Choi Min-shik is exceptional as always in Im Kwon-taek’s historical drama CHIHWASEON
KOREAN CINEMA SHOWCASE: CHIHWASEON (PAINTED FIRE) (Im Kwon-taek, 2002)
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria
Sunday, June 3, free with museum admission of $10, 3:00
718-777-6800
www.movingimage.us
www.kino.com/chihwaseon
Korean filmmaker Im Kwon-taek’s exploration of the life and work of nineteenth-century painter Jang seung-up (Choi Min-shik) is beautiful to look at but overly long and drawn out. We get it: The iconoclastic artist struggles with his identity, drinks too much, battles with his mentor (Ahn Sung-ki) over selling out, gets caught amid a political revolution, and has a complicated love life. However, it is always a thrill to watch Choi; Chihwaseon is screening on June 3 as part of the Museum of the Moving Image series “The Many Faces of Choi Min-shik,” which began May 20 with Song Hae-sung’s Failan and concludes July 1 with the Park Chan-wook classic Oldboy. This summer’s New York Asian Film Festival will also pay tribute to the great Korean actor in the sidebar “Choi Min-sik: Mr. Vengeance,” featuring Yun Jong-bin’s 2012 Nameless Gangster and Ryoo Seung-wan’s 2005 Crying Fist as well as Oldboy and Failan. (And yes, each series spells Choi’s name differently.)