Korean Perspectives at Sydney Film School

To celebrate the festive season, in what is a time for sharing, I am going to share with you the speech I delivered earlier this month at the 15th Sydney Film School Festival. The speech mentions trends currently apparent in the Korean industry, but also aimed to hopefully inspire the graduating students by comparing the school to conditions in Korea with KAFA. You can read more about the developments of the famous Korean film school which I previously discussed with SBS and Sandy George, or in more recent developments, an update from CJ E&M, CJ CGV and KAFA about their partnership. It is an intriguing filmmaking process that Australia should look closer at. Otherwise, Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy the speech! Thanks again to Ira Keller, Ben Ferris and SFS. 

"Good evening students, teachers, family and friends. I would first like to thank Sydney Film School for offering the Korean Cultural Office and myself to take part in today’s proceedings. I am speaking today on behalf of my Director Kim Young-soo, who is currently very busy preparing for the Closing Performance of the Australia-Korea Year of Friendship, which takes place this Friday. I have personally attended a number of Sydney Film School Festivals before which focused on other national cinemas, and I always wondered when would be the day that Korea cinema was the main event. Well today is that today and I am delighted to be standing here before you. (See the International Perspectives program on Korea here)

Jopok Week: 90's Korean Gangster Flicks

This entry was originally posted over at Modern Korean Cinema as part of the 2011 JOPOK blogathon week. I've replicated it here in case you missed it. Thanks again to Pierce Conran.

See other Jopok week reviews from various contributors:
Beat (1997)
The General's Son (1990)
The General's Son 2 (1991)
The General's Son 3 (1992)
No. 3 (1997)

Jopok Week: Born to Kill (1996)

I must admit, I probably approached Born to Kill (1996) in the wrong manner, one in which I thought it would be a good companion piece to Beat (1997) given their similarities.  After all, both films star Jung Woo-sung as an unstoppable fighting machine; are about gangsters; feature a leading love interest; are from the late 80’s and possess the style, music, and colour associated with the 80’s; and have titles beginning with the letter B.  At the end of the day, that is all they share in common.  Maybe it wasn’t fair to come in expecting something similar in quality to Beat.  Ultimately, Born to Kill is not as good a film and on a week celebrating Jopok, I recommend you stick to something else.

Korean Film Downunder 2: Interest & Availability

Oh My God, I am blogging again! 

Well I am finally back on the blog after a single lazy entry 7 months ago which basically entailed watching youtube videos. But enough about that, before I get caught up doing something else I will try and get this blog finished. Funnily enough I have just noticed I have about 20 blogs just sitting in 'drafts' at the moment, which one day I may get around to publishing. Now this entry is not the original Part 2 of my look at Korean Film Downunder, but is what I felt like exploring next. Feel free to read the first part which looks at distribution and genre. This entry tries to link another 2 factors into the analysis, interest and accessibility. 

Following on from my look at distributions link to genre, I had believed the fact that the level of interest in Korean film in Australia was where it was at due to what was available to people. Generally films released and readily talked about fit into the crime thriller or horror genres, and this can of course only have limited appeal as its marginalising the audience. But as stated over at the KOFFIA blog Hungry for Drama, we have seen that comedies and dramas have been some of the favourite films at the festival. So why hasn't there been a crossover between those that love Korean dramas into watching Korean films?

Great image from the great Podcast, "What's Korean Cinema?"

The Korean Industry Looks Beyond It's Borders

Below is an interview I had with Sandy George of SBS Film blogs, which was published around November in response to KOFIC's announcement of its plans for developing the Korean film industry. While I was speculating, I hope you find it interesting! You can read the original article here

Korea’s film expansion could 
flow through to Australia

04 November 2011 | Interview By Sandy George
A new 'mega-studio' in Korea looks to increase the country's international co-productions.

Artistic Director of the Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA), Kieran Tully, believes the ambitious new plan to expand the size of the South Korean film industry by 25% by 2013 can only be good for his festival and for building bridges between the Australian and Korean industries, and between Korean films and Australian audiences. “With a goal to be world class and to focus on supporting creative content, then this plan is surely a benefit for the films we can select for our film festival, film night or library database,” said Tully, who works out of the Korean Cultural Office in Sydney.

Observing Kim Ki-duk Part 2: The Trailer

As I have not yet had the time to get around to the 2nd full entry into my analysis of Kim Ki-duk, (you can read part 1 here), I've decided to put together a quick entry to hopefully get you into thinking more about his career and auteur style. Inspired by Christopher J. Wheeler's poster montage seen here, I thought I would compile together something similar.

Christopher is a KOFFIA Blog contributor and HanCinema reviewer

The Wonderful Days of Korean Animation

Review: Sky Blue (Kim Moon-saeng / 2003)

Sky Blue is a Korean animated science fiction film that was simply not as big a hit as it should have been. Released in 2003 and with a $30 Million budget, it disappointingly mostly just did the festival circuit, before finding somewhat of a home on DVD. There is no doubt it deserves to find an audience, for being a revolutionary piece of cinema for its visuals, with a fairly solid story backing up its presentation. Labelled as “Akira for the 21st Century”, fans of Cyberpunk, Anime and Sci-Fi will find it a short and sweet ride into the future.

