While local audiences are getting a taste of the major Chuseok films released last week,
international audiences are getting a taste of the latest Korean movies at the Toronto
International Film Festival.
And for more, we have our film critic Pierce Conran in the studio.
Welcome back.
So Pierce, the festival is staging a special 'City to City: Seoul' program.
Are Korean movies generally given this big of a part in the past?
Outside of the major trio of European events , Toronto is the world's biggest festival.
It is well known as a launching ground for big Oscar frontrunners but also as a place
to discover many of the excited new works being made around the world.
Korean films have featured prominently in the past, but with a special program this
year, their presence has never been bigger.
Do tell us more about the program.
Every year, the festival chooses a city and brings out some of the best current films
from that region.
This year they chose Seoul and with only eight slots, they had a lot to choose from.
Mind you, most of the films actually take place in different parts of Korea.
And they are all new releases?
A few have already made a big impression at other festivals.
A Girl at My Door and A Hard Day both screened to strong reviews at the Cannes Film Festival
this year.
A Dream of Iron picked up an award the Berlin Film Festival and Alive premiered at the Jeonju
Film Festival before competing at the Locarno Film Festival.
Gyeongju also screened in Locarno.
Those are vetted works that have been received well but do you have any recommendations/favorites?
Honestly they're all great but also quite different.
A Hard Day is a terrific and tight action-thriller with a darkly humorous undercurrent.
A Girl at My Door, produced by Lee Chang-dong, is a wonderful female-driven character study.
A Dream of Iron is an austere and artful documentary and then Alive and Gyeongju, the longest films
on offer, are both very strong but definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea.
What about the other films?
The Korean thriller Confession, which screened in theaters here earlier this summer, will
have its international premiere.
It was a failure here, but a great character-driven and beautiful staged piece.
I'd love to see get some traction in Canada.
Meanwhile Scarlet Innocence, starring Jung Woo-sung had its world premiere.
It starts off as a steamy melodrama but becomes something entirely different.
It's wonderfully shot and a great third feature from Yim Pil-sung.
Cart, also have its world premiere, is great ensemble piece with a big social agenda about
the unfair treatment of temp workers in Korea.
So all the Korean films will be screened at the City to City program only? or are there
other films on show?
Yes, quite a few actually Coming straight from Venice for Toronto's Masters section
are Hong Sangsoo's Hill of Freedom and Revivre, both of which I discussed here two weeks ago.
I was less keen on this new Hong film but enjoyed Im's new work.
Haemoo, a film I greatly admire that had trouble finding an audience here last month had a
gala presentation.
As it's produced and co-written by Bong Joon Ho, the film is sure to travel well.
There are also two well-reviewed films screening I haven't seen, and both are co-productions.
One is the documentary Songs from the North, dealing with North Korea, and the other is
the Korean-Canadian indie drama In Her Place.
A lot of great stuff on offer, but
what would you recommend the most?
I'm a big fan of both Haemoo and A Girl at My Door and I imagine
that both will get international exposure with the former in particular getting a boost
from Bong's name.
I think A Hard Day is easy to love and I personally
really like Alive but it's going to be a tougher film for people to get behind.
Thank you Pierce for today.