'Going by the Book' relies on Jang's comedy

"Going by the Book (Bareugae salja)" is directed by Ra Hee-chan but critics and media, perhaps understandably, have focused on the fact that it is written by Jang Jin, who directed a string of hit movies, including "Welcome to Dongmakgol."

The film, released on Oct. 18, has all the dramatic hallmarks of Jang's style, peppered with skewered sense of humor and featuring a show-stealing topsy-turvy situation.

The unabashedly comic film revolves around a by-the-book traffic cop whose uprightness -- or stupidity -- sparks off a series of events that shed light on what a truly disastrous bank robbery means.

That helpless policeman is Do-man, played by Jung Jae-young, who has appeared in most of the films Jang Jin has directed.

Do-man used to be a competent detective, clamping down on violent criminals. But his 'unbendable' character has dragged his career down to, well, a traffic department.

Even at the usually eventless unit, Do-man constantly clashes with other people, including his own boss, Captain Lee (Son Byeong-ho). As a strict traffic cop, Do-man gives Captain Lee traffic tickets, sending a clear-cut message that rules are rules, and there's no exception in the justice system.

But the justice system's biggest problem in the small city of Sampo is a string of bank robberies which have scared the public to a dangerous level in the eyes of Captain Lee.

Noticing a chance to nab baddies and climb the police ladder quickly, Captain Lee designs a scheme, called "Simulated Bank Robbery Training."

The goals Captain Lee sets are ambitious. By playing out a realistic situation comparable to a real bank robbery, he aims to showcase the superb competence of the police, thereby assuring the public about the city's security.

As expected, Captain Lee orders Do-man to play the bank robber, the central character in the much-touted simulated training session. What Captain Lee does not realize is that Do-man is a man who sticks to the rule and goes by the book, literally all the time, even during simulated training.

The simulated robbery turns into something real, a set piece that triggers a host of embarrassing developments. TV crews rush to the scene to broadcast this intriguingly live action at a bank.

As with other Jang Jin comedy films, "Going by the Book" relies heavily on the absurdity of an ironic and unstoppable situation. Then again, this heavy dependence on strange developments can be overdone and overused.

Even considering that the film does not set any lofty goal in terms of dramatic sophistication, the central plot seems to have completely lost perspective.

Another problem is that there is no personal color whatsoever from director Ra Hee-chan. Instead, the film embodies what Jang Jin has been doing over the past decade.

At a recent press preview in Seoul, director Ra said that he did not want to distinguish himself from Jang Jin's style. "Director Jang helped me a lot for this movie, and I didn't do anything to go beyond him in any way," he said.

Meanwhile, Jang not only wrote the script but also did the overall planning for the project and worked as a chief producer.

Director Ra said his focus was to create a story that plays out fast. However, it is unclear whether the audience will perceive any pace at all toward the end of a film saddled with a slow-paced confrontation that is far from innovative.

Source : Korea Herald

'Happiness' Measures Cost of Love

Love is pain, they say, and countless songs and stories croon about it time over time. Melodrama maestro Hur Jin-ho (``One Fine Spring Day,'' 2001, ``April Snow,'' 2005) does not disappoint in depicting love's fleeting pleasures and lasting sting with poignant tenderness in his fourth romance ``Happiness.''

Things can't get any worse for Yeong-jae (Hwang Jung-min), a heavy drinking, chain-smoking playboy: His nightclub goes bankrupt, his girlfriend deserts him and he might die from cirrhosis. (Point of interest: the club scene was shot in Apgujeong NB, which also closed its doors not too long ago).

He packs up everything and retreats to a rehabilitation center in the middle of nowhere, where he meets the most unexpected: true love. Eun-hi (Lim Soo-jung) suffers from fatally weak lungs, but despite her frail appearance she is stouthearted and takes care of the other patients. Yeong-jae and Eun-hi fall madly in love and move into a small house in the countryside. Each moment is filled with sweet serenity and Yeong-jae discovers a profundity to life he never knew before.

Yet, ``for each ecstatic instant we must an anguish pay in keen and quivering ratio to the ecstasy,'' as Emily Dickinson wrote: As Yeong-jae regains his strength, he grows bored with country life and feels suffocated by Eun-hi's devotion. Tempted by his friends and ex-girlfriend to return to the city, he leaves the woman that saved his life.

``Before, I couldn't live without you, but now, you're driving me crazy,'' he tells her coldly.

Actor Hwang Jung-min completely casts off his much-loved image as a passionately devoted husband in ``You are My Sunshine'' (2005) as he trades in his boorish farmer clothes and potbelly for a dangerously sexy and chic urban look complete with a six-pack.

