04/08/2020
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Jung Ah Kim was supposed to be our first Guest Film Programmer this month. We asked her to suggest two films to watch at home as a great alternative.
"Hello Hello! This is Jung-Ah from Korean Cinema Chicago, a monthly screening of Korean films in Rogers Park! You can find us on Facebook Korean Cinema Chicago. We're currently under a break due to COVID-19 but we hope that everyone's staying healthy, safe and also watching lots of movies at home!
I would like to introduce two great classic Korean films you can watch free online at the Korean Film Archive YouTube Channel. Here you can find more than 100 classic Korean films from the 1930s onward but today I'd like to talk about "The March of Fools" (1975) by Ha Gil-jong and "Declaration of Idiot" (1983) by Lee Jang-ho. (I have to say I've been feeling like a helpless fool since the pandemic which made me gravitate towards these films. Haha!) Both were made during the military regime and censorship which was a very dark time for any political speeches and artistic expressions including cinema. Yet both do a fantastic job of portraying the dark time by employing characters that have become 'fools', either willingly or unwillingly in order to endure the suppression. "The March of Fools" is a more narrative-driven comedy with a tonal shift towards the end, whereas "Declaration of Idiot" celebrates the unconventional approach of bizarre images and sound with no initial script. Both are highly regarded and considered among the top 15 greatest Korean films ever made. I hope you check these out! And stay tuned for more news from Korean Cinema Chicago as we'll be presenting B**g Joon-ho's shorts at Comfort Station hopefully when the pandemic is subdued. Meanwhile let's stay healthy and positive, and appreciate the health workers fighting at the front-line. See you very soon! "
