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Friday, April 26, 2013

Korea JoongAng Daily

CULTURE

MOVIE

Foxfire lights up JIFF on opening day

By Carla Sunwoo
JEONJU, North Jeolla For nine days, the
city of Jeonju, North Jeolla, best known for its
hanok and bibimbap, will play host to throngs
of film lovers from around the world as the
Jeonju International Film Festival kicked off
yesterday.
In its 14th year, a total of 190 films will be
shown, and some 45 world, 18 international
and 55 Asian premieres are set to take place this
time around.
Last month, it was revealed that French director Laurent Cantets Foxfire was selected
as the opening piece, bringing much attention
to the festival.
Organizers started out with a bang on purpose, according to head programmer Kim
Young-jin.
I was watching a lot of European films and
they all seemed to be pointing at societal issues.
And of these, Laurent Cantets seemed to be the
best, Kim said.
Cantets Palme Dor and Oscar nomination
for The Class (2008) piqued the curiosity of
many cinemagoers at this years opening event;
tickets for Foxfire were snapped up within
six minutes of going on sale.
The French directors new film is an adaptation of a novel by Joyce Carol Oates and tells
the tale of American teenage girls from the
1950s who form a gang that takes the law into
its own hands when girls are mistreated.
After a press screening that took place yesterday, Cantet and his leading lady Katie Coseni, who plays Maddy, talked about sharing
their labor of love with Korea.
The plots subtle hints of communism, the
American dream and discrimination first encouraged Cantet to take on the film, he said, but
he first came across the novel in a more mundane way: First reason was that a friend of
mine offered me the book for my birthday. I
read it and couldnt put it down.
Coseni said that she was stoked about her
first film.
Even if I wasnt in the film, Id love it. Its
a beautiful story that is so relatable, and I
couldnt have asked for a better director,

she said.
She added that though all the leads were
newbie actors, the vibe on set was quite positive, even as they contended with each characters sad stories.
As well as exploring themes of rebellion
and solidarity or the other side of the American dream Cantet said he had an ulterior
motive, too.
I had the feeling that I could make a political film with a strong narrative so that the
politics stay hidden underneath, explained
Cantet. One of his previous films, The Class,
is noted for its bold political stance on the failure of the French education system.
Although Foxfire is set in the past and in
a foreign country for the Frenchman, Cantet
said his film sent the message that issues that
existed in history can still exist today.
Because English is his second language,
Cantet said he relied on his team to get it right
in his first English-language feature.
Im not fluent, but I can understand pretty
well what is said. I am convinced that you can
judge an actor, you can understand, feel if an
actor is doing a good job or not despite the
language.
But on specific word choices, Cantet did say
he left the final decisions to his cast and script
supervisor.
Cantet added that he was honored to be a
judge for the Korean films competition during
the festival along with Italian journalist, composer and programmer Carlo Chatrian and
novelist Kim Young-ha.
I dont make up my mind to be a judge
very often. Its a big responsibility and sometimes you are not able to do it when you are
thinking of something else, he said.
But as the timing was right, Cantet agreed
to take on the responsibility and said he was
excited about the prospect of watching 10
films in four days. Im very happy about
that.
The feedback on his own work should be
valuable, too.
Its always very interesting to see how
someone from another culture can meet with
my film and judge it, he noted.

carlasunwoo@joongang.co.kr

By Carla Sunwoo

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Foxfire, a story
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Provided by Haut
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Productions

Promised Land
lends glitz to the
Green Film Fest

French director Laurent Cantets film has some political undertones. 

