JIFF 2011 Part Four - Please Refrain From Kissing The Director

For Other JIFF 2011 posts please click here.



Spiderman, patron saint of film festivals everywhere.

I popped back to the festival open area I had visited the day before and picked up a couple of dvds from a stall. Lindsay Anderson’s If with Korean subtitles and Kamome Diner, a Japanese drama set in Finland. Then off to Megabox for film number six.


JIFF art on display.

달팽이의 별 (Planet of Snail) is a Korean documentary dealing with the life of a deaf-blind man and his diminutive wife, showing how they communicate with each other and their friends. It’s an uplifting hour and a half and the director Yi Seung-jun tries to show us what it must be like to live in this world of no sound or light. A touching story of how normal life can come out of unusual circumstances.


Coffee and Kidlat.

Feeling warm and fuzzy, I skipped down the slightly wet road, watched from a distance as Crying Nut warmed up for that night’s concert and then made my way to a hanok cafe for a cup of organic fair-trade coffee and a chance for my brain to cope with two days worth of sensory overload.


Kayagum wires strung across Hanok beams.


Quite possibly the best coffee house in Jeonju.

Then coffee consumed, I braced myself for the final film of my festival experience: Lee Myung-se’s 인정사정 볼 것 없다 (Nowhere to Hide).

I saw this film for the first time back in 2004 on DVD and fell in love with it. An artistic action film that experiments with image and form whilst thrilling, chilling, making you laugh and keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Back in CGV for the second time, I sat down and prepared myself. Then Lee Myung-se came and sat in front of me. Directly in front of me. Lee Myung-se was sitting directly in front of me! I kept my cool, I refrained from kissing his tiny bald head and waited for the movie to begin.


The back of Lee Myung-se's head...

Nowhere to Hide remains one of my favourite films and it has improved with age... sort of... let me explain. Seven years ago when I first saw the film I was a foolish young boy who had only been in Korea four years, my Korean was rudimentary and I relied on subtitles to enjoy Korean films. Fast forward to last weekend and I was surprised by how funny the film was, the Korean audience helped, but I realized that I understood the jokes and language play. It makes me happy that I’m able to appreciate Korean language films more deeply, that as my language skills improve I’m able to immerse myself more fully and understand more and more of the subtleties of language. In the words of Charlie Sheen “I’m winning”... Fortunately Lee Myung-se was also “winning” and the audience loved watching Nowhere to Hide. Most stayed for the hour long talk afterwards and if I have the time and inclination I’ll divulge some juicy details in a later post.


Cine Talk with Lee Myung-se.

I left the cinema at 11.30 thoroughly exhausted, but very happy with my first experience of the Jeonju International Film Festival. Back to the motel of doom, a can of beer, the red tinted windows, the circular love bed and the promise of a few hours of sleep.


This butterfly represents my feelings toward Lee Myung-se.

JIFF 2011 Part Three - Stormy Weather And HERZOG!

For Other JIFF 2011 posts please click here.


Welcome to JIFF, our banners are pretty and our spellchecker is broken.

I woke up to a thunderous storm, rain blasting onto the red tinted windows and the realization that I didn’t know where I could get breakfast. Stomach growling, I washed, brushed and got myself ready under the sickly green light of the bathroom, and made my way out into the rainy morning. Fortunately the JIFF shuttle bus was waiting for me and I settled myself into one of the faux leather seats as the tv at the head of the bus flickered with footage from the first two days of the festival and the speakers boomed with hideous techno. Dance music at ten in the morning has never seemed proper.


You must try one of these choco pies before you die.

As we arrived at the cinema street, the rain eased off and I was able to walk around looking for sustenance. Unable to find a Korean restaurant for breakfast, I headed for the PNB bakery and picked up one of their delicious baked choco pies. Not the healthiest way to break my fast, but I was hungry and I had four films to see.


Evil cat.