Although the film publicizes Hwang's deterioration into a bad guy, his character, though contemptible at times, is far from being completely loathsome like Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Woody Allen's ``Match Point'' (2005) or Cho Jae-hyun in Kim Ki-deok's ``Bad Guy'' (2001).

``Happiness'' is essentially a love story, but, at large, a realistic sketch of the human condition and a testimony of modern man's dilemma. Weak-willed and lacking self-restraint, Yeong-jae is simply ordinary -- an antihero with completely normal, human flaws. You actually feel sympathetic for the guy who falls prey to the dark seductions of our oversexed, consumption-driven society.

The film is almost biblical in the sense that Eun-hi creates the prefect Garden of Eden for Yeong-jae, who is doomed to escape only to meet his downfall.

Even Su-yeon (Kong Hyo-jin), who leaves her dying boyfriend but later wants him back when he is recovered and with another woman, speaks to the no-strings-attached romance of our generation.

Lim Soo-jung personifies her character with such tenderness that you can never imagine anyone else playing the part. Compared with her previous role as a dying schoolgirl in ``…ing'' (2003), the baby-faced actress makes a big step toward full-fledged womanhood, and the snippet of the film's love scene in its preview created quite a stir here.

Eun-hi is made of beauty in all its possible forms, with the tenderness of a guardian angel, devotion of a mother and the fervor of a passionate lover. Her almost too perfect character could have stopped short of being allegorical at best, but she becomes instantly terrestrial thanks to minute details that make all the difference. Any woman would be able relate to discreetly checking out her face with a pocket mirror while being with the man she pretends not to fancy.

``Happiness'' is a memorable film that strikes both sense and sensibility -- leaving you to ruminate the nature of love while leaving a resonating vibe in your heart.

Source : Korea Times

Actress Jeon Ji-hyun Making Korean Comeback

Jeon Ji-hyun has returned to act in Korea. With a leading role in the new movie "A Man Once A Superman" to be directed by Jeong Yoon-cheol, Jeon returns to Chungmuro, Korea's Hollywood, after a long absence.

Korean audiences last saw Jeon in last year's "Daisy," but that movie was made by Hong Kong's Andrew Lau, director of "Infernal Affairs", and shot in Amsterdam. After working on that she took the lead in the international film "Blood: The Last Vampire" in an attempt to break into Hollywood. It has been three years since her last Korean movie, "Windstruck" in 2004.

In the new movie Jeon will appear alongside Korean actor Hwang Jeong-min. She will take on the role of Song Su-jeong, a snobbish producer who makes a documentary about the extraordinary behavior of her neighbor (played by Hwang) who believes himself to be Superman.

"Any actresses would be eager for the script and the part. Above all, I'm looking forward to acting with Hwang Jeong-min," she said. "This role is the most realistic and alive of all the parts I've had so far." The movie will start shooting at the end of this month in Jeonju and be released in the first half of next year.

Source : Digital Ilbo

'Happiness' a moving tale of addiction, affection

Once people get stuck with the same fate, a bond can grow between them instantly; however, the relationship can fall apart fairly quickly if the common ground vanishes. Director Hur Jin-ho's "Happiness" portrays a heart-wrenching drama in which bonding and parting take place over some period of time, accentuating the emotional depth of a relationship that is torn apart due to the ruinous fusion of addiction and affection.

In the film to be released on Oct. 3, Young-su (Hwang Jung-min) symbolizes the precariousness of life in the fast lane. A serious alcoholic, he drinks, drinks, drinks to the point of going blank at the trendy nightclub he runs. But his super-fast life skids to a thumping halt when he is diagnosed with a debilitating disease, cirrhosis of the liver. Jilted by his girlfriend, an equally addicted individual - in this case, to meaningless consumption and a wasteful lifestyle - Young-su hands over his nightclub ownership to his close friend, and reluctantly heads for a sanitarium in the remote countryside, where there will be no more booze, no more gals.

Actress Lim Soo-jung and actor Hwang Jung-min portray characters perfectly in "Happiness."

In the sanitarium, Young-su encounters a calm, soft-spoken girl with a pale face. Eun-hee (Lim Soo-jung), who has stayed at the facility for the past eight years, is struggling with a rare and serious lung disease, yet she remains upbeat and gentle. And she walks slowly and moves her body cautiously as if a single misstep might break her life into pieces. Yet, in a cheerful way, she tells Young-su that she has already lost about 40 percent of her lung, and a doctor says she might die if she ventures out to run fast. Young-su and Eun-hee stand at the opposite end of the lifestyle spectrum. He is yet to shed his old habits of the city - drinking, smoking and clubbing - and she leads her quiet, disciplined life in this rural setting. When they fall for each other in an unlikely spot nestled deep inside a mountainous area, they seem to forget where they come from. And they develop a bond that is immediately addictive, something that Eun-hee has experienced before. After a passionate kiss, Eun-hee shares her feelings about endless, almost addictive desire: "When I was kissing you, though it may sound strange, I wanted to kiss you more, and even more."

