Yeon-hee (Kim Kkot-bi) and Sang-hoon (Yang Ik-june) make an unlikely pair in BREATHLESS
BREATHLESS (DDONGPARI) (Yang Ik-june, 2008)
Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick St. at Laight St.
Tuesday, February 23, 7:00
Series continues alternating Tuesday nights at 7:00 through April 6
Admission: free; reservations accepted at info@koreanculture.org or 212-759-9550
www.subwaycinema.com
www.tribecacinemas.com
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Named Best Debut Feature at the 2009 New York Asian Film Festival and winner of a Tiger Award at Rotterdam, Yang Ik-june’s BREATHLESS is an involving portrait of family hidden beneath a veil of blood and violence. Yang, who wrote, directed, and produced the film, also stars as Sang-hoon, a local gangster who goes out every day and does whatever is necessary to collect for his loan-shark boss, Man-sik (Jeong Man-sik). Dour, angry, and full of rage, Yang curses at and strikes his coworkers, cops, and strangers as well as the people who owe Man-sik money. Not one to make friends, he is soon hanging around with a high school girl, Yeon-hee (Kim Kkot-bi), who has taken a liking to him and his young nephew, Hyeong-in (Kim Hee-soo). Although they don’t know it, Yeon-hee and Sang-hoon are drawn to each other because of their difficult relationships with their fathers, both of whom are struggling to deal with different kinds of tragedy. Although Yang does try to pull at the heartstrings with some over-the-top melodrama near the end, BREATHLESS is well-paced study of family and friendship, following a bloody path to show the importance of blood. The free screening at Tribeca Cinemas will be followed by a Q&A with Yang, who mortgaged his house to make this low-budget picture.
BREATHLESS concludes the first part of the free Korean series being screened alternating Tuesdays at Tribeca Cinemas. The second section, Remakes, which includes Korean films currently scheduled to be remade in English, kicks off March 9 with Ryu Seung-wan’s DIE BAD, followed by Park Chan-wook’s SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE on March 23 and Ahn Byung-ki’s PHONE on April 6.
The third jewel in Universal’s horror crown (following 1931’s DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN), THE WOLF MAN stars Lon Chaney, Jr., in his signature role, the goofily charming Larry Talbot, who just happens to have a problem on certain evenings when there is a particularly bright moon. Talbot has returned home to the family mansion after the sudden death of his brother, who appeared to have been mauled by some kind of wild animal. Reunited with his erudite father, Sir John (THE INVISIBLE MAN’s Claude Rains), Larry quickly gets the hots for local antiques dealer Gwen Conliffe, but when their first date involves the tragic death of Gwen’s friend Jenny (Fay Helm) and Bela the Gypsy (Bela Lugosi), Larry becomes a suspect in the murders. And when he keeps waking up with ripped clothing and blood on him, he begins to think that maybe he has indeed done some very terrible things. THE WOLF MAN is the only one of Universal’s three primary horror classics that is not based on a popular novel; instead, Curt Siodmak wrote a fascinating original script that delves deep into the psyche of its protagonist, whose physical and mental transformation echoes the rage inside us all. The all-star cast also features Ralph Bellamy as Colonel Montford, the town constable; Patric Knowles as Frank Andrews, Gwen’s fiancé; and the great Maria Ouspenskaya as the mysterious Gypsy woman Maleva. THE WOLF MAN might not have the chills and thrills of DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN, but it still more than holds its own after all these years. (Oh, and if you’re expecting the famous scene when Chaney’s face goes all hairy, that actually occurs in the sequel, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN.)
