Although I'd love to review in depth every single Korean film that's released, you'll understand that's pretty much impossible. Not only because it takes time, but also because, as you've probably noticed by now, I'm not exactly able to contain myself when I start writing. But as the posters on our forums suggested, perhaps focusing only on big titles leaves some valid alternatives out of the picture, which would be a shame. So we came up with this little idea. A few quick words about all the Korean DVDs released over the latest few months (NOW IN A MONTHLY FORMAT), just to preview the DVDs, to give you a general idea about their value. These are not reviews, mind you, but just a few quick thoughts about the films. Although we're restarting from March with this Roundup, the format will now change to a monthly feature, so next Month you're getting mini-reviews of all the titles from April, and I'll also go back and review all the older titles we missed, starting from February and then completing the circle with November 2005.
This is not necessarily indicative of the best DVDs (as obviously my taste for the films themselves comes into play, and could skew the results for you), but just a quick way to determine what's really worth your money with no reserves.
Note: Budget Re-Releases are not included (everybody and their dog is doing them nowadays, it would take years). Scores are out of 10, and the 'Overall' score counts the film rating twice. TV Dramas are not listed as we'll continue to cover them weekly in our TV Drama Reviews. Ratings are not an exact science (especially mine!), but, generally, if I did my job correctly, the little average you find at the end of every mini-review should tell you:
8.00~10.00 MUST BUY
7.00~7.99 WORTH BUYING
6.00~6.99 RENT FIRST/WORTH A LOOK
5.00~5.99 ONLY IF YOU LOVE THE FILM
0.00~4.99 AVOID
To buy the DVD, click the '1 Disc' (or more if available) link on every film.
Read the previous Roundups:
Korean DVD Roundup - July~October 2005 Part 1
Korean DVD Roundup - July~October 2005 Part 2
Korean DVD Roundup - July~October 2005 Part 2
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2006/03/30 Daekyung
지상만가 (地上滿歌, Elegy of The Earth)
1997 - 1DVD
DIRECTOR: 김희철 (Kim Hee-Cheol)
CAST: 신현준 (Shin Hyun-Joon), 이병헌 (Lee Byung-Heon), 정선경 (Jung Seon-Kyung), 최학락 (Choi Hak-Rak), 김세윤 (Kim Se-Yoon), 김일우 (Kim Il-Woo), 이범수 (Lee Beom-Soo)
OAR 1.85:1/16:9, DD2.0, NTSC DVD-9, Region 3, Japanese Subtitles
FILM: 4
Before becoming the man responsible for two of the biggest Korean hits of all time -- 1999's 쉬리 (Shiri) and 2004's 태극기 휘날리며 (Taegukgi) -- Kang Je-Gyu was building his reputation as a filmmaker first, but also producer and writer. After the success of the proto-blockbuster 은행나무 침대 (The Gingko Bed), Kang worked on the script for this buddy movie, directed by Kim Hee-Cheol. Aside from the usual innovations Kang brought to the table (this was the first Korean film to use the motion control camera and CGI similar to Forrest Gump, in combining archive footage with live action 'inserts') and his 'smelling the roses' a few years before the Korean Wave started, by casting Shin Hyun-Joon and Lee Byung-Heon, along with Lee Dong-Joon's usual interesting soundtrack, there's very little else worth noting. Although he improved over the years, Kang still showed his limitations when it came to Drama, painting what essentially are romantic caricatures: the 'Hollywood Kid' (Lee), obsessed with everything Hollywood and dreaming of one day entering the industry with the script he's been writing for a lifetime (do I smell autobiographical undertones?); the musician turned junkie (Shin), not able to cope with the fact music might not be his final destination in life, walking on the streets like a parasite about to die; and of course the woman who falls for him (Jung), moved by this man's passion for life even after hitting rock bottom. Those are the ingredients, the final dish being that of giving hope through these characters' stories. But with directing like this, unless acting is fantastic you're pretty much starting a battle that's already lost. If this DVD had English subs it would have made for interesting comparisons with today's Lee Byung-Heon for many people, to see just how much he's improved in just half a decade. He was pretty much horrible back then, a mixture of pretty boy molded by the Trendy Drama machine with too much energy without the ability to control it. Shin is a little better, despite the wildly over the top character, but we're still dealing with performances well below the standard shown by the two nowadays. If anything, Jung Seon-Kyung is wonderful as always, and -- maybe because of Lee Dong-Joon's soundtrack, who knows -- the final 20 Minutes manage to improve a little and even offer a tiny bit of emotion. More than a film worth watching for those 'so bad it's good' nights, this shows how much commercial Cinema in Chungmuro has grown in just 7-8 years, as commercial farces like this and 편지 (The Letter) were the norm back then, until films like 접속 (The Contact) came and started reversing the trend.
VIDEO: 6.5
Transfer is fair, with no major problems with the print, and decent colours. Much better than a VHS, but it's nothing out of the ordinary.
AUDIO: 6
Again, considering the preservation standards of the period, we should be thankful the Audio track survived without the usual hiss. Dialogue and soundtrack are clear, but that DD2.0 spec is just an excuse not to write 'Mono disguising as Dolby Digital'.
SUBTITLES: 3
Japanese subs only.
EXTRA FEATURES: 1
Nothing.
VALUE FOR MONEY: 3
Are you a Lee Byung-Heon or Shin Hyun-Joon completist? No? Then you can pass on this and live happily everafter. It's pretty clear why and for whom they released this, what with the absence of subtitles except for the Japanese market, and the (horrible) cover boasting Byonsama himself with his top off. Couldn't they start from Kim Sung-Soo's 런어웨이 (Runaway), then? At least that's a good film. Again, unless you're a BIG fan of the two, avoid at all costs.
