Cha

Category: Korean films

[ESSAY] “Toxic Humidifiers and Atmospheric Thinking in 𝐴𝑖𝑟 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟” by Ai-Ting Chung

茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Ai-Ting Chung’s essay “Toxic Humidifiers and Atmospheric Thinking in Air Murder” examines Air Murder (2022), directed by Jo Yong-sun, as an ecocinema work grounded in real-life tragedy: South Korea’s…

Nov 21, 2025
[TIFF 2025] “The Paper Boy: On Park Chan-wook’s 𝑁𝑜 𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒” by Nirris Nagendrarajah

TIFF 2025 ▞ 10. The Archivist’s Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirong’s 100 Sunset▞ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjun’s The Sun Rises On Us All▞ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…

Oct 7, 2025
[ESSAY] “Pseudo-Resistance and Ethical Beauty: A Critique of South Korean and Japanese Cinematic Aesthetics” by Zheng Wang

[ESSAY] “Pseudo-Resistance and Ethical Beauty: A Critique of South Korean and Japanese Cinematic Aesthetics” by Zheng Wang In the narrative context of East Asian visual media, both South Korean and Japanese films and television series excel at exposing the darker…

Jul 13, 2025
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑒 at 25: Kim Ki Duk’s Blooming Poem on the Island of Solitude” by G.A. Gowtham

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kim Ki-duk (director), The Isle, 2000. 90 min. Some films are like waves that gently lap against the shores of our memories; others, however, jolt us by revealing…

Jun 16, 2025
[REVIEW] “Dying for a Living: Bong Joon-ho’s 𝑀𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑦 17 and the Horror of Being Replaceable” by Ananya Singh

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Bong Joon-ho (director), Mickey 17, 2025. 137 min. Header image © bartos. Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 is at once an existential tragedy and a darkly comic spectacle—a sci-fi epic…

Mar 13, 2025
Protected: [REVIEW] “Violence, Guilt and the Weight of Inaction in As You Stood in Lee Jung-rim’s 𝐴𝑠 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝐵𝑦” by Dorina Tataran

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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Queer Shape of Smell: Kangyu Garam’s 𝐿𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑦, 𝐴𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡” by Soo Ryon Yoon

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kangyu Garam (director), Lucky, Apartment, 2024. 96 min. This review may contain spoilers. What would hate look and feel like if it took on a sensory form? South Korean…

Aug 22, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Just that Little Bit Different: Hong Sang-soo’s 𝐼𝑛 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟” by Oliver Farry

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Hong Sang-soo. Hong Sang-soo (director), In Water, 2023. 61 min. Of the 31 features Hong Sang-soo has directed, you’d be hard pressed to find a…

Jul 10, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Domain of Sickness: Lee Sol-hui’s 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒” by Oliver Farry

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lee Sol-hui (director), Greenhouse, 2022. 100 min. Lee Sol-hui’s film Greenhouse is a domain of sickness. There is illness everywhere, physical, mental, social, degenerative. The only character…

Jun 11, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Cultural Orphanage: Davy Chou’s 𝑅𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑙” by Oliver Farry

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Davy Chou (director), Return to Seoul, 2022. 119 min. There’s an ambiguity inherent in the title of Davy Chou’s film Return to Seoul. At first sight, it seems to…

Sep 11, 2023