Tag Archives: South Korean Film

Way Back Home (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): When a past returns to her

Posted on April 10, 2021 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Way Back Home” is a quiet and sensitive drama which speaks volume in many wordless moments. Calmly observing how its ordinary heroine’s daily life is shaken by the return of one terrible incident in her past, … Continue reading →

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Shades of the Heart (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A series of ambiguous episodes around one writer

Posted on April 5, 2021 by kaist455

It is a bit difficult for me to describe to you on South Korean independent film “Shades of the Heart”. When I saw this little modest film for the first time a few days ago, I was not so sure … Continue reading →

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The Book of Fish (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): The Book of Bromance

Posted on April 4, 2021 by kaist455

Maybe I should have expected less before watching South Korean film “The Book of Fish”, which, to my dissatisfaction, turns out to be more about its two main characters’ relationship instead of how that old but famous real-life marine biology … Continue reading →

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Festival (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): He cannot afford to be sad…

Posted on March 23, 2021 by kaist455

South Korean independent drama “Festival” mainly revolves around one impossible situation which pressures its plain young hero a lot. While we are occasionally amused by how things keep going wrong for him, we also come to sense more of how … Continue reading →

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Fighter (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): You will cheer for this boxer girl

Posted on March 21, 2021 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Fighter” is atypical in its seemingly conventional sports drama. When it starts the story along with its struggling underdog heroine full of pluck and determination, it looks rather predictable on the surface, but then it deliberately … Continue reading →

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A Distant Place (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): All the woolly sheep

Posted on March 21, 2021 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “A Distant Place” is a quiet but intimate drama which slowly engages us as gradually revealing the emotional undercurrents below its calm surface. Although its slow narrative pacing surely requires some patience from us during the … Continue reading →

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Black Light (2020) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A truth beyond their reach

Posted on February 21, 2021 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Black Light” is a seemingly plain but undeniably compelling mystery melodrama, which revolves around the truth beyond the reach of everyone involved with a very complicated circumstance in one way or another. As its three different … Continue reading →

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I Don’t Fire Myself (2020) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5.4): As she tries not to give up

Posted on January 30, 2021 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “I Don’t Fire Myself” is a plain but sobering social drama about one woman’s desperate struggle for her life and existence. Reminiscent of the comparable works of the Dardenne brothers and Ken Loach, the movie sharply … Continue reading →

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The Man Standing Next (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): It’s really hard for him to stand next to his big boss…

Posted on January 5, 2021 by kaist455

South Korean film “The Man Standing Next” is a slick and competent period drama film which does not go further than what I and many other South Korean audiences already know. Based on one of the major historical incidents in … Continue reading →

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Voice of Silence (2020) ☆☆(2/4): Voice of incompetence

Posted on January 5, 2021 by kaist455

What an inane and messy bore South Korean film “Voice of Silence” is. Often dreary and unpleasant in its casual depiction of human evil and violence, the movie attempts to be not only an absurd crime noir drama but also … Continue reading →

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