Next stop was a cute little coffee shop with an evil looking cat crouched on the counter. I left a warning in one of their notebooks. I think this may accurately reflect what a night in the 백제의 성 motel can do to a man’s mind...


Warning to others.

With caffeine and chocolate cake flowing through my digestive system I was ready for the first flick of the day: Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D. I had been wanting to see this documentary for quite a while and was so happy that JIFF were showing it in 3D. I think my tweet from before the screening says it all:

“HERZOG! HERZOG! HERZOG! Time for 3D Werner Herzog...”

Sometimes I can be such a geek.


I feel the same way about Herzog that a motel Ajosshi feels about these business cards (found outside my motel).

The Megabox screening was packed out (with the largest number of foreigners I had seen at the festival so far) and it did not disappoint. I think it may be the best use of 3D in cinema I have seen so far. Herzog allows the camera to linger over the fabulous prehistoric cave paintings of Chauvet and the 3D allows us to experience a little of the depth and texture of the art. This kind of film is best suited to hardcore documentary fans who have the patience and interest to spend ninety minutes looking at some old scribbles on a cave wall. I am one of those fans and was delighted by how Herzog has captured this unique historical wonder. Go see this in the cinema if you can, it’s well worth your hard earned cash and will leave you feeling like a better person. The postscript with the radioactive albino crocodiles may not be to everyone’s taste, but I found it to be a fitting Herzogian end to the whole thing.

No Q&A and certainly no Werner Herzog, so it was time for coffee and a cheese muffin.


They call this a cheese muffin. I call them liars.

A cheese muffin served with squirty cream? A cheese muffin that has never been introduced to any kind of recognizable cheese? A muffin certainly, not a bad one in fact, but this was completely different to the muffin I had dreamed of in those long lonely moments between ordering and receiving the damn thing.

At this point I was wondering whether watching The True Taste Show had cursed me and if I would be condemned to a weekend of dismal food. However, I’m a big boy and my next screening called.

Short animation programs can be a mixed bag, you may get some good, some bad and some just plain weird cartoons, but it seemed the best choice when I was booking tickets and I hoped that there might be some interesting moving pictures.


This mural was more exciting than the short animation program...

Eighty minutes later the house lights came back on and I left the cinema with my head hung low. My first failure of the festival. The main animation of the program was a rather ghoulish Japanese vegan fantasy, drawn in pencil (a touch Plymtonesque) and ending with a cannibalistic orgy of destruction. It lasted fifty minutes and I wished I’d spent that time in a happier place. The other few animations were blissfully short but none impressed me.


Happiness spread before me.

I needed cheering up, I needed food. I had an hour and a half till the next film and I knew just where to go... my favourite bibimbap place in the whole of Korea. I’ve written about 중앙회관 before and I’d recommend it to anyone heading to Jeonju. It’s a little out of the way, but 10,000 won will get you an incredible meal.


Bibimmed bap.

The way the ajummas bibim your bap is a thing of beauty and it was just what I needed to re-energize me and help me through the rest of the day. I gave the owners a hand with a few translations for their menu and they were kind enough to give me my meal for free. The True Taste Show curse was lifted, my festival mojo was back and I was ready for cinematic action.


You want this. I know you do.

JIFF 2011 Part Two - Offending Directors And Culinary Curses

For Other JIFF 2011 posts please click here.



I’ve been interested in the work of Park Chan-kyong ever since I heard he was Park Chan-wook’s brother and that they were working on a short film called 파란만장 (Night Fishing) together. Call me shallow, but Park Chan-wook is one of my favourite directors and I a firm believer that genius can be hereditary, so the opportunity to see Park Chan-kyong’s first feature length film could not be missed. I had already seen his short film 비행 (Flying) at the Korean Rhapsody exhibition that is still running at the Leeum Museum. It was an interesting piece of work, but I was curious to see how he would fill out two hours worth of film.

