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A Korean Film Festival was organised by The Embassy of the Republic of Korea, New Delhi, and the Honorary Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, Chennai, Inko Centre, Chennai and the International Cine Apporeciation Forum (ICAF) at the South Indian Film Chamber Theatre in Chennai from May 14 to 18, 2007.
Here is a synopsis of the various films that were featured:
 Typhoon:
Taepung/ 2005/124 min / colour / action / thriller
Director: Kyung-Taek Kwak
Synopsis: The plot follows Sin (Jang Dong Gun), a North Korean who as a child attempted to defect to the South with his family but was betrayed, resulting in the deaths of his parents. Plotting genocidal revenge, Sin takes up with a group of Thai pirates, and steals a US ship carrying nuclear devices which have been secretly manufactured in Taiwan. He is pursued by Kang Se Jong (Lee Jeong Jae), a naval officer who attempts to bring Sin to justice, though who gradually comes to understand, and even sympathise, with his foe.
 The King and the Clown
Wang-ui namja/ 2005/ 119 min / colour / history / thriller
Director: Jun-ik Lee
Synopsis: Two clowns living in the Chosun Dynasty get arrested for staging a play that satirises the king. They are dragged to the palace and threatened with execution, but are given a chance to save their lives if they can make the king laugh.
 My Heart
Jeong/ 2000 / 114 min / colour / drama/
Director: Chang-ho Bae
Synopsis: 17-year-old Soonie is married to the 10-year-old son of the local Korean medicine doctor. Married to a child, Soonie is subjected to the hard life of the traditional daughter-in-law. Ten years pass and her husband, who has gone away to study, returns with a stylish 'modern woman' dressed in Western clothes. When Soonie finds out that the woman is carrying her husband's child, she quietly packs her bag and leaves. She then struggles through life, against the most cruel and hopeless circumstances.
Director Bae was born in 1953, and majored in business management at Yonsei University. Bae became a box-office favourite in the 1980s, creating numerous films with a keen sense of self-awareness. Hwang Jin-Yi (1986) was especially acclaimed for its unique craftsmanship. His film world is usually thought of as a romantic quest with an authentic narrative style.
 Sopyonje
Seopyeonje/ 1993/ 112 min / colour / musical / historical
Director: Kwon-taek Im
Synopsis: The film's three central characters are itinerant pansori singers in the 1950s. The story unfolds through flashbacks. A man named Dong-ho is roaming the rural hinterlands, ostensibly to find rare herbal medicines for his sick son back in Seoul, but actually in search of Song-hwa, the woman he grew up with. Orphans, they were both apprenticed to the pansori master Yu-bong (Kim Myung-gon) who pressured them to sacrifice everything for the art. Dong-ho rebelled and ran away, to become the man he is now. Song-hwa stayed, lost her sight, and outlived Yu-bong. Rumor has it that she is still travelling and still singing pansori.
Awards:4 wins
1993 - Won Blue Dragon Award Best Film
1993 - Won Grand Bell Award Best Film
Shanghai International Film Festival 1993 - Won Golden Goblet
Best Actress Jung-hae Oh
Best Director Kwon-taek Im
Christmas in August
Palwolui Christmas / 1998 / 97 min / colour / romance/
Director: Jin-ho Hur
Synopsis: This film tells the heart-breaking love story of Jeong-Won (Seok-Kyu Han), a photographer facing death, and Da-Rim (Eun-Ha Shim), a parking law enforcer. Jeong-Won, dying from a terminal illness, chooses to face the last days of his life alone inside his small photo studio at the edge of Seoul city. One day he chances upon Da-Rim, who is enforcing the parking laws on a street near the photo studio. The two grow closer and closer, nurturing their love for one another- but Jeong-won’s health fails him, and he is carried off to the hospital, leaving Da-Rim waiting outside the closed door of the photo studio without a clue about what is going on.
Awards: 4 wins & 2 nominations
1998 - Won Blue Dragon Award Best Film
Flanders International Film Festival 1998 - Won FIPRESCI Prize - Special Mention Jin-ho Hur
For its quiet and subtly detailed way of telling the story of a man facing death and thus rejecting the love and life, proposed to him by a young woman.
Pusan International Film Festival 1998 - Won FIPRESCI Prize - Special Mention Jin-ho Hur
For its unusually delicate and touching way of treating a love story about fate, love and death.
Singapore International Film Festival 1999 - Nominated Silver Screen Award Best Asian Feature Film Jin-ho Hur
Vancouver International Film Festival 1998 - Won Dragons and Tigers Award - Special Citation Jin-ho Hur
Verona Love Screens Film Festival 1999 - Nominated Best Film Jin-ho Hur
 My Mother the Mermaid
Ineo gongju / 2004 / 110 min / colour /
Director: Park Heung-Sik
Born in 1965, Park graduated from Yonsei University, majoring in astronomy. He also graduated from the Korean Academy of Film Arts. His directorial debut (I Wish I had a Wife) in 2000 was well received by its audiences for his delicate and sensuous direction.
Synopsis: Na-young works at a post office and is sick and tired of being around her shamefully, unyielding mother and her pushover father who's excessively nice. The only thing that she can look forward to is her trip abroad in a few days. But one day, her father leaves home without any notice. Her mother doesn't care what happens to him and doesn't care to look for him. Na-young has no choice but to give up her dream trip abroad and to search for her father instead. Once she arrives at her parents' hometown, Na-young is shocked to meet someone she'd never expect to, not even in her dreams.
The Beast and the Beauty
Yasuwa minyeo / 2005/ 102 min / colour / comedy / romance
Director: Gae Byok Lee
Synopsis: The story follows Dong-gun who is the world to a blind girl Hae-joo. He shows her amazing things, takes her to all of these places and loves her very much. What she doesn't see is that Dong-gun isn't the most attractive of men. This is where things take a twist. Hae-joo is about to get her sight back and now Dong-gun is faced with the dilemma of what her reaction is going to be. Instead of facing up to it, he plays off like he's Dong-guns secretary and Dong-gun has taken a two-week trip to Hawaii. To toss things up more, Hae-joo runs into Jun-Ha, and handsome old buddy of Dong-gun's, who has the looks she’s dreamed of but a completely opposite personality.
R Rangaraj
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