It’s another quiet week for new South Korean releases as Collectors and Samjin Company English Class continue to top the local box office, comfortably setting into the million viewer range. The archaeological adventure and the nineties-era corporate mystery have been the only consequential releases of the last month. At least according to box office admissions, which of course don’t tell the whole story.
Black Rubber Shoes of Memories is being released as a CGV exclusive. It’s based on the popular children’s cartoon of the same name, Black Rubber Shoes, which exists in an odd historical context. Though produced in the nineties, Black Rubber Shoes is still popular today in syndication on South Korean cable. The longevity of the cartoon owes to how it was rooted in its depiction of childhood for children back in the sixties. Because the cartoon is deliberately dated, children today enjoy it as much as they did back during the original nineties broadcast.
The Carthusian Cloistered Monastery is being given a fairly wide release, although as a documentary it’s not likely to set any big box office records. The documentary depicts the daily lives of Carthusian monks living in a monastery in Sangju. As my review noted, there’s quite a bit more dialog than you’d expect. The documentary is more slice of life than theological. I had the chance to review it early because the movie has enjoyed excellent promotion on the part of Catholic groups, similar to what Beyond That Mountain received earlier this year. My review for that movie was also in advance of the theatrical release, for the same reason.
Lastly, The Cursed Lesson is set for an unremarkable release this week. While available in theaters, The Cursed Lesson will recoup most of its production costs from streaming, as is the case with most low budget horror currently coming out of South Korea. The horror flick comes courtesy of Juhn Jai-hong, who also made the interesting if somewhat unfinished musical movie One Step, which I reviewed here, and the more relevantly murder themed Gifted, which I hated quite a bit.
Did any of these titles pique your interest? If so, be sure to let me know. I’m always open to suggestions about what to review next.