브로큰 러브송 - This Movie Is Broken at the 국도 예술관

A Canadian film is showing at the 국도 예술관!

This Movie Is Broken, released in Canada in June 2010, is a great film!  It portrays events that occur over the course of one day, leading up to a concert by one of Canada's best rock bands, Broken Social Scene.  The film has now been given Korean subtitles, and released in Korea under the name Broken Love Song, or 브로큰 러브송.

This Movie Is Broken is like two movies in one.  First of all, it is a romantic drama.  It begins with Bruno waking up beside Caroline, a woman he's been attracted to for a long time.  He's happy to have spent the night with her, and would like to have a long-term relationship with her, but she's on her way out of Canada to study the next day.  So, in order to make a lasting impression on her, Bruno tries to get tickets to take her to a Broken Social Scene show, a concert being held in Toronto that same night.  The story of Bruno's efforts to impress Caroline constitutes the first component of the film.

Secondly, This Movie Is Broken is a concert film.  A significant part of the movie takes place by the Toronto water front, on the shore of lake Ontario, during a live Broken Social Scene show that took place there in 2009.  Broken Social Scene is a unique band.  Perhaps more appropriately designated a rock collective, its' membership is constantly changing.  Two musicians, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, have been part of the band since its founding.  But they, as well as most of the other musicians that make up the band, have on-going musical projects as members of other bands in addition to Broken Social Scene.  Perhaps the greatest strength of this talented group of musicians is their ability to put on a great live performance, and so the concert footage in This Movie Is Broken is excellent.  Plus, this live concert footage is interestingly intermixed with the narrative of Bruno and Caroline's story.

I appreciated This Movie Is Broken because it portrays events that happen in Toronto, a city that is dear to my heart, and because it features excellent music.  For a preview of the movie, its theatrical trailer can be seen here or here.  And here is a video of Broken Social Scene performing a song called Superconnected.

The 국도 예술관 and Korea's National Movie Industry

Last year, after the 2010 edition of the Busan International Film Festival, I compared Busan's yearly cinema celebration with a movie theater that is dear to my heart, namely the Bytowne cinema in Ottawa.  When I did so, I had not forgotten the distinction between a movie theater and a movie festival.  I simply thought that only during the BIFF would it be possible to view movies in Busan like those shown every day at the Bytowne cinema in Ottawa.

Well, I was wrong...  Busan has an independent cinema house very similar to the Bytowne cinema, called the Guk-Do theater (국도 예술관).   

The 국도 예술관 is located in the Daeyeon district of Busan (대연동).  There, on a quiet residential street, not far from the UN Memorial Park (UN기념공원) and the Busan Cultural Center (부산시문화회관), the 국도 예술관 shares a space with a concert venue known as the Karam concert hall (가람 예술관).  Together, they are known as the Guk-Do and Karam Fine Art Hall (국도와가람 예술관).

The street in front of the 국도 예술관.

The entrance of the 국도와가람 예술관.

When I discovered the 국도 예술관, I expected that many foreign films (films made outside of Korea) would be shown there.  Many foreign films are indeed shown at the 국도 예술관.  In the last few months, films from the United States, from Germany, from France and from Japan were shown.  But to my surprise, a large number of the films shown during the same period were made in Korea.

Posters advertising the films showing at the 국도 예술관.

Korea, I discovered, has a thriving independent film industry.  Many small budget films, often featuring realistic portrayals of life in Korea, are made every year.  Films like Re-encounter (혜화, 동), a drama about a woman who's ex-lover reappears in her life after a prolonged absence and tells her that her daughter, who she thought had died, is actually alive and living with a family nearby.  Or like The Day He Arrives (북촌 방향), about the adventures of a group of friends in Seoul's BukChon neighbourhood (북촌).  Or like The Journals of Musan (무산일기), based on the true story of a North Korean defector living in Seoul.  This latter film gained international recognition earlier this year, receiving honours at film festivals in Korea, Morocco, France, the Netherlands, and Poland.

I enjoyed watching these films, in spite of my lack of knowledge of the Korean language, because all of them contained beautiful images of Korea.  In addition, via the actors' visual cues, I could understand pretty well what was going on during most scenes, especially if I had read an English synopsis beforehand.  I highly recommend these films.  And if you're in Busan, you should check out the 국도 예술관.

