Well hello there, fellow person, it’s been a wee while since I dusted off this blog and actually wrote something, so here I am! Back with another project that I made up to justify watching or listening to something new, because god forbid I just do it, like, you know, for fun. Ew.
It’s been a year and a half since I last posted here, and in the meantime, I’ve still been living and working in South Korea, though that time is unfortunately coming to an end next month. What will I be doing, I don’t hear you ask but I’ll pretend you did anyway? Beyond turning thirty and having a couple of trips with friends, not a clue love. We shall see…
My time in Korea has been amazing, full of all the ups and downs (ho boy some DOWNs I tell ya!) of living far away from home during a pandemic. Love that for me. My love for Korean culture has not changed at all, if anything it’s only become deeper after actually getting some of it contextualised through my life here. I’ve even taken up a writing position at the Korean pop culture website Seoulbeats, a big part of the reason I’ve been writing on here less. Go and check it out! I write about TV and music!
However, I haven’t had much of the chance to write about the third part of the pop culture trifecta: film. And so, sometime in the distant past that I couldn’t precisely remember if I tried, I decided to get back into film stuff with a project around Korean cinema.
Enter, Cinema September. Honestly it was initially planned to be earlier in the year before life got life-y, so I thought my last month in Korea would turn out to be a fitting opportunity to do it. And also it has alliteration this way, which just feels nice.
What is Cinema September? Quite simply, me reviewing a Korean film that I’ve never seen before, every other day in September. That’s it. As with any medium as huge as film, it’s always going to be tough to have seen everything, and so many people will have such differing opinions on what is a ‘must-see’ and what is not. I’ve pulled my choices from my own personal intrigue, as well as some googled lists to see what was missing (namely The Guardian and Curzon). I’ve even gone ahead and made a Letterboxd list of all the films that I chose in case you’re curious as to what’s coming up: aren’t I organised?
If you too are a Korean film fan and you find the list omitting a lot of great stuff, please let me reassure you. Many of the biggest giants of this field I have already seen; most of Park Chan-wook’s most famous work, including Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and The Handmaiden; the same with Bong Joon-ho, only two of his filmography missed before starting this; and other gems like The Wailing, Train to Busan, Little Forest and Christmas in August. This project is more designed as a levelling-up exercise than an entry level one, so fear not, if your fave isn’t here there’s a good chance that that’s why.
On a little side note, any experts reading this might notice an absence of Kim Ki-duk here. I’ve made the choice not to include him because I just don’t want to delve into the work of someone who was likely a sexual predator and misogynist. Yes, there are the arguments about separating the art from the artist, but I would counter that by saying that this project is my choice, and I don’t want to choose to engage with his work. I had the misfortune to watch (I think) his last film, Human, Space, Time and Human at a film festival in 2018, and it was probably the most unpleasant film experience I’ve ever had. Given that extreme violence and female suffering is apparently prevalent in his work, I just don’t want to go there. And that’s that.
I’ve also only picked pretty modern stuff: I don’t think there’s any film here made before the 1990s. This was just to narrow my scope a little, but I am more than happy to take suggestions of older films (beyond The Housemaid, which I’ve already seen), for the future. I really need to take a dive into the Korean Classic Film archive on YouTube, so any guidance as to where to start there is welcome.
Anyhoo, welcome to this little idea I had ages ago to extend my knowledge of Korean cinema ever further. I hope you find the reviews insightful, and maybe even a little enjoyable, and if you have any thoughts on them I would genuinely be intrigued to know them. I include light spoilers in most on the assumption that the reader may have seen them, so do bear that in mind, but otherwise, enjoy, and I’ll catch you all later.
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