OVERALL: 3.93
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2006/03/28 iVision Entertainment
애인 (The Intimate)
2006 - 1DVD
DIRECTOR: 김태은 (Kim Tae-Eun)
CAST: 성현아 (Sung Hyun-Ah), 조동혁 (Jo Dong-Hyuk), 이창용 (Lee Chang-Yong), 현경수 (Hyun Kyung-Soo), 한지원 (Han Ji-Won)
OAR 1.85:1/16:9, DD5.1/2.0, NTSC DVD-9, Region 3, English/Korean Subtitles
FILM: 4.5
She's (quite) pretty, rich and a month away from marriage; he's a faux bourgeois, looks like a model (well, he was a model. At least Jo Dong-Hyuk who's playing him was), and enjoys bringing the fish to different waters every now and then, if you get the idea. They're just 'Man' and 'Woman', no names, because this is simply going to be a one night stand. Or maybe not? Kim Tae-Eun's 애인 (The Intimate) looked like a pretty risky project right from the beginning. First problem was the genre, erotic Drama, which usually draws very little interest unless the actors are very famous. Nobody knows if the producers did this in good faith or not, but things turned for the worse once the media started questioning Sung Hyun-Ah for her tendency to star in films like these very often and just take her clothes off with no rhyme or reason. Now, I think Sung is a fine actress who's been steadily improving since her role in Hong Sang-Soo's 여자는 남자의 미래다 (Woman is the Future of Man). She's always very charming and she's expanding her range, even doing well on TV lately with the SBS Friday Drama 어느날 갑자기 (One Day, Suddenly). But the biggest obstacle for her is her choice of projects, which are getting worse and worse: if we can make an exception for the acclaimed black comedy 손님은 왕이다 (The Customer is Always Right), we go from last year's vanilla horror 첼로 (Cello) to this one, and judging from what I read about Kim Ki-Duk's 시간 (Time), we're more in 빈집 (3-Iron) territory (read: vapid exotica trying to be controversial) than 섬 (The Isle) or even 나쁜 남자 (Bad Guy). Director Kim Tae-Eun, a former Music Video director for bands like Koyote, Butterfly Effect and Kim Min-Jong makes his debut here, and his roots clearly show. The film looks and sounds great, the sex is pretty good, without going to the extremes of Bong Man-Dae's 맛있는 섹스 그리고 사랑 (The Sweet Sex & Love) but throwing enough realism in the mix not to feel like voyeuristic tripe. The problem, of course, is everything around the main course: there's no chemistry between Sung and Jo Dong-Hyuk, who looks like a Million Dollar but shows no personality whatsoever; the dialogue is childish, underdeveloped and not very creative; pacing is almost glacial, especially when the Woman's husband get into the picture. The film tries to balance some of the elements which made 녹색의자 (Green Chair) and especially Yoo Ha's excellent 결혼은 미친 짓이다 (Marriage is a Crazy Thing) work, but it fails in all respects. If anything, the subtle 'back to reality' finale, helped by singer Jo Gyu-Chan's interesting score closes the film on a positive note. I wouldn't put this film in the category of erotic flicks which populated the bottom of Chungmuro's box office for the last few years -- just to mention a few, the debut of RooRa's Kim Ji-Hyun in 썸머타임 (Summertime), the asinine 클럽 버터플라이 (Club Butterfly) and so on -- but it's still quite bad. It tries to be something meaningful by adding some controversy to the mix, but at the end of the day turns into just another 간통 (Adultery) Drama. 해피 엔드 (Happy End) it is not...
VIDEO: 7
A little too much grain and a few touches of edge enhancement, but otherwise the usual good job.
AUDIO: 7
Solid, but certainly not spectacular. Thankfully it doesn't make use of the surround speakers the way Bong Man-Dae's The Sweet Sex & Love did, and both dialogue and soundtrack are very nice and clear.
SUBTITLES: 7
A few annoyances in terms of translation every now and then, but generally good. The font is a little strange (perfectly readable, it's just different from other fonts used on Korean DVDs usually), but good timing, and for the most part no glaring spelling/grammar mistakes.
EXTRA FEATURES: 5
We start with a short Making of Featurettes (6:09, deals with the two's 'marriage' in the park and the scenes at the squash center, which were cut in the final film, and finally the one in the department store), a Poster Shoot (3:03, starts with the wedding dress one and ends with the one in front of the mirror -- complete with Nat King Cole song, to give it that Wong Kar-Wai vibe. There's also a small interview with Sung Hyun-Ah) and the shoot on the park bench (3:08, interesting how the director reads the script while they're shooting. Actually it's a little freaky. The rest of the staff joke around while preparing the rest of the shoot, and we fade out). There's also 15 Minutes of Deleted Scenes, but it's mostly the 'thank heaven they were left out' kind, especially a longer cut of their discussion at the little cafe, which is so childish I thought I was watching a Sitcom on TV. Finally we close with a nice Music Video (3:53) and the 'clean' version of the Theatrical Trailer (or maybe it's a teaser, as it's only 1:26).
VALUE FOR MONEY: 5
Another disappointment from Sung Hyun-Ah, who should be starring in things like The Customer is Always Right rather than wastes of time like these films. It tries so hard to be meaningful, but it just ends up being an upscale version of the usual adultery Drama. DVD is quite average, with very little extras and nothing really grabbing your attention. I'd say pass, unless you need to see every Sung Hyun-Ah film or are looking for a quick skin flick (of course that's not the point of the film, but the rest still feels like filler).
OVERALL: 5.71
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2006/03/24 Spectrum
아제아제 바라아제 (Come, Come, Come Upward)
1989 - 1DVD (Part of the Taeheung Pictures Collection)
DIRECTOR: 임권택 (Im Kwon-Taek)
CAST: 강수연 (Kang Su-Yeon), 진영미 (Jin Young-Mi), 유인촌 (Yoo In-Chon), 한지일 (Han Ji-Il), 전무송 (Jeon Mu-Song), 윤인자 (Yoon In-Ja), 김세준 (Kim Se-Joon), 최종원 (Choi Jong-Won)
OAR 1.85:1/16:9, DD2.0, NTSC DVD-9, Region 3, English/Korean Subtitles
FILM: 8
Korean Cinema's obsession with Buddhism (Korean or not) actually started in the late 20s, but it only caught fire in the early 80s, when a number of films dealing with the subject started appearing in Korean theaters. As some of you may know, Korean Buddhism is a little different from Chinese (Mahayana) Buddhism, mixing ideas from traditional Chinese Buddhism with new approaches -- called 통불교 (通佛敎, interlocking Buddhism) by the legendary Shilla scholar Wonhyo. Emerging in the Korean Peninsula around the Three Kingdoms era, the first Kingdom to truly assimilate the religion was Goguryeo, although it became much more important in the Shilla Kingdom later. Many recent films deal with the subject in direct or indirect ways -- to name a few, Yang Yoon-Ho's 1996 film 유리 (Yuri), the underrated comedy 보리울의 여름 (Season in the Sun), the gangster comedy 달마야 놀자 (Hi, Dharma!) and its sequel, or Kim Ki-Duk's Sci-Fi 'Buddhism for Dummies' in 봄, 여름, 가을, 겨울... 그리고 봄 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring) -- but 'true' Buddhist films are few and far between in the last decade, with 동승 (A Little Monk) and Jang Sun-Woo's 화엄경 (Passage To Buddha) as the best examples. Out of the golden age of Buddhist films in the 80s, the best is certainly Bae Yong-Gyun's 1989 masterpiece 달마가 동쪽으로 간 까닭은? (Why Did Bodhi Dharma Leave For The East?), but of course Im Kwon-Taek's 아제아제 바라아제 (Come, Come, Come Upward) is also very very good. We're not necessarily dealing with the road to enlightenment, but Im shows the various processes humans go through -- both in terms of their understanding of what Buddhism really is and in experiencing the difficulties which come with that -- before the road to Nirvana becomes a little clearer. We go through the life of three characters mainly: one is reaching Nirvana, the other has been a monk for quite sometime but is finding it hard to find the true meaning of her lifestyle, and then we have Kang Su-Yeon's character, who experiences this initiation period and all the struggles to become a real monk. By avoiding the usual Orientalist fables (go to the temple, shave your head, smell the water a little, and you're enlightened! Zen Buddhism baby!), Im brings us closer to the difficult process people go through when making that important choice, without necessarily judging the characters for their moves. Although -- as always with later Im -- the film tends to become a little sledgehammer when it comes to showing the cause-effect arc of his characters (and his continued 'episodes' showing parts of Kang Su-Yeon's life are too uneven to leave a mark), the message is clear, and incredibly well delivered. Kang Su-Yeon is absolutely stunning, from the spunky student who joins the temple to the woman who lived through too much for her own good, as shown by her best Actress awards at both the Grand Bell Awards and at the Moscow International Film Festival. But also notable are young Jin Young-Mi as monk Jin-Sung (Best New Actress at the Grand Bell Awards) and the usual top notch little cameo from Im regular Jeon Mu-Song. The film didn't age as well as I expected -- particularly not as well as 만다라 (Mandara) -- perhaps because of some of Im's tendencies in dealing with the portrayal of cultural themes (always a little too 'educational' more than essential to the film) which only emerged for me in the last five or so years, after watching more of his work. But this is a top notch work, exploring Korean Buddhism with intelligence, and with a fantastic central performance.
