Tag Archives: Japanese Occupation

A Song of Korean Factory Girls (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): The oral history of Korean factory girls in Japan

South Korean documentary film “A Song of Korean Factory Girls” illuminates the relatively unknown history of many young Korean women who had to work in Japan during the Japanese colonial period in the early 20th century. As the documentary calmly … Continue reading

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Phantom (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Catch the Spy

South Korean film “Phantom” surprised me more than expected. At first, the movie presents itself as a taut mystery mainly unfolded within a limited background, but then it suddenly shifts itself onto a very different genre mode later in the … Continue reading

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MAL-MO-E: the Secret Mission (2018) ☆☆(2/4): Saving Korean language

South Korean film “MAL-MO-E: The Secret Mission” bored and depressed me. Although I was a little interested at first due to its important historical subject, I was quite disappointed as watching its trite and blatant attempt to squeeze laughs and … Continue reading

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The Handmaiden (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): Pretty, Kinky, and Naughty

South Korean film “The Handmaiden” is a droll, morbid exercise in sensuality and perversity. Besides being a sumptuous erotic melodrama which tantalizes and enthralls our eyes with its ornate moods and details, this is also a delightfully twisted thriller which … Continue reading

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DongJu: The Portrait of A Poet (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): The short life of a Korean poet

Wishing not to have so much as a speck of shame toward heaven until the day I die, I suffered, even when the wind stirred the leaves. With my heart singing to the stars, I shall love all things that … Continue reading

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Assassination (2015) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4) : Too many shooters

South Korean film “Assassination” wants to juggle lots of things at once. Besides attempting a busy mix of action and comedy in the context of history drama, it shuffles between many various characters bound to converge on a certain point … Continue reading

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