Ahn Jin-woo (안진우)

A comedy of contraceptive campaign

2007/01/09 | Source | Permalink |

In 1962, the Korean government launched a national campaign aimed at the country's rural development and initiated by former president Park Chung Hee. A significant portion of its government funds were used to educate and support family planning programs by distributing free contraceptive pills, condoms and other contraceptive services to citizens.
"Mission Sex Control", the title of a film about the government's family planning services of the period, is an actual catchphrase from the campaign song for what was called "a new village movement".
The story follows Hyun-ju (Kim Jeong-eun), a family planning counsellor hired by the government facing a backlash from feudal society when she is dispatched to a small rural village that has the highest population growth in the country. Her mission is to cut the village's fertility rate to two children per household.
The film is a mix of silly sex jokes on top of nostalgia about the absurd political situation of the past, which handled the co...| More

Chuseok comedies and other film fare

2006/09/27 | Source | Permalink |

Theaters are being filled with an abundance of new movies a week before the Chuseok harvest holiday.
"Our Happy Time", starring Kang Dong-won and Lee Na-young, premiered two weeks ago and brought in about 1.2 million viewers during its first week of release.
Last week, six films in all, including two comedies ("Marrying the Mafia III" and "Moodori"), were released. The film industry follows a rule of thumb that comedies are the most successful type of film at the box office in holiday seasons; many are wondering if this will again be true this year.
The quintessential movie that follows this rule of thumb is "Marrying the Mafia III", directed by Jeong Yong-ki, which debuted Thursday. It is the sequel to the hit of the same name released at about this time last year,
"Marrying the Mafia III" went into production soon after its predecessor passed the 5-million viewer mark.
But looking at the quality of the sequel, it seems to be a repetition of the comedic moments of the original mo...| More

'Over the Rainbow' shows unexpected love

2004/07/23 | Source | Permalink |

Good-looking lead actors, a pastel colored poster and a haunting melody of "Over the Rainbow" from "The Wizard of Oz" are all stock-standard ingredients of a typical romantic comedy. However, Ahn Jin-woo's directorial debut, "Over the Rainbow" (2002) modifies this formula somewhat by handing a jigsaw puzzle to viewers.

Starring Lee Jeong-jae ("Oh! Brothers" and "Interview") as weatherman Jin-soo, the film begins with his involvement in a car accident. Not seriously injured, he quickly returns to work, but during a chat with his friends, Jin-soo realizes he is suffering from partial amnesia.

With the memories of his college years gone, he learns from his pals that he had had a crush on a woman, but because of his secretive character, Jin-soo had kept even his close friends in the dark about her identity. All his friends can tell Jin-soo about the mysterious woman, is that she goes by the alias of "Rainbow".

Jin-soo's memories are scattered like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, b...| More