The Buffalo Song

Music with cinematic touch

Jecheon Int’l Music Film Fest opens Thursday until Aug. 16

By Lee Hyo-won

The 7th Jecheon International Music Film Festival (JIMFF) will kick off Thursday in the North Chungcheong Province city featuring a record number of 121 films.

The film festival, featuring movies in which the music plays a crucial role in the narrative structure, has emerged as a great festival to spend vacations ― watching movies, tuning into live concerts and enjoying bungee jumping all in one place.

This year’s lineup features 38 more films compared to last year. Of these 26 are full-length features while 95 are shorts, the foreign short film section includes 24 more works than last year marking a 63 percent growth.

American films make up a considerable part of the showcase, and “The Music Never Stopped,” a U.S. “hippie film” by Jim Kohlberg, will open the festival this year. It’s about a rebellious son and his austere father trying to mend their estranged relationship through the language of music ― 1960s music to be precise.

It features music that defined the late ’60s such as songs by Buffalo Springfield, the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and the Beatles. The movie was featured at the Salt Lake City Gala, one of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival’s big opening events.

For those unsure about which movies to catch, festival programmers have recommended seven films for Korea Times readers.



1. Latin music meets animation: Among films vying for prizes in the international competition section, “Chico and Rita” an animation for adults jointly produced by Spain and the United Kingdom, stands out. Directors Fernando Trueba and Javier Marical transport the audience to 1948 Cuba and bring to life the music by legendary Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes and other jewels of Latin numbers.

It is about a young pianist Chico and the beautiful vocalist Rita who build a strong relationship united by their music and romantic ideals. They travel to Havana, New York, Paris, Los Angeles and Las Vegas in order to make their musical dreams and loves come true.



2. Jazz in Japan: Jazz lovers should tune into “Swing Me Again,” a Japanese drama by Toshi Shioya, in the same competition section. It is about a 78-year-old man, who was once a trumpeter for a prominent jazz band.

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Has taking over car stereos and record players a like over the past year. His 2010 album Love Remains was a unique & haunting take on a genre that is as much about atmosphere as it is about lyrics and song structure. And while Love Remains had that low budget lo-fi static sound punk bands like Wavves and Times New Viking have parlayed into successful careers, Krell's latest offering, the Just Once EP proves that when given an actual studio & string quartet to work with, the payout is even bigger. Just Once starts off with a beautiful rendition of "Suicide Dream 1", the final track from his 2010 LP. This orchestral version of the song transforms the original mood of the number from from creepy chamber soul into beautiful ethereal blues that is as expansive and untamed as wilderness. In a lot of ways, the layered falsetto voice and swirling strings give the song a vibe that's reminiscent of Jonsi's Go Do The best song on this small but sweet taste of semi new material is probably also the best song from last years Love Remains , the stand out number "Decisions" (which rated as our 90th favorite song of 2010) reworked and as clear as a mountain spring. The song reaches even higher this time around with a thundering bass drum that truly echos beyond the bedroom and into the clouds. For everything the Just Once EP lacks in size, it makes up in replay value. It's the type of album that almost always get played twice, and never feels old the second time around. This new sophisticated element of How To Dress Well will have you yearning for more and and eagerly anticipating the next full-length pierce of work from Krell. Hopefully we won't have to wait that long.