Provided by the festival

Seouls Green Film Festival, which advocates for environmental causes through cinema,
is set to hit the 10-year mark with the largest
collection of films to date.
Organizers promised a bigger, fresher
event at a press event last week ahead of the
opening on May 9.
Those present included Kim Won, chairman of the organizing committee; Park Jaedong, head of the executive committee; Kim
Young-woo, festival programmer; and actress
Son Tae-young, the celebrity spokesperson for
the year.
Park said that tireless efforts to make a
name for festival over the past decade are starting to pay off.
It is now the biggest environmental film
festival in Asia, he explained, noting that a
total of 146 films will be screened over eight
days. We had entries from more than 42 nations around the world and have 21 films in the
competing segment.
The opening film was announced to be
Promised Land, starring Matt Damon, bringing some glitz to what otherwise may seem like
an alternative film event.
Damon and director Gus Van Sant also
worked together on Good Will Hunting some
15 years ago.
The plot revolves around a salesman for a
natural gas company whose life changes when
he moves to a town that his corporation wants
to take over.
It claimed the main prize at the National
Board of Review last year and a Special Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival
this year. Despite the Hollywood touch, Park
said he hoped the audience will learn a bit
about the environment while being entertained unlike at other film events that focus
just on entertainment.
There are various segments including Korean and international environmental films
both of which offer monetary awards as well
as divisions for climate change, genetically
modified food, the aftereffects of Fukushima,
animals and children.
As usual, we pondered over the most
pressing matters before deciding on the segments, Kim said.
And although such issues are not easy to
digest, Son said she would work hard with her
counterpart, actor Ji Jin-hee, to spread the
word on beautifying the world.
Her first project will be developing easy
steps that can be used to help save the environment.
carlasunwoo@joongang.co.kr

Green Film Festival organizers gather in Seoul

last week. 
Provided by the festival

NOW PLAYING
A Happy Event (18)

Romance, Drama / 109 / French

Pinocchio (All)

has already had such experiences would

love the film.

Animation, Fantasy / 86 / Italian

I Have to Buy New Shoes (12)

The story revolves around smart girl

Barbara (Louise Bourgoin) and romantic Nicolas (Pio Marma). Barbara, a
graduate student in psychology, meets
movie-director-wannabe Nicolas at the
DVD rental shop where he works. The
two quickly fall head-over-heels in love
and move in together. They are happy
together. His smile gives her butterflies,
and his eyes give her hope and comfort.
Their relationship goes as smoothly as
ever until he suggests they have a baby.
Dreaming of a happy family, she gets
pregnant. But soon she faces a harsh
reality that threatens her whole universe
with the radical change of her body.
After giving birth, she frequently gets
angry and finds it impossible to juggle
her career and family. Ironically, its not
a happy event for Nicolas either. He
gives up on the dream of being a movie
director and becomes an employee of
a company. Their relationship starts to
fall apart.
Unlike other romantic movies, which
mostly end up with couples walking
down the aisle, this movie sheds light
on the lesser-known struggles with
realistic insight. Anyone who might ever
want to marry and have a baby or who

Romance, Drama / 114 / Japanese

Directed by Eriko Kitagawa and
produced by Shunji Iwai, a Japanese
director known for the 1995 film Love
Letter, this films trailer had fans of
melodramatic romance in a frenzy.
And from the get-go as siblings Sen (Osamu Mukai) and Suzume (Kiritani Mirei)
descend on the city of light, the scenery,
music and cinematography will capture
Francophiles and romantics alike.
And things get really fascinating when,
in a matter of seconds, the young
Suzume unloads all of her brothers
luggage while hes busy trying to set
up his tripod and leaves him by the
Seine.
Meet cute Aoi (Miho Nakayama), an
older Japanese woman who calls
Paris home and slips on Sens passport,
breaking her high heel. Thus begins one
of the two romances of the film.
As the two walk around town getting
to know each other, Suzume is in the
middle of her own love affair with an artist boyfriend who Suzume fears doesnt
love her as much as she does him.
After the initial half-hour, the story
evolves at a slower pace as Aois secret
is revealed.
If you like fast-paced plots, this may not
be the film for you, but nevertheless, the
snapshots of life in Paris seen through
the eyes of a Japanese tourist make the
film interesting in a visual sense.

Iron Man 3 (12)

Action / 129 / English

boy extricate himself and his father from

the life-or-death situation?

