60th Festival de Cannes

Programs and list of 60th Cannes international film festival are announced on 19th April.
The list is splendid and surprising. I know almost of the directors invited. Party with masters!
Wong Kar Wai's 'My Blueberry Nights' is the opening films.
I am reallllly looking forward to his new films. After watching 'Hand', his former films and one episode of 'Eros', I recommended it to all people I know, wrote and sent a article about it, and published the article in a magazine, Cine21, 3 years ago.
Could you imagine how much I have been waiting for it??
But If I would go to Cannes and have an opportunity to see only one of film in Cannes, I will choose Mogari no Mori(殯の森, The mourning Forest) by Kawase Naomi without hesitation.
Because many of films will be released in Korea as well as Wong Kar wai. He is very popular here. So far, it is hard to imagine to go to cinema to see Kawase Naomi's films in Korea.
I have seen only 2 of her films. Her films seem to embrace the world even if the world dismiss her. Those features in her films are unfamiliar and a little cold, however, there is a something to shake.

2 of korean movies are invited in competition section. One is the 'Breath' by Kim Ki-duk(already wrote about it) and another is '밀양'(Secret sunshine, originally 밀양-Mil yang-is the name of a korean city) by Lee Chang-dong who is at first a director of course, but was a Minister of Culture and Tourism of Korean Government for years. This film is the first one after resigning from the minister. I like his former movies, so expect his new one and worry about the change worse after the minister. Secret sunshine is decided to be released in korea. And this weekend I am going to cinema for Breath.

Following are the expected titles and name of directors. Wow!(they are in favorite order)

Paranoid Park by Gus Van Sant
HE FENGMING by Wang Bing
Death Proof by Quentin Tarantino
Promise me this by Emir Kustrica
Alexandra by Alexander Sokuurov
We own the night by James Gray
No country for old men by Coen Brothers
A Mighty Heart by Michael Winterbottom
Zodiac by David Fincher
Ulzhan by Volker Schlöndorff.
Sicko by Michael Moore.
Mang Shan(Blind mountain) by Li Yang(he is not Lee Ang of Brokeback mt.)
Go Go Tales by Abel Ferrara

can see more at www.festival-cannes.org or programme in pdf file

retrospective on Pier Paolo Pasolini

retrospective on Pier Paolo Pasolini
Originally uploaded by junsang, stanley, whatever.

Now retrospective on Pier Paolo Pasolini is open by this month at Seoul Art Cinema.
I saw 3 of his movies. 2 among them, Il vangelo secondo Matteo, aka The gaspel according to St. Matthew, and Mamma Roma are great.
I had never seen his films before, so I dont know the peculiarities of them. And I dont have any idea for a christian religion.
But they seem to be great that he had a lager spectrum of viewing the world. and i can see the way to direct films. it is refined and strong.
Especially in 'The gaspel according to St. Matthew' the way to take a scenes that Judas and Peter are watching Jesus hit. It is like a fear, atonement in my view.
An the scene when peter flops down by the wall, the camera moves backward from Peter with handheld.

Well. I have more time to watch them. But i dont know whether i can or not.

reflection and permeation

reflection and permeation
Originally uploaded by junsang, stanley, whatever.

2 plantpots

2 plantpots
Originally uploaded by junsang, stanley, whatever.

I bought a Herb plant called Rosemary(a right pot) as greeting the spring.
I have grown a small plant on my desk about 2 years. didnt know the name of the plant. its 'Ivy'.
It had been getting bigger enough for an original pot. so last saturday I changed to bigger and prettier one.(Left pot in the picture).

Growing a something, pets, even plants, is good for life.

the massacre of Virginia Tech

Yesterday I was terribly busy but could hear about the case at lunch time.
As many as 32 people were killed by a korean student.
'Columbine' case came across my mind, and immediately movies "bowling for columbine" by Michael Moore, "Elephant" by Gus van Sant, are also. Those movies seem to try to find the cause of Columbine in the same but different ways.
Now many people wonder the why and many news and broadcasts are finding it out. In only two days news reports said love affair might be the main reason of this tragedy. I'm not saying that is not a reason. but i think we are too hasty.
2 movies were released after several years from cloumbine case, furthermore do not conclude reasons. For example, Moore asks cynically playing bowling game before the day is also one of the causes. And Sant shows a few days of the two boys before the day in ethical ways, repeating scenes, choosing the ratio of screen, trying not to be a spectacle, and so on. and we can find those thing in his other movies, like Gerry, Last days, both are based on true stories about death but fictions.
I feel closer and sadder about this tragedy because of the relation with Korean. as always I am mournful and fearful of living in this world after a certain tragic thing.
Someday someone would make a movie about this case. I hope the movie would be made by a director who believes a good movie makes a better world.

I pray for the repose of the departed

http://www.vt.edu/

a cold

I had a hair cut last weekend almost buzz cut. It might be a cause of a cold.
sore throat, runny nose, snuffle.
It makes me easily tired. so didnt swim today.
when can i get better?

Soo

saw Soo, directed by YangIl Choi or Sai Yoichi .
Marketing points of this film was "hard boiled". yup. It's so cruel and lifelike that in some scene I had to close my eyes.
the problem is that many people focus on only the style, Hard boiled. In my opinion, the styling is not at all for this film.
So many audience were dissapointed of the blind spot of story, furthermore some critique pointed it out. However, if you saw his past movies, "quill", "doing time", like that, you cant say 'hard boiled" is not only one of YangIl Choi.
I thinks Soo is in same line of the movie, 'Blood and bones', his former films. If in Blood and bones we can see the relationship of disobedience between a father and a son(but son failed), in Soo we can also see the relationship between a pseudo-father and son.
Here, there is an important point. Traditionally in the East the Father is an absolute being.
Father can do everything, son should obey him even if father is wrong. If not, it was a sin.
I thinks Soo follows, moves forward from Blood and bones. So if you dont see blood and bones, it will be just violent.
One thing to know is a Master doesnt make a film carelessly. In this movie, we cannt know the relationship between SongIn and TaeSoo, why the younger brother, TaeJin became a cap, why TaeSoo didnt find his brother by that time. But they seem intended. YangIl Choi thinks not to care of those things.
He just concentrates on a revenge his brother.
Only the revenge or an extreme struggling is showed on the screen.
And it might be an eternal recurrence. At the end of Blood and bones, after father died, its horrible that the son wiil become like his father. And in Soo TaeSoo seems dead at last.
How difficult to free from the father!
Although free from the father, can you be happy, satisfied?


well I dont know, foutunately my father is good.

sungsoo and me

sungsoo and me
Originally uploaded by junsang, stanley, whatever.

a couple of weeks ago I and sungsoo went to an fair of franchiso.
after that sunghong joined us.
He likes my camera, sometimes takes some photos with my camera.
And often makes great one.