff and cast on most of the films. That is because I am generally changing names from Korean to English. Writing names that were in Chinese then Korean in English results in some very strange spellings and only serves to complicate sorting out the names.

Finally we have Jeong Hwe-cheol who started directing films in the late 1970s and continued through the 80s .  His real name was Jeong Hwe-yeong. Of his nine movies, three are in the decade we are covering here.  Like always, click the image below and expand to see a full-sized image. Or you can view all the plates created to date by clicking the tab at the top of the page marked ‘the 1970s’

jeonwoocheol1975 greatemergencynetwork, jeongchanghwa1974 skyhawk, jeongchanghwa1974 association, jeongchanghwa1976 doublecrossers, jeonghwecheol1976 doublerainbowhill, jeonghwecheol1978 mothermustbesomewhere, jeonghwacheol1979 chastity   Up next will be the eight remaining films of Jeong In-yeob.

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Volunteer (1941)

25th January 2012

volunteerThe story:  Choon-ho (in the photo) is depressed about his limited future. In his own words, “The son of a peasant becomes a peasant.” His short-term ‘career’ goal is to be able to cultivate the land on the hill next to the land he farms. He does not own the land, it belongs to Mr. Park who lives very comfortably with his younger sister, Soo-ae in Seoul.  As his father before him, Choon-ho is the land supervisor for Mr. Park, but Park and most of the tenant farmers (rightly) do not believe Choon-ho should inherit that position, but believe it should go to the person with the most experience, Deok-sam.  At the same time that he is informed of Park’s decision, Choon-ho has his sole dream crushed as the landlord does not want the land on the hill cultivated. 

Well, maybe calling cultivating the hill his sole dream is a little bit of an exaggeration. Choon-ho is engaged to the beautiful country girl Boon-ok..but that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. They have been engaged for two years but no closer to getting married. Boon-ok justifies this by blaming herself. “I am useless,” she states right after we are introduced to us referencing her elementary school-level education. And to say she lacks confidence would be an understatement. When Choon-ho announces he must go to Seoul after receiving a telegram, Boon-ok droops and moans, “You just want to get away from me.” 

The trip to Seoul leaves Choon-ho depressed not just because of losing the supervisor position. While walking through Seoul, he sees many signs and banners recruiting soldiers for the Japanese army.  Choon-ho believes joining the army and serving the emperor would give his life purpose. It gets worse for him as his long-standing relationship with Boon-ok hits a bump.  She sees him with Soo-ae, a girl who grew up with them but now lives in Seoul and has modernized. She wears western style clothes and has permed her hair (”Like a sheep” says one of the farmers)

Fortunately for Choon-ho, he learns from his friendly Japanese neighbor that, since the annexation of Korea is now complete, Koreans are eligable to volunteer to join the armed forces. Choon-ho drops everything and signes up, leaving the farm, his elderly mother and (ex?) girlfriend behind.

Say what you will about propaganda films, they do know how to get their message across using symbols.  The use of the train tracks in this movie clearly are meant to show progress and moving away from the past.  The scenes of marching Choon-ho and the cadets at the training camp also indicate positive motion and contrast with most images of Choon-ho on the farm where he is sitting or standing in one place. He represents the youth of Korea, then subjects of Japan, and we are meant to believe that he is better off because of that fact. His life will have meaning in the battlefields and he will serve his country as a protector.

What then of Boon-ok?  Well, she is the face of the past. She is weak and unconfident in her own abilities. We learn in the course of the movie that she was promised to be married to Deok-sam’s son when the two were children..and ancient tradition that mires her deeper in the past. She must be left behind if Choon-ho is to succeed. The fact that she does have a marriage option that will also prove her obedience to her father’s will, helps alievate what worry the audience might feel for her. But if she does go through with the marriage (which I believe she would) she would be marrying a farmer, implied to lack education, and neither will progress any further.

There are many other images and subplots in the film that are worth exploring, but I don’t want to spoil the entire movie.  Volunteer is part of The Past Unearthed DVD collection.  All four of the films comprising the collection were made during the colonial period and provide a unique look at life in Korea at that time in history.

