Showing posts with label chungmuro film festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chungmuro film festival. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Chungmuro Film Festival
The 3rd Chungmuro Film Festival will take place August 24th to September 1st in the Chungmuro district of Seoul. Chungmuro has been a festival that caters to older cinema, and that continues this year with a number of retrospectives. The Cine Classic section includes a great lineup of Classic Hollywood (All About Eve, How Green Was My Valley, Gigi, and others), British Cinema (The Third Man, Olivier's Hamlet, Hobson's Choice, and others), the French New Wave (Chabrol's Les Cousins and Godard's Alphaville), pre-New Wave (Bresson's first film as well as one the New Wave's bete noire's, The Wages of Fear), as well as New Hollywood (The Godfather trilogy). There is also a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, showcasing a number of her films. Korean cinema is also represented by a large retrospective of films from fifties and sixties.
The difference with the festival this year is the inclusion of newer releases, with dozens of recent films from around the world. Chungmuro seems to be modelling itself on the Jeonju festival, with its mixture of retrospectives and new releases, although it is still on a smaller scale. However, I do have to question the timing of the festival during the last week of August, before many people return from vacation/ arrive to Korea to teach. But, then again, it may be a better time for the local Korean audience, taking place before classes begin again in September. I'm returning from holiday on the 28th and hope to be able to see a few films before the festival concludes.
The difference with the festival this year is the inclusion of newer releases, with dozens of recent films from around the world. Chungmuro seems to be modelling itself on the Jeonju festival, with its mixture of retrospectives and new releases, although it is still on a smaller scale. However, I do have to question the timing of the festival during the last week of August, before many people return from vacation/ arrive to Korea to teach. But, then again, it may be a better time for the local Korean audience, taking place before classes begin again in September. I'm returning from holiday on the 28th and hope to be able to see a few films before the festival concludes.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Chungmuro Film Festival Screenings
The 2nd Chungmuro Film Festival finishes tomorrow. I was only get to see four films this year due to a currently busy schedule: Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984), Lola Montes (Max Ophuls, 1955), Mad Detective (Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, 2007), and Lies (Jang Sun Woo, 1999).
The newest film, and one in competition, was Mad Detective. I've heard positive things about Johnnie To so I was interested in seeing one of his films. However, the film left me underwhelmed. It seemed simply derivative rather than a fresh take on the crime/detective/buddy cop genre. It begins fine and with enough energy to propel it, but cannot sustain its momentum because I do not believe I has anything new to say about the figure of the eccentric, method-inspired detective. The movies the film borrows from (Manhunter, Memento, and Frailty) are all significantly better than this reworking.
Paris, Texas and Lola Montes are both films I saw for the first time roughly a decade ago. Viewing them again was practically like a new experience, especially with the Ophuls film. Lola Montes was shown in a recently restored print conducted by the French Cinematheque. It is Ophuls last film and his first in color and widescreen, and it is a much bigger film in terms of spectacle and artifice than anything else he had made. It is probably his most distancing film as a result, a film very much distilling many of the ideas of his other melodramas but, for me, lacking in the emotional resonance of a film like Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948). Even the technical virtousity does not match his earlier Madame de ... (1953), partly because of the pure size of the production. Certainly the film is worth watching, but does not match his greatest work.
Paris, Texas, however, may be Wenders' greatest film, even surpassing his work in Germany. What was most striking to me was how, as an outsider to America, Wenders nevertheless fit his film within the dominant paradigms of American cinema. This may be the influence of the screenwriter, Sam Shepard, but is nevertheless not that surprising that Wenders would be interested in making a paradigmatic American story given all of his previous meditations on America and its cinema in his German period.
The story begins with a man walking through the desert. After he collapses, the doctor calls his brother and we learn some things about him. His name is Travis, he has a son, and he disappeared over four years earlier. The rest of the narrative involves his reconnecting with his young son and eventually reuniting him with his mother. The ending is thus typical of the western (which itself is the most typical of American genres) in which the hero restores civilization but also has to retreat from this civilization himself. That said, the distinction of the film is its simultaneous reinforcing and questioning of this quintessential American type. The film begins with Travis as a mute, a parody of the stoic Westerner, but gradually he talks more and more, culminating in a extended conversation with his ex-wife in a peep show booth. This psychologizing of this figure reveals the essential neurosis that is, Shepard and Wenders suggest, at the heart of America itself: the desire for civilization (Paris) and the wilderness (Texas). At the same time, this is not really a deconstruction of the genre. Travis remains a sympathetic figure, and the film's ending, in which his wife and son reunite and twirl around together, is one of the more satisfying conclusions I can recall.
I'll discuss Lies fully in my next post.
The newest film, and one in competition, was Mad Detective. I've heard positive things about Johnnie To so I was interested in seeing one of his films. However, the film left me underwhelmed. It seemed simply derivative rather than a fresh take on the crime/detective/buddy cop genre. It begins fine and with enough energy to propel it, but cannot sustain its momentum because I do not believe I has anything new to say about the figure of the eccentric, method-inspired detective. The movies the film borrows from (Manhunter, Memento, and Frailty) are all significantly better than this reworking.
