The omnibus film The Killers (2023) wasreleased in Korea in October after screening at festivals in Europe, NorthAmerica and Asia. It was invited to Fantasia International Film Festival,Sitges Film Festival and the Busan International Film Festival after premieringat the 23rd New York Asian Film Festival in July.
The genre anthology features four shortfilms directed by established filmmakers Kim Jong-kwan, Roh Deok, Chang Hang-junand Lee Myung-se. Inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s short story that has beenadapted into films before, the four different films Metamorphosis (Kim),Contractors (Roh), Waiting for the Man (Chang) and SilentCinema (Lee) offer varying interpretations of the classic. It features ShimEun-kyung in all four films in different roles, while the cast also includesYeon Woo-jin, Hong Sa-bin, Oh Yeon-ah and Ko Chang-seok.
The film is especially notable for LeeMyung-se marking his return to the big screen in Korea. The idiosyncraticfilmmaker famous for his films My Love, My Bride (1990), Nowhere toHide (1999), Duelist(2005) hasn’t had a film on theatrical releasesince M in 2007.
Anthology films in Korea are not uncommonreflecting the diverse range of styles and themes the industry has to offer. Sometimesit gives filmmakers opportunities to collaborate together, while directors havealso made films featuring different stories adopting the omnibus format like MinKyu-dong with his debut All for Love (2005) or Jung Sik and Jung Bum-shik’sEpitaph (2007).
Korea’s first anthology film was 7Reasons why Beer is Better than a Lover (1996) directed by seven filmmakersincluding Kang Woo-suk and Park Chul-soo. Other examples have included the IfYou Were Me films that consists of seven anthologies, while the HorrorStories series and Mad Sad Bad (2014) have also brought differentdirectors together.
This week we will profile some of thesetitles starting with 7 Reasons why Beer is Better than a Lover before delvinginto All for Love (2005), Epitaph (2007), Five Senses of Eros(2009), the Horror Stories series (2012-2016), and Mad Sad Bad(2014).
7 Reasons why Beer is Better than a Lover
Featuring seven parts helmed by Kim Yu-jin,Jang Hyun-soo, Chung Ji-young, Park Chul-soo, Park Jong-won, Jang Gil-su and KangWoo-suk it centers on a man, Jonathan (Han Jae-suk) who returns to Korea fromAmerica. Each episode – the first titled “Beer is Not Jealous even if I DrinkBeer” and the final part “There is No Obligation to Drink Beer for the Rest ofYour Life”– sees Jonathan date various women with beer, alcohol, and sex beinga running theme throughout much of the shorts.
In the first part, for instance, helmed by KimYu-jin (Wild Card (2003), Jonathan meets a female CEO of a recordcompany while in the final episode that is directed by Kang Woo-suk, Jonathan ispursued by a wig designer played by Bang Eun-jin after he turns to Soju insteadof beer. The anthology also stars Kim Ye-rin, Im Sang-hyo and Moon Soo-jin.
Although significant for being Korea’sfirst anthology and it also sold 90,000 tickets in Seoul during the lunar newyear season, it was criticized by some in the industry and by viewers for its themes,and for how it depicts women.
All for Love
In Min Kyu-dong’s first feature as a solodirector (he made the horror film Memento Mori (1999) with Kim Tae-yong),All for Love, he adopts an omnibus structure as it tells the differentstories of people living in Seoul over a course of a week – a newlywed couple (ImChang-jung, Seo Young-hee), a divorced father (Chun Ho-jin), his ex-wife (UhmJung-hwa), an elderly women (Oh Mi-hee), a K-pop singer (Jung Kyung-ho), a cop(Hwang Jung-min) and a debt collector (Kim Su-ro).
Akin to Love Actually (2003) thathas a passionate following in Korea often re-released during the Christmasseason, All for Love similarly draws audiences into these endearing storiesas the characters deal with different challenges in life; from debt and brokenfamilies to illness.
Its touching stories connected withaudiences selling 2.5 million tickets making it the tenth most popular film of2005.
Epitaph
Directedby the Jung brothers (Jung Sik and Jung Bum-shik), Epitaph tells threedifferent stories as part of a wider narrative. Beginning in the late 1970s, wesee a doctor who learns that a hospital is being demolished and then recollectshis time at a hospital in 1942 where he worked as an intern. The young doctorJeong-nam (Jin Goo) falls for a young and beautiful dead woman who is lying inthe morgue, while also in the hospital is the sole survivor, Asako, (KoJoo-yeon) of a car cash that serves as the second part. The third story isfocused on a couple who work as surgeons at the hospital and get embroiled in aseries of killings of Japanese soldiers.
Whileeach story is distinct from each other, it is also cleverly formed as a featurefilm making it one of the most significant horror films of the period. Richlystylistic and genuinely frightening through its superb production design anddirection, it is also unique for the way it portrays the Japanese colonial eracapturing the complexities of the period.
Thefilm, released in the summer of 2007 – a popular time for horror films in Koreaas a way to cool off and beat the oppressive humidity – it was invited tovarious film festivals including Seattle International Film Festival, TallinnBlack Nights Film Festival and Fantasia Film Festival.