Jo Beom-goo (조범구)

By Yi Chang-ho
Contributing Writer

What are the best days of your life? For the high school friends in Riverbank Legends it's when they hang out at night on their territory, a bare riverbank; a hard-won place they fought over side by side. For the friends in Radio Star it's when they have nowhere left to go than a remote provincial town, but realize they can still rock and still have their friendship. As the films show: time changes, but boys will be boys and friends will still be friends.

"Riverbank Legends" ("Gangster High")

While in reality Korean high schools are all about studying until late at night, "Riverbank Legends" ("Gangster High") is one of Korean high school films with male protagonists for whom studying is not an issue. They spend their days establishing their names as the toughest fighters, in this case, by proving who rules the riverbank.

Director Jo Beom-goo succeeded in making Riverbank Legends ("Gangster High") an entertaining and fun film without many pretensions. The film borrows from many of the stereotypes used in these films about male friends in high school, but also offers some variations.

The stereotypical elements are found in the characterizations of the film's three friends. Park Geon-hyeong plays the toughest and most skillful fighter. He's the brooding quiet type, doesn't talk much, but his presence makes him the undisputed leader. Lee Cheon-hee's character is the more dreamy type. He isn't as skillful, but when they fight he transforms into a tough fighter. The third character _ played by ...More

The 2005 Jeon Ju Citizen Film & Video Festival, which screens cinemas produced by citizens at firsthand, raised its curtain on Mar. 21.

Following the Festival's opening ceremony at 7:30 in the evening on Mar. 21, the Festival started with its opening film 'The Bad Utterances' by filmmaker Jo Beom-goo.

'The Bad Utterances', which was already screened at the 1st CJ Asia Indi Film Festival and the 9th Pusan International Film Festival, has following synopsis: Ik-soo who is a high school student and Jong-tae and Duck-pal who go ar...More