다시 태어나고 싶어요, 안양에 (Anyang, Paradise City) turned out to be an enjoyable semi-fictional, semi-documentary investigation into Anyang City’s history, focusing on a fire at the Greenhill Factory. Park Chan-kyong plays a version of himself as onscreen director, whilst two actresses Kim Yeri and Park Min-yeong play his assistants (and as it turns out did actually assist in the making of the film). The film follows their investigation of the fire, their interviews with historians, authors and shaman and also highlights some traditional performances from the area. I’d hesistate to call it a feature film, but would rather describe it as media art. In the way that Matthew Barney makes feature length art pieces, Park Chan-kyong has done something in a similar vein.


Q&A with Park Chan-kyong (centre).

After the screening Park Chan-kyong and Kim Yeri had a brief Q&A session with the audience who remained. I may do a separate post on that session at a later date.

As we left the screening room, I said hello to Mr. Park, said how much I enjoyed the film and pointed out that some of the subtitles in his film had mistakes. He was not best pleased and excused himself for a cigarette. It’s good to know that I can accidentally offend a director with just a few words...


Found at Jeonju station.

Trying to forget my faux-pas, I brushed away copious tears and sniveling, made my way to the next screening...

Film number two was Kim Jae-hwan’s 트루맛쇼 (The True Taste Show), a rather entertaining investigation into the world of Korean reality television, again at Megabox. Kim and his crew took it upon themselves to examine the tv shows that recommend restaurants to the public. They set up their own fake restaurant and found out that it’ll normally cost you 10 million won if you want your place to appear on tv, sometimes more or less depending on the grade of celebrity you want come visit and pretend they are a regular customer.


Director Kim Jae-hwan alongside Park Na-rim and Ki Hyo-young at the Q&A.

The documentary is very funny, very sharp and pulls no punches in exposing the reality of reality television. I fear I may be one of only a few people who get to see it though, as the director talked about possible lawsuits in the Q&A afterwards. He said they planned to rent cinemas in Seoul and screen the film, I hope they manage to do it and that audiences flock to see this expose of televisual malpractice. Quite possibly the best film of the festival for me, certainly the most surprising.

Dying for dinner after seeing so much food on the big screen, I searched for somewhere else to eat. With little time to spare I popped into a dumpling chain restaurant for a rather unsatisfactory plate of 고기 만두 (3,500 won for the taste of salty poor quality food).


Salty lumps of disappointment.

Belly rumbling slightly I headed to the third and final screening of the day: Inside Job, the oscar winning documentary detailing the worldwide financial crisis of 2008. This time the film was shown at the rather seedier CGV cinema. I love CGV Yongsan, but the Jeonju branch is rather old and worn, plus the film was badly projected with a fifth of the screen slightly out of focus. Nobody seemed too bothered, nobody complained and the projection stayed that way for the whole film. Meh. Inside Job is enjoyable, but it plays out like a two hour economics lecture from a series of entertaining professors. It’s 95% talking heads and it can get a little tiring at times. Certainly worth watching if you want to confirm how corrupt the banking industry is and how terrible the crisis was, but there’s nothing new to see here except for the humiliation of several important people on camera. There was a Q&A session with a Korean University professor after the film, but I wasn’t in the mood for another lecture.

I was out of CGV by 10.00 and headed back to my rather sordid little room in the love motel. Picked up a couple of beers from a convenience store and watched Scrubs on the fuzzy tv. I slept.


HD vision sunglasses? Really?

JIFF 2011 Part One - Arrival And A Chance Encounter

For Other JIFF 2011 posts please click here.


Stepping out of my charming Itaewon hovel, I made my way to Yongsan station and hopped on the early morning train to Jeonju. I’m used to traveling by bus and on the KTX, but this was my first experience of the 새마을 (Saemaeul) train service and I was pleasantly surprised.


A very different kind of iPad. Seen at Seoul Station.

