A Tiger in Winter Directed by Lee Kwang-kuk Starring Ko Hyun-jung, Lee Jin-uk and Ryu Hyun-kyung Teaser screening for LKFF by Gemsy A barren and cold midwinter day sees a pair of unfortunate former lovers – one finding himself at the bottom of the barrel and the other endeavouring daily to find the bottom of […]

London Korean Film Festival 2017 26 October – 19 November 2017 www.koreanfilm.co.uk by Richard Hamer The London Korean Film Festival is now 12 years old, and has firmly established its reputation as the home for exciting, surprising Asian cinema in the Capital. This year – as the cliché goes – is no different: With a […]

The First Lap Directed by Kim Dae-hwan Starring Cho Hyun-chul and Kim Saebyuk Screening at LKFF November 8th, 2017 by Richard Hamer A wonderful exploration of cross-generational attitudes to love and life, Kim Dae-hwan’s The First Lap makes for a delightfully low-key closer for this years’ London Korean Film Festival. The film follows Su-hyeon and […]

The Day After Directed by Hong Sang-soo Starring Kwon Haehyo, Kim Minhee and Kim Saebyuk Screening at LKFF October 26th, 2017 by Richard Hamer Presented in black and white, every scene amounting to little more than two people sat opposite each other talking, The Day After is a quiet, fascinating little movie. Kwon Haehyo plays […]

The Outlaws (Crime City) Directed by Kang Yun-sung Starring Don Lee, Yoon Kye-sang and Cho Cha-yun Screening at LKFF October 27th, 2017 by Richard Hamer Still playing in Korean cinemas at the time of its London screening, The Outlaws is doing great box office. It’s not hard to see why: Fresh from blockbuster hit Train […]

Master Directed by Cho Ui-seok Starring Lee Byung-hun, Gang Dong-won and Kim Woo-bin Screening at LKFF November 6th, 2017 by Richard Hamer President Jin (Lee Byung-hun) is the charismatic head of a vast and successful Ponzi scheme that is secretly defrauding thousands. His operation is airtight; able to dissemble itself and destroy all evidence at […]

The Merciless Directed by Byun Sung-hyun Starring Sul Kyung-gu and Yim Si-wan Screening at LKFF November 3rd, 2017 by Richard Hamer Released from prison after a three-year stint, up-and-coming gangster Hyun-soo joins forces with Jae-hoo, an established figure in the Busan underworld, to make the kind of money they spent their years inside dreaming about. […]

A Matter of Interpretation Directed by Lee Kwang-kuk Starring Yu Jun-sang, Shin Dong-mi, Kim Kang-hyun From the LKFF’s ‘Emerging Directors’ strand comes Lee Kwang-kuks’ A Matter of Interpretation, a curious little movie about a detective who – separately and quite by coincidence – bumps into both sides of a recently separated couple and decides to […]

Ode To My Father Directed by JK Youn Starring Hwang Jung-min, Kim Yunjin Ode To My Father – this year’s LKFF opening gala movie – is, with over fourteen million tickets sold, the second highest grossing Korean movie of all time. It’s cinema on a massive scale, with a huge, international cast spread across several […]

Sleepless Night Directed by Jang Kun-jae Starring Kim Soo-hyun, Kim Joo-ryoung Sleepless Night comes to us from first time director Jang Kun-jae. A subtle, quiet indie film, it focuses on the relationship between a newly married couple, and the pressures they face both financially and emotionally: their parents want them to have children, the desire […]