VIDEO: 8
Great looking remastered transfer, with stunning colours and a print in better conditions than I could possibly ever expect. Night scenes are predictably very grainy, and there's a slight green vertical line (or should I say 'flashes') towards the end, for around a few minutes. But this is one of the best transfers of the Taeheung collection, and I seriously doubt you'll ever see this film looking better.
AUDIO: 6
Usual hiss, which tends to get a little annoying during the more contemplative scenes, but it's good enough when it counts.
SUBTITLES: 7
Some spelling and translation mistakes, but considering the difficulty of the dialogue, they handle things pretty well.
EXTRA FEATURES: 3
A nice looking original trailer, a dozen stills and a poster. That's it.
VALUE FOR MONEY: 8
I wish they'd release Why Did Bodhy Dharma Leave For The East? on Korean DVD, but in the meantime, this is one of the best Korean Buddhist films. Of course releasing Im's other Buddhist film 만다라 (Mandara) would have been nice, but getting this with such a nice transfer is definitely better than nothing. It's barebones, but for 16/17 thousand Won, pretty much a no-brainer.
OVERALL: 6.86
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2006/03/17 CJ Entertainment
싸움의 기술 (The Art of Fighting)
2006 - 2DVD
DIRECTOR: 신한솔 (Shin Han-Sol)
CAST: 백윤식 (Baek Yoon-Shik), 재희 (Jae Hee), 김응수 (Kim Eung-Soo), 최여진 (Choi Yeo-Jin), 박원상 (Park Won-Sang)
OAR 1.85:1/16:9, Dts/DD5.1, NTSC DVD-9, Region 3, English/Korean Subtitles
FILM: 6.5
In the last few years a new trend, the 왕따물 (outcast film) ha started making its presence felt, especially this year, with 방과후 옥상 (See You After School), parts of the Omnibus (by the same director!) 썬데이 서울 (Sunday Seoul), and elements of 6월의 일기 (Bystanders) talking about this important issue of bullying and outcasts in Korean high schools. The 'genre' reached new heights with Yoo Ha's 말죽거리 잔혹사 (Once Upon a Time in High School) and especially Jo Geun-Shik's wonderful 품행제로 (Conduct Zero) with Ryu Seung-Beom, but saying all this is completely new would be fooling ourselves. All this is, essentially, is this generation's equivalent of the 'angry youth' films. While in the 90s it mostly dealt with stories of alienated youth covered with rivers of style and machismo -- think of Kim Sung-Soo's 비트 (Beat) and 태야은 없다 (Our Sunny Days) as the perfect example -- this 'angry youth' genre has become much more varied in this generation, with coming of age Dramas like 발레교습소 (Flying Boys) or Jung Jae-Eun's work. This new brand of 'outcast films' which will probably continue for a while (as the issue continues to be one of the biggest problems in Korean education), will likely continue to see improvements in the coming years. Shin Han-Sol's debut feature 싸움의 기술 (The Art of Fighting) is one of those 'close, but no cigars' attempts, starting from a great script (co-written by indie kingpin Min Dong-Hyun) and the casting of His Majesty, Mr. Coolness Baek Yoon-Shik, pretty much the best actor of his generation. I had my doubts (well, OK, huge doubts) about Jae Hee's ability to give the script justice, but it turns out he's not the problem. Given to capable hands, this could have been a great film: the dialogue is tight and consistently interesting, the little cultural touches and manhwa-like treatment of Pan-Soo -- along with Baek's brilliant performance -- add a lot of fun to the mix, and the soundtrack is excellent. The final 20 Minutes, even though they might pale in comparison to the more illustrious and superior finales of Yoo Ha and Jo Geun-Shik's films, are quite good. And, really, you'll leave the theater or turn off the DVD player with a smile on your face, but that's because the premise was too good to completely sink the ship. The biggest problem then is directing itself: the film lacks focus, swinging wildly between characters without a clear idea of who's at the center of the final message. And even though it does live up to its title, showing what really is the 'art of fighting' (believing in yourself, dropping fear out of the picture, and fighting like a crazy dog until your foe can't get up anymore) without using silly 'techniques' which mean absolutely nothing on the streets, its pacing and lack of 'fire' makes things harder to digest. The comedy should be funnier, the drama should hit harder, the action is good enough (and thankfully devoid of flashy displays of prowess from our little 'lion in the making') but doesn't have that fire require to deliver the final message home as effectively as it could have. Of course Jae Hee's performance still leaves a lot to be desired (he still tries too hard to look cute when he should just stick with the 'absent minded, depressed outcast' tirade), but he lives up to the standard of his more talented and illustrious peers in the final reels, which is good. The Art of Fighting could have been great, but it's not completely devoid of charm. It just needed a little more 'art' than just two talented writers and an incredibly talented veteran 'fighting' to make a good film.