Tully's Tips: A Film Festival Story

As part of my Screen Culture course at AFTRS in 2010 I was required to conduct a creative project that in some way commented on an issue or contributed to a sector of the film and television industry. For this I chose to set out on a mission to establish a Korean Film Festival, partly due to my passion and knowledge of cinema from the Peninsula, but also because I couldn't believe a Korean Film Festival didn't currently exist. While the Japanese Film Festival had just completed its 13th Year, Korea was null and void and so I set out to change this fact.

After merging with a project team at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, which consisted of Kim Young-gu (a staff member of KOFIC, the Korean Film Council) and Jungyeob Ji (an experienced assistant director and crew member of the Korean Film Industry), what resulted was the 1st KOFFIA Korean Film Festival in Australia. The event had its ups and downs, successes and failures, but most important of all, it will return in 2011. Other forms of Korean Film Festivals had occurred in Australia before, but none returned for successive years. A primary difference for KOFFIA was that this festival was not just for the Korean community in Australia, but for everybody, and this was at the heart of its success.

Jung, Kieran and Young-gu at KOFFIA

Ideas about Editing: El Chop

(Note: An edited version of this post was previously submitted for my AFTRS Screen Culture course, Ideas about Editing, October 2010)

When I think editing, I think Robert Rodriguez. Not just because he does his own editing, but for the rhythm and flow he creates through his editing methods. There is no doubt that his films would be completely different with a different editor. I decided to analyse the origin of his technique by looking closely at his debut feature "El Mariachi", to see how it came about and what impact it has on story and style.

Rodrigues Film School: Part 1

Korean Film Downunder 1: Genre and Distribution

This post was originally published over on the KOFFIA Blog, Hungry for Drama?, as part of the Korean Blogathon. I've replicated it here as I feel its quite an interesting time to take a look at the state of Korean cinema in Australia, given it's presence here has not always been as good as it looks today. In this 1st edition I look at Korean DVDs, Genre and Co-productions. At this point in time almost 50 Korean films have been released on DVD, which may not be anywhere near the amount of Japanese films, but is gradually improving. 

 

Observing Kim Ki-duk Part 1: Auteur Origin

When I was instructed to choose a figure to analyse for a voice and vision task as part of my Screen Culture course at AFTRS, a few names immediately came to mind. The one that stuck was the enigmatic unique figure of Kim Ki-duk. An anomaly not only in Korean cinema but in world cinema, I applied the same approach of analysis and pattern recognition on his career as I have on many other directors. Tarantino once stated that the thing he enjoyed doing most was analysing the change in style and quality of a film director over their career, and I am no different. One day I may get around to posting those other analyses here, but for now my look at Kim Ki-duk will have to do. 

2010 Year in Review: My Top 10

The final piece in my 2010 Year in Review, which includes my Film Log of every film I saw, and my At the Cinema analysis for films watched .. at the cinema, is my Top 10 Films of 2010.

Even though the analysis post looked at all the films I saw in the theatre, I have decided not to include classic films such as "Small Soldiers", "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "The Blues Brothers", all of which would have been in this list otherwise. Enjoy!

10. "Shutter Island", USA, Event George St - 19/03/10

I am by no means a Scorsese fan, in fact I despised "The Departed", but apart from a slightly poor ending, I thoroughly enjoyed the mood he established here.

2010 Year in Review: At the Cinema

While it may just look like numbers, for a Mathematician such as myself, it means so much more than just figures. All of the references to 'films watched' below refer to 'films watched in the theatre only'. Nothing I saw on DVD, TV, Pay per view, Online etc were included. While anything seen in the theatre, outdoor cinema, at a film festival or special screening are included. 

I hope you find it interesting. 2010 was a crazily busy year for me so I only managed to see half as many films as I did in 2009, but probably saw many more outside of the theatre that are too numerous to even count!

My 2010 Cinema Going Analysis

"Fantastic Mr. Fox", the 1st film I saw in 2010

2010 Year in Review: Film Log

Every film (that I can remember) that I watched in 2010 is listed below in the order that I watched them. This includes films seen in the theatre, at festivals, on screeners or any other method. You can also find my analysis of the films I watched in the theatre in 2010, and My Top 10 of 2010. Below is a more complete list with all ratings.

Films Watched: 125. Films Seen in the Theatre: 58 (46%)

The list includes films seen in the theatre or festivals which are bolded, as well as those seen on screeners or any other method. Red highlights are for films of ratings of 8 or higher out of 10 and are my highlights of the year. Enjoy!

