Complexity is
of the essence in films that I find at once entertaining and enlightening. This
quality is easily evident in the best of Korean cinema, which is one of the
world's most intoxicating visual brew. Highly layered, the Korean facet of
the human condition--even at its most horrible and heartbreaking--never fails
to beam up with a grin and to surprise us with the grace of transcendent beauty. Since
getting bedazzled by the films of Park Chan-wook after watching his exhilarating offbeat
trilogy--Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003),
and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)--I've been bracing myself to wade deep into the New Wave of Korean filmmaking.
After reading
the reviews of Bong Joon-ho’s Mother and
Lee Chang-dong's Poetry, I
watched them one after the other recently and still can't get over it. I can
not recommend it strongly enough to give justice to its exquisitely nuanced
narrative, performances, and other production values that are simply
world-class. In a nutshell, both films feature two of the most out-of-the-box
and complicated characterization of mothers I have ever seen---crazy, scary, but
always feisty with resilience and tenderness.
Let these
trailers speak for the pleasure that awaits those who will watch these two
modern gems of Korean cinema:
I am intrigued by the films you have posted here. I am hoping for some free time so I may experience these two dramas.
ReplyDeleteHello, Michael, this is Jeff Boyer from your Bootcamp class. Like the catlady, these two movies look great. Your blog is very inviting with lots of information and examples of Asian cinema. I was glad to see that I even knew and had watched a few of them already. (Spirited Away is one of my kids' favorite films, and I'll be using Hero in my Film as Lit class at Shawnee Heights High School next semester.)
ReplyDeleteYour prose is both direct and poetic. I look forward to continuing to visit your blog for inspiration.
Tons of thanks, Catlady and Jeff! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Michael. As a film major, I think there is a ton of great work coming from many parts of the world. Ive been fortunate to see a little bit of Asian film being tied in with Dr. Park, and hopefully I'll get to see more. These look like facsinating movies!
ReplyDeleteI adore film and try to experience a wide range of genres and styles, but I haven't watched a lot of Asian films. I have a few at home, but your excellently worded and researched posts make me want to check out more! Great job, I'll be coming back to see what you recommend next.
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