Tag Archives: Korean Movie

Dooman River (2010) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : Bleak sorrow on a frozen river

Posted on July 3, 2011 by kaist455

The cold, white bleakness dominates over South Korean art house movie “Dooman River”. With its simple storytelling, it presents us an austere view on the world which is alien even to the South Korean audiences. While observing its people, this … Continue reading →

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The Journal of Musan (2010) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5) : A lonely man struggling at the bottom

Posted on July 3, 2011 by kaist455

You may not notice him while walking around the streets of Seoul. He is a lonely man downtrodden everyday at the bottom of South Korean society. He is usually quiet with passive attitude and his drooped head. He has silently … Continue reading →

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Bedevilled (2010) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : There will be revenge

Posted on December 1, 2010 by kaist455

 Revenge is served raw and simple in “Bedevilled”(2010). The movie delivers exactly what it promises to us, but that is not for free. There are barbarous scenes that make you wince, and then there are bloody scenes that make you … Continue reading →

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The Unjust (2010) ☆☆☆(3/4) : Mean System

Posted on October 30, 2010 by kaist455

  There is one scene that strikes me hard in the middle of “The Unjust”. It is one of many unjust things happening on the screen, but none of two main characters who occupy that scene is someone we are … Continue reading →

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Breathless (2009) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : Abuse is thicker than water

Posted on August 28, 2010 by kaist455

Sang-hoon is a terrifying piece of work. He is someone you never want to mess up with. He is callous, narrow-minded, vulgar and, above all, very volatile. Whenever his hair-trigger fury erupts, there is more than hell to pay – and that happens often. Even when his temper relatively abates, he is still difficult and hostile to communicate with, probably even with himself. In the opening sequence, we see a young woman being beaten by some guy in the night streets. Sang-hoon appears and he savagely beats that guy. And then, he spits at her, smacks her, and insults her.
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I Saw the Devil (2010) ☆☆☆ (3/4) : It has everything – including a toilet stool

Posted on August 14, 2010 by kaist455

“I Saw the Devil” provides almost everything to shock you and repel you – and I admired it at some degree. The movie acquired its notoriety even before its release in South Korea due to the conflict with Korean Media Rating Board(About 1.5 minutes was cut from the original version in the end). It has been striking our Korean audience with a little mercy since this Thursday while inducing discussions among them about the violence in the movies. I guarantee you, the movie will be the most controversial South Korean movie of this year.
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71: Into the Fire (2010) ☆1/2 (1.5/4) : Awful Hollowness based on a real-life war story

Posted on June 20, 2010 by kaist455

Fortunately, “71: Into the Fire”, officially released on last Thursday in South Korea, is not the bottom of the barrel. But still, it’s near the bottom of the barrel. The movie is not as ideologically repulsive as I feared, but … Continue reading →

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