Thanks to her dedicated efforts and great caring, Young-su's health steadily recovers. It's a 'happy' development for Eun-hee, because his improved health means their nature-friendly, vegetarian and substance-free lifestyle has paid off nicely. But the same development does not come as a happy one for Young-su, who suddenly feels that his lifestyle has changed too much. He misses the old days when he indulged in alcohol, cigarettes, junk food and easy sex.

Director Hur carefully achieves a cinematographic distance when he depicts Young-su's struggle with addictive habits. It's true that it takes a tremendous amount of energy, patience and willpower to quit drinking and stay sober. At the same time, it's also resoundingly true that old habits die hard. In a telling scene, Young-su finishes the day's farm labor and gets paid; then the farmer who has hired him gently pushes a cup of beer to Young-su. At this critical moment of temptation, Young-su hesitates for a moment, about 10 seconds, puts his hand on the beer and gulps it down quickly. With a knowing smile, the farmer delivers an illuminating line: "No drinking and no smoking is surely good for your health, but without them, there's no fun in life."

Happiness, after all, depends on one's perspective. For Young-su, happiness means hitting the fast track and indulging his pent-up desire at a night club amid heart-thumping rock music, even though his health and long-term welfare may go down the drain. For Eun-hee, happiness implies decency, self-sufficiency, frugality, modesty and caring for others, especially her loved one Young-su, even though she is staging an uphill battle to extend her life.

Their views on happiness are poles apart - so much so that when the falling-for period switches jarringly into a falling-out, she goes out and runs. She doesn't care even if she may die running like that. Death is not her primary concern.

In "Happiness," award-winning actor Hwang Jung-min shows off his versatility to the point of sheer shock and repugnance. Toward the end of the film, Hwang's Young-su character is so realistically portrayed as a callous and ungrateful man that audiences might not have any sympathy left when he turns a critical corner in his tumultuous life.

Lim Soo-jung also tops expectations by playing a difficult character with a rare finesse that adds a counterbalancing comfort to the touching interplay between addiction and affection.

Director Hur's efforts to keep sentimentality to a minimum also deserve credit for making the film a thought-provoking tale that transcends the confines of a typical melodrama. For a gentle reminder of where he stands on the matter of the impenetrable human mind, he also clearly depicts the symbolic name of the sanitarium, "House of Hope."

Source : Korea Times

Director Espouses Intuition in Filmmaking

The script usually plays an integral part of filmmaking, but it is virtually non-existent for internationally acclaimed director Kim So-yong. For the 39-year-old, intuition, spontaneity and creating everything from scratch with amateur actors are the special ingredients.


The Korean-American made an international breakthrough with her first film ``In Between Days'' (2006), winning awards at the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival among others. She is now back in Korea for her next project ``Treeless Mountains,'' with support from the Cannes Cinema Foundation.

``You always have to keep (gut feeling and intuition). It's like natural instinct. Sometimes I think people forget it because you're trained to behave in certain ways, trained to fit into society... But I think it's really important for the creative process to keep your sense of intuition,'' she said in an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe near Hongdae, northern Seoul, Thursday.

Born in Busan, Kim immigrated to the United States at the age of 12. Her own experience inspired ``In Between Days,'' which traces the delicate heartstrings of a troubled teenager, who, while having to deal with her new surroundings, falls in love with her best and only friend.

``It's important for me to make films that express certain feelings that cannot be expressed by words. There are certain nuances that you cannot describe by adjectives, it could somehow only be communicated through film. It's like a certain `neuggim,' feeling or emotional state that everybody has that's kind of inexplicable,'' she said.

Kim worked with two non-actors, Kim Ji-seon, a design student at the Parsons School of Design who was recently crowned Best Actress at the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (where ``In Between'' also won Best Film), and Tae-gu Andy Kang, an aspiring jewelry designer the director had cast at a Toronto dance club. The two 22-year-olds had also immigrated to North America at a young age. Kim gave them a basic idea of the story and she directed them to deliver certain lines on the spot. The actors were never given a script.

``Ji-seon and Tae-gu are very open, they're like a blank canvas. I tell them anything, and they're like, oh, that's how they're going to be.'' She gave them two guidelines, first, not to look into the camera, and second, to count numbers to themselves in certain situations, less in some, more in others. ``They were just themselves,'' she said.

