Description

A country hospital in Korea in the 1950s. A staff composed largely of medical students learning their trade. A mysterious body discovered frozen into the ice. It is a perfect recipe for something horrific and that is exactly what hot new Korean cinema talents the Jung Brothers deliver with EPITAPH, a trio of interconnected stories.

There has been a lot of talk among critics and festivals over the past few years about an apparent slump in the Korean film industry, which at one point seemed to produce a major, exciting new talent every week. It’s been running on fumes for a while, with most fans simply waiting for the established big names to finally re-emerge with their new projects. Well, stop waiting, people, because the new generation is on the doorstep. OUR TOWN (at Fantasia this year), THE CHASER and THE BLACK HOUSE all herald the arrival of a solid batch of fresh new Korean genre directors, and you can add the Jung Brothers’ debut to that list. The duo learned their craft from the best, working as key members of Park Chan-Wook’s technical team, and with their first film, they have produced a gorgeously eerie mood piece, one that favours an ominous, creeping menace to in-your-face scares. Loaded with sumptuous photography, disturbing imagery and a strong cast, EPITAPH will simply burrow its way in to you, leaving its mark long after the final frame has run.

—Todd Brown