How Had I Never Seen... "Memories of Murder" and "The Host"

In this Team Experience series, contributors catch up with gaps in their film history. Here's Cláudio Alves...

With Parasite making history and Bong Joon-ho more celebrated than ever, it's a good time for me to watch the two films that propelled the Korean director to his first waves of international success. I had never seen 2003's Memories of Murder and 2006's The Host so I was eager to correct that. 

The first film is based upon real events, telling a story of police investigation and serial killing, while the second is a sort of South Korean answer to Godzilla's prismatic view of national trauma as monster movie hijinks. Not unexpectedly, I found myself in awe of both pictures…

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Asian Film Award Nominees: "Legend of the Demon Cat" and More...

by Nathaniel R

Legend of the Demon Cat

It's difficult to keep track of the cream of the crop of Asian cinema because there are so many different bodies handing out prizes and so many of the major international awards bodies ignore that region altogether. One of the youngest of the Asian awards bodies is the bluntly titled "Asian Film Awards" which have only been operating since 2007. Their nomination leader this year is a film called Legend of the Demon Cat from Chen Kaige (who is most famous stateside for his 1993 arthouse smash and Oscar nominee Farewell My Concubine from 1993) but his latest isn't actually up for the top category, instead heavily dominating the tech fields. The film has not yet been released in the States.  Since these awards are based out of Hong Kong their nominees skew heavily towards Chinese productions...

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Interview: Kim Jee-woon on South Korean Oscar Submission 'The Age of Shadows'

By Jose Solís.

Kim Jee-woon is certainly no stranger to genre extravaganzas, but in The Age of Shadows (which Tim reviewed here) he takes it to the most sumptuous level yet. The spy thriller set during the Japanese occupation of South Korea centers on the dilemma a double agent (Song Kang-ho) faces when he realizes the resistance fighters he’s trying to capture, might actually be more patriotic than the people he’s working for. With stunningly choreographed action sequences, exquisite period detail and powerhouse performances, the film is the rare historical film that actually feels urgent and exciting. Since it’s South Korea’s Oscar submission I spoke to director Kim Jee-woon about what he discovered about the resistance, working with some of his best known collaborators, and what the Oscar nomination would mean to him.

Special thanks to interpreter: Areum Jeong

Read the interview after the jump.

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