One World Film Festival Now On in Ottawa

As the Busan International Film Festival winds down in Korea, the One World Film Festival is beginning in Ottawa.

The 2011 One World Film Festival poster.

There are many film festivals held every year in Canada, some of which, like the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), are famous around the world.  But in addition to big festivals like the TIFF, many smaller film festivals are held as well.  The One World Film Festival, though not as famous as the TIFF, is just as interesting.

The One World Film Festival is an annual event, now in its 22nd edition, held in Canada's capital city.  It is organized by World Inter-Action Mondiale (WIAM), a mostly volunteer-run public education NGO.  The festival features documentary films about issues of importance to people from all over the world.  Films shown at the One World Film Festival generally touch upon three broad themes, namely human rights, social and economic justice / development, and environmental sustainability.  For additional information about the One World Film Festival, reviews published in French and in English on Radio-Canada International are quite insightful.

The world is a big place, and it is often difficult for people from one part of the world to understand what life is like for people living somewhere else.  The One World Film Festival makes this easier for the people of Ottawa.  In addition, the festival is a fun occasion for Ottawans to socialize and get to know each other as well.  Because of this, the One World Film Festival is an important community building event in Ottawa.

A Foggy Autumn Evening in Busan

It was a foggy day today in Busan...

On a very clear day, from Baekyang mountain (백양산), it is possible to see all the way to the Japanese island of Tsushima, located about 80 km south of Busan in the Pacific.

The Pacific ocean as seen from 백양산.  Tsushima island is visible on the horizon.

But today, shortly before sunset, neither Tsushima nor the Pacific coast could be seen from 백양산.

Busan on a foggy autumn evening.

Busan on a foggy autumn evening.

From the inside of my apartment, the fog completely obscured the city.

Fog outside my living room window.

I felt like my apartment was a secluded hideout, and I spent the evening there alone...

Classic Korean Films at the 2011 BIFF

As part of the 2011 Busan International Film Festival, a series of classic Korean films is being presented.  More specifically, eight of the films of Kim Ki-Duk (김기덕), a well-known Korean filmmaker, are being shown as part of the 2011 BIFF.

김기덕's career spanned two decades, beginning in the early 1960's, and ending with his retirement in 1977.  During that period, he created a diverse array of films, one of which is a horror film called Monster Yonggari (대괴수 용가리), about a Godzilla-like lizard-monster that terrorizes people.  His debut film, for which he won an award, is called Five Marines (오인의 해병).  It is a war story, taking place during the Korean war.


Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to watch 김기덕's Barefooted Young.  The title of this movie is 맨발의 청춘 in Hangul, or 맨발의 青春 in Hanja.  It is a story of a young couple who are in love, but who cannot be together, as they are from different social classes.  The woman is from a well-to-do family, but the young man has had a rough life, so rough that he's had to turn to gangsterism to survive.  They meet accidentally, start seeing each other in secret, and fall in love.  But the young woman's family does not accept her relationship, and so she runs off with her beau.  They end up committing suicide.

I really enjoyed the movie, even though I thought that the couple's suicide was a rather extreme turn of events.  I thought that it realistically portrayed what life might have been like for some people in Korea in the 1960's, only about 10 years after the end of the Korean war.  In addition, it contained beautiful footage of Seoul, and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to see what Seoul looked like about 50 years ago.

Coming home after the movie, I was happy to have seen a Korean movie at the BIFF, something that I failed to do during the 2010 PIFF.  I was also intrigued by the images of Seoul that I had seen in the movie, and set out to find old pictures of Seoul on the internet.  Interestingly, I found a photo archive containing vintage pictures of Seoul, some taken as early as the beginning of the 1900's.  I also found a blog, written in Korean, containing photos of Seoul in the 1960's, including a few pictures of Seoul's central train station.  Seoul's old train station still exists, but does not appear to be used any more.  Finally, I found the blog of a retired American army chap, on which he posted pictures that he took while posted in Korea.  Of note on this latter blog are photos of slums formerly located in and around Seoul.  I imagine that after the war, many Koreans would have been very poor.  Thankfully, things have greatly improved since then.