Posted in Review, pre-1950 | 1 Comment »

The Independent: Saturday, May 2, 1896

23rd January 2012

PB2603111Editorial: The claim made by the Japanese Government for the indemnity of $5000 for each Japanese life taken by Korean insurgents or others in the country is still before the Korean Government pending settlement.  For the last twenty years, more or less, Japan has recognized the independence of Korea and constantly asserted the sovereign rights of the King of Korea.  Japan has no other or larger rights in Korea than has England, America, France or any other power, and her citizens have no rights in Korea that do not pertain to the citizens of any other power in treaty with Korea.  The first proposition seems beyond dispute.  The second is that the present disturbed condition of affairs in Korea is an outcome of the intervention of the Japanese in the politics of Korea.  However good may have been Japan’s motives in thus intervening it is eveident that the present state of affairs is due to that intervention.  In the third place, this disturbed condition of affairs was very greatly increased by the events of October 8th, 1895 when, at Japanese instigation, the Queen was murdered.  It enraged the people against Japanese and made it extremely unsafe for any of that nationality to go into the interior; but not only did they go into the interior but we have it on the authority of the Foreign Office that very few of the Japanese who have cone into the country during the last year have been provided with passports. When was it that Japanese subjects were accorded the privilege of travelling at will about the country without passport, to be protected by the Korean Government at a risk of $5000 a head?  With the known combativeness of Japanese merchants in Korea and the rude way they treat Koreans, it would have been folly to hae granted them passports excepting on the clear condition that they went at their own risk.  Did the Japanese Consul know these men who were wandering about the interior and could have vouched for their good behavior?  The claim for indemnity wholly breaks down at this point, that the Japanese who were killed in the country without passports were where they had no legal right to be and the Korean government would be wholly absolved from responsibility in the matter even if there were not evidence that the Japanese were the main cause of the troubles.

But how stands the other side of the account?  The Korean Repository strkies the nail on the head when it says “Kill a coolie in an alley–$5000; murder a Queen in her chamber–gomen nasai.”  <‘Gomen nasai’ is Japanese for ‘I’m sorry’– tom>  Mr. A says on the street he is going to kill Mr. B.  He enters B’s house and comes out and immediately after B is founddead at the hand of an assassin.  There is the 8th of October case in a nutshell, and it would hang a man in any country.  The apathy of the people of the East is astonishing.  Much has been said about European apathy over the Armenian massacres, but here is a praallel– a power demanding an indemnity for the death of its subjects when they were where themost of them had no right to be and where their own government should have kept them from being , when but a few months ago that government’s representative had been implicated in the murder of the Queen of the country to which he had been accredited.  

We believe that Korea and Japan ought to be of great mutual benefit to each other commercially and industrially but it is evident that Japan needs Korea more than Korea needs Japan and so long as Japan goes on intensifying the hatred which Koreans feel toward her just so much farther will she be from attaining an end devoutly to be wished — repriprocity between the two countries and the supplementing of the material needs of each by the resources of the other. The first step toward such an end would be the withdrawal of such an absurd claim for indemnity. If it is not withdrawn we trust the Korean Government will refuse point blank to pay the claims of those who went into the country without permission form the Korean Government.

Brief Notice

We have made a visit to the two blocks of brick business buildings, erected by a company, at the Eastern end of Legation street and find them a credit to the city.  We inspected the completed part each block being divided into four apartments spearated from each other by a fire wall.  On the ground floor the whole space is given up to one large storage room with cement floor, well plastered walls and varnished wood ceilings.  A neat and compact staircase leads from this store room to a commodious hall on the upper floor, which hall is lighted by a window opening upon the street. Off this hall are two neat rooms finished in the best foreign style and quite well fitted for occupation by foreigners.  Owing to the low level of the surrounding houses, the view is excellent. The eight upstairs rooms and four halls of one of these blocks if joined by a verandah with a door from each opening upon it, would make a very neat and convenient little hotel–an institution even now greatly needed in Seoul and one that will be a necessity when the railroad opens.  A hotel might open in one of these blocks in a small way and grow to greater pretensions as the trade increases. 