Paris, Texas and Lola Montes are both films I saw for the first time roughly a decade ago. Viewing them again was practically like a new experience, especially with the Ophuls film. Lola Montes was shown in a recently restored print conducted by the French Cinematheque. It is Ophuls last film and his first in color and widescreen, and it is a much bigger film in terms of spectacle and artifice than anything else he had made. It is probably his most distancing film as a result, a film very much distilling many of the ideas of his other melodramas but, for me, lacking in the emotional resonance of a film like Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948). Even the technical virtousity does not match his earlier Madame de ... (1953), partly because of the pure size of the production. Certainly the film is worth watching, but does not match his greatest work.
Paris, Texas, however, may be Wenders' greatest film, even surpassing his work in Germany. What was most striking to me was how, as an outsider to America, Wenders nevertheless fit his film within the dominant paradigms of American cinema. This may be the influence of the screenwriter, Sam Shepard, but is nevertheless not that surprising that Wenders would be interested in making a paradigmatic American story given all of his previous meditations on America and its cinema in his German period.
The story begins with a man walking through the desert. After he collapses, the doctor calls his brother and we learn some things about him. His name is Travis, he has a son, and he disappeared over four years earlier. The rest of the narrative involves his reconnecting with his young son and eventually reuniting him with his mother. The ending is thus typical of the western (which itself is the most typical of American genres) in which the hero restores civilization but also has to retreat from this civilization himself. That said, the distinction of the film is its simultaneous reinforcing and questioning of this quintessential American type. The film begins with Travis as a mute, a parody of the stoic Westerner, but gradually he talks more and more, culminating in a extended conversation with his ex-wife in a peep show booth. This psychologizing of this figure reveals the essential neurosis that is, Shepard and Wenders suggest, at the heart of America itself: the desire for civilization (Paris) and the wilderness (Texas). At the same time, this is not really a deconstruction of the genre. Travis remains a sympathetic figure, and the film's ending, in which his wife and son reunite and twirl around together, is one of the more satisfying conclusions I can recall.
I'll discuss Lies fully in my next post.
Thursday, 28 August 2008
2nd Chungmuro Film Festival
The 2nd Chungmuro Film Festival begins next Wednesday, September 3, and continues until Thursday, September 11. Some of the highlights:
-a Douglas Trumbull tribute, along with a master class with Trumbull. Films include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blade Runner, and Brainstorm.
-new print of Lola Montes
-David Lean retrospective
-tribute to Deborah Kerr
-a history of German cinema, including over 20 films from the silent era to the present
-a Kon Ichikawa retrospective, featuring nine films
-Memories of Korean Cinema
-a celebration of the Cannes director's fortnight, featuring over 20 films
-a retrospective of Korean auteur Jang Sun-woo
Once again, the line-up is impressive and it will be impossible to see even a fraction of what I would like, especially with work and moving considerations. I'm going to make a special effort to see a couple of Jang films, since I'm unfamiliar with his work thus far.
-a Douglas Trumbull tribute, along with a master class with Trumbull. Films include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blade Runner, and Brainstorm.
-new print of Lola Montes
-David Lean retrospective
-tribute to Deborah Kerr
-a history of German cinema, including over 20 films from the silent era to the present
-a Kon Ichikawa retrospective, featuring nine films
-Memories of Korean Cinema
-a celebration of the Cannes director's fortnight, featuring over 20 films
-a retrospective of Korean auteur Jang Sun-woo
Once again, the line-up is impressive and it will be impossible to see even a fraction of what I would like, especially with work and moving considerations. I'm going to make a special effort to see a couple of Jang films, since I'm unfamiliar with his work thus far.
Thursday, 17 January 2008
Chungmuro Film Festival
In October this year, there was the 1st Chungmuro Film Festival in Seoul. Unlike most other festivals, it focused on older films. Notable events included:
Retrospectives on Chaplin, John Boorman, Lindsay Anderson, Luchino Visconti and Patrick Tam;
Sections on Korean cinema, Australian cinema and Hong Kong cinema;
Restored prints of numerous films, from popular films like GONE WITH THE WIND and THE SOUND OF MUSIC to cult items like Argento's SUSPIRIA and HEAVEN'S GATE.
I was able to attend 5 films: THE LEOPARD, DELIVERANCE, if..., POINT BLANK, and HEAVEN'S GATE. The only print that was a problem was DELIVERANCE, which was shown in a badly faded 16mm version. The others were fine and if... was especially nice.
From all accounts the festival was a success, with a reported 70% attendance rate, and there is another festival scheduled for next August, so something to keep an eye on.
Retrospectives on Chaplin, John Boorman, Lindsay Anderson, Luchino Visconti and Patrick Tam;
Sections on Korean cinema, Australian cinema and Hong Kong cinema;
Restored prints of numerous films, from popular films like GONE WITH THE WIND and THE SOUND OF MUSIC to cult items like Argento's SUSPIRIA and HEAVEN'S GATE.
I was able to attend 5 films: THE LEOPARD, DELIVERANCE, if..., POINT BLANK, and HEAVEN'S GATE. The only print that was a problem was DELIVERANCE, which was shown in a badly faded 16mm version. The others were fine and if... was especially nice.
From all accounts the festival was a success, with a reported 70% attendance rate, and there is another festival scheduled for next August, so something to keep an eye on.
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