New Busan Cinema Center - What Impact on the Economy of Nampo Dong?

The 2011 Busan International Film Festival also differs from the 2010 version of the festival in that this year, all film screenings are held in the Haeundae gu area of Busan.  Last year, many films were screened in Nampo dong in addition to Haeundae gu.

Haeundae gu (해운대구) is a neighbourhood located in the south-eastern part of Busan.  It is an area that is popular with tourists, because a large beach is located there.  It also appears to be one of the most modernized neighbourhoods of the city.  Nampo dong (남포동), on the other hand, is located in south-central Busan, and is one of the oldest areas of the city.  Nampo dong's most interesting feature is perhaps the Jagalchi market (자갈치 시장), a fresh seafood market located right on the Pacific coast.

There are three large cinemas in Nampo dong, the Cinus cinema, the Daeyoung cinema, and the CGV Nampo cinema.  Many films were screened at these venues during the 2010 PIFF.  This seems to have been the case during many of the previous PIFF's as well, as the area near these cinemas is known as "PIFF plaza".  The plaza is decorated with cinema-themed sculptures, and populated with street food vendors working behind food carts and under parasols bearing the acronym "PIFF".

PIFF plaza in Nampo dong.

PIFF parasols over street food carts, by PIFF plaza.

It seems that the PIFF has been an important yearly economic activity in Nampo dong for a number of years.  But, with the construction of the Busan Cinema Center, BIFF film screenings have been held exclusively in Haeundae gu this year, and may be held exclusively in Haeundae gu during future installments of the BIFF.  I therefore wonder if the construction of the Busan Cinema Center will have a long-term negative impact on the economy of Nampo dong.

제16회 부산국제영화제

It's the beginning of autumn in Busan again.  Therefore, the 2011 version of the Busan International Film Festival (부산국제영화제) is now in full swing!  And it's a pretty special year for the festival.

Official banner of the 16th Busan International Film Festival.

First of all, this is the first year that the festival is referred to using the acronym BIFF.  That's right, the festival's acronym has been changed to reflect the evolving consensus on the english pronunciation of the name of the city in which it is annually held.  In the english-speaking world, the Korean city of 부산 has been known for a long time as Pusan.  But over the last decade, it has been referred to more and more as Busan.  And so, the PIFF has become the BIFF.

But most importantly, this is the first year that the festival is held in the Busan Cinema Center (부산영화의전당), a special venue constructed especially to host the BIFF.  The Center is an IMPRESSIVE work of architecture, and that the city of Busan has invested in its construction attests to the importance of the BIFF in this city.  Located in Haeundae gu (해운대구), it is nestled in one of the most modernized areas of Busan.  It neighbours the Busan branch of Shinsegae (신네계백화점), the world's largest department store.  All future installments of the BIFF are to be hosted at the Center.  In addition, the Cinemathèque Busan (시네마테크부산), a public film archive currently located a few kilometers away on the Pacific coast, will be relocated here.

The side entrance of the Busan Cinema Center.

At the entrance of the Busan Cinema Center, there is a large overhanging roof, the purpose of which appears to be to shelter film stars from the weather as they exit their cars to make their entrance at the BIFF.  Since the 2011 BIFF has begun, the Busan Cinema Center's roof has been alight in a dazzling display of colour.  What a sight it is!

The entrance of the Busan Cinema Center.

A night view of the Busan Cinema Center.

A night view of the Busan Cinema Center.

Electricity Use in Korea - Changing Trends?

With winter approaching, the KBS has reported that representatives of the Korean government have met with representatives of the nation's electric utility companies to make sure that Korea's electricity supply system is capable of meeting the high demand for electricity that will certainly materialize when the cold weather arrives.

This comes only a few weeks after blackouts occurred in the north-western parts of South Korea.  These blackouts were apparently caused by a surge in the demand for electricity as a result of unseasonably high temperatures in mid-September.


