After its season opener “La Bayadere,” the Korean National Ballet, under the leadership of internationally acclaimed ballerina Kang Sue-jin since February, is staging the timeless Tchaikovsky classic “Swan Lake.”The famous ballet tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse. She tries to break the spell with her love interest prince Siegfried, but fails as the prince is tricked by the magician. Just like its 2012 run of the ballet, the Korean National Ball

Performance April 8, 2014

After winning seven trophies from Rotterdam, Marrakech, Busan and Deauville, Korean helmer Lee Su-jin’s award-winning feature debut “Han Gong-ju” nabbed another award this month, this time at the Festival International de Films de Fribourg.The film, which tells the tragic tale of a teenage gang rape victim, had its world premiere at the Marrakech International Film Festival in November, where it won its first international prize, given by a jury headed by Martin Scorsese.Born in 1977, Lee made s

Film April 6, 2014

A 3-D omnibus film collaborated on by three Korean filmmakers will open this year’s Jeonju International Film Festival, its organizers announced last week.The opening film, titled “Mad Sad Bad,” consists of three short films, each directed by Kim Tae-yong (“Late Autumn,” “Family Ties”), Ryu Seung-wan (“The Berlin File,” “The Unjust”) and Han Ji-seung (“Papa”). While Ryu’s “Ghost” deals with a murder revolving around university students, Kim’s “Picnic” tells the story of a little girl whose young

Film April 6, 2014

Son of God (the U.S.) Opening April 10 Drama. Directed by Christopher Spencer.This epic biblical drama film features the life of Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity. It follows the life of Jesus from his miraculous birth, his visit to Galilee, as well as his first encounter with well-known followers, including Peter, James, John and Matthew. The film also highlights most of the miracles Jesus performed, including multiplying the loaves and fishes, walking on water, and raising Lazar

Film April 4, 2014

“Divergent,” the latest outcast-teen-battles-The System thriller, is similar enough to “The Hunger Games” that hardcore Katniss fans may dismiss it.But it’s a more streamlined film, with a love story with genuine heat and deaths with genuine pathos.And director Neil Burger (“The Illusionist,” “Limitless”) inserts us into this world with a lack of fuss that the stiff, exposition-stuffed “Games” films have never managed.So let’s skip past any suggestions of novelist Veronica Roth knocking off the

Film April 4, 2014

Since its establishment in 1962, the National Dance Company of Korea has been focusing on Korean traditional dance.The troupe is making a meaningful step this month by collaborating with a non-Korean choreographer for the first time since its inception. Their latest work, “Vortex” ― slated to be staged on April 16 ― is choreographed by Finnish artist Tero Saarinen. “One of the main reasons behind this project is to give more opportunities for our dancers, who are the best in the country, to prep

Performance March 31, 2014

The newly established Wildflower Film Awards Korea is holding its first awards ceremony Tuesday, recognizing the achievements of Korean independent and low-budget films.Founded by film critic Darcy Paquet, who has written extensively on Korean cinema, the awards will hand out a total of nine trophies, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Documentary, the Documentary Jury award, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best New Actor or Actress, Best New Director and Best Cinematography.A total of seven ind

Film March 31, 2014

There is no doubt that filmmaker Lee Su-jin’s feature debut “Han Gong-ju” is a rare cinematic achievement. It is visually and textually strong, musically appealing, and deals with its difficult subject matter ― a story about a teenage gang rape victim ― with sensitivity and nuance. Yet its artistic accomplishments aside, including seven trophies from Rotterdam, Marrakech, Busan and Deauville, one question remains to be answered: Can we separate this film from the real-life 2004 Miryang gang rape

Film March 30, 2014

Webtoon writer Yoon Tae-ho says he barely enjoys his work. But it is his everything. “I never really got to do anything for pure enjoyment or for myself,” he said in an interview with The Korea Herald in his office in Seoul. “I’ve never played StarCraft. I’ve never played billiards. I don’t enjoy work, either. What I want to do is to do it well, do better.”The 44-year-old is best known for his webtoon “Misaeng,” which means “an incomplete life.” The iconic series, which ran from 2012 to 2013 onl

Books March 28, 2014

The audience members stepped off buses waving red UFW flags. Some came straight from the fields. Those from Salinas and Madera and farther away had given up a day’s wages to attend.The first feature film about Cesar Chavez had been screened in Los Angeles and at the White House. On Tuesday evening, “Cesar Chavez” played outdoors and in Spanish for the farm workers Chavez represented.“From the beginning, we said we have to go back and give it to the people,” director Diego Luna said. “I’ve been w

Film March 28, 2014

August: Osage County (the U.S.)Opening April 3Drama. Comedy. Directed by John Wells. Violet (Meryl Streep) lives in a rural area outside Pawhuska, Oklahoma, with her husband, Beverly (Sam Shepard), an alcoholic but kindhearted poet. Extremely contentious and bitter, she suffers from oral cancer and struggles with drug addiction. One day, out of the blue, Beverly hires a young Native American woman as a live-in cook and caregiver for Violet, and then disappears from the house. Devastated, Violet

Film March 28, 2014

Lee Oi-soo is one of the most active writers online, dubbed “Twitter President” with more than 1.7 million followers. And it is not surprising to hear “Wanjeon Byeontae (Complete Metamorphosis),” his latest collection of short stories, is a result of his “writing exercises” on Twitter.“People often said to me, ‘You are spending so much time online. When do you actually write your novels?” the 68-year-old author told reporters during a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday. “But I actually thought

Books March 27, 2014

The cycling section of Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon, is vast. And as you stand before it, as I did recently, it’s easy to split the volumes into distinct categories: before doping and after.In the first realm rest the hagiographies and how-to tomes mostly about or inspired by Lance Armstrong, including “It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life,” “Lance Armstrong: Images of a Champion” and the now painfully ironic “The Lance Armstrong Performance Program: Seven Weeks to the Perfect

Books March 27, 2014

Our culture has a way of romanticizing the booze-addled scribe, the rakish writer quick with a quip ― Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Cheever, Tennessee Williams, Raymond Carver.These were masters of American letters. These were also incorrigible drunks who left a trail of human wreckage and misery along with their novels, plays and poems.The myth of the rakish drunk writer dashing off bon mots between martinis starts to teeter once you peel away the illusions and delusions of alcoho

Books March 27, 2014

Han Yoon-chan is a recent university graduate and job seeker who majored in political science. One of his graduation requirements, which, in his own words, “has nothing to do with his major,” was to get a minimum TOEIC score of 650. The highest possible score is 990. “What if you don’t get that score? You try and try and try again until you get it,” he told The Korea Herald. “It doesn’t matter if your major is English literature or not. I have a friend who is still in school because he hasn’t go

National March 26, 2014