VIDEO: 8
Very good transfer, with splendid colours and very natural skin tones. No problems with the print, and no excessive edge enhancement.
AUDIO: 8
This is not your average blockbuster so no wild use of surrounds, but it handles well the action scenes, and the soundtrack and dialogue are balanced effectively.
SUBTITLES: 7
Not a bad job, especially in the second half, but the first half is a little too simplistic, and should stick more to a literal translation. Overall, no major problems, very little grammar and spelling mistakes, and a nice, easily readable font.
EXTRA FEATURES: 7
Disc 1
We have two audio commentaries, the first with Baek Yoon-Shik, PD Kim Sung-Jin, and Jae Hee (A decent listen, especially because of Mr. Coolness, but Jae Hee keeps acting like some seasoned veteran giving advice right and left when he's barely acted 'seriously' for half a decade, so it tends to get grating, but that's just me), the second with Director Shin, DP Im Jae-Soo and scripter Samuel (not too active, lacks depth and it's not even that fun).
Disc 2
Page 1 features a 25 Minute Making Of Documentary (Quite good, mixing the usual behind the scenes footage with little interviews with director and cast. Should have been a little longer, but as it is, good enough), a 10 Minute highlight of all the major action scenes (we get to see behind the scenes footage, not the final film. There's also a few comments in the middle by Jae Hee and the other actors involved), a 7 Minute Interview with Jae Hee and Baek Yoon-Shik (Gets to the point and is actually pretty interesting, especially the parts where Baek talks about all the deleted scenes. Edited well, grouping together the interviews in a sort of theme-based order), a 10 Minute interview with the supporting cast and all the cameos (this is pretty nice, even though it's quite quick. Shows a few scenes regarding the character, then the actor introduces it and comments a little about his or her role in the film) and finally a 4:40 long Trailer Making (this is for the Teaser Trailer. Mostly shooting footage with a few words from Jae Hee, and that's it). Page 2 features a Poster Shoot (6:30, this shows both footage from the teaser and theatrical posters) and a Press Screening Clip (2:40, we get an adaptation of a W song (W is one of the most interesting new acid pop bands on the scene), and then a few words from director and stars. Sort of pointless as there's no more than a few introductory sentences and clips of the crowd getting in). We conclude with the usual promotional material: a Theatrical Trailer (2:10, Narration in Mandarin, big stylish opening... and then Jae Hee jumps in with a 'teach me how not to get beat up'. Pushes the comedy over everything else, but it's a pretty nice trailer), a Teaser Trailer (2:25, Mostly scenes absent from the film, including the exciting rock and trip hoppish tracks. If the final film looked this good, we'd have quite the winner. I have nothing against shooting different scenes for promotional material, as past films like 싱글즈 (Singles) did great with that concept, but when you completely misrepresent the film, then it's a waste of time), a TV Spot (1:03, this is brilliant, starting with a narration in Chinese, and focusing more on the comic element of the film. Of course it's not really a good representation of what the film is about, but taken out of context it's really nice), and finally a Music Video (3:34, 'Batistuta' by Lee Han-Cheol of Bulldog Mansion. Great little song, as always with Lee, and fits pretty well with the film -- except the lyrics, of course. It's about a famous soccer player! The Music Video is edited pretty well, and it's decent fun. If you're interested in the song, it's part of Lee's recently released solo album 'Organic').
VALUE FOR MONEY: 7
Here's another case of bad marketing, not so much because it sold the film short, but because it misrepresents what it's about. The Art of Fighting is one of those cases when you understand the difference between good writers and good directors. It's pretty obvious this was a good script (I read it myself a few weeks before the DVD was released), but direction leaves a lot to be desired. What saves the film is the usual brilliant performance by Baek Yoon-Shik, and solid work from the supporting cast. Although Jae Hee is very slowly improving, he clearly wasn't good enough here. Go from Jae Hee to a Bong Tae-Gyu or Lee Min-Gi type (Ryu Seung-Beom has matured too much for these kind of roles) and give direction to someone more experienced, and this could have been a great little film. As it is, the film is closer to a one man-show, despite its very good final 20 Minutes, and a few touches of funny comedy in the first half. Worth a look, but if you can rent first, that'd be better.
OVERALL: 7.14
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2006/03/17 Spectrum
축제 (Festival)
1996 - 1DVD (Part of the Taeheung Pictures Collection)
DIRECTOR: 임권택 (Im Kwon-Taek)
CAST: 안성기 (Ahn Sung-Gi), 오정해 (Oh Jung-Hae), 한은진 (Han Eun-Jin), 정경순 (Jung Kyung-Soon), 박승태 (Park Seung-Tae), 이금주 (Lee Geum-Joo),
이얼 (Lee Eol), 배장수 (Bae Jang-Soo)
OAR 1.85:1/16:9, DD2.0, NTSC DVD-9, Region 3, English/Korean Subtitles
FILM: 8
Many Koreans films, past and present, have dealt with that very special social happening that is the traditional funeral. From bittersweet comedies like 행복한 장의사 (The Happy Funeral Director) to glorious theater adaptations like 오구 (Ogu: Hilarious Mourning), that idea that the death of someone can bring together people from all facets of society has been well represented by Chungmuro. But if one had to choose two films in particular, those would certainly be Im Kwon-Taek's 축제 (Festival) and Park Chul-Soo's 학생부군신위 (Farewell, My Darling), which ironically debuted the same year. Using another Lee Cheong-Joon novel as its foundation once again after 서편제 (Sopyonje), Im combines a reflection on the meaning of family and parenthood, along with a slice of Korean society. We go from the estranged illegitimate daughter (Oh Jung-Hae) to the intellectual son who moved to Seoul (Ahn Sung-Gi), from hometown friends of the victim to those who came to the funeral to end up piss drunk or ridden with gambling debts. It's a tremendously fascinating subject, especially when the film moves to its second half, when the ceremonies sort of fade down to show this interlocking social structure examined in depth. If anything, one thing I liked about Park Chul-Soo's film in contrast to this is that it never tried to 'educate masses' on these traditional customs, and just let everything flow naturally. This is a recurring problem in some of Im's films, like in 춘향뎐 (Chunhyang), and although it never really reaches extremes (or Orientalist tones), it can become grating. And although Lee Cheong-Joon's novel is well represented, the 'fantasy' sequences involving the relationship between the daughter and her aging grandmother are full of symbolic value yes, but they're a little too manipulative. Park Chul-Soo managed to do all this in much more invigorating way, with a touch of irreverent black comedy which is only present in little spurs here and there in this film. But those are just little details, as the core of the film is extremely good, especially the usual brilliant performance from Ahn Sung-Gi, showing a combination of sorrow for the loss of his mother to the burden which comes from the event. There's moments of incredible intensity here, really creating that festival feeling associated with funerals, mixing joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, booze and Go-Stop games. It's all there, ready to be enjoyed even by someone not familiar with Korean culture. And you could say it was made exactly for those people, or Korean youngsters losing sight of their roots. It has some problems, and Park's Farewell, My Darling is still the better film for many reasons, but an unmissable little treat, and another of Im Kwon-Taek's gems ready to be re-discovered.
