[Gig film] Big Bang wembley 2012

Posted on January 12th, 2013

Video Number one – a compilation of clips of talking

Taeyang goes for a wander

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[Film] My Beautiful Short Films (Volume 4) [South Korea]

Posted on January 6th, 2013

My Beautiful Short Films (Volume 4)

Originally posted in 2010 on London Korean Links)

Released by KOFIC (Korean Academy of Film Arts) this DVD was one I was very curious and keen to see. Consisting of 10 short films made by directors while studying at the Academy, the shorts range between 11 and 30 minutes long. I was keen to get this because Bong Joon Ho was involved in one of the shorts and of the names listed, his was the only one I recognised.

 01: Fantasy in Winter (Kim SoYeong)

I don’t think this was the wisest of shorts to start the DVD with to be honest. It’s confusing, abstract and actually quite bizarre. If anyone who studied film in great depth can enlighten me to its point I’d be keen to listen.

02: Winter Story (Park KiYong)

A downbeat piece about a man who has returned after a year’s absence to find many things have changed. Its quite nice, atmospheric, but the picture quality is quite bad in places though whether that is intentional or not it’s a little difficult to tell. Has a nice angle on using soju and cigarettes as how people relate to each other.

Daum has little information on him except that he directed ‘Camels’ (2003) ‘Motel Cactus’ (1997) and ‘이공’ in 2003.

03: Serious Battle (Bu SungChul) (2001)

Shot in Black and white it tells the story of an army recruit sent to the medical ward during which time a manhunt begins for some North Koreans. Its well thought out, set almost entirely in the medical room, the outside world only intruding with the television that reports the battle, the sound of artillery practise and the night entry of an injured man.

From what I managed to gleam from Daum, The writer, editor and director Bu Sung Chul is the director of ‘A Star’s Lover’, an SBS drama in 2008 which starred Choi JiWoo and Yoo JiTae.

 04: From the Midnight to the Dawn (Park KyungHee)

A woman takes a taxi home late at night and falls asleep, waking up to realise her driver has taken her off the route home and has other intentions. A little confusing in its portrayal of a sexual assault – that the woman goes from fear to not much of a struggle at his attempt to coerce her into sex . It also feels like it has continuity issues with where the two characters are sitting in the car.

 05: Me in the Memory (Shin DongIl)

A nice short about a man who watches a girl standing on her balcony every evening. The link between them gradually reveals until the last twist in the tale. The director Shin DongIl is now better known for the films ‘Host and Guest’, ‘My Friend and his Wife’ and ‘Bandhobi’. The short was a good project to pick and shot entirely at night and almost entirely from his point of view within the car he drives.

06: 2001 Imagine (Jang Jun Hwan & Bong Joon-ho)

Written and directed by Jang Junhwan, with cinematography by Bong JoonHo, Imagine 2001 tells the story of a young man who may, or at least wholehearted believes he is, the reincarnation of John Lennon. A twisted tale of deception and obsession that could so easily happen in real life and probably does. Jang JunHwan is the director of ‘Save the Green Planet’ which is now high on my list of films I must get. Bong Joon Ho is the director of ‘The Host’ and ‘Memories of Murder’.

07: A Boy’s Poem ( Kang YiKwan)

Produced, written, edited and directed by Kang YiKwan, whose main film credit is ‘sagwa’ (2009) and as assistant director on ‘Memento Mori’. A Boy’s Poem is a wonderful short about the nature of guilt and punishment, told from the viewpoint of a young teen whose joyful bike ride down a hill has an abrupt end. The bright sunshine of summer contrasts nicely with the uncomfortable emotions of the main character and the dialogue is minimal, reflecting the inability of children to fully express themselves when dealing with bigger adult emotions.

 08: E.L. (Shin TeRa)

Shin TaeRa wrote, directed and edited this piece about Artificial Intelligence and the ability of machines to feel emotion. His first film was ‘brain dead’ a sci fi that was low budget and not so well known, but ‘Black House’ and this year ‘My Girlfriend is an Agent’ show that his ideas and skills appeal to the mainstream audience. Its not the greatest short, the rather clumsy effects detracting from the story.

09: In Dreams (Sung NamShik) (2001)

A 12 minute animation set to music about the confusion of a dream and waking from it. It was really nice to see a short animation included in this DVD. Whilst the director seems to have done only one other previous short, it would be good to see more from someone who can engage the viewer with simple characters and design. The lack of dialogue will also appeal to a wider audience!

