Love & Peace in Bucheon

So I moseyed on down to Bucheon the other day just an hour and a bit by subway, south of Seoul.
BIFAN was on and i wanted to see this International Fantastic Film Festival for myself. Especially since they were presenting a Sion Sono retrospective, I am (not) Sion Sono.

I was only there for two days so I decided to see his two new films Tag and Love and Peace but all his classics were showing on the big screen and the man himself was in town to do Q&A's and a master class or two.

 When I saw Love and Peace, he was there to answer questions after the film. They translated each question and answer into Korean and Japanese and then a small group of us English speakers had our own personal translator on the fly. Not only a really fascinating film, very unlike a Sono film but just great to hear him break down the production process and hear his thinking behind some of the decisions.

and afterwards he patiently signed autographs for the throng of fans and then even allowed photo ops for the patient ones. Yes I was among them and waited till the end and we had a very stilted but warm chat. Part Japanese, part Korean and part English. I have enjoyed his films for a long time and it was so wonderful to meet such a gentle soul who is so imaginative and creative and prolific.

 You can read my review of Love and Peace for Filmed in Ether here

touched by the hand of God!

As for Tag, well maybe that's another day? But I will be seeing The Virgin Psychics at BIFF 2015 in October, actually in a few days. I hope one day to get back to BIFAN and immerse fully into their program because this massive highlight was only one of many. A really cool festival

BIFFology 101

          Why BIFF 2015?
                                                        Well why not I say!
          Not enough you say?
                                                       OK then, well try this on for size.
First up, 3 X the usual suspects.

Hong Sang Soo presents his latest Right Now Wrong Then.
Professor, pretty girl, time warps, a palace & drinking. Same old, same old? Apparently not!
By all accounts it's a cracker, winning awards at Lorcarno (Golden Leopard & Best Actor)

this is not a trailer, just a still

Kim Ki Duk has a new one called Stop. Inspired by Fukoshima and set in Tokyo.
Looking forward to an improvement on last years One on One.

• Tsubasa Nakae  & Natsuko Hori 

Sion Sono has The Virgin Psychics, this will be the third new Sono film I have seen this year!!!!
Looks like a blend of Love & Peace & Tag??? But that's just a wild guess from the trailer.
Lookk forward to more tough school girls and his high kicking, up skirt signature shots.

ohhhh Sono!!!!

One summer blockbuster
Last year there were a few of these shown, this year it is Assassination by Choi Dong-Hoon, the man who bought us The Thieves. One of the big summer hits (over 10 millionat the box office) but they haven't shown it with subtitles yet.
Set in the Japanese occupation, it's all about an assassination squad in the Korean resistance.

Movie Poster

One from China (at least)
The Assassin by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, I now everyone saw it at MIFF but I was stuck here in Seoul.
Ethereal, period murder? One to watch according to the grapevine.

movie poster

A couple of classics
Seven Samurai, from Akira Kurosawa, the film that became The Magnificent Seven

the gang

The Housemaid by Kim Ki Young (original) 1960. Loved the remake so looking forward to the original in lucious Black & White.

tension?

And lastly for now.
Brillante Mendoza brings his latest, Taklub. Always interested in his work, a legend of the Philippines. This is another of his films with Nora Aunor, another legend.

movie poster

I'll be heading down for the first six days (I know but logistics & commitments) and am planning to see all these and fill in the gaps with a smattering of new Korean cinema.
Such a great festival and always lots of fun in between the movies. See you there?

Sono is the Man!!!

Why Don't You Play In Hell?


For those who thought the great man was wavering with Himizu & The Land of Hope after his acclaimed Trilogy of Hate, this is a triumphant return. 
And OK this is not recent news.
But for those in Australia, Madman has just released this cracker on DVD and because of this I have reviewed it for Filmed in Ether.

 "Why Don’t You Play in Hell? is an incredibly layered and complex film once you smear all the blood to one side. Don’t be foiled by the preposterous prepositions that predicate and permeate cause for anyone who is privy to Sion Sono’s vast body of work knows, he is more than just a cheap thrill. He’s a poet, an artist and then he is a prolific filmmaker with an average of more than one a year since 2000."    read more

 

A nice addition to the collection.