Spacious seats and plenty of legroom made the three hour and 10 minute journey more than bearable (as did the price, 25,400 won, much cheaper than the KTX), but it was the train cafe that really enhanced my trip. The ability to get up, wander to the dining car and have a coffee is something missing from the KTX experience, but with the Saemaeul and the Mugunghwa trains you’re allowed to dine or drink in a little more style. The hazelnut coffee is still just as bad as the KTX, but sitting on a bench facing the window is just a little more romantic and feels far more cultured than just being stuck in your seat.


The train cafe.

Arriving at Jeonju station, I thrust myself into a taxi and sped towards my accommodation. I’d picked a love hotel from a list provided by the festival, and to be fair at 30,000 won a night it was very reasonably priced. However, it was a very old fashioned kind of lodging house, complete with water-stained walls, tiny red tinted windows and a bathroom light that shone a sickly green onto the chipped toilet. The circular bed complete with leftover hairs was the piece de resistance. Needless to say, I won’t be coming back to the 백제의 성 motel...


Everybody loves a circular bed.

After dumping a fair amount of my belongings, I took the JIFF shuttle bus and headed down to the JIFF Press Office to pick up my pass (Thanks to 10 Magazine for the credentials) and my tickets. A press conference filled with people I should have recognized was taking place as I picked up my goodie bag and after lingering for a while to listen to the celebrities, I made my way into downtown Jeonju to score some lunch.


Press conference filled with people I have never heard of.


The JIFF 2011 Goodie bag.

A word of warning: If you’re peckish and you don’t fancy fast food, then the cinema street may not have what you’re looking for. You’ll have to walk a little bit further to enjoy the culinary delights of Jeonju. Unfortunately I was pressed for time and so ended up walking round in ever decreasing circles until I found a branch of School Food.


Carbonara Topokki.

I’ve heard much said about this upscale kimbap restaurant, but this was the first time I had the chance to sample their delights. A quick scan of the menu, did little to excite me, but one dish popped out from the page and I decided that it would be remiss of me if I didn’t try the “Carbonara Topokki”. Fusion School Food for 8,000 won and surprisingly decent. The sauce tasted like something you might get at Sorrento, but there was plenty of bacon and the rice cakes worked well in the rich creamy sauce. Not my ideal lunch, but it did the job and was much better than expected.

Filled with cream and rice starch, I started to make my way to the Jeonju Megabox Cinema, but first popped into one of the open festival areas. There I chanced upon an exhibition by Filipino director Kidlat Tahimik (His name means Quiet Lightning).


Kidlat Tahimik poses with his alternative camera.

The festival was showing a retrospective of his works and he had brought over a collection of sculptures to commemorate the occasion. Each of the tableaus he had created showed the conflict between tradition and Hollywood, with teams of native film-makers either creating work based on local stories or trying to copy Marilyn Monroe.


Mickey Mouse films Marilyn.

I was fortunate enough to meet the director as he was arranging the pieces and he took a moment to explain his intentions for the exhibition. If I hadn’t had been on such a tight schedule I would have gone out of my way to see some of his cinematic work, but with my tickets already booked and only two days in Jeonju, I was unable to see any of his films. If anyone has any idea how I can get my hands on the work of Kidlat Tahimik, I’d love to know.


Sculpture up close and personal.

Onto Megabox and the first film of the day.

Jeonju International Film Festival 2011

Hello dear readers and welcome to what will be a few rather longer posts than usual. Last weekend I had the opportunity to head down to Jeonju for the International Film Festival and here’s my school report detailing a few of my experiences.

Part One - Arrival And A Chance Encounter
Part Two - Offending Directors And Culinary Curses
Part Three - Stormy Weather And HERZOG!
Part Four - Please Refrain From Kissing The Director
Part Five - Departure, Words Of Praise And Warning

Morning Special Ajosshi

UPDATE: looks like I'm on at 8.20...

Just a quick post to say that those of you with nothing better to do this morning can listen to me babble away on the EBS radio show Morning Special. The program runs from 8.00 till 10.00 and I'm meant to arrive there at 8.15, so I may well be on air before 9.00...

I'll be talking about Children's Day and children's theatre in Korea, so if you're interested I hope you get a chance to tune in.