Kim has left her New York home several times to create movies with husband/partner Bradley Rust Gray. For her husband's award-winning film ``Salt'' (2003), which Kim produced, Kim explained that they ``just packed up everything and went to Iceland. OK, we're going to make a film, just the two of us. For `In Between Days' we did the same thing, like, found the cast and drove everyone up to Canada,'' she said.

She has ``left home to come home'' this time with their seven-month-old daughter Sky for ``Treeless Mountain.'' Currently in the pre-production process of casting actors and location-scouting, Kim will also participate in the upcoming Pusan (Busan) International Film Festival in October.

``It's a lot more difficult to fly 15 hours and come to Korea and say, OK we're going to make a film. So there's a lot of learning. The way we, my husband and I, make the films is very different from the Korean production. It's just a different style of working, so negotiation has to happen.

``Everyone's saying you shouldn't do that, but once we arrive, we're like, of course this is what we should be doing… It feels like we're on the right path, following intuition. We're here, so we're seeing how it goes. It's crazy, it's totally crazy….'' she laughed.

``I think being a director is not such a big deal. People think it's a big deal, but it's not a big deal… It's a privilege to be able to do what I do. (Being a director) is not a big deal in the sense that it's something to be humble about because it's a privilege. If I met a neurosurgeon, who's saving people's lives, I'm like, oh, my gosh, that's so amazing!'' said the director.

But after watching Kim's beautiful gem of a film, seeing this petite woman _ with eyes glimmering brightly and exuding rays of soft charisma _ it's hard not to be amazed.

Yet, the filmmaker said ``Once you become a filmmaker, I don't think that's the only thing you have to do for the rest of your life. It's so boring like that. I think that, if I'm like 55, and I feel like I want to become a flower-arranging specialist, then I'd like to go and do that… Because why not?

``Yes, it's a different medium of art. You express yourself differently. If you find out you have a passion for, then you just need to find a way to do it. And I think that's not such a bad way to live life,'' she said, smiling.

Kim had originally majored in business in college, but took up painting, performance and video art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she obtained her MFA. She is a recipient of the New York Foundation's Video Artist Grant and Puffin Artist Grant among others. The director has also exhibited her installations and films/videos throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan.

Director Kim So-yong personally requested The Korea Times to facilitate her search in finding the two girls who will make the magic for her upcoming film ``Treeless Mountain,'' to be filmed in Busan, Nov. 3-Dec.3.

The movie, set the port city during the 1970s, is about two young sisters who spend a long summer with their aunt, separated for the first time from their mother, who left them in search of their missing father.

For the older sister, a six-year-old, Kim is looking to cast a child up to eight years old; for the four-year-old, she is looking for a child between four and six years of age.

No acting experience or training is necessary _ in fact, the director prefers working with ``a blank canvas.''

Source : Korea Times

Leading Actors Keep 'Two Faces’ Afloat

Romantic comedies come in all forms, starring out-of-ordinary heroines like Drew Barrymore in ``50 First Dates'' (2004), who suffers from short-term memory loss; and Uma Thurman, an estranged super-powered woman in ``My Super Ex-Girlfriend'' (2006). Likewise, ``Two Faces of My Girlfriend'' takes the classic genre to a whole new level featuring a character with a severe case of multiple personality disorder.

Gu-chang (Bong Tae-gyu) leads a tragic existence. The seventh-year college student constantly fails job interviews and lives off of an allowance from his divorced sister while taking money from his little nephew. To make matters worse, the almost 30-year-old virgin has never had a girlfriend, let alone experienced his first kiss. In Korean, Gu-chang is a homonym for the word meaning ``a sore in the mouth.''

But springtime finally seems to have arrived for Gu-chang, defrosting the stark winters of his barren love life, when he meets the sweet and innocent A-ni (Chung Yeo-won).

All seems to be swell, and Gu-chang gets a taste of heaven as he kisses his pretty girlfriend for the first time -- until A-ni bites his tongue and gives him a nice kick, introducing herself as Ha-ni. And so begins Gu-chang's painful relationship with his split-personality girlfriend, dealing with A-ni's adorably childish demeanors one moment, then defending his life from Ha-ni's high kicks.

Actor Bong Tae-gyu and director Lee Seok-hoon of teen comedy ``See You After School'' (2006) reunite in ``Two Faces.'' Bong has established a name for himself here for his endearingly pathetic characters in the tradition of classic slapsticks: Like in ``See You After School'' Bong continues to be beaten up and floored yet shows a surprising sense of integrity, like Ben Stiller in ``There's Something About Mary'' (1998).

