By New York’s Museum of the Moving Image continues to elude me. It sounds like an amazing place, and they are doing some awesome screenings, but I just haven’t gone yet. But perhaps that is about to change. Why? Korean movies. You may not recognize Choi Min-sik’s, but there’s a pretty good chance you recognize his face, because he starred in two of Korea’s best revenge films, Oldboy and I Saw the Devil.
But he’s also been in a lot of other films. For example, Chihwaseon, translated as either “Stroke of Fire” or “Painted Fire,” which is going to be playing this Sunday (June 3rd) at MOMI. And if you happen to miss that (and you’re a terrible person if you do), they will also be screening Oldboy on Sunday, July 1st. Also screening this Sunday are The Godfather and The Godfather Part II (with Chihwaseon splitting them up). So that’s awesome, and you should go to all of them. Especially if you haven’t seen either of the Godfathers, because that’s some kind of crime against cinema. And you don’t want to be a criminal, do you?
PR after the break.
Retrospective of the work of Choi Min-shik
The Korea Society presents a retrospective of the work of Choi Min-shik, one of Korea’s most recognizable contemporary actors, as part of our ongoing “Korean Cinema Now” program with MoMI (the Museum of Moving Image).
Choi Min-shik had numerous television roles, but his big break came in 1999 when he played a cold-blooded North Korean soldier in Swiri (Dir. Kang Je-gyu) and suddenly gained a reputation as one of Korea’s finest actors. His acting dominates the silver screen, but his characters have more than charisma. In Failan, he played a thug, married to a Chinese woman out of convenience, but who sheds tears of regret when his “fake” wife dies. In Strokes of Fire, which won the Best Director Prize at the 55th Cannes Film Festival, he played the famous nineteenth-century Korean painter Jang Seung-up. In 2004, Choi returned to Cannes when director Park Chan-woo’s bloody revenge epic, Old Boy, won the Grand Prix-award. Choi’s impassioned and robust acting can seize an audience’s heart, and he is now known to film buffs worldwide.
This Choi Min-shik tribute will be presented at the newly renovated Museum of the Moving Image, home to New York City’s finest, state-of-the-art screen. Films are free with museum admission. This tribute is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Taxi 10 minutes from The Korea Society or NQ Train Outbound to 36th Ave., 36th Street and 35th Avenue, Astoria.
Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 3 PM
Chiwaseon (2002, 120 min)
Director: Im kwon-taek
Starring: Choi Min-sik, Ahn Sung-kee and Yu Ho-jeong
A powerful performance in this historical costume drama brought Choi Min-sik international recognition.
The Museum of the Moving Image
35th Avenue at 37th Street, Astoria
From midtown, taxi or N/Q Train outbound to 36th Avenue
Film free with museum admission at The Museum of the Moving Image.