by Pierce Conran

Review: PARASITE Burrows in Deep, but You Won't Want it Out

For every Host, there must be a Parasite. Since his debut Barking Dogs Never Bite 19 years ago, Bong Joon-ho's works have always resisted easy classification. Within stories that stray from one genre to the next, surprising things tend to...
by Pierce Conran

BiFan 2019: THE GASOLINE THIEVES to Open Jam-Packed, SciFi-Themed 23rd Edition

We're now just four weeks away from the crown jewel on the calendar for genre film fans in Asia, as the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) has just unveiled the program for its 23rd edition. The main theme will...
by Pierce Conran

Cannes 2019 Review: THE GANGSTER, THE COP, THE DEVIL, Ma Dong-seok Pummels His Way through Rip-Roaring Korean Thriller

The gangster drama and serial killer thriller join hands and chow down on steroids in the by-the-numbers but thoroughly enjoyable and gleefully violent Cannes midnight selection The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil. Burly Korean leading man and future MCU actor...
by Pierce Conran

Explore the Riches of Early Korean Cinema at BFI Southbank in February

Thanks to renowned films, such as Oldboy and Train to Busan, as well as major names, such as Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook courting the attention of everyone from Netflix to the BBC, Korean films have grown from a niche...
by Peter Martin

Screen Anarchy's Favorite Films of 2018

Here's our favorite films of 2018, as voted on by more than 20 of our contributing writers, who collectively picked 114 films as their favorites. 1. Roma 2. The Favourite 3 (tie). BlacKkKlansman / You Were Never Really Here 5....
by Pierce Conran

Review: SWING KIDS, Tap Dancing Miracle Will Keep You on Your Feet Long after the Credits Roll

The Korean War tap dancing musical drama you never knew you needed, Swing Kids is a Christmas miracle from one of Korean cinema's most vibrant directors. After works such as Scandal Makers and Sunny, Kang Hyoung-chul has outdone himself with...
by Pierce Conran

Review: DOORLOCK, Tense Korean SLEEP TIGHT Remake, Goes the Distance

A slow year for Korean thrillers gets a late shot in the arm with Doorlock, director Lee Kwon's tense remake of Jaume Balagueró's Spanish film Sleep Tight. Completely reworking the original narrative, actress Kong Hyo-jin anchors a story rooted in...
by Pierce Conran

Review: DEFAULT, Financial Thriller Overdraws Its Trump Card

Following a promising debut, Split director Choi Kook-hee steps up to the big league with the star-driven period financial thriller Default, a three-strand narrative detailing the calamitous week around Korea's IMF Crisis in 1997, featuring local leading lights Kim Hye-soo...
by Pierce Conran

Review: THE LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL, Park Chan-wook's Engrossing TV Debut

A new Park Chan-wook project is always something to get very excited about, but there was extra reason to get worked up last year when it was announced that the Korean master filmmaker was making his first foray into television,...
by Pierce Conran

Review: RAMPANT Fails to Catch On

The actor-director team behind last year's hit spy action-comedy Confidential Assignment returns with their latest tentpole Rampant, an action-horror that looks to put a period twist on Yeon Sang-ho's runaway 2016 zombie hit Train to Busan. Hyun Bin versus the...
by Pierce Conran

3rd Maskoon Fantastic Fest Brings Genre Cinema to Lebanon

The Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival, the first event to bring the world's best genre cinema to Lebanon, kicked off its 3rd edition this week. Opening this year's fest was the stellar Danish chamber thriller The Guilty, which our Managing Editor...
by Pierce Conran

London Korean Film Festival Kicks Off Stuffed 13th Edition Tonight!

The London Korean Film Festival is back for its 13th edition, with another stellar lineup from the East Asian filmmaking powerhouse. Kicking off a varied programme featuring close to 40 features and several more shorts tonight at London's Picturehouse Central...
by Pierce Conran

Review: BURNING, a Thriller Like No Other

Eight years after his phenomenal drama Poetry, Lee Chang-dong made a long-awaited return to the Cannes competition with his sixth film Burning, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's short story 'Barn Burning'. Dense with symbolism, this tour de force burrows towards...
by Pierce Conran

Busan 2018 Review: HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD Soars As It Signals Major New Talent

Exploring modern themes and history through the eyes of a young girl, Kim Bora's sensational debut House of Hummingbird is the Korean indie drama par excellence. A subtle exploration of local family and societal pressures crafted in a way that...
by Pierce Conran

Busan 2018 Review: ODE TO THE GOOSE
 Serenades with Strong Performances and Playful Plot

Two years after opening the festival with A Quiet Dream, director Zhang Lu returns to Busan with Ode to the Goose, a terrifically performed and breezy art drama that meanders between allegories of national identity and literary and historical references....
by Pierce Conran

Busan 2018 Review: OUR BODY Hits the Ground Running and Sails to the Finish

If Korean cinema will be remembered for anything in 2018, it may well be for a batch of films that have found surprising ways to shine a spotlight on the country's youth. Specifically, the enduring image of the year may...
by Pierce Conran

Busan 2018 Review: BEAUTIFUL DAYS Handsomely Frames Somber Subject

As the veil of secrecy over the guarded North Korean regime threatens to give way (if only slightly) in the surprising geopolitical climate we find ourselves in today, the film industry in South Korea has also begun to change how...
by Pierce Conran

Review: THE GREAT BATTLE, Rip-Roaring War Film Eschews Nationalism

Going all the way back to the Goguryeo Dynasty, siege action epic The Great Battle chronicles the historic standoff of a small Korean garrison against the might of the Tang army in the 7th century. Light on jingoism and heavy...
by Pierce Conran

Busan 2018: BEAUTIFUL DAYS and MASTER Z: THE LEGACY OF IP MAN to Bookend Packed 23rd BIFF

The Busan International Film Festival held a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday to launch the program for next month's 23rd edition. Local indie drama Beautiful Days will kick off BIFF on October 4 while Master Z: The Ip Man...
by Pierce Conran

Review: HERSTORY Foregrounds Sensational Cast in Best Comfort Women Tale Yet (by a Margin)

One of the most sensitive issues in Korean society over the past few years has the been the acknowledgement of the plight of the Korean comfort women that were forced into sexual servitude by the Japanese military during World War...