Filmmaker Ryoo Seung-wan will no longer be present at an IU Cinema series of his films, but the screenings will continue without him.
Ryoo visit was cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances,” according to an email from IU Cinema.
Ryoo, a South Korean director, is known for fast-paced plots and intense action scenes in his movies. Three of his films will be screened at the IU Cinema.
“Veteran,” an action movie directed by Ryoo that follows a seasoned policeman’s complicated investigation of a truck driver’s suicide, is the fourth highest-grossing film in Korean cinema history. It will be shown at 7 p.m. Feb. 7.
“The City of Violence” is not only directed and written by Ryoo, but he also stars in it. The movie follows a policeman who returns to his hometown, a fictionalized version of Ryoo’s hometown of Onyang, to attend the funeral of his childhood best friend. It will be screened at 7 p.m. Feb. 8.
“The Battleship Island” is set on a Japanese prison island during World War II where Koreans were forced to labor in coal mines under the sea. It will be shown at 4 p.m. Feb. 9.
A film critic and two film scholars will present in Ryoo’s place.
Film critic Darcy Paquet graduated from IU with a master’s degree in applied linguistics and moved to South Korea in 1997. Molly Kim, an IU alumna and film scholar, teaches Korean film history and film theory at the University of Suwon in South Korea. Film scholar Kyu Hyun Kim is an associate professor of history at University of California, Davis, researching modern Korean history and Korean cinema.
All three will take part in an on-stage conversation discussing Ryoo’s work at 4 p.m. Feb. 8 in the auditorium of the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.
All screenings in the series are free, but tickets are required. Tickets can be reserved online or in-person at the IU Cinema box office before a screening.