A Plea To Korean Cinema Goers...

I've just come back from seeing Thor 3D and I thought I'd share a quick plea to any Korean cinema goers who might happen to pass by:

You don't need to walk out of the cinema the second the credits start to roll. Whatever your next appointment is, it's probably not that urgent. Why not stick around for a few more seconds, why not take a moment to appreciate the film you have just seen (though admittedly there are some Michael Bay films that make me run screaming for the exit as soon as possible). You never know, you might just get a little treat.

The six people in our screening who decided to stay till the very end of Thor got to see an extra twist in the tale, well worth knowing for anyone interested in the upcoming Avengers film. We stayed for a few minutes more and got to see the whole story. We know something that the other audience members don't and god damn it, that makes us special! Don't you want to feel special too?

Go on, stay in your seats, finish those last kernels of popcorn, rattle the ice in your cup and stay behind for just a minute. You might get to see some bloopers, maybe a postscript, perhaps some interesting drawings or animation (Lemony Snicket had the most beautiful end credits and Pixar never disappoints), or a song and dance number (How those of us who stayed laughed at the There's Something About Mary cast and crew singing Build Me Up Buttercup). At the end of the credits of Masters of the Universe we found out that Skeletor was still alive! That was certainly worth waiting for (at least it was when I was nine)...

Last month I went to see Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's Paul, a really rather funny film that runs the credits over the final scene. Even as the actors were talking, as soon as a single credit appeared, a Pavlovian response kicked in and half the audience started to leave. The story wasn't even bloody over and yet people were going. You've paid for your ticket, you've made the commitment to see the film, so why won't you give it a chance to finish?

I know this isn't everyone, at every screening I go to there are usually four or five of us, who sit doggedly, refusing to move until the final credit disappears from the screen, but we are very much in the minority and that saddens me.

Please, Korean cinema goers, find it in your hearts to give end credits a second chance, you might just enjoy them...

And if you're not the patient type then you can always use this kind of website to check if you should stay to the end or not.

Dokdo The Musical?

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to see a new children's musical called 강치대왕의 쿠키상자 (roughly translates as "King Sea-lion And The Cookie Chest"). I'll spare you the details as to the content and quality of the musical (I'll just say there's no need for you to spend your precious time on it), but I will point you to something which made me feel rather uneasy about the whole endeavour.

The more eagle eyed Korean readers among you may have spotted the tag line above the title:



독도를 지기던 바다사자 강치가 뮤지컬로 돌아왔다!

This roughly translates as (and please feel free to correct) "The Sea-lion that guards Dokdo has come back to the musical!" or some such nonsense.

"Nonsense?" You say.

"Yes." I respond.

"Why?" You inquire.

"Perhaps I should stop writing in this fashion as it may start to annoy people." I retort.

Dokdo is mentioned approximately twice in the whole musical, it carries no relevance to the story, it doesn't enhance the plot and there is no musical number singing the praises of the Liancourt Rocks (though there is a furry cat scarf that blows bubbles out of its mouth which I thought was brilliant).

In my opinion Dokdo has been thrown on the poster in an attempt to boost audience numbers through nationalistic sentiment. This makes me feel ever so slightly cheap and dirty. If you want to make a musical about Dokdo then fair enough, but if you're going to name drop Takeshima twice and then forget about it, then I'm of the opinion that it should hold no place on your poster.

In fact, I'd love to see Dokdo The Musical, especially if it has a headless pheasant dance number. I'm all for tributes to disputed island territories, but I'm not a fan of misleading tag lines designed to part kids and parents from their cash (though once again I must state that I am a fan of the bubble blowing cat scarf)...

Nice People

Located in the back streets of Gyeongnidan. Nice people need offices too.

Fried Rice

More kitchen exploits from this week. This time a very successful salami fried rice. Made using one of Chef Meili's tasty little spicy salamis and topped with fresh spring onion and sesame seeds. Delicious.