10: A Child Gathering A Dream (Min ByungKwan) (1985)

A simple story of a day out of a grandfather and his grandson showing the dreams and selfishness of the young versus the reality and compromise of the adult. The director doesn’t seem to have done much else at all, but it was nice to see the Seoul of yesteryear when grandfathers still wore traditional clothes and hats!

 

On the whole I am really glad I have this DVD and am keen to look at more of the short film DVDs that are available. ‘Serious Battle’ ‘A Boy’s Poem’ ‘Imagine 2001’ are the strongest of the shorts and well worth having the DVD for these alone.

 

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[Gig Pics] Big Bang Picture Gallery now up!

Posted on December 17th, 2012

There was of course a restriction on the type of camera you could bring in, but my little point and shoot did a fairly good job in the end. The full album can be found:

HERE

 

But for the busy bees of this world you can see some of the best below:


Video footage will follow tomorrow

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[GIG] Big Bang rocks Wembley Arena – 15th December 2012

Posted on December 16th, 2012

Its been long awaited and much hyped, but Big Bang finally made their appearance in the UK at London’s Wembley Arena on 14th and 15th December. Despite ticket prices between £66 and £99 the two shows were sell outs and the Saturday was my turn to find out if it was all worth the hype.

Hotel
My first stop that day was, unusually, the Garden Park Hotel on Kensington High Street where the band were reputedly staying. One of my friends is a keen autograph hunter and fan of Korean Cinema and had worked out the location from a tweet the band had sent of the view from their room. She was eager to get TOP to sign a cover of ’79 into the fire’ but there had been no joy the day before and only Taeyang had been friendly enough to sign a photo.  We missed them by about five minutes so onto the gig I went after a quick pint.
The queues at Wembley for entry as well as merchandise were very long and the outside one only accepting cash I ended up with just a tote bag. I seem to get these at concerts. Inside the hoodies were already sold out along with light sticks and other things so they must have made a mint!

view
Perched up to the left of the extended stage, we had a very good view of the arena as it filled up and crown lights went on. There was various singing and shouting, Big Bang MV’s being  played and with an increased volume on ‘Fantastic Baby’ the lights went down and the screaming began.

SAM_0868

The intro talked about them being revived from cryogenically frozen capsules and then the curtain finally dropped and I lost the upper ranges of my hearing with the frenzied noise from the crowd.

SAM_0920‘How Gee’ introduced gold glittery segueways which they spun about the stage in a very nifty manner and favourites such as ‘Monster’, ‘Love Song’ , ‘Bad Boy’, and a whole host of tracks I didn’t know thanks to albums not arriving in the post in time.
The conversational interludes and dance tutorials were fun, especially for the pretty good cockney accent produced by Seungri whose persistent ‘you awwight?’ interjections kept us laughing. Their English is good and they know how to work an audience!

GDragon was the first to have a solo stage with ‘get your freak on’ and other tracks i can’t identify as i don’t have his solo work and performed with a lot of energy and fancy footwork. Taeyang’s solo stage kicked off with ‘Only look at me’ which then segued into a medley of other tracks and the removal of his shirt which had more than a few of the audience members in a bit of hysterical  state.
SAM_1172Even high electro-pop needs a break though and that was provided by ‘Haru Haru’ a balled from a rather fogged up stage. There were a lot of stage effects from fake snow to fire jets, glitter tape and ticker tape, elevated platforms and sinking stages.

I was very uncomfortable with the kick off one particular stage which was lacked sensitivity in light of recent events in Conneticut, but that was the only real negative point of the concert for me and indicative of how closeted their world must be and how far removed from every day news and events. At least i hope its that anyway.

The encore consisted of some more ‘Fantastic Baby’ where TaeYang, still shirtless went off in his own world, dancing off th tage and leaning into the audience where security was quick to extract him before he continued on his way.

There was some more ‘you awwright’ from Seungri and the thanks yous and goodbyes. Even TOP was persuaded to speak, his voice a deep throaty rumble that was a little hard to understand and he finished his speech in Korean with which he was obviously more comfortable.
It was definitely three hours worth of excellent stage show, dance music and one of the first big Korean pop concerts I’d been to. I am sure with a welcome like that they will be back and more groups will follow in their wake.
Big Bang now head off to Tokyo and then to Seoul to finish up the tour which can only be classed as a total success for them.