VIDEO: 7
This is the best this film has ever looked on DVD, but it's obviously far from perfect. Nice colours, but a somewhat muted palette, with skin tones not perfectly representing reality, and a little too much grain. Still, print is in good conditions, and the remastering clearly shows.
AUDIO: 6
The usual little hiss associated with the original print, which plagued most Korean films until the late 90s, is there. Also, in some instances dialogue is not as clear as it should, with some noise as well. Nothing to worry about though, as the film can be enjoyed anyway.
SUBTITLES: 6.5
Problematic in some instances, with the usual spelling mistakes and frequent translation mishaps, but overall decent quality.
EXTRA FEATURES: 3
Just a few stills, a Poster, and the usual incomplete filmographies.
VALUE FOR MONEY: 7.5
Considering this film is unlikely to surface anytime soon on any other format, and the very low price of this release, it's a good buy. I tend to think the film is a little overrated and even a bit didactic at times, but it's still a Im Kwon-Taek film. Even his 'minor' works are much better than the average.
OVERALL: 6.57
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2006/03/15 KD Media
말아톤 감독판 (Marathon Director's Cut)
2005 - 3DVD Limited Edition
DIRECTOR: 정윤철 (Jung Yoon-Cheol)
CAST: 조승우 (Jo Seung-Woo), 김미숙 (Kim Mi-Sook), 이기영 (Lee Gi-Young), 백성현 (Baek Sung-Hyun), 안내상 (Ahn Nae-Sang), 김선재 (Kim Seon-Jae)
OAR 1.85:1/16:9, DD5.1, NTSC DVD-9, Region 3, English/Korean Subtitles
FILM: 7
He completed a marathon in under 3 hours, quite a feat for amateurs, and became the youngest Korean to participate in a Triathlon competition. A TV documentary and his mother's book on his life, 달려라 형진아 (Run, Hyung-Jin), even caught the attention of a promising young director, allowing his life's story to be used as the foundation for a film. The life of Bae Hyung-Jin isn't a success story just because he did all that in spite of being autistic, but because his mother and all the people who helped him (coaches, friends) never gave up on the way. That mental strength and sense of confidence this story can give to people was the perfect launchpad for Jung Yoon-Cheol's debut, taking advantage of the newfound popularity by Jo Seung-Woo, thanks to his exploits in the musical world, and using the kind of sensibilities (crowd pleasing, but never to the point of becoming insulting) that sometimes create huge successes in Chungmuro. Because when you look at 말아톤 (Marathon), you shouldn't think of 오아시스 (Oasis), ...ing or other films dealing with handicaps. This 'well made' film is closer to what made 집으로 (The Way Home) a success, presenting with the same kind of approach the relationship between two of the main characters (the kid and his grandma in the 2002 film, Cho-Won and his coach here), making the journey to their obvious warming to each other the important thing. We never really go inside Cho-Won's mind here, because that's not the point. The best thing this film does is focusing on the people around Cho-Won, especially his mother -- a wonderful Kim Mi-Sook, on the big screen for the first time since the mid 80s -- and how she keeps avoiding the 'problem' pressing her child to do perhaps more than he'd want to. And it's that 모성 (maternal instinct) and how its extremes can lead to problems that is the issue here, not really the marathon itself, or Cho-Won's handicap. Although by no means subtle, it at least feels sincere when going for our heartstrings, and Jung's assured direction (devoid of the usual first timer's mistakes) and good cinematography make this film much better than it probably deserved to be. Jo Seung-Woo clearly deserved all the praise he received, but let's not forget about Kim Mi-Sook, who gives an impressive performance, and Lee Gi-Young (so nice to see him back, with not one but two excellent supporting performances -- the other being in 달콤한 인생 (A Bittersweet Life)), who is finally starting to be recognized for his talent. And once again the new treasure trove for Chungmuro, KBS' Documentary series 인간극장 (Human Theater) strikes again, after 꽃피는 봄이 오면 (Springtime), 사랑해, 말순씨 (Bravo, My Life) and 나의 결혼 원정기 (Wedding Campaign) giving the industry another interesting subject to tackle. As far as commercial hits in 2005, this is one of the best, and Jung showed enough style to be worth looking out for in the future.
VIDEO: 8.5
Beautiful, just like the original release. Great colours and realistic skin tones, no problems with the print whatsoever and excellent black levels.
AUDIO: 8
Dts was added to the mix this time, and although it doesn't seem to make a huge difference, we're dealing with one of the most intelligent audio tracks released on the Korean markets. Neither intrusive nor bland, problem many DVDs seem to fall into as of late.
SUBTITLES: 8
A few small spots of awkward translation, but otherwise excellent. Good timing and perfectly readable font. Just like the original release, there's a track for the visually impaired.
EXTRA FEATURES: 10
Disc 1
features two very interesting audio commentaries: the first features director Jung, Lee Gi-Young and Jo Seung-Woo, which is more scene-specific and anecdote-based, whereas the second (with the director alone) expands on those themes with a lot of informative tidbits. Both quite enjoyable.
