Gabi / <가비 - 加比> 2012

Directed by: Jang Yoon-hyeon / 장윤현
Release date: March 2012

It is 1877 and political intrigue is about to begin for little Tanya when her father, a Korean national, is killed by assassins in their house in Russian Manchuria. She and the family servant boy, Ilyich, grow up in Russia multi-lingual, do a lot of things (join bandit gangs, rob trains, steal coffee beans, get lined up before firing squads) and end up working for Japan. It is 1896 and Tanya is sent as a spy to the Russian legation in Seoul where Ko-jong, the king of Korea, is living under the protection of the Russians. The king loves this new-fangled beverage, coffee (the “gabi” of the title), and she is hired to prepare and serve it to him. Meanwhile her lover Ilyich ends up working for the Japanese military in Korea. A lot of intrigue follows, with spies from all sides competing against each other, plots to poison the king set up and foiled, people assassinated, militia’s battling, a lot happens. Will Tanya's and Ilyich's loyalty return to Korea? Will they ever be together? 

Gabi is a sumptuous and engaging film to watch but it is rather too long (115 minutes), with an extremely complicated plot, and often the action gets repetitious – the film could have used some careful editing to shorten it and tighten up the plot. A great deal of the film’s dialog takes place either in Russian or Japanese, which is historically accurate and therefore kind of cool. The computer-generated vistas of late 19^th century Korean urban spaces are eye-catching. Be sure to drink coffee while watching and enjoy all the gorgeous 19^th-century coffee cups featured in the film. 

My take:  4 stars

Two palace women, barista Tanya, hotelier Sonya,

and translator all attend on the Russian legate

and the Korean king for a coffee date.

Pong-ddol / <뽕똘> 2011

Directed by: Oh Muel / 오멸
Release date: August 2011

An actor from Seoul is traveling on Cheju Island and answers to a poster for actors wanted. First he is put off by the eccentric director, cast, and film crew but then he gets caught up in their pure enthusiasm for the project, a film to be called Fishing Film, about a very big fish. There is no screenplay, no camera engineer, no budget, and for a while no camera, but the shooting goes on … sort of.

Definitely an indie film but one which showcased, for the first three-fourths of the film, director Oh’s deft control of humor and timing. The high point of the film, for me, was the absurd after-thirty-years-in-a-boat scene being filmed in a parking lot – I literally laughed till I cried. The film begins to drag and loose its humor toward the end, for example, the chase scene seemed way too long. I could not help thinking that the director could have done a better conclusion.  

My take: 4 stars

In the director’s "office", the actor waits his turn 

while the producer and director audition the lead actress

(Kim Min-hyeok, Lee Kyeong-joon, Yang Jeong-won, and Jo Eun).

Passerby #3 / Rainbow / <레인보우> 2010

Directed by: Shin Su-won / 신수원
Release date: November 2010

The gift of a digital movie camera inspired Kim Ji-wan to quit her high-school teaching job and aim at directing films. She scores an internship in a production company but things do not run smoothly in this production-line atmosphere. The committee in charge continually finds fault with all of her ideas and each of her screenplays—first they tell her her ideas are not commercial enough, then they advise her to find her own "true colors". Meanwhile at home her son Si-yeong is becoming a rebellious adolescent and her long-suffering husband Sang-woo is tired of her dead-end aspirations.

This film is a joyful riff on the creative impulse. The humor is whimsical, the characters engaging, and the storyline upbeat but never sappy. 

My take: 5 stars!

A species of duet: son (Baek So-myeong) on the guitar,

mom (Park Hyun-young) on the keyboard.

Cyrano Agency / <시라노; 연애조작단> 2010

Directed by: Kim Hyeon-seok, 김현석
Release date: September 2010

The Cyrano Agency works behind the scenes to arrange encounters for their clients with strangers, and feed them their lines for these encounters over whisperers, which will lead to love and marriage. Some clients mumble their way through their lines … and get their girl! Other clients flub their lines and make a fool out of themselves … and still they get their girl!

