Kang Shin-il (강신일)

Seol 'Returns' as Kang Cheol-jung

2008/06/19 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

This year has so far marked the return of many screen heroes, such as Indiana Jones and Rambo - and the antihero Kang Cheol-jung. In "Public Enemy Returns", Seol Kyeong-gu ("Public Enemy", 2002; "Another Public Enemy" - "Public Enemy 2" 2005) brazenly exhibits his sixth sense for acting as the diehard detective. Cheol-jung does not let his boss - or the audience - down in this funny, street-smart sequel, which also raises some critical social issues.

With disheveled hair, an unwashed windbreaker and a scar here and there, Cheol-jung is always diving headfirst into crime scenes. After 15 years of close calls with death, he's seen and done it all. The most notorious criminals sheepishly surrender to this thug of a man, who recklessly beats men twice his size, referees duels between schoolboys and openly accepts small bribes.

And of course, when a situation calls for good cop, bad cop tactics, we can guess the role Cheol-jung takes. But it's hard n...| More

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Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter 'Black House'

2008/06/12 | Source | Permalink |

A robust, grisly horror film boosted by excellent performances

Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

A meek but kind insurance salesman Jeon Jun-O (Hwang Jeong-Min, "Happiness") is handpicked by a creepy metalworker, Park Choong-Bae (Kang Shin-Il, "Silmido"), for renewal of the policies on the his family. Visiting Park's spectacularly decrepit adobe, Jun-O ends up discovering the body of Park's young son, apparently a suicide.

Meeting Choong-Bae's wife Yi-Hwa (Yoo Seon, "The Wig" - "Scary Hair"), a pale beauty who has seemingly exhausted her capacity for grief, Jun-O begins to suspect that the boy's death was in fact a murder, and that she is next in line.

What Jun-O does not understand is that his small act of kindness (and breach of professional ethics) over a phone consultation has already ensnared him in a web of deceit, mutilation and murder, spun by a psychopath who makes Norman Bates in "Psycho" look like SpongeBob SquarePants.

A Japan-Korea coproduction, "Black House" is base...| More

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[HERALD INTERVIEW] Moon Seong-geun returns to Daehangno stage

2007/08/27 | Source | Permalink |

For Moon Seong-geun, an accomplished movie actor and now influential figure in the country's entertainment industry, the theater was the place where he learned the life of an actor and demonstrated his talents to the public for the first time. Although he was away from the theater, busy building his career both on the small and big screen, as well as continuing his controversial political activities in recent years, he is now making a big U-turn. The famed actor is returning to the Daehangno stage on Aug. 31 with a grotesque comedy "Byun".

Written by Hwang Ji-woo, famous playwright and incumbent president of the Korean National University of Arts, and produced by Lee Sang-wu, Moon's long- time friend and artistic director of the theater, Cha-ee-moo (meaning stage shipper), the drama depicts a dictator's obsession with love and power. The play also features a number of renowned actors such as Kang Shin-il, Park Kwang-jeong and Choi Young-min. The drama hits the stage at the Arko Art ...| More

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Actor can't hide his truthful eyes

2007/06/27 | Source | Permalink |

Actor Hwang Jeong-min, known for his versatile images.

By Park Jong-geun

When Hwang Jeong-min, 38, accepted the best actor award at the Blue Dragon Film Festival for his performance in "You Are My Sunshine" many were moved when he said: "All I did was add a spoon to a dinner table that had already been prepared by others".
This summer Hwang is back with a different kind of film, designed to scare and horrify , as he stars in the thriller "Black House", directed by Sin Tae-ra.
The film, which will be released tomorrow, is based on a novel by Japanese author Yûsuke Kishi. Hwang plays Chun Jun-oh, who works for an insurance company and fights against a psychopath while investigating the mysterious suicide of a 7-year-old boy.
The JoongAng Ilbo met with Hwang to get an insider's look at the film.
"I always wondered why Korea has no movies like 'Dressed to Kill', 'The Silence of the Lambs', or 'Seven'", said Hwang. "On a hot summer's day, people want movies like these to give the...| More

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'Black' Is Gore With Suspense

2007/06/21 | Source | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Rusty, run down and remote except for the sporadic purr of a passing train, "Black House" is no haunted mansion but a sinister place "where lies the darkest secret" of a psychopath __ a monster devoid of any human feeling or conscience.

Featuring a dungeon with nooses hanging from the ceiling and tainted tubs oozing with blood and dismantled limbs, and a psychopath nearing the next victim with a butcher's knife while humming an eerie song, "Black" offers chills and gore.

As the thriller fathoms the depths of man's "fascination for abomination", the bloodbath dilutes some of the suspense factor. But the film is deeply disturbing as it unravels from the eyes of an equally disquieting protagonist (Hwang Jeong-min",You Are My Sunshine", 2005).

On his first day of work at a life insurance company, consultant Jun-oh (Hwang) answers a phone call from a woman asking about compensation for suicide. Only after hanging up does he see the employee handboo...| More

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