To Rome with Love (19)

Comedy, Romance / 111 / English

Despite the fusion of old and new actors,

the comedy will better entertain a mature audience than the younger ones.
Overall, its a feel-good movie that will
bring a smile to your face that fits perfectly with a warm spring day.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (15)

It is not a story of a super hero who
is always full of confidence. It focuses
more on the human side of the hero.
Iron Man loses everything from fame,
love and friendship to suits of armor.
Devastated Tony Stark confronts a question, Do I make the suit or does the suit
make me?
In the aftermath of New York being attacked by aliens (in the last movie The
Avengers), Tony Stark (Robert Downey
Jr.) feels insecure for the first time in his
life. He is haunted by nightmares and
post-traumatic stress.
To overcome the fear, he spends days
and nights developing stronger armor.
But soon, he is attacked and destroyed
by his toughest enemy, AIM.
He loses everything he had except for
one armor suit. Infuriated, he seeks
vengeance against Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), the head of AIM.
Now, he has to save the world and his
lover (Gwyneth Paltrow) from terrorist
threats.
Bombs go off in crowds of people and
buildings are destroyed in the film. The
spectacular action effects deserve to be
seen in 3-D.
Theres also an after-credits stinger, so
dont leave too early or you risk being
disappointed.

Our Daring Pinocchio will usher animation lovers into a fantastic adventure on
the island of toys.
To revive the wooden boy, companies
from four countries had collaborated
on the film, including CometaFilm
(Italy), Iris Productions (Luxembourg),
2d3D Animations (France) and Walking
The Dog (Belgium), under the helm of
leading Italian animator Enzo Dalo and
illustrator Lorenzo Mattotti.
Unlike the Disney version, the new
movie is much more faithful to the original book of Carlo Collodi.
The Korean version is dubbed in Korean
by singer Jo Kwon of 2PM, actor Sung
Dong-il and Jang Gwang. Jo Kwons
hyper-cute voice will certainly add flavor
to the joyous adventure.
As we all know, the story begins when
the lonely carpenter Geppetto brings to
life the wooden puppet. The mischievous
boy runs into lots of trouble and at last
goes to the island busting with pleasure,
where he turns into donkey. Luckily, he
escapes with the help of a blue-haired
fairy. But soon after, he finds himself in
the stomach of a shark and meets his father Geppetto, who was also swallowed
by the sea monster. Will the naughty

In line with director Woody Allens style,

this movie is a feast for the eyes with
some beautiful shots of Rome.
The storyline is easy to follow, even as
there are three stories to keep track of.
The lives and loves of those in Rome,
both residents and visitors, are examined in this light comedy that tackles
some big questions.
One story revolves around big-shot
American architect John (Alec Baldwin)
playing a sort of spirit guide to student
Jack (Jesse Eisenberg) as the latter
struggles to find out whether he should
stick with dependable Sally (Greta
Gerwig) or take a chance on her wild,
free-spirit friend Monica (Ellen Page).
As if thats not enough, there is a newlywed couple that tests the boundaries of
their marriage by flirting with others and
cross-cultural in-law conflict when an
American opera director (Woody Allen)
refuses to retire and recruits the father
of his soon-to-be son-in-law.
Penelope Cruz shines as the femme
fatale in a red dress while Allen resumes
his usual neurotic, anxious character.

Drama / 102 / English

For a movie based on a book directed by
the writer himself, The Perks of Being
a Wallflower did not disappoint the alltoo-protective fans of novelist Stephen
Chbosky unlike the epic train wreck that
was On The Road (2012). The heartwrenching, and then warming, tale of
the shy narrator Charlie (Logan Lerman)
unfolds through a rare friendship he
fosters with Sam (Emma Watson) and
Patrick (Ezra Miller).

More information is available on the

Web sites listed below
Art Reon
Arthouse Momo
Broadway Cinema
Cine City
Cinus
City Cinema
CJ CGV
Daehan Cinema
Hanil Cinema
Hypertheque Nada
Joongang Cinema
Land Cinema
Lotte Cinema
Megabox
MMC
Primus Cinema
Seoul Cinema
Sponge House

www.artreon.co.kr
www.cineart.co.kr
www.bc5.co.kr
www.icinecity.co.kr
www.cinus.co.kr
www.citycinema.co.kr
www.cgv.co.kr
www.daehancinema.co.kr
www.hanilcinema.co.kr
www.dsartcenter.co.kr
www.joongangcinema.co.kr
www.landcinema.co.kr
www.lottecinema.co.kr
www.megabox.co.kr
www.mmc24.co.kr
www.primuscinema.com
www.seoulcinema.com
www.spongehouse.com

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