We need a drug store here and hope some foreigner may start one in one of these apartments.  He could very comfortably live over his store.  Each apartment has a kitchen at the rear.  Even before completion these apartments are in demand, Messrs Tsuji & Co. having occupied one of them as a dry good store for some months.  Now that the whole is about  completed we understand an agent will be appointed to attend to the renting of them.  Meanwhile, letters addressed to the Seoul Improvement Company in care of the Independent will find the officers of the company.

At the law school forty-seven students were graduated lst winter and last Monday thirty-eight more finished the course and are ready to receive appointments.

The Magistrate of Po Chun reports that the insurgents in Ka Pyung have been dispersed by the Government troops and the Yong Pyung insurgents, hearing of it, also dispersed.

We learn that the Japanese were authorized by the War Office to cut down the old tree on Namsan and the wood is being used in making instruments for the use by soldiers in drilling.

Col. Nienstead has been transferred from the Royal Household Dept to the Pay Corps of the army. He is now the Chief Paymaster.

Mr. H. J. Muhlensteth, who hadcharge of the Chinese telegraph line here before the war is in Seoul after three years residence in China and Japan.

Mr. and Miss Tate came back to Seoul a few days ago from Chulla Province.

There was an auction at the French Legation yesterday and the room was crowded with articles of all descriptions and the able Auctioneer Mr. Morsel of Chemulpo hammered them off in fine style.

Im Chang Su, a Chong Dong house-broker, sold a house to a froeigner last June but did not dleiver the deed.  He afterwards pawned it to a Japanese and when the time expired it was found that he could not take the house as it had been sold.  The government therefore collected the maoney from Im and reimbursed the Japanese.

An agent of the 58th national Bank of Japan has arrived in Seoul fo the purpose of making a contract with the Korean Government to build a railroad between Seoul and Fusan. We are told that negotiations are now pending.

We have received from a reliable source the infromation that the French capitalists desire to obtain concessions to build a railroad between Seoul and Wi Ju.

Don’t forget the base ball game this afternoon at two o’clock at the Hun Yun An inside the East gate.

Chief Engineer C. J. McConnell and Asst. Engineer J. C. Leonard of the U.S.S.S.  Charleston have returned to Chemulpo.

H.B.M. Counul-General W.C. Hillier Esq. has gone to Chemulpo for a few days. During his absence W.H. Wilkinson Esq. has charge of the British Consulate General here.

The day before yesterday a man named Yi Keun Yang coming from Yang Chun met a boy bullock driver outside the South gate and made a bargain for the load of wood.  The boy followed him as far as Yang Wha Chin where the man suddenly turned on him and cut him twice in the neck with a sword.  The boy fell to the ground and feigned death.  The thief led the bullock toward Yang Chin.  The wounded boy got up and screamed for help.  Some passing bullock drivers heard him and came and learned his trouble.  They gave chase and caught the thief a few miles away and restored the bullock to the boy and turned the thief over to the police.

The Kobe Chronicle of Apr. 16th says of the Independent, “It is a small beginning but from our school days upwards we have been told that small beginnings often have great endings. Under judicious management the Independent should have a fine future before it.”

The Box of Curios says, “It is gotten up in good shape and is free from clippings, its local items making a better showing than some of our dailies. It shows an enterprise in a God-forsaken country that is most commendable and which deserves success.”– <The Box of Curios was an English-language magazine published in Japan– tom>

Disclaimer:  None of the opinions expressed in the Independent reflect my own and belong solely to the reporters and editors of the newspaper.

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Trailers for Korean movies opening Jan. 26

23rd January 2012

This week there are quite a few movies opening however, only one is a Korean film. The movie is Tarbosaurus. It is a 3D animation about a young carnivorous dinosaur who’s entire family is killed by a lost Tyranosaurus Rex named ‘One-Eye.’ Spotty, the young tarbosaur, grows up with the desire to avenge his family and free the area from the interloper. Tarbosaurus is directed by Han Sang-ho and voiced by Lee Hyeong-seok, Shin Yong-woo and Ku Ja-hyeong.