NB: Pics will go up tomorrow as I’m tired – my journey home on Saturday ended up via Watford and a one lane motorway crawl that had me in bed well after 1am.

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[GIG] CNBLUE at the Indigo 02 – 22nd September 2012

Posted on September 23rd, 2012

It was 3pm on a sunny but cool afternoon when I began to queue for the CNBlue concert, though many had been there since early morning coming from as far afield as Finland, France, Switzerland, Italy and Poland – a wide mix of nationalities and ethnicity that seemed almost equal. As with all concerts there were screams when the lead singer was spotted and more for various cameras and media coverage. Queue buddies ran back and forth to get food and bathroom breaks and the mood was definitely one of excitement.


CNBLUE*, is a four man indie styled band that started in 2009 and began their career debuting in Japan. An unusual route, but with a saturated market, an understandable one, though their first release didn’t have too much success. The original bassist left after a month and was replaced by Lee Jung Shin, though the rest of the line up remained the same; Jung Yong Hwa the Leader, Main Vocalist and Rhythm Guitarist; Lee Jong  Shin Lead Guitarist, Vocalist; Kang Min Hyuk Drummer, Backing Vocalist.

It was in October that year that Jung Jong Hwa took the second lead in the drama ‘You’re Beautiful’ and brought CNBLUE some needed attention with his vocals and the group debuted in Korea in January 2011. It was how I heard of them and rather enjoyed their musical styling that was closer to rock than pop and with all of them able to sing and play an instrument kept them a cut above the pretty boy dance groups that have always been the rage.

Fast forward to this year and they have done steadily well with another music based drama ‘Heartstrings’ for both Jong Jung Hwa and Kang Min Hyuk and currently a daily drama for Lee Jong shin and a few studio albums and EP for both Korean and Japanese markets. There have been endorsements and tours across Asia as well as performances in the USA, but today was the big one for Europe and dream come true for the band who have always wanted to play in the city that has represented the home of rock and roll to many.

Despite the dire warning tannoyed to us before the start of the show that banned us from all forms of photography and audio recording, a mass of cameras shot into the air as soon as the lights went down and the band came on and the show began. The Indigo 02 has excellent acoustics, the bass resonating through in everyone’s chest like a second heartbeat and the screams of a mostly female audience guaranteed to eliminate your upper ranges of hearing. In anticipation of this I did actually have earplugs**, but like I said, the sound system is excellent and I heard every note and word anyway!

What came across the most to me as they played a vast amount of their repertoire was the sheer joy they put into their performance. They were excellent live performers from just a talent point of view already, but the energy and fun they exuded through the whole 2 hour set was really fantastic. They wanted to be there, they loved the songs they performed, they talked to the audience and the audience listened respectfully in the ballads and joined in with the upbeat numbers.

There was a bit of a crush going on at the front with one girl having to be pulled out by security and water being handed out before the encore. (Though I think they were lucky no-one had an epileptic fit the excessive amount of strobe that was used). Jung Yong Hwa asked everyone to move back and waited until we’d done so before he began singing again and of course we’d listen to him! Three encore songs, us singing happy birthday to Lee Jung Shin, a few lines from Oasis and some excellent performances made it a memorable and enjoyable evening. They said they want to come back and promised they would and I hope they keep that promise as I would love to see them perform live again.

*CN stands for Code Name and BLUE is the initials of each member’s representation. ‘Burning’ – Lee Jong Hyun, ‘Lovely’ – Kang Min Hyuk, ‘Untouchable’ – Lee Jung Shin, and ‘Emotional’ – Jung Yong Hwa

** I have slight tinitus, not an aversion to fun.

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[Anime] Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack [Hirao, Japan, 2012]

Posted on August 15th, 2012

Based on the manga of the same name by Junji Ito, this surreal apocalyptic horror is brought to the screen by Takayuki Hirao and is a fantastic, bizarre, grotesque anime about mutated fish that arrive on land complete with metallic pincer like legs and a deadly disease.

Kaori on holiday with two friends in Okinawa encounters the fish and a shark in the summer house they are staying in. After losing touch with her boyfriend, heads back to Tokyo to find him. Things are much worse in Tokyo though, the death stench and bacteria in the air ever increasing and the nightmare creatures evolving into far worse.

