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London Korean Film Festival · 2011

London Korean Film Festival 2011

Retrospectives

Programme

7 films · 5 reviews

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Arahan (Jang-poong Dae-jak-jeon)

Review preview for Arahan

Very funny and very exciting.

Gator MacReady · 4 out of 5
Comedy chop-socky with serious martial arts moves from South Korea.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2004; Director: Ryoo Seung-wan; Writer: Eun Ji-hie, Ryoo Seung-wan, Yu Seon-dong; Stars: Ryoo Seung-bum, Yun Soy, Ahn Sung-ki, Jung Doo-hong, Yon Ju-sang)

Full review

The City Of Violence (Jjakpae)

Review preview for The City Of Violence

Despite some crunching, frenetic fight scenes in the denouement, City of Violence is unfortunately a lacklustre affair.

Paul Griffiths · 2 out of 5
Casinos and corruption in Korean crime thriller.

(Country: Korea; Year: 2007; Director: Ryoo Seung-hwan; Writer: Ryoo Seung-hwan; Stars: Jung Doo-hong, Ryoo Seung-hwan, Lee Boem Soo, Joeng Soek-yong, An Kil-kang, Kim Seo-hyung)

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Crying Fist (Jumeogi unda)

Review preview for Crying Fist

Only at the end does Crying Fist falter.

Iain Macleod · 4 out of 5
A South Korean boxing movie that out fights Raging Bull.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2005; Director: Ryoo Seung-wan; Writer: Ryoo Seung-wan; Stars: Choi Min-sik, Ryu Seung-beom, Lim Won-hie, Jeon Ho-jin)

Full review

Dachimawa Lee

Under Japanese imperialism,the Korean national treasure Golden Buddha is stolen and legendary Korean spy Lee is assigned to recover the fabled statue, revealing the dark plot.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2008; Director: Ryoo Seung-wan; Stars: Bo-ra Hwang, Hyo-jin Kong, Su-jeong Lim, Won-hie Lim, Si-hyeon Park, Seung-beom Ryu)

Die Bad (Jukgeona hokeun nabbeugeona)

Die Bad is a hard-boiled action movie in four parts, all of which deal with a society plagued by violence.

(Year: 2000; Director: Ryoo Seung-wan; Writer: Ryoo Seung-wan; Stars: Seong-bin Park, Seung-beom Ryu, Jung-shik Bae, Ju-bong Gi, Jae-yeong Jeong, Won-hie Lim, Seung-wan Ryoo)

No Blood No Tears (Pido nunmuldo eobshi)

Review preview for No Blood No Tears

There's no great originality here, but there are some good performances.

Andrew Robertson · 2 out of 5
A washed-up cabbie and an aspiring singer form an unlikely partnership to make some cash... but pulling of the heist isn't easy.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2002; Director: Ryu Seung-wan ; Writer: Jeong Jin-wan, Ryu Seung-wan; Stars: JUN Do-Yeon Lee Hye-young, Jung Jae-young, Shin Goo, Jung Doo-hong)

Full review

The Unjust (Bu-dang-geo-rae)

Review preview for The Unjust

The Unjust is an intense ride, a little one-note, but is very slickly made.

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
A spree of schoolgirl murders has gripped Seoul by the throat but the police are on it and accidentally kill the murderer - but they can't simply bring in a dead suspect...

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2010; Director: Ryoo Seung-wan; Writer: Park Hoon-jung; Stars: Hwang Jeong-min, Ryu Seung-beom, Yu Hae-jin, Jeon Ho-jin, Ma Dong-seok, Woo Dong-gi, Jo Yeong-jin, Jeong Man-shik, Lee Seong-min, Kim Su-hyeon, Ko Bon-woong, Kim Min-jae, Lee Hee-joon, Oh Jeong-se, Lee Jong-goo) , Official site

Full review