Swirling Actions & Noir Stylings: The Korean Film Festival Los Angeles 2010 - Feature

The essence over Korean cinema influence over the past couple years is almost unnumerable to measure. In a time where most executives sometimes don't see many movies beyond their youth and a few books, the key is finding a different approach to the material. The South Korean film industry, in many ways, because of its culture and geographical location as well as its tension to the North, in many ways makes it cutting edge in terms of both its style and difference to the Western world while still embracing some elements of its life. With a burgeoning film market, both businesswise and creatively motivated, its continuing potential should not be ignored.The Korean Film Festival Los Angeles tries to bring this aspect in focus. While small, it gives a great landscape. While a few cinefiles flock to the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills where most of the films were shown, alot of the flock was ethnic Korean who do not get to see some of these films on the big screen where they should be enjoyed. Some are available on DVD at times but it simply does not capture the essence sometimes of the brand, especially when it involves action.Opening Night The Opening Night kicked off as the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood which hosted the Cultural Center in highlighted "Le Grand Chef II: Kimchi Battle". As in many Eastern manga, the aspect of food is very important and the film commits it beautiful while creating a simple but effective story. As with alot of Korean cinema, the aspect is built within family as the structure in thought sometimes is inherently different with young people expected to care for the elders when they grow old without question, which becomes the basis for another of the films viewed.

In "Le Chef II" two siblings face off against each other trying to make the best Kimchi and make it available to the West. The Korean culture is very aware of the necessity of globalization. The key with Kimchi is that it can be made in many ways but the essence that moves the story is that it must always return at times to traditional. Using food as an essence that moves emotion works well here, especially when related with a grown son on the run from the law who dreams of his mother's cooking. It becomes the apex of a very powerful scene which almost seems paradoxical in this otherwise light dramedy but it pushes the film to its final end.The afterparty in the courtyard, highlighted by Hite Beer and Jinro Soju, was a muted but enjoyable affair as chef mannequins danced in quiet abandon as bitter infused shrimp and shredded beef pockets made their ways through the glowing white tables. Syncronized dancers movd in rhythm as the film's star who arrived all the way from Korea celebrated her birthday.Films #1 The key with a film festival like this is that, however small, some of the filmmakers made their way from across the Pacific to be here thanks in many parts likely to the Korean Film Council and Asiana Airlines. The key to any great festival is the availability of these talents from half way around the world to explain an industry that might be behind Hollywood but nonetheless extremely important.The beginning films show an interrance of new independent voices working to build their thoughts and an interesting blend of horror and sociological commentary.

"Daytime Drinking" shows a young man existing in a lonely world where every day brings him an adventure he didn't expect. Simply looking for a human connection in the country before he heads back to the capital Seoul, the film is less downtrodden than described. Its moments of humor are based in the sheer ignorance of the character, not of his actions but of the reactions they might cause. The situations are both funny and undeniable though the technical glitches are glaring. Granted afterwards the filmmaker spoke of doing the film on a budget of $10,000 over 10 days which makes the achievement alot more telling. It is smart of the Korean Film Council to show this comparative in balance to its bigger films because it shows where the essence of some of the rising filmmakers are doing in specific to their subject matter."The Pot" is a slightly bigger picture but not by much. In approaching horror like many predecessors (i.e. "The Eye" and "Dark Water"), this film is not as straightforward which made the latter films prime for remake. Like many Korean bases of horror, there is a cultural structure at play, The aspect of caring for elders as a cultural structure in Asia plays in earnest here though a certain lack of explanation is given. This is what many Western filmmakers can learn. All things need not be explained because it gives the audience something else to do. While lower budget, parts of the film from the music to lingering master shots have an undeniable link to Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". A specific scene in a park with a little girl on a see saw which nobody else is on the other end of is viscerally eerie and that carries that spark. While the ending is a little more brutal than most, it keeps in structure with the general plot which might be another metaphor for the title. Ultimately the darkness of the picture is progressive in its ideas but the filmmaker, only 30, seems to understand some of the intent behind the psychological manipulations.

