This film is part of Rentals
The Age of Shadows
Kim Jee-woon’s stunning, seductive and serpentine action thriller set during Japan’s occupation of Korea.
Director: Kim Jee-woon
Overview
Acclaimed director Kim Jee-woon (A Bittersweet Life, I Saw the Devil) returns to South Korea, following his Hollywood Arnie vehicle The Last Stand, for this a stunning, richly textured thriller set in the 1930s during Japan’s occupation of Korea. That ever-present star of Korean cinema Song Kang-ho (The Host, Thirst) plays an embittered police captain, Lee Jung-chool, charged with rooting out subversives for his Japanese masters. When local resistance leader Che-san (Lee Byung-hun) suspects Lee might be primed for turning, he tries to enlist him as a double-agent. What follows is a sprawling, suspenseful and serpentine action film that also resurfaces a painful and rarely rendered period of Korean history.
Anyone familiar with Kim’s previous works will unsurprised at the intricate brilliance of his action set pieces, including a breath-taking sequence aboard a train that recalls his earlier The Good the Bad and the Weird. Coming in the same year as The Handmaiden and Okja, Kim’s Age of Shadows represents a third homeland return for another of Korean cinema’s titans, along with Park chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho, all of whom met with varying degrees of success with their previous Hollywood-backed dalliances (The Last Stand, Stoker and Snowpiercer, respectively). As such it’s a pertinent reminder of the continuing power and potency of Korean film.
strong bloody violence, injury detail, scenes of tortureRelated
High Ground High Ground
Action and Adventure 2019 105 mins Director: Stephen Maxwell Johnson
A young Indigenous man teams up with a policeman to track down a warrior outlaw in this piercing exploration of justice and morality within the Australian settlement.
Vesper Vesper
Action and Adventure 2022 114 mins Director: Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper
In a desolate post-apocalyptic future, a young teenage survivor has to avoid scrutiny from her uncle (a menacing Eddie Marsan) and the ruthless authorities pursuing her in this dark and dangerous fairytale.
Embrace of the Serpent Embrace of the Serpent
Action and Adventure 2015 124 mins Director: Ciro Guerra
The spirit of Werner Herzog and Apocalypse Now imbue this majestic Oscar-nominated odyssey through the heart of the Amazon.
Arctic Arctic
Action and Adventure 2019 98 mins Director: Joe Penna
Mads Mikkelsen astounds in this gripping tale of one man’s gruelling fight for survival against the elements.
Black '47 Black '47
Action and Adventure 2017 100 mins Director: Lance Daly
During the Great Famine, an Irish Ranger returns from war to discover even greater devastation at home.
The Jungle Book The Jungle Book
Children's 1942 106 mins Director: Zoltan Korda
A Technicolor marvel and early adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s celebrated novel, following a young boy raised in the jungle by animals.
Dead Ringers Dead Ringers
Horror 1988 116 mins Director: David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg's multi award-winning psychological thriller exploring the bizarre lives of identical twins Elliot and Beverly, both played by Jeremy Irons.
Knives Out Knives Out
Thriller 2019 130 mins Director: Rian Johnson
Daniel Craig is the Kentucky Fried Poirot with all-star suspects - Chris Evans, Ana de Armas and Toni Collette among them - in this nimble and brilliant crime caper.
Mulholland Dr. Mulholland Dr.
Thriller 2001 142 mins Director: David Lynch
David Lynch’s beautifully baffling, surreal psychological thriller.
Anatomy of a Fall Anatomy of a Fall
Crime 2023 152 mins Director: Justine Triet
Justine Triet's gripping, Palme d'Or-winning psycho-thriller is deeply intelligent with a spellbinding performance from Sandra Hüller.
Shoshana Shoshana
Historical drama 2023 121 mins Director: Michael Winterbottom
A young Jewish woman’s relationship with a British policeman stationed in British Mandatory Palestine has lasting consequences for the region in Michael Winterbottom's powerful thriller.
Gassed Up Gassed Up
Drama 2023 102 mins Director: George Amponsah
A group of London teenage boys turn to motorbike crime for survival in George Amponsah’s high-octane follow-up to The Hard Stop.
Broker Broker
Drama 2022 129 mins Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
A young mother leaves her baby at a church, unaware that black marketeers intend to sell it on to the highest bidder, in Hirokazu Koreeda’s Cannes-winning drama.
Parasite Parasite
Comedy 2019 132 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
Bong Joon Ho's Oscar®-winning box-office sensation is a darkly comic, twisty rollercoaster ride.
Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings
Anthology 2024 174 mins Director: Jason Bradbury, Jesse Ung, Diego Alvarez Parra, Itai Jamshy, Fabia Martin, Alejandro Sandoval Bertín, Sara Larrota, Benjamin Belloir, Jeremy McClain and Arthur Cahn
A compilation of new gay short films showcasing unashamedly positive stories of love, sex and romance to move, inspire and uplift.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.
Rynox Rynox
Crime 1932 46 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s earliest existing film is a twisty thriller crafted with a bold visual style that is unmistakeably influenced by Fritz Lang.
Hotel Splendide Hotel Splendide
Comedy 1932 53 mins Director: Michael Powell
Music hall veteran Jerry Verno stars as a lowly clerk who gets more than he bargained for when he inherits a hotel, in Michael Powell's charming comedy.