Disc 2 (Identical to Disc 2 on the previously released Special Edition)
영화 제작과정 (Making Of Documentary) is a 47 Minute Making Of Doc, mixing the usual behind the scene footage with interviews and clips from the film. The first half focuses on interviews talking about the concept of the film, along with clips from production meeting and press screening, while the second half is much more concerned with the actual shoot. Quite well produced and consistently interesting. 삭제장면 (Deleted Scenes) [15:21] starts with an introduction from Jung Yoon-Cheol (he introduces every little deleted scene, actually, but you have the option to only watch the scene itself, if you prefer). Some of these scenes are different from the ones in the Deleted Scene featurette on Disc 3 (either longer or edited in a different way). 웃음 만발! 뒷이야기 (Tons of Laughter! Behind The Story) [4:39] features about 5 Minutes of NG scenes and outtakes, but it concerns more moments outside the actual filming; 형진 이야기 (Hyung-Jin Story) features a few clips related to the real life model of the film, Bae Hyung-Jin. We start with the first meeting between Hyung-Jin and Jo Seung-Woo [11:16, they talk about Jo's films Bae had seen before, and other things (Hyung-Jin sings too). Lee Gi-Young is also there, and then we move to his apartment where his mother talks about him -- she wrote a book too, recently]; there's a 5 Minutes Documentary/Music Video about Hyung-Jin, with voiceover from his mother, his coaches and more [4:02]; a 'Hyung-Jin Trailer' Jung edited together to pitch the project [1:45], a featurette about autistic children and their everyday life [13:16]; there's also an hilarious 1:30 clip with Hyung-Jin singing the 독도는 우리 땅 (Dokdo is Our Land!) song... he cracks up singing too; finally a 10 Minutes clip about marathon enthusiasts and the tricks of the trade. 말아톤 관련 연상 (Marathon Related Material) features the usual Theatrical Trailer, VIP Screening, Photo Gallery and Poster Shoot. Finally, 감독 단편영화 (Director's Short Films) is probably the most interesting supplement material of this release, featuring two shorts Jung directed in 1997 [기념촬영 (Memorial Photographing), 12:38] and 1999 [동면 (Hibernation), 14:15], both briefly introduced by the director. The former is excellent, expertly blending some of the elements of the 여고괴담 (Whispering Corridors) series (mostly those dealing with the sense of loss and the bond between schoolmates) with the tragedy of the Seongsu Bridge collapse in 1994; but the real gem is the latter, mirroring the IMF crisis in a futuristic Korea, and the ordeals of a pregnant woman and her partner during those difficult times, mixing SF tropes and social commentary. With a very strong blue filter, this feels a little like a mix of Tarkovsky and Moon Seung-Wook pre-로망스 (The Romance) [up until 나비 (Nabi: The Butterfly), that is], and again is extremely fascinating, not only for its experimental tone. Too bad neither have subtitles (although the second short is nearly devoid of any dialogue, and most of the on-screen text is in English), because they both would be a great chance to show Jung wasn't just a producer's puppet brought in to direct a big project, and looking at these works you get the feeling he could become quite an interesting director in the future, if given the chance.
Disc 3
작품을 만들며 (Making a Project) is a 1:32 introduction by the director [comments that the original DVD release was done too hastily (??? It was quite a fine release. Looks like mr. Jung is a major DVD Mania, which is great), so they wanted to give it all for this edition. Of course he got to do this in the first place because the film sold over 5 Million and even the initial DVD release did well, but it's nice seeing directors so involved in the making of DVDs, guiding the process first hand]. 세상에서의 첫 나날들 (The First Days on This World) a 34:13 long 1998 documentary directed by Jung [We start with a beautiful cat taking care of her newborn offsprings, and we follow their growth from kitties to their second-third month (including all the little triumphs and tragedies along the way), while Jung and the cats' owner talk off-screen. Weirdly charming, subtle, and the cats are lovely]. 당신의 미소와 만나고 싶다 (I Want To Meet Your Smile) is a 25:44 long feature about the film's Japanese release [this is straight from what looks to be either the Japanese DVD or some TV Special. In Japanese with Korean subtitles and presented by Japanese idol-turned singer/actress Otoha, this is quite a good featurette, introducing the main themes of the film and all the Japanese promotion, interviewing the distributors in Japan, talking about the real life story behind the film and more. It's impressive how much the real life model for the film sounds like Jo Seung-Woo's interpretation (or better, the other way around) - the meeting between Otoha and Bae Hyung-Jin is quote touching]. 말아톤, 우리는 어떻게 달렸나 (Marathon - how we ran) is a mammoth 70+ Minutes Making Documentary directed by Yoon Jin-Ho (co-writer of the script), who introduces himself via text at the beginning, saying he was from the same college as the director, and talks about how long he waited for this film [Sort of like the Chosun Noir documentary on the 형사 Duelist disc in terms of standing on its on feet even removed from the context of the film, although it's much more 'friendly' and less concerned with the world inside the director's mind. Opens with narration from Yoon right from the first day, and shows us all the most important steps of production, including interviews with actors and staff members on the spot, set (or location) preparation and the shoot itself. Most interesting is the parts when Director Jung and Jo Seung-Woo discuss how to approach the character on the spot. Tremendously fascinating, especially if you're interested in the filmmaking process, and certainly worth the price of the DVD alone]. 말아톤에서 사라졌던 내용들 (Contents dropped out of the marathon) features 22 Minutes of Deleted Scenes [showing more interaction between Cho-Won, his brother and mother, along with parts of his everyday life -- going to school, brushing his teeth, etc. We also get more scenes with the coach, with and without Cho-Won, including an hilarious 'someone stole my plum' scene. This is all nice, but perhaps it was smart taking them off, as they would have hurt pacing -- with the possible exception of one scene when Cho-Won meets an old friend from his childhood, which would sum up the main theme of the film in terms of relationships in a perfect way]. 좀 더 달리고 싶어요 (I Want to run a little more) is a 59 second clip showing the climax of the film [intercut with a few other scenes from the film, closing with an emphatic 백만불짜리 다리는 하루아침에 만들어지지 않습니다 (You can't make 'Million Dollar legs' in a day), a smile from Cho-Won, and a final 한국영화 오래오래 달리고 싶습니다 (I want Korean films to run for a long, long time)]. Finally there's an Easter Egg, which you can activate pressing' RIGHT on your remote after the last entry (a zebra will be highlighted) which shows a 3:55 featurette about the One-person protests over the screen quota, from Jeon Do-Yeon to Jang Dong-Gun and even the farmers' protests (different requests, but same problem). At the end we get a few comments, from Song Il-Gon and Lee Joon-Gi. Nice touch, they should put something like this on every Korean film released on DVD.
VALUE FOR MONEY: 9
This is how you make DVDs. Like the film or not, this is one of the best Korean releases of all time when it comes to special features. Just tremendous material, mixing both film-related featurettes, short films and documentaries showing the director's style, and the passion for the project all the people involved felt while working on it comes through. Including the commentaries, this is 9 hours of supplement material, for one of the best commercial films of 2005. Yes, it's certainly a crowd pleaser, but it's more intelligent than you'd expect, and the hand of the director shows much more than any other similar project since Lee Jung-Hyang's 집으로 (The Way Home) [although this doesn't really fall into the superficial beautification of its subject (the countryside in that case) like the 2002 super-hit]. More than everything, the three main players shine tremendously, with very strong performances which meant a lot for their careers (especially Lee Gi-Young, who's now back full force in Chungmuro after years of bit roles on TV). Now if KD Media could just give the same treatment to 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol)...