I hadn’t really known what to expect from a horror anime, and I wasn’t familiar with either the director or the original writer’s work before, but  really made an impression and lingered long after the credits have rolled. Definitely not for children to view, it has hints of the idea of tentacle erotica (something that pre-dates modern Manga) and yet still maintains a strong Eco message about how we reap our own destiny.

The characters were simply portrayed, likeable Kaori, sexually active Erika and the average Aki, all of whose dynamic as friends changes and fractures as the crisis deepens. This is something that is also part of the horror in my opinion, that friendship might not last a crisis and how easily positions can juxtapose and change.

If you want to see something a bit different I really do recommend this film. I would certainly be keen to see more of Junji Ito’s work on the big screen in future.

The UK DVD Release Date  for Gyo is: 20th August 2012 (Terror-cotta label)

 

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Terracotta Film Festival: Dancing Queen [Lee Suk-Hoon, S. Korea,2012]

Posted on April 21st, 2012

This second film of the Korean Breakfast Club double bill was a comedy with a little more social punch, dealing with gender roles in Korean society, politics and show business. The story focuses on Jung-Hwa (Uhm Jung Hwa) once known as the Madonna of Shinchon who once dreamed of being a singer before marrying her childhood friend Jung-Min (Hwang Jung-Min) whose dream of being the president had also long faded with the responsibilities of marriage and a child. Stuck in a rut they have lost touch with themselves as well as who they once were until the opportunity presents itself to them to finally fulfill the dreams they hold dear, the only problem being that one might have to sacrifice for the other.

Dancing Queen

Uhm Jung Hwa is a wonderfully versatile actress who has taken on a varied number of roles in her career ranging from the crime thriller ‘Princess Aurora’ to the romantic ‘Mr. Hong’. Here in the role of Jung-Hwa she can excel as her first career is that of a kpop dance queen, often named the Madonna of Korea. (Its actually a pet peeve of mine that Korean singers and actors often are compared to Western artists, but that’s a whole other post for another time.) In this role she has chosen she gets to show off all her skills as singer, dancer and actress and as you might have guessed, I think she did a very good job.
Hwang Jung-Min who plays her husband Jung-Min whose drama ‘Korean Peninsula’ is currently airing is excellent as the often bewildered husband with excellent comic timing and expression.

Its hard to elaborate on the story without giving too much of it away, but it did well using a more mature family unit to demonstrate the gender dynamic in a relationship rather than a young couple. Settled and yet in between the old Korea and the new, they have to examine their expectations of themselves as much as what they think is expected of them and what they really want. I know I am making the film sound more serious than it plays out, but comedy is often the best way to get a point across about a more serious truth. Dancing Queen does it well.

The soundtrack is of course catchy pop as you would expect and might just be sneaking  onto my next CD order.

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Terracotta Film festival: Couples [Jeong Yong-Ki, S. Korea, 2011]

Posted on April 21st, 2012

Couples

Couples is not an easy storyline to explain, but that is perhaps one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. A remake of the film ‘Stranger of Mine‘ (Ken Uchida, Japan 2005), the main action takes place during one day as we follow the story of several couples and how their lives intertwine and influence their relationships with each other. The timeline of this story however is not a traditional arc that goes from A to B, but jumps back and forth in the present and flashbacks to the past to build into a crescendo of events.

I like films that play with time and story and the main scene that we build up to shows how well the the narrative had to be crafted. The planning and timing of the events was absolutely superbly done, not one thing out of place or poorly executed. It seems a paradox that the chaos portrayed had to be to meticulously controlled, but as someone who likes to play with time and story when writing fiction, I really appreciated  this a lot.

Whilst I am not fond of her as an actress , Lee ShiYeong was well cast as the flighty NaRi with good comic timing and expression, though having seen some of her previous roles in dramas such as ‘Boys Over Flowers‘ and ‘Playful Kiss‘ she has not yet come out of her comfort zone. Kim Ju-Hyeok did well as the lovelorn teashop owner Yoo-Suk, oblivious to anything but the chaos of his own day and Oh Jung-Se as Bok-Nam, his rather inept and overly dramatic friend. Lee Yoon-Ji (whom drama fans will recognise from ‘Dream High‘ and ‘Goong‘)was very sweet and effective as Ae-Yeon the traffic policewoman with a hidden motive and it was the perfect movie to kick off the Korean Breakfast Club at the festival.

