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By: Yi Chen
Washington, DC – ParkChan Wook, an internationally acclaimed Korean filmmaker has won awards from Cannes, Berlin, and Vienna. One of his biggest fans in Quentin Tarantino. He recently made his Hollywood debut with a film called Stoker, a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Shadow of Doubt.
In short, Wook’s films were a perfect way to open the ninth Korean Film Festival in DC. The festival featured seven of Wook’s films, ranging from the stylized and violent “Vengeance Trilogy” to a lighter and more playful romantic comedy, I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Okay (2006).
Like Tarantino’s films, Park’s work can be very gruesome. Although the on-screen violence is done highly stylistically and necessary to push the plot forward, the use of sound in some of his films is also highly effective without as much visual shock. Lady Vengeance, for instance, has the lightest brutality but the finest of all three films. Most terrifying moments that would make people shudder are left outside the image frame to our imagination. Actress Lee Young-ae delivers brilliant performance as the “kind-hearted Geum-ja” plotting revenge on Mr. Baek, a sociopathic schoolteacher who forces Geum-jac to confess to a crime she didn’t commit, immediately after her release from the prison. Park Chan-wook offers a philosophical resolution to his “Vengeance Trilogy” with Lee Geum-ja’s quest for redemption after her revenge.
Hatred, compassion and humorous absurdity often coexist in his films. Cinematically Park composes images carefully to create the impression of a real and at the same time a dream-like world. In Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Park also lets sound do its job effectively to emphasis the viewpoint of Ryu, a hearing-impaired young man who turns to illegal organ dealers for a new kidney to save his dying sister. After Ryu is cheated by the organ dealers and fired at work, he has no choice but to kidnap the factory owner’s daughter. He intends to return the girl after receiving the ransom, but of course nothing goes as planned. The film gets more intense when the factory owner (Shin Hu-kyun) decides to seek revenge on Ryu. Both Shin Hu-kyun’s performance and character development are very strong. Ryu is a difficult character to play because he doesn’t have any dialogue, and Song Kang-ho does a good job. A simple story about revenge and inevitable fate, Park’s trilogy is shocking, violent and visually beautiful.
Curator Tom Vick at Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler Galleries travels to film festivals such as the annual Busan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea and the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy every year since 2004 to select films for the annual Korean Film Festival in DC. “If 2012 was the year Korean pop music conquered the world with ‘Gangnam Style.’ 2013 is shaping up to be the year that Korean filmmakers make their mark on Hollywood.” Vick wrote in the program introduction.
In addition to Wook’s film, this year’s festival features a host of award-winners, including O Muel’s Jiseul, honored at the Sundance Film Festival; Kang Yik-wan’s tender drama Juvenile Offender, the surprise winner of multiple awards at the Tokyo International Film Festival; and Kim Ki-duk’s Pieta, which took home the coveted Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.” Vick also recommended Jang Kun-jae’s Sleepless Night, a young couple’s contemplation, dream, and argument about bringing a child into their settled life. The film won both the Grand Prize and Audience Award at the Joenju International Film Festival.
Korean Film Festival DC 2013 is organized by the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and presented with the support of the Korean Cultural Center DC, Embassy of the Republic of Korea. The festival runs through April 21, presenting 18 feature films, a 3D film as well as an experimental shorts program. For more information on the film schedule and venues visit http://www.asia.si.edu/events/koreanfilm. Photos are courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art.
