Tom Jolliffe looks at the booming worldwide popularity of Korean film and TV. With the Western studios so preoccupied with IP, are we getting more engaging films and shows from Korea? German cinema in the 30’s. American noir in the 40’s. Japanese cinema in the 50’s. Nordic cinema from the 50’s and 60’s. British cinema […]
Ten Essential Korean Cinema Gems
Tom Jolliffe offers up some essential Korean cinema gems… While Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite garnered global attention on its way to becoming the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, Korean cinema has been crafting trend setting, ahead of the curve cinema for years and always comfortable to go to those […]
The Art of Giving Film Recommendations
Tom Jolliffe on the art of giving film recommendations… You’ve got to see The Matrix! You have to! It’s 1999, and there’s a distinct transition between the recommender of The Matrix as being ahead of the curve, to a couple of months down the line when such a recommendation is lost in a cacophony of […]
Audience Manipulation Through Character Perspective
Tom Jolliffe on playing with character perspective to take the audience exactly where you want them… In the history of cinema, many writers and directors have sought to transfix an audience and take them to very deliberate places. Sometimes these tales fire straight like an arrow, leading us on a linear and clear path, with […]
Movie Review – The Handmaiden (2016)
The Handmaiden, 2016. Directed by Park Chan-wook Starring Min-hee Kim, Tae-ri Kim, Jung-woo Ha, and Jin-woong Jo. SYNOPSIS: Japanese heiress Hideko employs a new handmaiden, Sook-hee, but what she doesn’t know is that the girl is a pickpocket. She’s been recruited by a con artist who aims to marry her mistress and swindle her out […]
60th BFI London Film Festival 2016 Review – The Handmaiden (2016)
The Handmaiden, 2016 Directed by Park Chan-wook Starring Min-hee Kim, Kim Tae-ri, Jung-woo Ha, Jin-woong Jo SYNOPSIS: During the Japanese occupation of Korea, young con-woman Sook-Hee is hired to be a wealthy heiress’s handmaiden at an isolated countryside estate. Joining forces with a fellow thief, she plans to swindle the heiress out of her fortune, […]
BAFTA to host 7th annual Screenwriters’ Lecture Series
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) have announced that the latest in their prestigious series of lectures by the world’s leading screenwriters will feature writer-directors Kenneth Lonergan, Maren Ade, Park Chan-wook, and Phil Lord and Chris Miller this October. Now in its seventh year, the Screenwriters’ Lecture Series exists to celebrate screenwriters’ authorial […]
Trailer and character posters for Park Chan-Wook’s The Handmaiden
Ahead of its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this weekend, a trailer and six character posters have arrived online for the upcoming thriller The Handmaiden, the latest offering from acclaimed filmmaker Park Chan-Wook; take a look below… 1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl (Sookee) is hired as a […]