(aka "Yeogo Goedam II" )
directed by Tae-Yong Kim and Kyu-Dong Min
South Korea 1999
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"I have never seen a film like Memento Mori. It captured the difficult topic of the adolescence of the young women in an all girls school with a totally unique expression. Absolutely beautiful cinematography and imaginative focal points fill dynamic scenes of gorgeous eye candy... creepy and horrific at times as well as romantic and melodramatic it takes you on a ride that I am anxious to revisit and few who see it will forget. Almost hypnotically I had trouble turning away and although the narrative was difficult to follow it didn't seem to matter. The points were being made about life, conforming, acceptance, peer pressure, identity, love, fear, desire, cruelty, selfishness. This romantic-horror film (a unique genre right there) is a magnificent viewing experience. I only wish I could see it again for the first time. First-time directors Tae-Yong Kim and Kyu-Dong Min prove to be the 'real deal'. Watch this soon! " |
Posters etc.
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Theatrical Release: December 24th, 1999
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Spectrum - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Tartan - Region 1 - NTSC
Big thanks to Kevin Yip for all the Screen Caps!
(Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Spectrum - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Tartan - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)
| Comments |
The all-region disc from Mei-Ah
(distributed by Tai Seng) shows ghosting, has
noticeable edge enhancement, is cropped on the
left and right, but shows a little more picture at
the top and bottom than the all-region Korean-made
Spectrum disc. The Mei-Ah disc is slightly
letterboxed at an odd 1.45:1 ratio
(non-anamorphic) The Spectrum disc also has the ghosting effect (see one of the screenshot comparisons below). The anamorphic widescreen picture of the Spectrum disc is less contrasty, has less saturated and more realistic colors, and shows more picture on the left and right sides of the screen than the Meh-Ah disc. The Region 1 disc by Tartan seems to have been transferred from the same source that made the Spectrum DVD. It looks to have identical colors and aspect ratio, except that it has no ghosting, and looks a little sharper. The last two screenshot comparisons better demonstrate the sharper image of the Tartan disc -- clearer details in the background. The greater sharpness is much more apparent while viewing the Tartan disc after having viewed the Spectrum disc. In fact, in my original review a year ago, I said the Spectrum disc was "not particularly sharp," and I stand by that. I would also say the Tartan disc looks "pretty sharp." Combined with the lack of ghosting, the Tartan image clearly looks superior to me, even though some of the comparisons below may not show a big difference. The Mei-Ah disc is in stereo only. The Spectrum disc has a 5.1 Dolby Digital track in which the rear channels seem way too loud. The Tartan has a much more realistic and pleasant-sounding DD5.1 track and an even better DTS 5.1 track.
The Tartan disc runs about 20 seconds longer than
the other two discs due to an additional opening
logo. |
DVD Menus
(Mei Ah - Region 0
- NTSC - LEFT vs. Spectrum - Region 0 - NTSC -
MIDDLE vs. Tartan - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)
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Screen Captures
(Mei Ah - Region 0
- NTSC - TOP vs. Spectrum - Region 0 - NTSC -
MIDDLE vs. Tartan - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
Subtitle sample
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(Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Spectrum - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Tartan - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Spectrum - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Tartan - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Spectrum - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Tartan - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Spectrum - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Tartan - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Spectrum - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Tartan - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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(Mei Ah - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Spectrum - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Tartan - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
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Report Card:
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Image: |
Tartan |
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Sound: |
Tartan |
| Extras: | Tartan |
| Menu: | Spectrum |
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Mei Ah Region 0 - NTSC |
Spectrum Region 0 - NTSC |
Tartan Region 1 - NTSC |
Recommended Books on Korean Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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NO COVER AVAILABLE | NO COVER AVAILABLE |
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Contemporary Korean Cinema : Culture,
Identity and Politics by Hyangjin Lee |
The History of
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Korean
Cinema: The New Hong Kong by Anthony Leong |
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History, Resistance, and Democratic
Imagination by Eungjun Min, Jinsook Joo, Han Ju Kwak |
The
Remasculinization of Korean Cinema
(Asia-Pacific) by Kyung Hyun Kim |
Essential Cinema by Jonathan Rosenbaum |
Im Kwon-Taek:
The Making of a Korean National Cinema
by David E. James, Kyung Hyun Kim, Myong-Hwa Chung |
Korean Cinema
(Images of Asia) by Frances K. Gateward |
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Gary Tooze
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Thank You!