Other movies opening are: Flypaper (us), Oppai Volleyball (jp), Eleanor’s Secret (fr), The Prey (fr), Personal Effects (us), One Piece (jp), Dancing Chaplin (jp), Eternity (th), Carjacked (us)

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Korean Box Office: January 20-22

22nd January 2012

Happy New Year! It is now the Year of the Dragon… The Water Dragon to be precise. Here are the characteristics of anyone born in this year: 

THE WATER DRAGON 1952 AND 2012: Water has a calming effect on the Dragon’s fearless temperament. Water allows the Dragon to re-direct its enthusiasm, and makes him more perceptive of others. These Dragons are better equipped to take a step back to re-evaluate a situation because they understand the art of patience and do not desire the spotlight like other Dragons. Therefore, they make smart decisions and are able to see eye-to-eye with other people. However, their actions can go wrong if they do not research or if they do not finish one project before starting another

012001222012

“New” would be the word to describe this weekend’s box office. There were a lot of new films that did quite well.. and will continue to do well for the next two days as the holiday runs through Tuesday. Taking the top is the political romantic comedy Dancing Queen. The former number one film, Puss In Boots, fell to number four in the face of so many new movies, landing behind Ahn Seong-gi’s Unbowed and the all-ages adventure film Lost World….. oh, wait a minute… I realized I just translated the movies title from Korean to English and wrote that in the above list (it translates as The Lost World). But a quick check just confirmed that the title is The Mysterious Island.  I will remember that for next week when I do the chart. Mission Impossible has been doing very well and now has over 7 million viewers.

 oh– I should give credit to wikikaiju (yes there is such a thing) and artist Matt Frank for the rendition of Manda the Water Dragon from the film Atragon (1963)

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New DVDs for January 22-28

21st January 2012

Because of the holiday taking up the first half of the week, there are no new releases of DVDs until the second half.  At that time, we will have three films made available for purchase: Elbowroom, Re-Encounter and If You Were Me 5. I have already ordered that last one and I am interested in the other two as well.

elbowroom

Elbowroom:  directed by Ham Kyeong-rok and starring Park Ji-won and Shin Yeong-sook. Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: ages 15+/ Format: 16:9 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0/ Running Time: 90 minutes/ Suggested Retail Price: 22,000KRW/ Available: January 26

Re-Encounter: directed by Min Yong-geun, starring Yoo Da-in and Yoo Yeon-seok. Number of discs: 2/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: ages 15+/ Format: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digitial 5.1/ Running Time: 108 minutes + 108 minutes of extras on the second disc including director Min’s short film The Little Thief (26 minutes)/ Suggested Retail Price: 25,300 KRW/ Available: January 27

If You Were Me 5: directed by Kim Yi-gwan, Bu Ji-yeong, Kim Dae-seung, Shin Dong-il and Yoon Seong-hyeon. Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: ages 12+/ Format: 16:9 anamoprhic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1/ Running Time: 146 minutes/ Suggested Retail Price: 22,000 KRW/ Available: January 27.

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Index of the 70s: Jang Yeong-gook-Jeon Jo-myeong

20th January 2012

Continuing with the index which I was unable to update while I was away on vacation.. the next three directors are relatively minor. Jang Yeong-gook only directed two films in his short career..one I had previously uploaded information on and can be viewed by clicking the tab at the top of the page marked ‘the 1970s’ and scrolling down to the director’s name.  Jeon Eung-joo had a ten-year long career that began in the 1960s, but there was nearly a decade long gap between his 60’s works and his two films in the 1970s.  Jeon Jo-myeong was important as a cinematographer. He worked in that field from 1959 until 2004. He directed just over a dozen films beginning in the late 60s and into the 70s, but he did not continue into the following decade.  Below are the thumbnails providing information on their films. Just click to enlarge.

jangyeonggook1974 boatwhistle, jeoneungjoo1974 onalonelymountain, jeoneungjoo1974 juliethehalfblood, jeonjomyeong1976 incidentsinthelife, jeonjomyeong1977 crowded, jeonjomyeong1978 fistoftheflyingtiger

Coming next: I will finish up the films of Jeon Woo-yeol, Jeong Chang-hwa and Jeong Hwe-cheol

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