Quote of the Day (South Korean Filmmaker Chan-wook Park)

We continue our 32 quotes from 32 people representing the 32 countries in The World Cup with a quip from South Korean film director Chan-wook Park (born 1963) whose most famous film "Oldboy" has been featured at midnight screenings around the world, including The Tower Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is certainly hipper than a karaoke joint in nearby Provo (the town of Provo, Utah, reporetdly doesn't allow alcoholic beverages).

Today, the South Korean soccer team tied Nigeria 2-2 with goals from Lee Jung-Soo
(38th min.) and Park Chu-Young (49th min.) to reach the second round of The World Cup where they will face Uruguay on Saturday.

Here is the quote from one of our favorite Asian film directors:

"I have principles and rules. I deal very carefully with acts of violence and make sure that audiences understand how much suffering these acts cause."

SIDEBAR: Those of you residing in the Raleigh, NC-area can catch World Cup action at The Galaxy Cinema in Cary, which will show tomorrow afternoon's game between Australia and Serbia (2:30 p.m., kickoff) as well as other games throughout the week and the rest of the tournament. The Galaxy also 'kicks off' its Chinese Film Series on Thursday with "In the Mood for Love" (Hong Kong. 2000. dir-Wong Kar Wai)

And, a happy birthday to Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami who turns 70 today. He is best known for the film "Ten." No, that is not the one with Bo Derek!

Special Screenings- Political Classic "Z" to be Shown in Raleigh

It will be interesting to see if the Israeli film "Ajami," which I've heard many good things about wins the best-foreign language film Oscar this year. But, the 1969 winner in the category, the ground-breaking progressive political thriller "Z" by Greek director Costa-Gravas, who also helmed another acclaimed political thriller "Missing" (1982) with the late Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek, will be screened as part of a special series in conjunction with the North Carolina Museum of Art at the the Galaxy Cinema in the Raleigh suburb of Cary, NC, on Thursday night.

"Z" follows the murder of a prominent leftist, and an invesigator tries to uncover the truth though government officials try to cover up the crime.

The film was a statement on Greek politics at the time when like many countries in the region Greece was facing political upheveal. Similar situations were also taking place in neighboring Turkey, where my late father immigrated from. I believe, as a result, "Z" was banned in both countries!

"Z" gets its title from the fact that Z means 'he is alive' in ancient Hellenic.

The film starred the late French Yves Montand who appeared in another highly political film "Tout Va Bien!" (directed by Jean Luc-Godard) in 1972. That film co-starred Jane Fonda who was making headlines at the time for her controversial trip to Vietnam.

"Z" is also known for its landmark musical score by composer Mikis Thodorakis.

In fact, I can't get it out of my head now!

For more information, the cinema's web site is mygalaxy.com

A Greek music show, hosted by my friend Maria Hatzios, runs on the Virginia Tech student station WUVT (90.7 FM) in Blacksburg, Va., on Saturday mornings.