BIFF Bucket List

3 days out and counting
Here's my El - Biffo Bucket List,
I fuck'n never make bucket lists, own a bucket list or use the expression.
What's going on?
Anyway I've been watching the fish jumping for joy in the SuYeong River and I'm pretty excited too!
Here we go.

Thurs:
Paradise in Service (Taiwan). Opening night film. Very lucky to get ticket so will attend.

Fri:
Hill of Freedom 자유의 언덕 (Korea). This is Hong Sangsoo's latest, plus it's so short (70min) it mus be sweet and there is a guest visit!!!! Say no more.   

Hong Sangsoo

A Hard Night 끝까지 간다 (Korea). This is a text book case study in genre mechanics and a cracker of a ride. I wanna see it again to break it down a bit plus it has a guest visit.

Love Never Fails 사랑이 이긴다 (Korea) An overachieving high school girl and her overbearing mother. Hmmmm OK!

Kundo: Age of the Rampant 군도:민란의 시대 (Korea). One of this summer's period blockbusters that sent the domestic box office in a spin (in a good way). Must see to experience the fuss and maybe learn some history? It too has a guest visit.

Sat:
The Fatal Encounter 역린 (Korea). A historical piece about a king dodging too many assassins. A debut feature film for a established TV director.

One on One 일대일 (Korea). A Kim Ki-duk film is always worth the investment of some time. Happy to see the progression from Pieta and Mobius plus hear from the boss himself in a guest visit.

Timing 타이밍 (Korea) Superpowers of time control used to solve mysteries! With a guest event to explain. Sounds good to me.

Mother 마더 (Korea) A Bong Joon Hoclassic that needs to be seen on the big screen + guest visit.

Sun:
Roaring Currents 명량 (Korea) Another box office smashing, period, summer blockbuster staring Mr. Old boy himself, Choi Min-sik. Oh yeah it's including a guest visit.

Sion Sono

Tokyo Tribe (Japan). Sion Sono's latest and it sounds like a cracker. If anyone is going to switch me onto Hip Hop it's going to be the Master. Unfortunately amidst unsubstantiated rumours of unreliability and high jinx revelry he will not be in attendance this year. Boo!

Haemoo 해무 (Korea). debut feature and all about people smugglers/fisherman/boat people/illegal immigrants. Sounds kinda close to home?

Venus Talk 관능의 법칙 (Korea). I  dont think this is sex in the city but it might be. I apologise if I'm right off the mark.

Mon: Doco Monday!
The Truth Shall not Sink with Sewol 다이빙벨 (Korea). A doco looking into the disaster of the Sewol ferry sinking and the consequent Government inaction and silence ever since. Controversial and with guest visit. This one will get close to the bone.

The Target 표적 (Korea). A remake of Point Blank! Interesting. Chases & Twists Assassins and a doctor's kidnapped wife. Recipe for goodness maybe?

Southeast Asian Cinema, When the Rooster Crows. (Italian) A documentary featuring four directors from the region, the one that pricked my interest was Brillante Mendoza from the Philippines. This director also made a doco on South Korean cinema a few years back which was met with acclaim.
Tue:
Over your Dead Body (Japan). A ghost story from Takashi Miike, ahhh, OK!

Kill Me Three Times (Australia). Maybe a not so cute follow up to Red Dog.

Socialphobia  소셜포비아 (Korea) Internet bullies, provocative comments online, suicide or maybe murder. If it be too confusing a guest event might help.

Nick & Chai (Philippines). Doco on the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan and how one couple cope.

Wim Wenders

Wed: 
Salt of the Earth (Germany) Interesting doco from Wim Wenders. Track record impeccable, will always check out his work.

Bwaya (Philippines) Crocodile attack in swamps, guest event, Philippines.

Thur:
Han River 한강블루스 (Korea) Suicide, homeless, priesthood and that famous river.

Live TV 라이브TV (Korea) Suitably coocky story of a live internet broadcast of a threesome where they are stalked by a crazed killer. OK I'm there!

The Pirates 해적: 바다로 간 산적 (Korea). Another summer, period blockbuster, this time with those that say arrrggghh!

