Three Korean films head to Toronto film fest

“Collective Invention,” Kwon Oh-kwang’s feature debut starring Lee Kwang-soo and Park Bo-young, is a social satire about a man who transforms into a fish. / Courtesy of CJ Entertainment

By Jason Bechervaise

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), now in its 40th year, is firmly established as one of the leading film festivals in North America. This year the festival will screen a whopping 289 features from 71 countries, including three from Korea.

Although much of the coverage surrounding the TIFF often focuses on Hollywood films and Oscar buzz (“The Theory of Everything” and “Still Alice” that both premiered at TIFF last year won acting accolades for Eddie Redmayne (Best Actor), and Julianne Moore (Best Actress), the festival also devotes much of its program to Asian cinema.

In fact, the city chosen for last year’s City to City program was Seoul. Eight Korean films were selected, including July Jung’s “A Girl at My Door,” Park Jung-bum’s “Alive,” Kim Seong-hun’s “A Hard Day,” Boo Ji-young’s “Cart” and Yim Pil-sung’s “Scarlet Innocence,” making it the first spotlight on Korean cinema at the festival since 2002.

“Veteran” is Ryoo Seung-wan’s ninth feature film and stars Hwang Jung-min and Yoo Ah-in. With more than 10.8 million admissions and counting, it’s his most successful film to date. / Courtesy of CJ Entertainment

Shim Sung-bo’s “Haemoo” was also invited last year as a gala presentation, as was “Cold Eyes” starring Sol Gyung-gu and Han Hyo-joo two years ago. Im Sang-soo’s “The Housemaid” also screened in the same high-profile spot in 2010.

This year, the three Korean films heading to Toronto include two familiar names on the festival circuit: Ryoo Seung-wan and Hong Sang-soo, with “Veteran” and “Right Now, Wrong Then,” respectively. Also making the journey to North America will be Kwon Oh-kwang with his feature debut “Collective Invention.”

“Veteran,” which is screening in the festival’s Vanguard Section as a North American premiere, has been a box office smash hit in Korea, having surpassed the 10 million viewer mark on Saturday, a huge tally for a film with a relatively modest budget ($4.3 mil.) for a summer tent pole release. It’s still firmly placed at the top of the charts with $72 million in box office receipts following very strong word-of-mouth from critics and viewers alike.

Poster of director Hong Sang-soo’s 17th film, “Right Now, Wrong Then” / Courtesy of Jeonwonsa Film Co.

The film stars Hwang Jung-min as a detective who is determined to take down a ruthless and reckless young heir to a powerful conglomerate, played by Yoo Ah-in.

According to TIFF programmer Giovanna Fulvi, “The latest from Korean maestro Ryoo Seung-wan builds brilliantly on the foundation of his previous action smash “The Unjust,” taking that film’s brooding exploration of an underworld power elite merger and infusing it with brash humor and hugely entertaining set pieces.”

“’Veteran’ is vintage Ryoo. With its distinctive camera technique and goofy gags, ‘Veteran’ is a work of high entertainment.”

A different auteur, Hong Sang-soo is no stranger to the TIFF having had eight of his previous films invited to the festival including “Hill of Freedom,” which screened at the festival last year. Similarly, his latest, “Right Now, Wrong Then,” will have its North American premiere in the Masters section.

Having won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland last month along with Best Actor for Jung Jae-young, the film is enjoying favorable reactions from critics who tend to be somewhat divisive when it comes to Hong Sang-soo.

“Rarefied and minimalist ‘Right Now, Wrong Then’ is another addition to Hong Sang-soo’s cinematic catalogue of behavioral anthropology” describes Fulvi.

“Two variations on a potentially fateful encounter between a filmmaker and a painter, the film is an enriching cinematic experience, similar yet surprisingly different from Hong’s previous films.”

Turning to this year’s Korean feature debut, Fulvi adds, “Every year I try to include in my selection of Korean cinema a discovery, a new film from a talented new director. In the past, I have put on the program films like ‘Sa-kwa’ by Kang Yi-kwan or ‘Castaway on the Moon’ by Lee Hae-jun.”

Starring Lee Kwang-soo and Park Bo-young, “This year’s discovery is ‘Collective Invention,’ a hilarious social satire about a hapless mutant’s meteoric rise to celebrity _ and subsequent fall from grace. The film examines how popular culture operates by its own capricious logic and is the hugely inventive feature debut from Kwon Oh-kwang, a new talent to watch for in the panorama of South Korean cinema.”

The film will make its world premiere in the Vanguard Section.

For audiences unable to make it to Toronto, viewers can also catch the three films with English subtitles at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) that kicks off on Oct. 1, while “Right Now, Wrong Then” is to hit local theaters on Sept. 24 ahead of Busan.

The Toronto International Film Festival takes place from Sept. 10-20.