An interesting premise, but the film fails to convince and the implausibility of the plot itself quickly palls. The cinematography and the lighting were extremely well done! Too bad the storyline did not achieve the same levels. 

My take: 1 star

A new client (Song Sae-byeok) is interviewed by a
Cyrano Agency staff member (Park Sin-hye) – he wants to
find love with the pretty barista he saw in a coffee shop.

Punch / <완득이> 2011

Directed by: Lee Han / 이한
Release date: October 2011

High-school student Wan-deuk is angry and rebellious and keeps to himself. His father, a hunchback, should have been a talented professional dancer but instead must eke out a living as an itinerant comic dancer. The complications keep coming – his neighbor turns out to be his iconoclastic teacher, Dong-ju; the sudden reappearance of his birth mother who is a Filipino guest worker in Korea, and so on – but Wan-deuk finds an inner strength and sense of fairness in himself that not only guides him but begins to win him supporters, including the attention of the hottest girl in his class.

As well as a being a bildungsroman, the film deals with a whole series of topical issues of discrimination, such as discrimination against the disabled and against foreign guest-workers – topical but not preachy with a good leavening of humor. The acting was especially flawless. The film was a little slow paced and could have used tighter editing. 

My take: 5 stars!

Distressed by her worn shoes, Wan-deuk takes his new-found

mother to a store and buys her some patent-leather pumps …

and claims her as his mother to the nosey shopkeeper

(Jasmine Lee, Yoo Ah-in, unaccredited).

Guns and Talks / <킬러들의 수다> 2001

Directed by: Jang Jin / 장진
Release date: October 2001

Four men run a lucrative enterprise, but not your ordinary business, they hire out as professional killers: Sang-yun lays the plans, Jung-woo is a specialist with bombs, Jae-young a skilled sniper, and Ha-yun is the electronics whiz. Neither are they your ordinary hit men: they are a quirky bunch who all live together and have family meetings about their next target. Police detective Cho gets a break in hunting them down and is hard on their trail. Then they take on what may be their final job, an impossible-to-pull-off public assassination, all to please a lady with a pretty face.

Not your ordinary hit men and not your usual action film, indeed not. This film is another of director Jang Jin’s contribution to his oeuvre of quirky comedies. It’s a long film (120 minutes) but it never gets boring. Jang’s visual and verbal humor just keeps on coming. And it never veers off into gross “bathroom” humor! Hurray! In my book, Jang Jin is a comic genius. The music and cinematography are pretty awesome as well, and the play within the film, snips from Hamlet, was gorgeously staged (perhaps a reference to director Jang's extensive stage directing experience?). 

My take: 5 stars! (I love the droll humor of Jang Jin!)

A high school student from the neighborhood drops by, she
wants her teacher knocked off. The four attempt, not very convincingly,

to convince her that they are not what they seem, that they don’t

kill people for a living (Jeong Jae-yeong, Sin Ha-gyoon,

Shin Hyeon-joon, Won Bin, and Kong Hyo-jin).

The Recipe <된장> 2010

Directed by: Lee Seo-goon / 이서군
Release date: October 2010

A murderer’s last words before execution recall the fabulously delicious bean paste soup he ate just before his arrest. Intrigued by this report, a reporter seeks out the soup and begins to learn of the mysterious woman behind it and of a recipe for fantastic bean paste.

The first third of the film is a quirky comedy, the middle third a series of bittersweet journeys, and the last third slides into a beautifully filmed but soppy love story. Throughout the whole film, the cinematography and animation was superb. The comedy sections were immensely enjoyable, done in a very understated comic style. The changes in pace for the film were odd but still, overall, an enjoyable film.  

My take: 4 stars

The wanted criminal enjoys and finishes his bowl

of bean-paste soup with no awareness of the swat team

bursting in to arrest him … the soup is that good!