I wonder if the energy demand trends in Korea are shifting like they did in Ontario about a decade ago.  On page 26 of a report produced almost ten years ago for the Chief Conservation Officer of the Ontario Power Authority, it is written:
"Ontario’s electricity system has traditionally peaked during the winter months, either during the Christmas period as a result of seasonal outdoor lighting, or in the coldest month, due to electric heating requirements. In 1998, for the first time, the system peaked during the summer. Since that time, the annual peak has occurred during hot summer weather in every year except 2000."
(ICF Consulting.  (Last revision, November 2005).  "Factor Analysis of Ontario Electricity Use – 1990-2003", p. 26.
Retrieved October 2, 2011 at:  http://www.fit.powerauthority.on.ca/Storage/14/995_Factor_Analysis_of_Ontario_Electricity_Use_1990-2003.pdf)

The cause of this shift in the electricity usage patterns of Ontarians is identified on page 27 of the same report.  Specifically:
"Space cooling energy use has increased rapidly in both the Residential and Services sector over the past 13 years. Air conditioning loads have a very low annual load factor and a very high coincidence with the system peak. As the saturation of residential air conditioning has increased, the system has become much more weather sensitive. This has resulted in the Ontario electricity system moving from a winter to a summer peak."
(ICF Consulting.  (Last revision, November 2005).  "Factor Analysis of Ontario Electricity Use – 1990-2003", p. 27.
Retrieved October 2, 2011 at:  http://www.fit.powerauthority.on.ca/Storage/14/995_Factor_Analysis_of_Ontario_Electricity_Use_1990-2003.pdf)


To paraphrase the report...
The people of Ontario, a region of the world that experiences bitterly cold winters, have traditionally used more electricity in winter, to heat their homes.  But in the last decade, air conditioning units have been deployed en masse in Ontario homes.  As a result, Ontarians now utilize more electrical energy in the summer, cooling their homes, than they do in the winter, heating them.


Korea, like Ontario, experiences cold winters, and it seems reasonable to me that historically, Koreans must have utilized a lot of electrical energy to heat their homes in winter.  However, it seems to me that air conditioning units are currently being deployed very rapidly throughout Korea.  Perhaps Koreans, too, will soon begin using more electrical energy trying to keep cool in the summer than they do trying to stay warm in the winter.

Korea's Tropical Summers

In summer, Korea feels to me like a tropical country.  The heat and the humidity are intense, and on the hottest days, I find myself breaking into a sweat just walking on the street.

But in Korea's wooded areas, it's like nowhere else I've ever seen.  The trees and shrubs erupt into rich dark greens, and the high humidity results in the formation of clouds on the slopes of the mountains.  It's beautiful!

Clouds forming on the slope of Baekyang mountain (백양산), in late summer.

A wooded area in Korea, in early summer.

Trees on Inwang mountain (인왕산), with clouds overhead.

Mist hanging over the greenery of Geoje island (거제도), in early summer.

백양산 in early summer.

백양산 on a humid summer day.

A cloud rising on 백양산, in late summer.

Early summer greenery on Toham mountain (토함산), in Kyeongju (경주).

A green landscape in northern Busan (부산), in late summer.

A path on Geumjeong mountain (금정산), in late summer.

Flowers on 금정산, in late summer.

Vegetation on 백양산, in late summer.

Vegetation by a path, on 백양산.

Vegetation on 백양산, in late summer.

In addition to their visual beauty, Korea's wooded areas are amazing to hear in the summer as well.  On sunny days, the birds and insects that inhabit the woods of 백양산 are almost loud enough to entirely drown out the noise of Busan's road traffic.  And Busan's road traffic is loud...

Strong Rains and Flooding in Korea Over the Summer

Weather...  A favourite topic of conversation of Canadians.


With temperatures in Busan predicted to remain below twenty degrees for the next few days (and temperatures in Canada reaching below zero degrees in Winnipeg last night), I'm reminiscing about my summer.  But summer weather is not always all that rosy.  Actually, this summer, the weather was outright nasty in Korea.

First of all, there was the heat.  In July, temperatures rose above 35 degrees in southern areas of the country, and above 32 degrees in Seoul.  High temperatures occurred in August and in September as well.  However, temperatures were relatively normal this year.  It seemed to me that Korea was much hotter last September than this September.

