I came to San Francisco for many reasons, one of which was the presence of many film festivals. There is an Asian/Asian-American film festival, a German, Jewish, Gay and Lesbian, Women, African-American, Independent, and even a Tranny film festival out here. Rather than hope the multiplex (fat chance) or arthouse will show a movie from India I heard about two years ago and end up being disappointed that it never comes, living out in San Francisco, it's pretty much guaranteed a festival will show the latest anticipated films from around the world.

The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) is the best of the festivals this city has to offer. This year they've shown another wonderful mix of films from Cameroon, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, simply too many countries to mention. With so many films to choose from, it can be overwhelming. Which should I see when so many sound so wonderful? The freedom can paralyze you.

Thankfully, the SFIFF staff has provided some help in making your choices. A few prizes are awarded at the end of the festival so one can choose only to see those films up for a particular prize. Also, every year one director receives the Akira Kurosawa award for their filmography of great films. The award was so named when Kurosawa himself was presented with the first one and the SFIFF staff decided to name the award after him. Simply seeing each film featured by the phenomenal director receiving the Kurosawa award would satiate your fix for great film enough.

Yet another way to contain the cacophony of films would be to see only those from a particular country, language, continent, or genre. This is the avenue I usually take, focusing on a particular country. And for the past three years, that country has been Korea. For those of you who aren't aware, for the past 15 years Korea has been putting out some of the most fascinating films in the world. IM Kwon-Taek's Sopyonje and Sibaji (The Surrogate Woman), JANG Sun Woo's Woomuk-Baemi Ui Sarang (Lovers in Woomuk-Baemi) and Neo-e-ge Narul Bonenda (To You From Me), and PARK Kwang-Su's A Single Spark and Gesom e Kako Shipta (To The Starry Island) are wonderful examples of what Korea has brought to the cinematic table and what other world directors have begun adding several servings of to their plates. Unfortunately, non-Korean-Americans have been reluctant to try these dramatic delights, assuming, like kim chee, that Korean tastes may be too foreign to their palettes. But those of us who have gotten a taste of the visual feast provided by Korea know that the films are as powerful to our sense of sight as kim chee is to our sense of taste.

As an introduction to Korean Cinema, I would suggest checking out IM Kwon-Taek's Sopyonje. Sopyonje is a touching story about a Pansori-performing family as their profession parallels the path of other Korean traditions within a modernizing Korea. [Pansori is a kind of Korean folk singing that is similar to Blues in its expression of grief and suffering and similar to Chinese Opera in it's tonal structure.] The final scene in this film has brought me to tears each time I've seen it, once subtitled and once without. Im's genius is evident when one doesn't need to know Korean to feel the emotions conveyed between the brother and sister in this scene. OH Jung-Hae, in her role as Song-Hwa, captivates you with her mesmerizing voice and patient acting. The scene where the young Song-Hwa and her brother learn the pansori breathing techniques is absolutely precious in its playfulness. Im further shows his expertise in pacing a film and choosing scenes to match the emotions of the dialogue, creating a masterpiece that too few have seen. Im won the Akira Kurosawa Award in 1998 and the Golden Bear Award (Best Film of the Festival) of the Berlin International Film Festival in 1986 for Sibaji (The Surrogate Woman). I've seen six of his films so far and Im is definitely my favorite of Korea's directors.

Korean Cinema challenges Western views on what movies should be. The pacing is slower, silence is dialogue, and meaning is found and honed with each new viewing. There is much bubbling in the pot of Korean cinema that is dulsot bi bim bab and if you are not privileged, as I am, to live in an area where these films come at least quarter-yearly to the arthouse or to live near several Korean video stores, Tony Rayns brief (unlike my review) book, Seoul Stirring: 5 Korean Directors, is a nice primer.

Tony Rayns is a British film critic who specializes in Asian films. As part of a Korean Film Festival at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, Rayns compiled this catalogue of Korea's top three veteran directors (IM Kwon-Taek, JANG Sun-Woo, and Park Kwang Su) and two young directors (KIM Ui-Seok and LEE Myung-Se). Rayns provides a nice summary of Korean film history within a backdrop of the history of the country and he uses the careers of the five directors chosen to underscore major themes in Korean film. Comparisons with directors and movements from other countries are also utilized to further limn Korean cinema to the neophyte.

Each Korean director chosen here by Rayns receives a filmography, a brief biography, a translated interview, and a brief summary of their seminal works. Of the three seasoned directors, JANG Sun-Woo is Korea's bad boy. Japan's OSHIMA Nagisa is a better comparison here than the United States' Tarrantino. Jang's Neo-e-ge Narul Bonenda (To You From Me) hinted at where he was headed with his recent film Lies, a startlingly sexually graphic film, reminiscent of Oshima's In The Realm of the Senses in what it's willing to show. The intent is not just to shock the audience, which it does, but to push the boundaries of what film can explore.

As for the two emerging directors, I wasn't impressed with KIM Ui-Seok's Kyolhon Iyagi (Marriage Story) so I question his inclusion in this anthology. However, I understand that the "sex-war comedy" genre has been a huge financial success in Korea and although LEE Myung-Se's Na Ui Sarang, Na Ui Shinbu (My Love, My Bride) began the genre, Marriage Story broke the box office records. Perhaps my prejudice towards more artsy films is at issue here. It can be said a truer retrospective of a country's films should include the genres that sell, showing what is popular within the country explored. Similarly, a retrospective on United States film should include Titanic. (Boy, that was difficult to write.) Also, I wasn't too impressed w/ Lee's My Love, My Bride either, but I was recently blown away by the visual cornucopia of colors, computer manipulations, and slowing, chopping and stilling frames of his most recent film Nowhere To Hide. This film, an action drama without pretensions, may be the one to shake U.S. audiences out of their provincial stupor if the recent reception of John Woo here represents an emerging trend rather than a blip on the country's collective EKG.

So if you're looking to be hip to a coming trend, I would suggest checking out Tony Rayns primer on the wealth of Korean cinema. He even includes some of the more recent radical shorts, one of which is directed by a woman. If you didn't notice, as all of us should, female directors are missing in this chronology. And although the emphasis is on the directors, we are introduced to some of the great actors and actresses of today's Korea (some of my favorites are [Actors] AHN Song-Gi, PARK Jeong-Hoon, and [Actresses] YU Hae-Ri and CHOI Myong-Gil). Rayns thankfully includes (so I could here) romanized versions of the Korean titles so you can ask your local Korean video storeowner for their taped copies. If your pronunciation is poor, just bring in the book and point.

But don't worry, soon you won't have to go to all that trouble. Korea harbors too much talent to be ignored by the U.S. market for too long. Recent films such as Choruk Mulgogi (Green Fish), The Power of Kangwon Province, and River Trout demonstrate that Korea's great films are not limited to those mentioned in Rayns's book. The stirring in Seoul will explode soon enough. Get your tickets before they sell out.





Recommended: Yes