Had enough of me telling you about all of the Korean movies playing in New York City? Too bad, because there’s more. And it’s still not enough, nor will it ever be enough.
Anyways, this next set is being put on by the The Korea Society in NY (the same group behind the recent New York Korean Film Festival), and will take place at the Museum of the Moving Image. Fun fact about the MoMI: I totally didn’t know it existed until I got the press release about this series. I feel really bad about that. I should go there.
The series is a retrospective of filmmaker Hong Sang-soo, and they will be showing five of his films (The Day a Pig Fell into the Well, Woman on the Beach, Night and Day, Like You Know It All, Oki’s Movie), and it will take place over three days later this month. That sounds pretty awesome, and we should have reviews of at least some of them up to remind you all and tell you whether or not they’re worth your money. That being said, you don’t actually have to buy tickets for the films themselves. You just have to pay the (surprisingly reasonable) admission fees to the museum itself. And after the screenings you can be at the museum. It’s an awesome looking museum. Remember when I said I should go there? Now I have to go there.
If you would like to know more about the retrospective and the films themselves, the official press release can be found below.
Hong Sang-soo Film Retrospective @Museum of the Moving Image
March 17, 18, & 23, 2012
The Korea Society film fans celebrate Asia Week with a screening of works by celebrated director Hong Sang-soo (The Day He Arrives, Hahaha). Since he debuted with ‘The Day a Pig into the Well‘ in 1996, all of his films were invited by prestigious film festivals like Cannes, Berlin, and New York Film Festivals, and began to receive worldwide attention. We present highly acclaimed 5 films and they will be shown at the newly renovated Museum of the Moving Image, home to New York City’s finest, state-of-the-art screen. This retrospective 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.
The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (Daijiga umule pajinnal)
1996, 113 min.
Starring : Bang Eun-hee, Cho eun-sook, Park Jin-seong
Hong Sang-soo’s debut film was a critical success, winning awards at the Rotterdam and Vancouver film festivals and revealing Hong’s consistent theme of individuals desperately longing for connection. It depicts tangled and tragic relationships: Min-jae obsessed with Hyo-sub, a struggling writer; Po-kyung, a married woman, in an affair with Hyo-sub; and Dong-woo, Po-kyung’s husband alone. The title is from a 1954 book by John Cheever. Saturday, March 17, 2PM
Woman on the Beach (Haebyonui yeoin)
2006, 128 min.
Starring : Go Hyun–jung, Kim Seung–woo, Kim Tae-woo, Song Seon-mi
Joong-rae goes on a road trip with friend Chang-wook and Chang-wook’s girlfriend, Moon-sook. In the beautiful beach setting of Shinduri, Joong-rae and Moon-sook find themselves attracted to each other and spend a passionate night together. But where does life go the morning after? A filmmaker, writing his latest script at a seaside resort town, becomes involved with two women. As ever, Hong is comically and painfully lucid in outlining the jealousy and self-absorption that fuel his male characters’ excess. Saturday, March 17, 5PM
Night and Day (Bamgua nat)
2008, 144 min.
Starring : Kim Yeong-ho, Park Eun-hye, Seo Min-jung
Kim Sung-nam, a married 40-something painter in Seoul, flees Korea after he’s caught smoking marijuana while drunk at a gathering. In Paris, he takes refuge at a run-down lodge owned by a Korean, calls his abandoned wife, and hits the streets looking for action. Night and Day premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2008 and screened at the 46th New York Film Festival. Sunday, March 18, 2PM
Like You Know It All (Jal aljido mothamyeonseo)
2009, 126 min.
Starring: Kim Tae-woo, Uhm Ji-won, Go Hyun-Jung
In this entrant into the 2009 Cannes Film Festival Directors’ Fortnight, Kim Tae-woo (Women on the Beach, Woman is the Future of Man) plays a critics’ filmmaker, often drunk and confused as his work takes him across the country and into contact with the past. Director Ku attends a festival in a small town and bumps into old friend, Bu. Over drinks, he meets Bu’s wife. Soon after, Ku goes to Jeju Island to give a lecture. There he meets his college senior and finds out that his new wife is Ku’s love from his twenties. Sunday, March 18, 5:30PM
Oki’s Movie (Ok-hui-ui yeonghwa)
2010, 80 min.
Starring : Jeong Yu-mi, Lee Seon-gyun
Oki’s Movie was the closing film for the Horizons section of the 67th Venice Film Festival. A story told in four chapters, Oki’s Movie follows a film student and her complicated relationships with a young director and a middle-aged professor, the awkward romantic triangle serving as the inspiration for her film project. Friday, March 23, 7PM
Schedule March 17, 18 & 23
Saturday, March 17
2:00 The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (1996), 113 min
5:00 Woman on the Beach (2006), 128 min
Sunday, March 18
2:00 Night and Day (2008), 144 min
5:30 Like You Know It All (2009), 126 min
Friday, March 23
7:00 Oki’s Movie (2010), 80 min
Screening Location:
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. More information can be found at www.koreasociety.org
