Saturday, March 4, 2006

Presidents Last Bang (Korean Flick 2004) 그때 그사람들

(wikipedia)
그때 그사람들
Geuddae Geusaramdeul
CAST
Song Jae-ho 송재호- Park Chung-hee
Han Suk-kyu 한석규- KCIA Chief Agent Ju
Baek Yoon-shik Baek Yoon-shik- KCIA director Kim Jae-kyu

I just caught Im Sang Soo's 임상수(2004) film Geuddae geusaramdeul or The Presidents Last Bang, a great film with the highly fictionalized account taking a look at the life of President Park Chun-hee and the events leading up to his assassination in 1979. It currently is showing at the MFA Boston (Musuem of Fine arts) http://www.mfa.org/ check under film calender for more info.

I definitely enjoyed it. It was dark, there was violence, but it was interesting how betrayal and the director's perspective on this event (all the survivors will not talk about it or alot were persecuted afterwards). In addition, Park's family took the director to court to have this film not shown. As you can see, they lost as this film has been shown all over to critical acclaim.
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(The following is from www.seoulselection.com):

High Points: A hisorical fact translated by an individual. Amusing to watch thanks to the director's perspective. October 26th, 1979, about 7:40 pm. Two gunshots ring through the Presidential secret quarters in Seoul, Korea. The President's long-time right-hand man and KCIA Director had shot the President right in the middle of his own banquet. The fatally wounded President is rushed to the military hospital in Seoul, but in fact he had already died on the spot.

The first of its kind!Inspired by the 24 hours that led to the most shocking incident in modern Korean history, THE PRESIDENT'S LAST BANG is the first attempt to deal with the October 26th assassination of the President. Twenty-five years have passed yet the truth is left unspoken. THE PRESIDENT'S LAST BANG combines filmic fabrications and fiction to recreate the suspenseful events of this fateful day. Witness the remarkably candid and biting images and views the film presents on screen.

A new historical perspective!For their own reasons, a number of 'ordinary people' were at the scene of the President's assassination. They were not power players who would receive history's spotlight, but people who bore 'supporting roles' and faded-away in time.

THE PRESIDENT'S LAST BANG introduces men who without a clue, fire their guns at their superior's orders, women who are invited to the banquet, Presidential Security Servicemen who are killed in the crossfire, a man whose luck runs out when he is called over on his off-duty day just for knowing how to use a gun but in fact can only turn his face away when he actually has to use it, an ordinary man and a father of a beautiful daughter whose grade he cannot remember. They all go through perhaps the longest twenty-four hours of their lives on Oct. 26th, and now they have been forgotten.

THE PRESIDENT'S LAST BANG deals with the irony of force where a military society that believes in the power of the gun turns the gun onto itself. It discloses the hapless sacrifices made from a culture that demanded command and obedience. It is the entire spectrum of people, from a KCIA head who tells his men to follow him in a deadly plan without reason, a chief who never explains why he is giving his men orders to shoot, to the men who do not have a choice but to obey, that all present a self-portrait of an era of irony.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Sword and the Moon /Bold Family

I am still enthralled with Korean flicks and dramas. I just caught some more movies such as The Bold Family. An old man has one month to live, but he longs for Korea to reunify to see his daughter and wife he left behind in the North. His family in the South, he has two sons, daughter in law, grand child and wife. One of his sons is up in ears in debt and the other is a director. The eldest son upon hearing his father has property worth 5 million dollars, with a stipulation stating the family in the south gets it ONLY if Korea reunifies.The plot thickens when the brothers join heads to create that Korea actually has reunified with hilarious results.

Another one I caught was Sword and the Moon, a swashbuckling period piece when two friends who are elite warriors become separated by two opposing parties during the Chosun Dynasty. Some great sword play are intermingled with lots of blood (not for the faint hearted) and great action made this movie enjoyable for me. According to the information on the dvd cover, it was a crowd pleaser during the Cannes Film Festival.

One oldie but goodie Korean Dramas I am watching is the drama titled "All About Eve". It stars Jae Rim and Jang Dong Gun with the tale about two women who want to make it big in the newscasting world. One is a sweet girl from a loving father is who is from a comfortable background. The other is beautiful but she comes from a poor background. She vows to make it big and is completely envious of the the other woman and stops at nothing to get her way.