criterionforum.org

The Lovers and the Despot (2016)

Not a KOFA release but filled with KOFA resourced footage, the documentary film recounts the story of the North Korean kidnappings of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok and how they were forced to make films for Kim Jong-il's regime. It also includes rare scenes from Shin's North Korean films - made at a pace of 17 films within 2 years 3 months!

The upcoming Blu-ray of 오발탄 / The Aimless Bullet (1960) looks superb. Extras as well including a commentary. If I understand correctly, it should be out in December.

Reviews of Aimless Bullet and Gagman

If I deciphered the Facebook post correctly, it seems the Korean Film Archive Blu-ray releases on tap for this year are: A Short Love Affair (1990), People in the Slum (1982), The Last Witness (1980) and Sopyonje (1993). Flipping through some academic books I had on hand, it seems only Sopyonje [Im Kwon-taek] has a much of a Western reputation, so I look forward to the other films as surprises.

I doesn't seem to be noted here, but the audio on Gagman is terrible. Someone messed up at the controller and it has that echo-y, fishbowl sound. Too bad, because these severe errors won't result in recalls (like the mastering on one of the DVD releases).

A Short Love Affair is more frequently known as The Lovers of Woomook-baemi, but Korean sources have usually gone with the first title. (The second is a literal translation.) It's the closest Jang Sun-woo ever came to straightforward social realism, though there's still plenty of his usual affinity for the seamier side of life and behavior in extremis. Mildly surprised that this is coming out instead of The Age of Success, which the KFA previously issued on DVD, but supposedly Affair is Jang's most renowned film in Korea itself (and one that skipped DVD altogether). All the DVDs of Jang's movies are barebones so I'm looking forward to whatever extras they come up with; the killer would be an English-subbed version of Tony Rayns' The Jang Sun-woo Variations, but I'm not getting my hopes up for that. (The DVD is one of the very few Korean retail discs I know of that has no English subtitles.) In what I assume is a coincidence, Jang is about to end his informal retirement by directing a new stage version of the Shim Cheong legend.

And very disappointed to hear about the audio problem on Gagman, which is a favorite of mine thanks mainly to Ahn Sung-ki's great performance. From your description it sounds like the overzealous noise reduction that afflicted the restorations of Spring in a Small Town and various Ozu films (plus the Kamikaze '89 restoration I saw theatrically a few months back).

I was interested to read that the KFA released Age of Success on DVD. Was this recent? Do you have any information or links?
I picked this up years ago on VHS in Japan, lost it in a move, and have been looking for it ever since--I didn't think it was ever released in any format.

It was released in 2015 as part of an eight-film boxset called "Modernization on Screen: Understanding Korean Society and Modernization Through Films." Like many KFA boxsets, it was only available for institutional use by libraries, embassies, cultural organizations, etc. The other titles in the box have been released individually at retail, except for Im Kwon-taek's Parade of Wives and Lee Jang-ho's A Fine, Windy Day. (Also, Bae Seok-in's Six Daughters has English subs in the box but not on the standalone release.) A Petal was likewise released in a similar boxset and never made it to retail, though the KFA does have it on Youtube.

Thanks very much for that FN.

bradass wrote:I doesn't seem to be noted here, but the audio on Gagman is terrible. Someone messed up at the controller and it has that echo-y, fishbowl sound. Too bad, because these severe errors won't result in recalls (like the mastering on one of the DVD releases).

Audio trouble also mentioned in the DVDCompare review linked above.

The Last Witness (1980) Blu-ray upcoming from KOFA.

L.A. wrote:The Last Witness (1980) Blu-ray upcoming from KOFA.

People in the Slum (1982) as well.

Very pleasantly surprised to learn that KOFA is releasing Im Kwon-taek's classic film, Sopyonje next month.

The disc is up for pre-order at:YesAsia

htdm wrote:Very pleasantly surprised to learn that KOFA is releasing Im Kwon-taek's classic film...

An important film, I guess, but one I disliked a lot.

Michael Kerpan wrote:

htdm wrote:Very pleasantly surprised to learn that KOFA is releasing Im Kwon-taek's classic film...

An important film, I guess, but one I disliked a lot.

I saw it many years ago and remember it being pretty strong. What were your objections, just out of curiosity?

Im is probably the most thoroughly sexist director I've ever encountered (judging by the work I've seen). I found the (totally taken for granted as normal) sexism in Sopyonje very off putting. Saw it long ago -- so details are now foggy. Sorry.

Michael Kerpan wrote:Im is probably the most thoroughly sexist director I've ever encountered (judging by the work I've seen). I found the (totally taken for granted as normal) sexism in Sopyonje very off putting. Saw it long ago -- so details are now foggy. Sorry.

No worries--thanks for your thoughts.

Bae Chang Ho's People in the Slum (1982) is also now available for pre-order at YesAsia.

The latest release from the label is The Lovers of Woomook-baemi (Jang Sun-woo, 1990). DVD Compare has listed the information.

If I understand this post correctly, Kim Ki-young’s Iodo (1977) is coming to Blu-ray.

Interesting.

I wonder what the other 3 titles will be?

If my Google Korean-to-English translator makes any sense, it seems like there are four releases planned for 2018, and these will be announced tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday?

Nevertheless, Iodo is nice. I really enjoyed The Housemaid, and the restoration was good (if only limited by the materials), so I'm having high hopes for this one.

The second announcement: Yeong-Ja's Heydays (1975). And you can watch the whole film in 1080p with English subtitles on KFA's YouTube channel.

Thanks, just saw that.

htdm wrote:Thanks, just saw that.

Apparently, Shin Sang-ok's Sister's Garden (1959) will also make its DVD debut later this year.

Excuse me, but that post is from 2013. And yes, Sister's Garden is in Shin Sang-ok's Melodrama's from the 1950s DVD box set, which is released in 2013 and still on sale in Korea.