Asian Short Films program 3. A collection of shorts that are in competition this year.

Fri:
Korean Shorts Prog 1. A collection of shorts that are in competition this year.

Coming Home (China) cause it came highly recommended and has a star studded cast

Pasolini (France/Italy/Belgium). Reconstructing the last days of Pasolini's life. If this is half as good as the short on the same subject "Ostia - La Notte Finale" it will be a cracker.

Lars Von Trier

Nymphomaniac Lars Von Trier at midnight and uncut. Yes Please!

Sat:
Still the Water (Japan) Life, Death & First Love uh huh.



So that's it so far, busy schedule but it still has room for more.....but do I?

19th BIFF, 2014. Build it and they will come

Yes I'm back in Southern South Korea, Busan to be exact.
and I'm back to attend the 19th Busan International Film Festival.
and yup I'm pretty excited again!

the cinema centre before the crowds

I've been writing about BIFF for the last four years and this is my second time attending.
There has always been a common theme for me and if you run through the blog archive (right hand side) each year around October you will read what I mean.
Sion Sono, Hong Sangsoo and Kim Ki Duk are three favourites who regularly deliver to this festival and this year is no exception.

 Tokyo Tribe is Sono's foray into the world of Hip Hop!!!! or is that just a gross misrepresentation?? Who cares? because anything Mr. Prolific does is guaranteed to be quite fucked up even if it be a journey closer to the mainstream

Hill of Freedom is Hong's shortest feature to date but still promises a lot of loop de loops with his fantastic narrative style with lashings of wry sense of humour.

One on One is Kim Ki-duk's brutal commentary on life today in Korea, though of course done in his own abstract kinda way....aparently. They say not his best work to date but hey, I'll watch his films anyday cause he's a fascinating story teller and a fascinating filmmaker.

 For me seeing these three films is enough and only Sion Sono is not in town for Q&A's but I secretly think he will jet in at the last minute, cause it's only just around the corner for him eh?

This is just the start, there is so much more going on at this festival but more on that later.

The 19th BIFF, 2014 is happening early October for about 10 days and one of the pleasures of being here a little bit early is that I see the stage get built, little bit by little bit.

Haeundae Beach

A Few of my Favourite Things

The wall of talent

Director Jazz in Love

Director of Sapi

                  Director of Prologue to the Great Desaparecido  & Norte, the End of History

Director of Transit

Director of Sana Dati (If Only)

Director of

Why Don't You Play in Hell?

Director of Our Sunhi & Nobody's Daughter Haewon

Director of Moebius

Director of Safe

Director of Mystery Road

These are some of my favourite directors from Busan.
Certainly not all of them and in no particular order.
But hey! What a bevy of talent and then you look at the whole wall....WOW!
Certainly not a veteran of festivals, esp on this international scale but I was a pig in shit at Busan and if you are partial to cinema of the east I think you would be too. Exciting stuff, so much to see.

With stars in my eyes I'm trying to take a little bit away

Day 2 BIFFo

Touched by the hand of God
or in my case Sion Sono
Why Don't you Play in Hell?    Hell Yeah, why not?
The prodigious filmmaker who has failed to disappoint just tops it once again.
Well the two masks of drama have one who weeps (Sono's usual) and one who laughs (Sono's strength in this film) The brutality is still there, the gore is aplenty along with buckets of blood but the humour is dished up in spades. Plus all the coincidences of life for all the characters, the looped de dos, the brilliance of what was random at the start becomes profound by the end. the absolute fucking fantastical. Fans will not be disappointed but also those who are fresh and new to the master will love this feast. It's got it all! The Yakuza gang that swaps their 'western style' dress for the more traditional Kimono, Samurai sword slashing excesses, gigantic gun battle extraordinaire, film geek 'fuck bombers' death by broken glass....in the mouth, film god homages and a really catchy toothpaste ad.

and then at the end of the film in he walked for a twenty minute Q&A. The cinema went wild!

 

as did I. My Korean failed me and my Japanese is shit but sometimes just being in the presence of a holly one is enough.

Oh yeah and I literally was touched by him when he signed my ticket.

