Lee Eun-ju Movies

Korea's leading filmmaker, Kang Je-gyu, directed this epic-scale drama focusing on two brothers caught up in the madness of the war that tore their nation apart in the early '50s. Jin-seok Lee (Weon Bin) is a bright and well-educated young man whose older and more physically imposing brother Jin-tae Lee (Jang Dong-gun) believes he represents the best hope for his family's future. When both Jin-seok and Jin-tae are called up to fight in the South Korean army following the advance of Communist forces, a wary Jin-tae cuts a deal with his commanding officer -- if he racks up an impressive enough record on the battlefield, the army will give Jin-seok an early release. Jin-tae proves to be a fearless soldier, and is soon recognized as a war hero, but as the conflict wears on, he develops an unhealthy enthusiasm for the violence of the battlefield, and Jin-seok finds himself questioning his big brother's actions, both as a soldier and as a member of his family. The title Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War refers to the Korean name for the South Korean flag, originally designed in 1876 but outlawed during Japanese rule of the nation, and restored to use in 1948. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Borrowing its premise from the popular Ring horror movies, Unborn But Forgotten concerns a female reporter who investigates a website called The White Room. She learns that every woman who visits the site dies within 15 days of viewing it. Once she visits the site, she has that much time to solve the mystery before she herself perishes. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Five girlfriends graduate high school in the Korean port city of Inchon. They set out to pursue their limited opportunities, vowing to continue their friendship into adult life. Hae-joo (Lee Yo-Won) is pretty and ambitious. She gets a job working for a brokerage house and soon moves away to Seoul. Tae-hee (Bae Doo-na) works part-time for her domineering father, and does volunteer work, helping out a romantic young poet with cerebral palsy. Ji-young (Ok Ji-young) lives with her grandparents in a ramshackle hut by the docks. She can't find a job, so she struggles to support herself. The half-Chinese twins, Bi-ryu (Lee Eun-sil) and Ohn-jo (Lee Eun-ju), continue their relatively carefree existence. Ji-young finds a stray kitten, and gives it to Hae-joo as a birthday gift. Hae-joo soon returns it, however, finding pet ownership too much trouble. Ji-young and Hae-joo grow further apart as they discover their values in conflict. Tae-hee tries to keep the group together, organizing sporadic reunions while dealing with her own problems at home. When she goes alone to visit the sullen Ji-young at home, the two realize that their connection has remained strong, and when tragedy strikes Ji-young's family, Hae-joo is there to support her. Take Care of My Cat is the debut feature of writer/director Jeong Jae-eun. She had previously directed several award-winning shorts. The film was processed using the same bleach bypass method used in David Fincher's Seven, which accounts for its unique saturated color palette. The film was accepted into the Rotterdam Film Festival, and New Directors/New Films in New York. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors was writer/director Hong Sang-soo's (Turning Gate) third feature, and his first to be released on DVD in the United States. As the black-and-white film opens, a wealthy young man, Jae-hoon (Jeong Bo-seok), arrives at a hotel room, and examines it while he waits for a woman to join him. Soo-jung (Lee Eun-ju of Tae Guk Gi) phones him after a while, and tries to get out of their planned tryst. They argue on the phone. The film then flashes back to show us, in numbered and sometimes titled episodes, how the relationship between these two characters developed. Jae-hoon was working as an assistant to a struggling filmmaker, Young-soo (Mun Seong-kun of A Petal). After several social engagements, Jae-hoon suggests to Young-soo that he might be interested in financing his next film. Jae-hoon begins to pursue Soo-jung, who keeps him at bay for a while. But Jae-hoon is persistent, and eventually, she relents. She lets him know that she is a virgin. Eventually, it becomes clear that Young-soo also has a romantic interest in Soo-jung. Jae-hoon gets jealous, and he and Young-soo get into a big argument, but they patch things up, and make plans to go to an expensive hotel on Cheju Island where, presumably, they will have sex. At the film's midway point, Hong returns us to the first chapter, and we are taken through the story again, with many changes to the action -- some subtle and some more severe. The film's English-language title is an apparent reference to Marcel Duchamp's artwork, "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even." The original Korean title is the far more prosaic Oh! Soo-jung. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide