CATCHING UP WITH FILM - FILM CRITICISM WITH AN EYE ON A PERSONAL CANON

For November 2018, I will be exploring and revisiting the works of one of South Korea’s greatest cinematic storytellers - Lee Changdong - which will culminate in an assessment of his latest film, Burning. In Lee Changdong’s films so far, big emotions and dramatic, often public, displays are common. Not so in Poetry in which Yoon Jeong-hee plays Yang Mi-ja, a woman who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, who must deal with extremely difficult circumstances and events on top

Videotheque in South Pasadena, CA was my film school post-college. Even though I live far away now, I still make it out almost every Sunday to check out movies that I have no luck finding online, for money or otherwise. In this ongoing series, I will give my brief impressions about my rentals from the past week. Since I had a few days off for Thanksgiving break, I decided to raid Videotheque and cram as much good cinematic lovin’ as I could with films I couldn’t access at hom

For November 2018, I will be exploring and revisiting the works of one of South Korea’s greatest cinematic storytellers - Lee Changdong - which will culminate in an assessment of his latest film, Burning. (Secret Sunshine was a Canon entry back in February. My piece on the film is reprinted below.) I was not looking forward to rewatching this film. Not that this is a bad film. It’s just that Lee Chang-dong’s films are emotional ordeals. Not only do the characters in his films

For November 2018, I will be exploring and revisiting the works of one of South Korea’s greatest cinematic storytellers - Lee Changdong - which will culminate in an assessment of his latest film, Burning. Compared to his previous, much acclaimed Peppermint Candy, Oasis seems to scale down quite a bit. The story is mainly about two characters. Jong-du (Sol Kyung-kyu) has just recently been released from jail and is socially maladjusted and is possibly mentally disabled. Gong-j

For November 2018, I will be exploring and revisiting the works of one of South Korea’s greatest cinematic storytellers - Lee Changdong - which will culminate in an assessment of his latest film, Burning. The most obvious trademark of any Lee Changdong film is the mammoth performance or performances at its center. Often, the characters seem like their natural state is explosive anger, raw grief, or some mixture of both and that they are acting unnatural when they are acting c