Tucked away in Gyeonggi Province s southeastern corner (about a 90-minute drive from Seoul) is the city of Icheon. It had been the center of the royal household’s potters for centuries. The famed kilns of Icheon were in their golden era during the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom. Still, the abundance of the right kind of clay, plenty of pine trees to fuel the kilns and the right climate for the best results were much sought after earlier during the 918-1392 Goryeo Kingdom and perhaps even earlier.
Korean thrillers, with their shady morals and inky black shadows, have long been a driving force of the country’s film industry. But Korean cinema is not what it used to be – thrillers are struggling at the box office, and their creators are abandoning the big screen in favour of the small one. The highly cinematic Shadow Detective, now streaming.