I know the film wasn’t that much of a hit with some other people at the festival, and perhaps this too, like Arirang is a little divisive in opinions, but I thought it was smart, funny and well worth making the effort to watch. I’m going to have to look for the original version now to see how they compare and whether the change in cultural settings changes the pace and narrative.

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Terracotta Film Festival: Seediq Bale [Wei te-sheng, Taiwan, 2011]

Posted on April 15th, 2012

2012 seems to be the year of independant movies for Terracotta along with the debut directors and tales inspired and based on true events. Seediq Bale is no exception to this trend and, Twelve years in the making, it made a gripping two and a half hour viewing.

Set in the early 20th centrury it tells the true story of the aboriginal tribe uprising against the Japanese occupation, focusing on the Seediq tribe led by Mouna Rudo. The Guerilla style of warfare set against the beautiful scenery in Taiwan, the traditions of the tribe and the inter tribe antipathy all contribute to the massacres and the inevitable retaliation.

After an introduction from the Taiwanese Ambassador and Da Ching, the movie began, a first hunt in pogress and the blood sacrfice the men must give to the ancestors to earn the distinctive tattoos on their faces. Claiming heads with a swift stroke of a machete, we begin to see the way of life fo the people before the Island of Taiwan was handed over to the Japanese. There is hostility between tribes of course, one that never really truely fades even after their submission to the Japanese.

Da Ching as the younger Mouna Rudo

It was said the film was originally four hours long but had been edited to two and a half and I think that was a wise decision as it kept the pace and action tightly controlled and ever increasing tension. Passionate and utterly determined to preserve their dignity and culture in the face f the greatest odds, one can’t help but admire the courage and conviction. It is hard to understand sometimes as a race that has not been oppressed in this way, why anyone would risk losing their whole culture and not just try to preserve it or assimilate to simply survive. This erroneous thought is shown in action, as several of the tribesman work for the Japanese, have adopted Japanese names and are divided in their self identity. Regarded as savages no matter what they wear or how smart they are but attempting to fit in as a way of surviving even though they have no memory of tribal life. In the end all it takes is one small dispute to spark the battle and escalate the massacre. One personal vendetta to inspire slaughter on a grand scale.

Lin Ching-Tai as older Mouna Rudo

The acting was superb in the film, especially that of Lin Ching-Tai who played the senior Mouna Rudo, Da Ching who played his younger self and the boy who played Pawan, a younger boy who truly posessed the warrior spirit. The music fitted the scenes well with their lyrics and melody – traditional words featuring the voices of Landy Wen and Vivian Hsu and tribal chants as  a backdrop for some battles. The physical preparation the actors had to go through for the film really paid off, a flawless representation of the physical prowess of the tribes people to travel long distances and fight.

Seediq Bale post film Q&A

After a brief Q&A during which Da ching answered a few questions on the film (answers already covered in the masterclass [link to follow] earlier in the day) he stood up and gave a very sincere thank you to the audience for attending as can be seen in the video clip below.

For anyone wanting to see this film it should be on general release in June/July of this year and its well worth spending the time on it.

Da Ching

Da Ching

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Terracotta Film Festival: The Woodsman and the Rain [Shuichi Okita, Japan, 2011]

Posted on April 15th, 2012

I make no secret of it as its good to know what the reviewer’s bias is, but the first reason this film was on my list was because Oguri Shun was one of the two main leads. Born into a theatrical family, he is actually a very good actor and I’ve enjoyed all the dramas I’ve seen him in so far and want to see more of his film work than the brief appearances in Azumi and Sakuran.

The director Shuichi Okita co-wrote this delightful comedy with Fumio Moriya and is the first of his films I have seen. The story is about Katsuhiko (Koji Yakusho) a woodsman in a small village who finds his daily life and routine encroached upon by the arrival of a film crew and its young director Koichi (Shun Oguri).

Woodsman and the Rain

It was funny, unexpected and without a single hint of romance, focuing on the relationship between young and old, the holding onto the past and looking to the future. Koichi, weak in conviction and Katsuhiko too strong in his own, each influencing each other and helping to shape a better relationship they have with the world and other people.

The comedy is well timed both with dialogue and physical comedy and really is an absolute gem. it shoud go on everyone’s list to watch as a feel good movie. It is certainly going on mine!

 

  • http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Oguri_Shun
  • http://asianwiki.com/The_Woodsman_and_the_Rain
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