Korean Film Archive

[L.A.]

Burning Mountain out now.

[L.A.]

Burning Mountain out now.

DVD Compare.

[feihong]

Sorum is out. Has anybody seen this disc? I was wondering how it compared to the old Content Zone blu ray.

[feihong]

I'd never seen Chilsu and Mansu before tonight, and now I wished I hadn't slept on this disc before it went out-of-print. Holy cow, what a movie.

[Michael Kerpan]

>> Chilsu and Mansu

Definitely takes an unexpected veer mid-way through. PARK Kwang-su is one of those great (and influential) directors (within their national cinema at least) who has been pretty much overlooked internationally (like Japan's Somai). His early films were sort of the training ground for the next batch of slightly younger creators. Still waiting to see To the Starry Isle (if it got a subbed release of any sort, I missed it).

[zedz]

Absolutely: Black Republic, To the Starry Island and A Single Spark were the films that let me know Korean cinema was an interesting place in the early 90s. I see he also directed another film in that period (Berlin Report), which I've never seen but presume is also worth seeking out.

[Michael Kerpan]

zedz -- I know nothing at all about Berlin Report. As to later films -- Uprising (in my recollection) was a bit disappointing. Meet Mr. Daddy was rather nice -- but not much like the earlier films.

[feihong]

>> Chilsu and Mansu

Definitely takes an unexpected veer mid-way through. PARK Kwang-su is one of those great (and influential) directors (within their national cinema at least) who has been pretty much overlooked internationally (like Japan's Somai). His early films were sort of the training ground for the next batch of slightly younger creators. Still waiting to see To the Starry Isle (if it got a subbed release of any sort, I missed it).

I guess because I read the source material, Huang Chun-Ming's short story, "Two Sign Painters," I knew pretty well what was coming, so nothing surprised me about it. Huang Chun-Ming is also the author of "His Son's Big Doll," the story that is the basis for Hou Hsiao-Hsien's The Sandwich Man. All his stories have the same kind of urban realism inflected with an almost surreal irony.

Sadly, my introduction to South Korean cinema was the Wong Kar-Wai wannabe film, Beat. But thankfully afterwards I pretty quickly ended u seeing The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well and Attack the Gas Station, both of which captivated me much more than Beat did.

I can't find Berlin Report, but I'm planning to watch Black Republic, A Single Spark, and To the Starry Island this week. I've got Uprising, too, to look forward to.

[Michael Kerpan]

Is there any legit source for Starry Island?

Never saw Beat or any other film directed by KIM Sung-su. Luckily my introduction to Korean cinema was Take Care of My Cat.

[feihong]

Not as far as I know. The version I've seen looks like a VHS tape, and maybe there was a VHS release at some point?

[beamish14]

>> Chilsu and Mansu

Definitely takes an unexpected veer mid-way through. PARK Kwang-su is one of those great (and influential) directors (within their national cinema at least) who has been pretty much overlooked internationally (like Japan's Somai). His early films were sort of the training ground for the next batch of slightly younger creators. Still waiting to see To the Starry Isle (if it got a subbed release of any sort, I missed it).

I guess because I read the source material, Huang Chun-Ming's short story, "Two Sign Painters," I knew pretty well what was coming, so nothing surprised me about it. Huang Chun-Ming is also the author of "His Son's Big Doll," the story that is the basis for Hou Hsiao-Hsien's The Sandwich Man. All his stories have the same kind of urban realism inflected with an almost surreal irony.

Sadly, my introduction to South Korean cinema was the Wong Kar-Wai wannabe film, Beat. But thankfully afterwards I pretty quickly ended u seeing The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well and Attack the Gas Station, both of which captivated me much more than Beat did.

I can't find Berlin Report, but I'm planning to watch Black Republic, A Single Spark, and To the Starry Island this week. I've got Uprising, too, to look forward to.

Attack the Gas Station! and My Wife is a Gangster were my two introductions to Korean cinema, and their unique blend of comedy, action, and exploitation completely bowled me over. Unsurprisingly, both films were earmarked for Hollywood remakes that thankfully never materialized

[feihong]

Didn't know Attack the Gas Station got optioned. I wonder if that explains why there hasn't been a blu ray in South Korea for the film.

[Jigvell]

Collection update. All blu-rays are now in my collection (alphabetically sorted).
I even got the reissue of The Housemaid because of the Bong Joon-ho commentary .

Also, I started a list on WIKI with all the releases...

[feihong]

Looks great. What a cool collection.

[L.A.]

Next up is A Devilish Homicide (1965), out late June.

[mrb404]

The Korean Film Archive next release (#36) is up for preorder: Lee Myung-se Collection (My Love, My Bride + First Love).
Out on November 19th.

[colinr0380]

On To The Starry Island, I have an off-air subtitled recording from Channel 4 in the UK when it was shown in the mid-90s (one screening where it was screened in association with the BFI's "Century of Cinema" season of films), although obviously its low quality. But that may be the source of where the 'VHS rip' is coming from. I would try uploading it myself, but I think at the moment I cannot put anything that runs longer than ten minutes up on YouTube anyway.

Attack the Gas Station! and My Wife is a Gangster were my two introductions to Korean cinema, and their unique blend of comedy, action, and exploitation completely bowled me over. Unsurprisingly, both films were earmarked for Hollywood remakes that thankfully never materialized

Maybe the US remake of My Sassy Girl stopped the South Korean remake wave in its tracks!

[Calvin]

To the Starry Island has been mentioned a few times on this page and I see that KOFA have uploaded it on YouTube - in 4K!