The comedy in ``Two Faces'' is contrived and even grotesque at times. But the leading actors keep the film afloat with their idiosyncratic charms. Audiences will love Bong, the fallen modern-day antihero and the oddball geek we all once knew back in high school. Although ``Two Faces'' tends to exploit this by taking it to extremes, fans will nevertheless appreciate -- and pity -- Gu-chang.

But what really makes ``Two Faces'' delightful is actress Chung Yeo-won, who transforms from a bashful angel to a foul-mouthed thug in just a split-second. Chung, also known as Ryeo-won of the now disbanded girl band Chakra, made her acting debut in the hit MBC TV series ``My Name is Kim Sam Soon.'' The star has since proved her talents through subsequent roles in TV dramas, including the double role of a chic socialite and a boorish farm girl. ``Two Faces'' captures Chung's blossoming acting career at its best so far, and we can expect much more from her in the future.

The film immediately received comparison to the international hit ``My Sassy Girl'' (2001). The two romantic comedies share many similar plot elements, including how the two lovebirds cross paths for the first time in an unusual manner on the subway. Like ``My Sassy Girl,'' the comedy of ``Two Faces'' turns into melodramatic romance in the latter half.

The explosive popularity of ``My Sassy Girl'' perhaps eclipses the potential of ``Two Faces,'' which nevertheless possesses its own unique spirit. If you're in for a good lighthearted laugh, ``Two Faces'' might do the trick.

Source : Korea Times

Lim Soo-jung Grows Up in New Tearjerker

Some thought she was going to be girl forever, but suddenly Lim Soo-jung has become a woman. Now she plays a victim of chronic lung disease over eight years in Director Heo Jin-ho’s latest film “Happiness,” to be released on Oct. 3. In the movie, Im’s character Eun-hi falls in love with Yeong-su who comes to the rehab center for his own illness, but after she has given him everything, he throws her away. The Chosun Ilbo spoke to the actress.

People say you have a baby face and looking young is good, but it can also restrict the range of characters you play as an actress.

In the movie, Yeong-su and Eun-hi are seven to eight years apart. I was able to become completely absorbed in my character, and when I did that, these concerns just disappeared. I’m sure when audiences see the movie, they won’t find it awkward at all.

Eun-hi is so feminine, one wonders whether such woman can actually exist in real life.

To be honest, I’m more like Su-yeon, the character played by Gong Hyo-jin, who is more contemporary and cool. That’s why when I first got the script, I couldn’t fully understand my character. Eun-hi is on the extreme end of the spectrum with maximum femininity. She is almost a motherly character. But then when you think about it, all women have maternal love inside them.

While Eun-hi is feminine, she is not completely old-fashioned as she is very bold and doesn’t shy away from expressing her affection.

Right. Eun-hi doesn’t pretend at all. She doesn’t calculate. As long as she likes the person, she doesn’t mind saying ‘let’s move in together.’ She’s honest because for her, being happy is what matters the most since she doesn’t know how long she has left to live. In that sense, I’m a bit like Eun-hi. I’m not so bold, but I’m honest with my feelings, and if there is a person I like, I express it.

Have you ever been in love?

Of course I have. I was in love in my early 20s. In the movie, it was literally heartbreaking to see Yeong-su change. I couldn’t help but cry to see the frustrated Yeong-su who is getting tired of Eun-hi in the playground scene. In the script, Eun-hi is supposed to just look at Yeong-su, but I cried. The director later said he would have regretted if I hadn’t cried (laughs).

What are you like in real life?

Before I made my break (in a sitcom called “School IV” in 2001), I was a nobody for about three years, and during that time I probably have tried out at hundreds of different auditions. In the process, I changed a lot. I was really shy before, but now I’m a bit like the bouncy Si-eun in ‘Lump Of Sugar,’ a bit odd like Yeong-gun in ‘I’m a Cyborg, but That’s OK’, and part of me is really closed-up and fragile like the sisters in ‘A Tale Of Two Sisters.’ I feel like I take with me a bit of each character I’ve played and I don’t want to throw away even one. Am I going to go develop a multiple personality disorder at this rate? (laughs).”

Tell us your ultimate goal as an actress.

“So far I’ve been mostly playing unrealistic characters. They were either physically or mentally sick. So in the future I hope I get to play characters that are more down-to-earth. I’m also drawn to strong women characters. Maybe a businesswoman or a martial artist in a historical film? An evil character would be interesting too. If I can have one wish before I turn 40, that is to perform so well that everyone gives me two thumbs up.

Source : Chosun Ilbo