OVERALL: 8.21
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2006/03/14 Bitwin
청연 (Blue Swallow)
2005 - 1DVD Standard Edition
DIRECTOR: 윤종찬 (Yoon Jong-Chan)
CAST: 장진영 (Jang Jin-Young), 김주혁 (Kim Ju-Hyeok), 유민 (Yoo Min), 仲村トオル (Nakamura Toru), 한지민 (Han Ji-Min), 김태현 (Kim Tae-Hyun), 고주연 (Go Ju-Yeon), 이찬영 (Lee Chan-Young), 김응수 (Kim Eung-Soo), 이승호 (Lee Seung-Ho), 최호진 (Choi Ho-Jin), 주부진 (Joo Boo-Jin)
OAR 2.35:1/16:9, DD5.1, NTSC DVD-9, Region 3, English/Korean Subtitles
Read Review + Complete Extra Features Breakdown here
FILM: 8.5
Excerpt from the review: "Blue Swallow is a triumph: of filmmaking over propaganda, of people over nations, politics and war. Of acting over flashy technicalities, and of emotional impact over historical accuracy or the silly shenanigans of fascist netizens overly concerned with politics they don't even understand. Yoon Jong-Chan is still a young director, and given his lack of box office successes will continue to find it hard making films, but if Sorum and Blue Swallow are any indication, his next film with Choi Min-Shik (adapted from a TV Documentary about a group of homeless people) will instantly jump on top of my to see list. Does Park Kyung-Won fulfill her dream at the end? I won't ruin it for you, but even if it won't last forever, there's a moment when she flies. Free, like those swallows, like this beautiful film."
VIDEO: 7
AUDIO: 7.5
SUBTITLES: 7.5
EXTRA FEATURES: 3
VALUE FOR MONEY: 7
OVERALL: 7.00
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2006/03/10 iVision Entertainment
작업의 정석 (The Art of Seduction)
2005 - 2DVD Special Edition
DIRECTOR: 오기환 (Oh Gi-Hwan)
CAST: 손예진 (Son Ye-Jin), 송일국 (Song Il-Guk), 현영 (Hyun Young), 노주현 (No Ju-Hyeon), 박용우 (Park Yong-Woo)
CAMEO: 안선영 (Ahn Seon-Young), 박준규 (Park Joon-Gyu), 김애경 (Kim Ae-Kyung), 우현 (Woo Hyeon), 안상태 (Ahn Sang-Tae), 지상렬 (Ji Sang-Ryeol), 이매리 (Lee Mary), 금보라 (Geum Bo-Ra), 자두 (Jadu)
OAR 2.35:1/16:9, Dts, DD5.1, NTSC DVD-9, Region 3, English/Korean Subtitles
FILM: 5
They're rich, (very) pretty and blessed with good luck, would they possibly need any 'art' in seducing the opposite sex? No, but that can certainly make for a mildly entertaining 90 Minutes, as most other star vehicles in Chungmuro show. Story and intelligent character development is certainly not what you'll find in Oh Gi-Hwan's second feature film after the sledgehammer melodrama 선물 (Last Present) in 2001. We're simply dealing with a date flick trying to shed a little the former images of the two leading stars, presenting us with a collection of comedy sketches -- with very little continuity -- some of which work marvelously, some others being just a total failure. Oh, a former ad producer and assistant director on flashy (but empty) star vehicles like 패자부활전 (Repechage) and 자귀모 (Ghost in Love), ably packages together the film on a visual sense, helped by nice production design, quirky CG and a decent soundtrack. But it's the pacing that lacks: at a mere 100 Minutes (more or less the norm for romcoms in Chungmuro), the film feels a good 20 Minutes too long, and it's not necessarily because the leads overstay their welcome. It's just that the episodical nature of the script would fit more an American-styled sitcom than a feature film, as you could literally jump chapters and miss very little of this couple of 'players' and their building relationship. Written by a big team including Hwang Da-Eun of 봄의 왈츠 (Spring Waltz) -- which explains the lack of continuity -- and Shin Jung-Goo of 안녕, 프란체스카 (Hello Francesca) -- which explains the smart and funny dialogue -- the script is nothing more than entertaining filler getting as fast as possible to the main theme: our pretty stars and their tentative to look a little closer to home (singing along old-fashioned trot classics included). And at least on those terms, the film works simply as escapist entertainment: Son and Song have plenty of charisma and pretty good chemistry, and the array of cameos of supporting characters (in a way more interesting than the leads) brings constant fun. It's clear this was nothing more than an 'in between' project for Son, who's trying to show she's maturing as an actress, but she does pretty well, going from the sassy girl next-door to the sexy vamp in (literally) wet clothes. And Song Il-Guk, who received the call during the closing party of 해신 (Emperor of the Sea) seems pretty comfortable with the role. Of course both deserve better, but they don't treat this as just a paycheck like most big stars in Hollywood flicks of this kind do. If anything, Park Yong-Woo and Noh Ju-Hyeon completely steal the show from the leads, even though their roles are quite limited, and the vast array of cameos (from the always hilarious Ahn Sang-Tae to a side splittingly funny Kim Ae-Kyung in 'sexy ajumma' mode; from Park Joon-Gyu's magnetic use of ad-libs to a double by Woo Hyeon, who makes magic out of the 2-3 Minutes he gets in the film) adds to the fun. It's easy to understand why this film did well: pretty stars not afraid of playing along, a script born to make you laugh (forgetting just about everything else, alas), all combined to make a no-brainer choice for a date flick around Christmas (2005). I wish Chungmuro would focus more on the 싱글즈 (Singles) or 광식이 동생 광태 (When Romance Meets Destiny) type of romcoms, but of course we'll continue to see this kind of film in the future, especially when they do so well at the box office.
VIDEO: 7
Not as detailed as you'd expect, but it's a good transfer, with decent skin tones and contrast levels. A decent amount of 'good' grain, with no other major problems.
AUDIO: 7
Why do we get Dts for films like this, and then have to deal with 5.1 mixes in 청연 (Blue Swallow)? Nothing here which will take advantage of the format, so just a simple 5.1 would have been enough. Pretty quiet when it comes to surround activity, but the usual clear dialogue and soundtrack.
SUBTITLES: 7
I'd give a lower rating if it wasn't such a 'touchy' film to subtitle. Although 90% of all the little on-screen text is subtitled, a lot of it is done in a throwaway style, and there's a few questionable instances of translation (including the predictable cultural appropriation popping up with films of this kind). But all considered it's a good job, which should get across most of the comedy in general lines, although translation during the most dialogue-based moments betrays the original (especially in the Ahn Sang-Tae parts).
