YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Movie fans can catch a few different Korean-language films Friday and Saturday during a film festival sponsored by the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade.
The best part: The movies have English subtitles.
“This gives people an opportunity to see some Korean culture,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tae S. Kang, brigade command language program manager.
The unit has used Korean movies in the past, usually on a small screen, to hone their linguists’ skills, Kang said. This time, all — including their linguists — can view the films on the big screen, he said.
Film companies loaned the movies — English-subtitled 35mm prints submitted for international film festivals — Kang said, adding that he met with the Motion Picture Producers Association of Korea’s former president to select them.
Over the past 10 years, Korean movies — driven by higher budgets and first-class productions — have increased in popularity. But except intermittently at theaters in Seoul, few are shown with English subtitles.
It’s the festival’s second year and it has been expanded to Camp Humphreys. Scheduled to be screened:
¶ “Joint Security Area”: An enormously popular movie revolving around the division between North and South Korea. The movie takes place in Panmunjom, the truce village straddling the border. Soldiers on both sides, who thought they were enemies, learn their commonality but they also learn the wounds from war are far from healed. (108 minutes)
¶“Sword in the Moon”: A historical drama about a famous coup during Korea’s Chosun Dynasty. Two soldiers who are friends end up on opposite sides during a nasty uprising aiming to unseat the king. (102 minutes)
¶“The Way Home”: A single mother facing financial problems decides to leave her 7-year-old son with her mute grandmother in the countryside. The mother introduces the two to each other, then leaves for the city. The boy is furious and takes out his frustrations by misbehaving and making wild demands of his grandmother. With amateur actors and a smooth-flowing plot, the film outperformed Hollywood blockbusters in 2002, according to koreanfilm.org. (86 minutes)
¶“Wonderful Days”: Created by Korea’s Tin House studios. The Discovery Channel recently featured “Wonderful Days” for combining drawings with computer-generated imagery and models to create a fusion-style animated film. The plot: In 2142, Earth has been devastated by pollution. A self-sustaining city, ECOBAN, is created using pollution for fuel, according to a review on www.destroy-all-monsters.com. As civil unrest seethes, ECOBAN scientists must perpetuate the toxic stew that fuels the city. Working beside mysterious exiled ECOBAN scientist Dr. Noah, resistance fighter Shua steals important data detailing ECOBAN’s predicament. Along the way, he encounters lost childhood love Jay, now an ECOBAN cop. Jay must choose between her duty to ECOBAN and her feelings for Shua, while Shua struggles to thwart ECOBAN’s plans and perhaps restore Earth’s former beauty. (87 minutes)
¶“Blue”: Three members of a navy salvage unit become emotionally entangled as they are sent to recover a sunken submarine. Jun, a male officer, and Tae-hyeon, a female officer, are assigned to the mission with Su-jin, another woman officer, who used to date Jun. The three’s hidden feelings for each other are complicated when Su-jin plunges into the water to rescue the submarine’s survivors. Jun and Tae-hyeon pursue her and the three push their feelings and lives to new depths. (108 minutes)
¶“Kick the Moon”: Two old classmates fight to the finish for the love of a woman. Ten years ago, a legendary fighter and a timid straight-A student left for a high school field trip to the ancient city of Gyeongju and saw dream woman Min-ju. Years later, the men — one now a mobster; the other, a high school gym teacher — pick up their pursuit of her, but when the woman is abducted, both set out to save her. (119 minutes)
The schedule
Here’s the film festival schedule for Friday and Saturday:
Yongsan Garrison Multipurpose Training Facility
Friday
3 p.m.: “Joint Security Area” (PG-13), screen 1
5:20 p.m.: Opening ceremony, screen 1
5:30 p.m.: “Sword in the Moon” (PG-13), screen 1
Saturday
1 p.m.: “Blue” (PG-13), screen 2
1 p.m.: “Wonderful Days” (G), screen 3
Osan Air Base theater
Friday
1 p.m.: “Kick the Moon”
3:30 p.m.: “The Way Home” (G)
Saturday
3 p.m.: “Sword in the Moon” (PG-13)
Camp Humphreys theater
Friday
1 p.m.: “Blue” (PG-13)
3:30 p.m.: “Wonderful Days” (G)
Saturday
1 p.m.: “Joint Security Area” (PG-13)
3:30 p.m.: “The Way Home” (G)