Pretty hard to top that one

but the next stop was Hannah Espia's Transit

This was its international premier after winning best film (+ a whole lot of other awards) at the Cinemalaya 2013 'New Breed' category in the Philippines. It's the story of Filipino migrant workers in Israel and specifically their children that have been born there. In 2009 there was a law passed that did not recognise these kids as Israeli and they started deporting them to their parents country of origin. Transit follows the life of one such broken family and their vain attempts to dodge the authorities. It's about identity and dislocation, striving for a better life but staying true to your roots. Visually it captures life in Israel, the coast of Jaffa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv beautifully  but it also captures the tension and paranoia of those with something to hide. 

Hannah's background as an editor comes to the fore when she retrospectively decided to structure the film as 5 points of view of the same story. Sometimes we see the same scenario from a different view but we always get a little bit more of the story with each character. I love this sort of structure, reminiscent of of Hong Sang soo film but not quite as bold. It works very powerfully with this story and is backed up with strong performances.     

I'm used to writing about Mercedes Cabral in association with Brillante Mendoza's films but here she is as the recently arrived immigrant worker with no real permit. Very understated but great performance. A big tick to the director. But the real scene stopper is peanut, the little boy who eventually gets deported. his story is but one of five points of view of the same scenario but he is brilliant! Another stand out is Jasmine Curtis Smith as the older sister of peanut, truly a star to watch.

Jasmine Curtis Smith

Transit ticks a lot of boxes. Structure, Visuals and Performance  are all very strong and although the story is one of hopelessness you are not left at the end without hope. This is a very accomplished debut feature for the director and quite a beautiful experience to watch.

A great way to finish the day and then a very informative Q&A post film.

Hannah Espia & producer Paul Soriano

Tokyo FILMEX 2012

Okay, so now I wanna go to Japan!

A wee bit late, may have missed the boat but still could fly there.

What a program, What a festival. Tokyo FILMEX 2012

The creme de la creme of Asian Cinema but only nine films in competition?

Ahha but 14 films in special screenings!

Here's a little run down on some of the South Korean & Japanese gems

Hong Sang soo's In Another Country is the opening film and he was a there for a Q&A. This is an extraordinarily witty film with the addition of English dialogue from Isabelle Huppert presence making for some fantastic cross conversations and quite awkward situations. For me it was evidence of evolution of filmmaker and thus I see it totally as fitting to be an opening film for a good look'n festival.

Moon Sori, Hong Sangsoo, French actress Isabelle Huppert,  Yu Jun Sang                                                                             and Youn Yuh-jung arrive for the screening of "In Another Country." at Canne 2012

Also in Japan.
Hong Sang soo has four films touring the country, described as a 'roadshow'. Sounds like the surf movie exhibition route of traveling the coast of Australia during summer? Hahaha, Like You Know It All, Oki‘s Movie and The Day He Arrives. The roadshow started at Cinemart Shinjuku, Tokyo on November 18th. After 6 weeks in Tokyo, the roadshow will move to Osaka and continue for 3 weeks. Then it will progress to other cities including Nagoya, Kyoto and Fukuoka.

But back to Filmex, here's a bit of a coup, Sion Sono's Bad Film is getting it's premier.
Shot in 1995 on Hi8 it was never finished! That is until this year, 17 years later and apparently sourced from 150hrs of footage, this is one that I would love to see.
Stunning, awe-inspiring, masterwork are some of the adjectives used to describe this film.

161min of pure experimental Sion Sono

I'm excited. It's political, it's activism, it's about China and Japan. It stars Tokyo GAGAGA
It's a good year when they release Bad Film.

Ok and now back to Korea, the one that roared at Venice this year, with some controversy but hell I still wanna see it that's for sure.
Kim Ki Duk's - Pieta
The first South Korean film to win the ol' Golden Lion. It's a film about mum and son but that's really under selling it.

Two of his other films are on my to see list. The auto biographical doco Arirang and one I almost saw at KOFFIA this year Spring Summer Autumn  Winter...and Spring

 

No doubt I've missed some beauties in this years line up but hey if you just saw these three in a week it'd be a pretty darn good one. eh? just another good reason to visit Japan. but hurry!