2010
31/12. Take Off! - 7/10
24/12. The Host - 8/10
23/12. The Messenger - 8/10
17/12. Duk Dum Dui - 2/10
12/12. Winter's Bone - 3/10
05/12. The Social Network - 6/10
18/11. Rare Exports - 1/10
17/11. The Loved Ones - 2/10
14/11. Leap Year - 4/10
14/11. Gasland - 6/10
08/11. A Brand New Life - 6/10
06/11. Hello Stranger - 8/10
06/11. Summer Coda - 2/10
02/11. The Red Chapel - 7/10
20/10. Hanamizuki - 5/10
19/10. Villion's Wife - 7/10
18/10. Zero Focus - 5/10
17/10. Kyoto Story - 8/10
17/10. Box! - 6/10
16/10. Flowers - 6/10
16/10. The Summit - 3/10
15/10. About Her Brother - 6/10
15/10. Solanin - 8/10
14/10. A Lone Scalpel - 8/10
13/10. Flavour of Happiness - 5/10
12/10. Shodo Girls - 4/10
11/10. Wish You Were Here - 6/10
11/10. Precious - 4/10
11/10. Oblivion Island - 7/10
10/10. Time of Eve - 4/10
10/10. Tokyo Marble Chocolate - 5/10
07/10. 2 or 3 Things I Know About Kim Ki-young - 6/10
13/09. Confessions - 7/10
06/09. The Snowman - 4/10
05/09. Tomorrow When the War Began - 4/10
28/08. Lou - 4/10
08/08. I Killed My Mother - 8/10
06/08. 1981 - 5/10
01/08. Greenberg - 7/10
30/07. Small Soldiers - 8/10
30/07. Taqwacore - 7/10
30/07. The Well - 3/10
29/07. Cell 211 - 7/10
29/07. The Juche Idea - 4/10
29/07. Karaoke - 1/10
29/07. A Time to Love - 6/10
28/07. Kanikosen - 1/10
28/07. Four Lions - 8/10
28/07. Boy - 8/10
28/07. Mai Mai Miracle - 8/10
27/07. Beeswax - 7/10
27/07. Ha Ha Ha - 8/10
21/07. Inception - 5/10
18/07. Predators - 5/10
09/07. Toy Story 3 - 8/10
08/07. Toy Story 2 - 8/10
07/07. Toy Story - 8/10
05/07. Animal Kingdom - 4/10
04/07. Hot Tub Time Machine - 5/10
03/07. Kickass - 5/10
03/07. Sherlock Holmes - 3/10
02/07. Blowout - 7/10
01/07. Brick - 8/10
30/06. Bangkok Dangerous - 6/10
07/06. Elmer Gantry - 6/10
07/06. Treasure Hunter - 2/10
06/06. Happiness of Kati - 5/10
06/06. Dear Galileo - 6/10
06/06. Youth in Revolt - 3/10
04/06. Il Mare - 5/10
01/06. The Hangover - 3/10
25/05. Mother - 9/10
22/05. Rough Cut - 7/10
21/05. 200 Pounds Beauty - 6/10
19/05. A Million - 5/10
15/05. Paju - 4/10
15/05. Forever the Moment - 5/10
09/05. Dream - 4/10
09/05. Address Unknown - 7/10
08/05. Thirst - 8/10
08/05. Secret Sunshine - 8/10
07/05. Castaway on the Moon - 9/10
04/05. The Show Must Go On - 7/10
04/05. Like a Virgin - 7/10
02/05. Same Same But Different - 6/10
22/04. Tandoori Love - 5/10
14/04. Accident's Happen - 1/10
13/04. Rushmore - 9/10
12/04. Dodesukaden - 6/10
11/04. Christmas in August - 8/10
01/04. Rear Window - 6/10
29/03. Fahrenheit 451 - 4/10
27/03. A Single Man - 5/10
19/03. Shutter Island - 7/10
13/03. Raging Phoenix - 7/10
11/03. Welcome - 7/10
09/03. Please, Please Me - 6/10
04/03. The Blues Brothers - 8/10
28/02. LOL - 5/10
25/02. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - 8/10
23/02. Sleepy Town - 1/10
22/02. From Paris with Love - 5/10
18/02. Gamer - 3/10
17/02. Red Cliff - 4/10
16/02. Zombieland - 5/10
15/02. Daybreakers - 4/10
11/02. Battle for Terra - 4/10
10/02. Crazy Heart - 6/10
09/02. Bran Nue Dae - 4/10
08/02. Rec - 7/10
07/02. A Serious Man - 6/10
02/02. The Road - 8/10
27/01. Precious - 6/10
26/01. Disturbing Behaviour - 6/10
26/01. I Heart Huckabees - 4/10
25/01. Once upon a Time in the West - 10/10
23.01. The Girl Next Door - 8/10
22/01. Where the Wild Things Are - 6/10
18/01. Old School - 7/10
11/01. The Silence - 3/10
09/01. The Princess and the Frog - 6/10
07/01. Se7en - 7/10
06/01. The 400 Blows - 6/10
02/01. Fantastic Mr. Fox - 6/10

Agree? Disagree?

Follow Me @TullysRecall