"The Blood Pledge" made by production outfit Lotte is a little more interesting in its combination of elements of the two previous films. It follows a group of four girls who make a pledge to commit suicide together at their all girls school. Granted there is an agenda with some of them simply to create ambition. At the center of the narrative is a girl who is truly upset having gotten pregnant because the boy and his mother are forcing her to get rid of it. Her female friend, who has more than passing feelings for her, wants to die with her than live without her. The other two girls are social climbers, one of whom gets beaten regularly by her dad while the other is the former girlfriend of said impregnator. While it may sound complicated, it is not and runs rather smoothly despite its obviously macabre subject matter. As in many movies of this kind, the girl wronged who only died because of her love for her friend, comes back to exact revenge. Like "The Pot", there is an undeniable overtone of religion incumbent here. In a Confucious-based society which has been overun by Christianity, you can see the struggle within the secular arena over this ideal reflected in the popular culture. The fact that the climax of the film which is both violent and telling takes place inside a chapel is telling.Films #2 The second day of films shown showed a little more of a crowd showing up for said movies. What is interesting is that some of the biggers films including the enjoyable "Arahan" were not as heavily attended."Arahan", the first film shown as part of a retrospective of director Seung-wan Ryoo who attended the festival while in the middle of production on his latest film. "Arahan" has some of the fantastical elements of Stephen Chow Kung Fu with some great humor. The key here is in the casting of a slightly aloof police officer who has the power of the chi. The action is fast and furious making good use of the fight team and digital effects. The cartoon antics of say "Shaolin Soccer" can be seen at times but some of the action is played a little more realistically with distinctive elements of blood. The final showdown in a museum as well as in a tao dojo is pretty intrinsic using different motions and an almost reverse homage to "The Matrix" (in a subtle way) which is pretty cool. The style and bad-ass pace is what makes the film effective and true to the culture without it being of derivative of any Western movies which is the inherent fear because that kind of saturation would belay the uniqueness."City Of Violence", one of the Ryoo's more recent forays, pays homage back and forth to Scorsese's "Goodfellas"- era films but with a distinctly more intensive vision of violence. The intensity, at times, borders on real especially during a continual street fight between two cops and a hoard of juvenille delinquents. Unlike the last film of his screened ("Arahan"), here Ryoo acts as both director and actor putting himself in the middle of the melee. When asked at the Q&A about why he put himself in the path of destruction, his perspective is that he thought it was more practical. If he put himself in there, especially in the grueling closing sequence which brings to mind "Kill Bill" on steroids, you get a little bit of the thought of what he is doing here. Another interesting perspective of the audience in balance to the US is the aspect of no guns which he relates to the fact that it is almost unlawful to have a gun in Korea. The action is very different from "Arahan" but the drama is more classical despite its odes to the "Mean Streets" director. Ryoo doesn't mess around. He engages his audience although his command of genre shows a bit of the Tarantino influence.

The last film screened was "Secret" which takes the aspect of the psychological thriller perhaps seen most in the 80s and 90s with films like "Jade" and "Sea Of Love" using police/cop genre in a distinct hard boiled fashion. Here a cop finds out that his wife may be the main suspect in the murder of a notorious crime boss' brother who vows painful revenge against whoever is responsible. It is interesting watching the cop try to cover the different clues up though it is never as suspenseful as it thinks it is. Again the aspect of many of these movies builds to a thundering climax at times that can't be matched in the United States. The aspect of family despite earlier indications actually is turned on its head showing an undue Western influence.The Korean Film Festival Los Angeles shows the different possibilities of what Korean Film has to offer. Despite a less than obvious turnout for some of these great films, these selections command more of a genre mastery than many other specified festivals like this can boast allowing for interesting drama and action on every side.