Korean Cinema Invited to Cannes

South Korean films invited to the 2008 Cannes Film Festival

This year, Cannes opens it´s doors to a “more commercial” kind of movies produced in S. Korea, like The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (invited to the Out of Competition section).

The film The Chaser, by first time director Na Hong-jin, and a great success in Korea, will be screened for Midnight Screenings.

Late director Kim Ki-young´s thriller The Housemaid (1960) will be shown at the Classic section . “It is one of the most important works done by Kim, an eccentric figure in Korean film history, someone with extremely extraordinary imagination,” was digitally restored by the Korean Film Archive with sponsors from World Cinema Foundation lead by Martin Scorsese.

And the always brilliant director Bong Joon-ho (The Host) was invited to the Un Certain Regard section. Tokyo! is an omnibus film co-directed by Michel Gondry and Leos Carax, and in Shaking Tokyo segment, Bong pictures the lonely inner side of human beings through the scenery of a megacity named Tokyo.

There´s a great expectation with director Kim Jee-woon´s new film The Good, the Bad, and the Weird, after such different movies as The Foul King, A Tale of Two Sisters and A Bittersweet Life. In The Good… the director revives the so-called 'Manchurian Western', which was popular with Korean films back in 1960s and 70s. Korea's top actors Lee Byung-hun (JSA), Song Kang-ho (The Host) and Jung Woo-sung (Daisy) will be starring in it.

And short animation STOP, by Park Jae-wook will be screened for the Cinefondation section.

Cannes International Film Festival (May 14-25)
Out of Competition section: The Good, the Bad, the Weird; The ChaserUn Certain Regard: Tokyo!
Cinefondation: Stop (animation)
Cannes Classics: The Housemaid(source: Korean Film Council; koreatimes.co.kr)