Mister Kim
 

PostED ON 14.10.2024

Discover the man who transformed Korean cinema: an eloquent and serene journey. 

Walking in the Movies by Lyang Kim © DR

THE SUBJECT: At 87 years old, this small, impassive man (we only see him laugh in the latter half of the film) with a gait that is solid if a bit unsteady, revisits the places that made him famous. Kim Dong-ho was a long-serving civil servant in South Korea's Ministry of Culture before the cinema captured his focus. He supervised the construction of new studios and chaired the supervisory commission (where letting through The Crying Game– uncensored - was no easy feat)! Then in 1996, at an age when his contemporaries were retiring, he founded the Busan Film Festival, on the southeastern coast of South Korea, which has become a major force for the continental and global expansion of Asian cinema.

THE STYLE: The film follows a classical format, complete with archival footage and first-hand accounts (including the invaluable testimony of great filmmaker Im Kwon-taek). Yet it is also poetic; our unconventional hero, seemingly lost in thought, reflects on the places he has travelled, calmly observing nature from his home. What goes through his mind? Undoubtedly all that he has cultivated and subsequently enjoyed, such as the company of artists, which has enabled him to nurture his sensitivity. Today he has become a creator himself who practises calligraphy and is a student of Chinese poetry. What serenity!

BONUSES:  We discover that the festive soirées at the Busan Film Festival often ended with rounds of soju shared between guests of honour seated on a pavement curb; that Mr Kim danced enthusiastically with Juliette Binoche; that the greatest skill of this singular man is to express no opinion, favourable or otherwise, on the films he has helped bring to life...

Aurélien Ferenczi

Screening:

Walking in the Movies by Lyang Kim (Younghwa cheongnyeon dong-ho, documentaire, 2024, 1h30)
Institut Lumière (Villa) Mon 14 4:30pm