It's a small world after all (PIFF)

Last weekend I attended the Pusan International Film Festival (http://www.piff.org/) with several of my friends and I must admit it was a very interesting experience. One regret is that I was not able to stay longer so that I could view more films.

Our day started early on Saturday eating breakfast (American Style) in a hotel near the PIFF Pavilion, and then on to shopping. A fun place to go in Busan is Special Fun Zone or SfunZ (pronounced spongy) it is a place of great shops and a shoe store that has all shoes for $40. There is a large Skin Food which is my favorite skin care store in South Korea. This is also where some of the movies are played and tickets are sold.




We then traveled to the University district where there is a lot of great shopping and even this fun store called Princess Land that has the best hand made shoes ever; worth going to once a month if your budget allows.






One of the great things about Korean shopping is the art of negotiation. Since there are no taxes here no price is final! I bought the cutest dress that I had my friend Jackie negotiate down from 48 thousand won to 40 thousand won. It was the best!

But we were there to see films so due to time and space we were only able to view two films, one a day: Closed Note and Paradise Murdered. I later found that there is a movie titled Mei playing at the Festival.

Paradise Murdered
Korea 2007 112min 35mm COLOR

A murder is committed in a small island of 17 residents. Duk-su who was with the victims playing card games becomes a suspect but cannot be found. While the manager of the health center and a female teacher investigate the case, island residents turn up dead one by one. The school security Chun-bae finds a memo, an important lead, and the village falls apart in dispute. The progress of their death is at the same time, a process of conflict and misunderstanding among villagers surface. They suspect a ghost of old legend or fight over money. Paradise murdered explains through its epic of death that all the villages are victims and offenders at the same time. It might not be one of a kind but the drama of desire and conflict in a small space certainly grasps our eyes. (LEE Sang-yong)


Closed Note
Japan 2007 138min 35mm COLOR



The film is equipped with the best combination possible for a Japanese commercial film directed by Yukisada Isao starring SAWAJIRI Erika, ISEYA Yusuke and TAKEUCHI Yuko. A college student Kae, who dreams of becoming a teacher, discovers a notebook in the house she has just moved in. The notebook turns out to be the diary of a woman, Mano Ibuki, who had just started teaching in primary school. Kae becomes absorbed by the woman’s pure heart, reading about her life and love. She falls for a painter, Ishitobi, while working at her part time job. As time passes, she finds out an unexpected sad truth. As expected of a melodrama with a dazzling cast and crew list, the film brings the traditional element of pure love and unexpected fate along with the surprise of tragic reversal and desperate moments blended in nicely. An autumn love story that reconstructs the merits of previous Japanese melodramas. (KWON Yong-min)



There were many Korean stars there and even a close encounter or two; however my friends and I are not familiar with these stars so reactions were a bit late if interested at all.

One of the Busan residents that was familiar with Jackie’s co-teachers was nice enough to make reservations for us and we had the best dinner ever. We ate Som Gap Sal, so not how you really write it but how you pronounce it, which is usually pork because beef is too expensive, but you take the meat and cook it on a grill in the middle of the table then when the meat is ready you wrap it in a leaf and can put things like roasted garlic in it too. The random woman in the picture was our waitress who wanted to be in the pic so we figured why not!

After dinner was the club. The first place we went to was called Vinyl Underground, but Jackie and I didn’t like the music so we left and went to a “hip hop” club Foxy Bar ($15) where the Korean boys are a touchy feely non-dancing wonder. It was so sad. But as fate would have it some other Americans chose this place too and one of them just happened to be my frat brother from Ohio! I heard before I left the States that he had gone to do the same thing so it was good to actually see him.

But good quickly turned to frustrated when Jackie and I once again shared a bed at a beloved love motel. Do to unforeseen nudity we were forced to find other nightly provisions and her co-teachers needed a place to stay as well. We went clear across town in a taxi and like 3am because all the places in the area we were, were all booked.






These pictures are of Me, Jackie, Kali, and Caitlin at the PIFF Pavilion


Sunday was a bit less eventful. We missed a free movie due to bad timing and great pastries, we caught a Korean film that I actually find interesting in hind site, and we saw the Korean or PIFF Walk of Fame. I wish I had taken pictures of it but there were so many people walking on the street it was impossible to get a clear shot.

However, my overall advice to anyone who travels to a film festival or any international event where it is a very large crowd, three things one should keep in mind:

1. You know what you are interested in and not all people have the same tastes (in this case in movies) and you know what it takes for you to have a good time so travel with like minded people


2. Do your own research so that you are not relying on one person to have all the answers


3. Chalk up your losses and look for the good in any and all experiences that you have that others never will