Cinema of the morning calm
Cinema of South Korea, nicknamed the Land of the Morning Calm, has long been enjoying the status of a global legend. Kim Ki-duk and Park Chan-wook are known well beyond the country’s borders, their films won awards at prestigious festivals, and one of Park’s works recently became the basis for a Hollywood remake.
Therefore, the Contemporary Korean Film Festival, which will start in Kyiv on September 19, will be a real treat for our audience.
Genres vary. Heroes of the melodrama Architecture 101, directed by Lee Yong-joo, attended an applied course in the university together and met there. Student Lee Seung-min, 20, was madly in love with his classmate Yang Seo-yeon, but did not found time to confess his feelings. Due to certain life circumstances, they stopped communicating. On one day 15 years later, Yang Seo-yeon, the love of all his life for Lee Seung-min, asks him, now a prominent architect, to assist her with a building design. The protagonist gladly takes charge of renovating her old home. Immersed in the construction effort, the two revisit their old memories and begin to stir their feelings for each other, which are still very much alive... However, the long-lived love has its dark side as well.
Jang Cheol-soo’s ironic action film Secretly, Greatly touches on the painful subject of Korea’s division into two parts. Three spies from communist North Korea were sent to South Korea, ostensibly with the lofty goal of unifying Korea. These ambitious guys have to live like normal people, waiting for the signal to start their secret mission. All three had to live in the poorest district of Seoul for a long time. After two years without receiving any orders from North, the boys gradually become accustomed to life in the capitalist state. But suddenly, when they do not expect to receive a signal to start their secret mission, it comes. At the same time, a North Korean army instructor crosses the border to eliminate those who would disobey the party’s orders. The clueless boys are facing a mortal danger.
Lee Hyeon-jong’s criminal comedy Steal My Heart features intertwined personal passions and professional duty. Detective Lee Ho-tae is an elite policeman, virtually perfect at finding and arresting criminals. But suddenly, he finds himself in a position where he has to arrest the girl who was his first love, because she has become a skillful thief, long wanted by the police.
Seong Si-heub’s The Plan Man has as its protagonist a librarian who used to plan life in advance and could not live without scheduling, but falls in love with a girl who works in a nearby store as a cashier. The love is a disaster for any plans.
Choi Ik-hwan’s Mama comprises three different stories about relationships between mothers and their children. This is a quite unusual take on the Bildungsroman (novel of education).
The most famous of these directors is Song Il-gon, represented by his drama Always. As usually with Song, the film’s conflict is unfolding due to circumstances which are very unfavorable to life. Of all these stories, this one puts love to most severe test, as the heroine has lost her eyesight due to a car accident, while her boyfriend is a boxer who has left professional sport. Their relationship is quite harmonious, but suddenly, it is possible to restore the boxer’s sweetheart’s eyesight. However, is not the price of it too high? This film will probably strike a chord with the audience more than any other.
The Korean Film Festival will be held from September 19 through 22 at the cinema “Kyiv” in the capital.