More serious was the large quantities of rainfall that Korea received during the last summer.  Already in June, rainfall levels were 1.8 times higher than typical levels experienced in previous years.  In Seoul, June rainfall levels were 3 times higher than historical levels!  Things did not improve in July.  Heavy July rains caused damage to homes, farms, and road infrastructure.  Floods and landslides occurred, and people were killed.  On one July afternoon, 100 MILLIMETERS PER HOUR of rain fell on Seoul!!!  More rain fell in August, but not as much as in July.

Rain in Korea is sometimes caused by a monsoon phenomenon, related to the monsoon that brings rain to southern Asia.  Typhoons also bring a lot of rain when they pass over Korea.  I was not in Korea during the summer, and so did not see the intense rain.  I did, however, experience the passage of a typhoon in Korea last autumn.  That was a pretty intense experience, and I honestly don't feel a strong need to repeat it.  The typhoon's rains were very strong, soaking pedestrians in spite of their umbrellas.  100 millimeters of rain per hour is A LOT of falling water!

Busan during a typhoon.

Pedestrians trying to stay dry in a typhoon.

North Korea was strongly affected by rains last summer as well.  In particular, rain in July caused significant damage to farms in North Korea, so much so that representatives of international organizations like UNICEF and the World Food Program visited the country to assess the damage.  The damage was so severe that the South Korean Red Cross and the government of South Korea sent emergency food aid to North Korea.

In South Korea, the worst of the damage was caused by landslides.  One landslide occurred near Chuncheon city (춘천시), a small city in the north-eastern province of Gangwon (강원도).  Thirteen people died in this landslide, including ten students from a university in Seoul who were doing volunteer work out there.  Also, in Seoul, a landslide occurred on Umyeon mountain (우면산), a small mountain located within the city, south of the Han river.  Soil and water flowed down the mountain into a residential neighbourhood, destroying apartments and burying people.  Officials were also concerned that other people could be injured by land mines after this landslide, as it is known that land mines were placed on Umyeon mountain during the Korea war.

All this flooding prompted public calls for a re-assessment of the capacity of the drainage infrastructure throughout Korea.  In addition, the landslide at Umyeon mountain became a major political issue.  I saw a Korean news broadcast during which it was discussed at length, and a committee was struck to investigate its causes.  In mid-September, the committee published a report in which they argued that the landslide was caused by blocked drainage infrastructure on Umyeon mountain.

Rain drainage in Korea is an important matter.  When I first came here, I was struck by how mountainous the country is.  Mountains are present even within the city limits of Seoul and Busan, and residential areas of both of these cities are built in the valleys between the mountains, with some neighbourhoods located directly beside the mountains.

Apartment buildings at the foot of Inwang mountain, in Seoul.

Apartment buildings beside Baekyang mountain, in Busan.

Building these neighbourhoods and apartment buildings so close to mountains has required a significant transformation of the mountain landscape.  These neighbourhoods have largely been built on terraces that have been dug into the mountains.

A wall at the border of a terrace and a mountain.

But streams run down many of the mountains, and it is important to ensure that mountain runoff does not cause damage to the inhabited terraces below.  For this reason, drainage and erosion control infrastructures have been installed on the mountains and on the perimeter of the terraces.  It seems sensical to me that, if this drainage infrastructure fails, flood waters and landslides could damage the terraces below the mountain.

Geumjeong mountain in Busan.  The path of a stream can be seen on the mountain.

Beomeo temple, in Busan. The path of a stream can be seen on the mountain above the temple.

A small drainage trench on Geumjeong mountain.

A drainage trench beside a path on Geumjeong mountain, in Busan.

A concrete drainage trench on Baekyang mountain, in Busan.

A concrete drainage trench in a park, on the slope of Baekyang mountain.

Drainage infrastructure above the perimeter wall of a terrace, on Baekyang mountain.

Interestingly, Koreans have been terracing the landscape of their country for quite a long time.  Rice agriculture requires a lot of water, and for this reason, many farms are constructed on terraces.

Abandoned agricultural terraces, on Baekyang mountain.

A vegetable garden on a terrace, on Baekyang mountain.

So rainy was the summer in Korea that in mid-August, one of the country's major newspapers celebrated the return of blue summer skies.  But by late August, signs of the coming autumn were already visible.