Period Drama Archives - London Korean Film Festival https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/genre/period-drama/ Fri, 30 Sep 2022 17:28:18 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 Hansan: Rising Dragon https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/films/hansan-rising-dragon/ Fri, 30 Sep 2022 17:27:59 +0000 https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/?post_type=films&p=5660 Following up The Admiral: Roaring Currents, the naval warfare blockbuster that remains the most successful Korean film of all time with over 17 million admissions, was never going to be an easy task. Yet director Kim Han-min returns to the legendary exploits of Joseon Era admiral Yi Sun-sin’s with a prequel story that is just...

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]]> Following up The Admiral: Roaring Currents, the naval warfare blockbuster that remains the most successful Korean film of all time with over 17 million admissions, was never going to be an easy task. Yet director Kim Han-min returns to the legendary exploits of Joseon Era admiral Yi Sun-sin’s with a prequel story that is just as sweeping but even more focussed than the hit that spawned it.

Set in 1592, six years before the events of The Admiral: Roaring Currents, the film depicts the lead up and Admiral Yi’s explosive exploits during the Battle of Hansan Island, when he led a small fleet against a vast Japanese armada. In a banner year for Park Hae-il, who also leads Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave, the actor takes over the mantle of the admiral from Choi Min-sik. Portraying Admiral Yi during an earlier naval campaign in his career, which also saw him heavily outnumbered by a Japanese armada, Park imbues the historical figure with a staunch and stolid solemnity. 

Teeming with white knuckle tension, Hansan: Rising Dragon steers us through an impeccably realised and epic David-vs-Goliath struggle out in the open sea.

 

Pierce Conran

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]]> The Surrogate Woman https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/films/the-surrogate-woman/ Fri, 30 Sep 2022 17:26:13 +0000 https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/?post_type=films&p=5661 Shin Sang-gyu has a problem: he is the last male heir in his branch of the Shin clan, and despite the close relationship with a beautiful and still young wife, they have no children, no son to carry on the family line. Uncle and grandmother confer and decide to seek out a surrogate from a...

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]]> Shin Sang-gyu has a problem: he is the last male heir in his branch of the Shin clan, and despite the close relationship with a beautiful and still young wife, they have no children, no son to carry on the family line. Uncle and grandmother confer and decide to seek out a surrogate from a village of women known for providing such ‘borrowed wombs’. Ong-nyeo, only seventeen, is chosen for the role. When passion carries her and Sang-gyu well outside the limits prescribed by Confucian family duties, the result will prove lethal.

Im Kwon-taek had the confidence and wisdom to make Kang Soo-yeon his Ong-nyeo, The role was the most significant one of her career: it allowed her to shed the image of cheerful, sparky girl/teenager and become the most remarkable actor of the next decade and a half. While the film was not a success at first release, that changed dramatically when the Venice film festival awarded her Best Actress for 1987–the first international film star of Korea.

 

Mark Morris

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