The London Korean Film Festival 2014 Opening Gala:
‘Kundo: Age of the Rampant’ screening, Q&A and Gala Reception:
Thursday, November 6th 2014: And so begins the 9th annual London Korean Film Festival.
In the years since the it began in 2005, the London Korean Film Festival has gone from strength-to-strength; culminating in this year’s star-studded event, the start of which consisted of a Gala screening of the exhilarating period/action/drama ‘Kundo: Age of the Rampant’ (군도: 민란의 시대) / 2014 / Directed by Yoon Jong-bin, and starring some of the biggest names in Korean Cinema today: Ha Jung-woo, Gang Dong-won, Lee Geung-young and Lee Sung-min).
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The screening and Director/Actor/Producer Q&A took place at the Odeon West End, Leicester Square, London; the cinema having been decked out in true Leicester Square Premiere style, complete with red carpet.
As I watched the crowds begin to gather for the sold-out event, it was wonderful to notice that as well as the Korean Cinema aficionados standing at the barrier waiting for the VIP guests to arrive, there were also a number of passers-by and tourists who stood and waited in line; obviously to see “someone famous” walk up the red carpet. Here’s hoping that later in the festival and in subsequent years these tourists will be standing watching the red carpet events before proceeding into the screenings themselves.
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And as to the film itself?
‘Kundo: Age of the Rampant’ drew 551,848 viewers on its first day at the box office (July 23, 2014), grossing ₩4.08 billion ($3.997 million) - at the time, the highest opening day box office takings in Korea, for either a foreign or domestic film (this record would subsequently be broken by ‘The Admiral: Roaring Currents’) and it's easy to see why:
A heart-pounding, explosive and entertaining Korean film that has both funny and gripping moments throughout.
‘Kundo: Age of the Rampant’ Synopsis:
The year is 1859: The Joseon era is plagued by natural disasters, poor harvest, poverty. hunger and death. But the rich nobles are only concerned with their own wealth and continue to exploit and persecute the poor. In this dark period, a band of righteous fighters, Kundo, became a symbol of hope for the poor, equally striking fear into corrupt nobles. After butcher Dolmuchi's mother and sister are killed, millionaire Jo-yoon commands absolute power over this impoverished and none-too-bright man who, overpowered by vengeance, determines to take his revenge on those who wronged him. Finally sought out and subsequently accepted by Kundo as a member, unsheathes his sword for both the weak and against Jo-yoon…
The capacity crowd at the Odeon West End clearly loved the film – with cries of surprise; excitement and laughter regularly being heard throughout the beautiful auditorium. And as for the effect that the appearance in the film of actor Gang Dong-won had on female members of the audience? I think you can probably guess without me saying another word.
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The post-screening Q&A was an informative and lively affair with the film's director Yoon Jong-bin, actor Gang Dong-won and producer Han Jae-duk clearly enjoying their time with the audience and answering questions on all aspects of the film and filmmaking process; with a great deal of humour throughout.
It was assumed this Q&A would be hosted by Tony Rayns but he left the event shortly before it got underway (reasons have been speculated by many but it's not the place of this post to comment on conjecture and hearsay). As such the Q&A hosting was taken over by Seh, who many of you will know from her translation work during previous festival events. She was a consumate professional and held a lively discussion; asking three introductory questions and then (rightly) opening up the Q&A to audience questions. Frankly, from my point of view, Q&A's should indeed be focused on audience questions and as such this was the best Q&A I've seen in quite a while.
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