EXTRA FEATURES: 8.5
Disc 1
There's an audio commentary with Director Oh Gi-Hwan, Son Ye-Jin and Song Il-Guk, which is quite fun, although there isn't much info -- except a few interesting tidbits, like the fact Park Yong-Woo was cast at the last minute because of his performance in 혈의 누 (Blood Rain), so that must have been what influenced his turning down of the lead role in 부활 (Rebirth). But also that they shot in the same house as the hit TV Drama 미안하다 사랑한다 (I'm Sorry, I Love You), which in this case is Noh Joo-Hyeon's house.
Disc 2
Page 1 of the Special Features on Disc 2 features 'Deleted Scene' [5 Scenes, 4:36 total, mostly throwaway stuff]; 'Making Of' is a mammoth, 49 Minutes making of documentary mixing all the usual elements (behind the scenes, small interviews, scenes from the film, and more) in quite an entertaining way, even if you don't understand Korean; 'Interview' features short interviews with Director Oh [6:21, Introduces his reasons for doing a comedy and casting Son Ye-Jin, and says the film sold 500,000 tickets less than he expected -- meaning he expected 3 Million -- saying that the film might have taken too cold an approach to appeal to all viewers, especially at the end], Son Ye-Jin [4:14, She talks about how much fun she had shooting the film despite her initial struggles, comments about some of the most memorable scenes] and Song Il-Guk [5:05, he joked that he was really stressed because of the 'slave date' scenes and the fact he had to lose some weight, so he exercised a lot, and talked of how close he got with the staff], while 'Poster' [14:03] is a Poster Shoot Making Of (Fun. Son Ye-Jin is just stunning here). Finally, 'The Art of Loving' [18:09] is a list of 10 ways to hit the jackpot in dating (highlights from the film, with introduction from Director Oh, Son Ye-Jin and Song Il-Guk. Cute, but... the point? Audio is pretty bad here). On Page 2, 'Computer Graphic' [14:38] shows the various use of CGI, including the 英雄 (Hero) parody and the various on screen text/animation. This is quite interesting, showing how they used the source material and added it to the film. 'Commentary' [17:47] brings us to the recording room used for the commentary, and we get a few highlights of the preparations -- Son Ye-Jin was already sporting her shorter hair for 연애시대 (Alone in Love) -- then it's simply a quarter hour (the first quarter hour, to be precise) of the same commentary on the first DVD, only we also get video of it this time. 'Press Interview' is a 14:00 interview with Director Oh, Song Il-Guk and Son Ye-Jin from the presentation meeting (done outdoor). Standard meeting answers, introducing the project, the characters and thanking everyone for coming. Then we get a little deeper into the themes and the story, and it gets a little more interesting. 'Still Gallery' features 2:23 of stills from the film. Pretty nice, but there's too much intruding from the background graphics. We conclude with 'Trailers & MV' which includes a 60" Trailer [1:00, edit of the longer trailer], a 30" Trailer [0:30, TV Spot, with the kind of song they'd use in a milk commercial... in the 80s], a TV Spot [2:14, this is actually the Theatrical Trailer, the one we posted on the site back when it was released. Surprise surprise, it uses once again the same song from the 싱글즈 (Singles) trailer -- Goran Begovic's 'Ya Ay Ringe Ringe Raja'. Well made and pretty fun], and finally a Music Video [2:42, 기분좋은 변화 by Yoon Do-Hyun and Im Jung-Hee. He's one of the most popular mainstream rockers in Korea, she's one of the best R&B singers in the country. Song is pretty decent, but sort of feels like a fish out of water connected to the images in the film -- gives me more a feeling of something for a buddy movie a la 투가이즈 (Two Guys) or similar comedies].
VALUE FOR MONEY: 7
Like Son Ye-Jin? Song Il-Guk? Fluffly romantic comedies without too many pretenses other than giving you an entertaining 90 Minutes? This is for you. If you're looking for a good script and/or character development, performances that go beyond screen presence and fooling around, then you're clearly in the wrong place. Still, is looking at two pretty faces act like they need any 'art' to seduce others that much fun? If instead of going for the upscale 'quasi Hollywood' image they used characters who had a reason to apply that 'art' (other than just collecting name cards and a little money they don't need on the side), then things would have been a little more fun. For a date movie, it's not bad, but it's neither as entertaining as 가문의 위기 (Marrying The Mafia 2) nor as smart as romcoms like When Romance Meets Destiny. DVD is the usual good yet unimpressive job from iVision, but the excellent extra features redeem the whole package, making it a decent purchase.
OVERALL: 6.64
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TOP 10 KOREAN DVDs REVIEWED
==========================================
2005/07/01~2006/03/31
01. 9.36 - 형사 Duelist - 3DVD - enterOne
02. 8.78 - 주먹이 운다 (Crying Fist) - 2DVD - enterOne
03. 8.77 - 친절한 금자씨 (Sympathy For Lady Vengeance) - 2DVD - CJ Entertainment
04. 8.64 - 남극일기 (Antarctic Journal) - 2DVD - enterOne
04. 8.64 - 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol) - 2DVD - KD Media
06. 8.50 - 달콤한 인생 (A Bittersweet Life) - 2DVD Director's Cut - CJ Entertainment
07. 8.29 - 그때 그사람들 (The President's Last Bang) - 2DVD - KD Media
08. 8,21 - 말아톤 (Marathon) - 3DVD Director's Cut - KD Media
09. 8.07 - 오로라 공주 (Princess Aurora) - 2DVD - Cinema Service
10. 7.93 - 연애의 목적 SE (Rules of Dating) - 2DVD - CJ Entertainment
10. 7.93 - 태풍태양 (The Aggressives) - 1DVD - enterOne
These "Roundup" posts are my absolute favorite - and quite useful - ones at Twitch. Thank you X!!
Although I tend to shy away from Korean comedies since I've been let down way too many times in the past couple of years, I saw a decent one recently called "My Boss My Teacher" which actually made me laugh quite a few times. Nothing earth-shattering but a whole lot better than the recent crop of Korean comedies. Definitely worth a viewing.
Eh, I thought Jae Hee was pretty good in Art of Fighting, though I agree without a doubt it's very noticeable he could have been much better. I thought the direction was okay, but nothing special. Still, I liked it a fair bit nonetheless - perhaps due to lowered expectations, I dunno, but I found it very watchable and rather more affecting than I'd ever expected, plus pretty funny on a couple of expectations - bleak and tragic, maybe, but I still laughed.
Baek Yoon-Shik and what I thought was a superb score - absolutely stellar stuff - were the high points, but it was worth a purchase despite being far from perfect. I might catch it at the London KFF, I think. Be interesting to see how it goes down.
Marten, if you want a nice recent comedy, get 광식이 동생 광태 (When Romance Meets Destiny). Very low-key, kind of similar to 싱글즈 (Singles) in sensibilities although not as good.
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