Kim Jeong-kwon (김정권)

YOO Ji-tae and LEE Yeon-hee in romantic film

Source | 2008/11/06 | Permalink |

Director RYOO Jang-ha is adapting the popular internet manwha (Korean equivalent of Japanese manga) Soonjeong Manwha by KANG Pool (real name: KANG Do-young), the English title will be "Hello Schoolgirl". The titular role will be played by LEE Yeon-hee and her love interest is a role by YOO Ji-tae.

The story is about a high school girl (LEE) who every morning sees a shy thirty-year-old businessman (YOO) at the elevator. The girl is not afraid to express her feelings for the man who is the first she feels romantic feelings for.

The young actress LEE is still mostly acting the roles of young women encountering their first love. She is currently also playing a similar assertive young woman in the television drama "East of Eden", and portrayed a headstrong young woman in the teenage drama "A Millionaire's First Love". In her previous film "M" (LEE Myeong-se), her character was a shy young woman whose love defied death.

YOO broke through internationally with his role opposite of ...| More

Debutant My Wife Got Married leads box office

Source | 2008/11/03 | Permalink |

With SON Ye-jin and KIM Joo-hyeok in the leading roles, "My Wife Got Married" opened in its first weekend at the top of the box office. Director JONG Yoon-soo's romantic drama sold 515,464 tickets.

The fall seems to be the season for Korean romantic dramas, "Heartbreak Library", another newly released film, found itself back at place seven of the box office with 47,000 viewers. Director KIM Jeong-kwon's film stars singer/actress Eugene (Yoo Jin) and LEE Dong-wook.

"Heartbreak Library" tells the story of a librarian who is first furious at a man who rips out page 198 of library books, then becomes intrigued, and finally decides to help the man who is heartbroken after his girlfriend broke up with him, leaving a note to look up page 198, without mentioning which book.

"My Wife Got Married" stars SON as a liberal woman who is an enthusiastic football fan. She holds off a marriage with her boyfriend (KIM Joo-hyeok). In the end they marry, however, after some time, she decides sh...| More

Searching for Memories in "Library"

Source | 2008/10/16 | Permalink |

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

Director Kim Jeong-kwon's new movie "Heartbreak Library" brings the story of two young people tracing their past, only to discover the sad, yet true reality of love and life.

Both holding on to a painful memory, the couple meet unexpectedly, and their trip to the past drives them to the point where they finally realize that it was not the memory that was torturing them, but their obsession with it.

Eun-soo, played by singer/actress Eugene (Yoo Jin), is a librarian who takes her work very seriously. So when she discovers a tall young man dressed in a black suit ripping the pages out of books stacked next to him, she calls him a criminal.

Jun-oh, played by Lee Dong-wook, is a sad-eyed man who tears out page 198 from library books, which explains the Korean title of the film " Page 198 of His Book".

He explains to the curious, and furious, Eun-soo that his former girlfriend left him a note saying to check page 198 without mentioning the titl...| More

[MOVIE REVIEW] Eugene shines in 'Heartbreak'

Source | 2008/10/12 | Permalink |

"Heartbreak Library", directed by Kim Jeong-kwon, has a misleading Korean title: "Geu-namja-ui chaek 198-jjok", which translates into "Page 198 of the Man's Book". On the surface, it is about a man who has lost his love and struggles with an uncontrollable sense of loss. But the real protagonist is his opposite, a woman who goes a step beyond her own romantic travails.

Her name is Eun-soo (played by singer/actress Eugene (Yoo Jin)), a librarian who has recently broken-up with her boyfriend. Right before heading out to the library where she works, Eun-soo looks in the mirror, where a photo is attached with a yellow Post-it hiding the face of her old flame. Apparently her emotions for him have not gone away completely, even though she knows all too well that he won't come back.

For Eun-soo, what's more important is her work at the library located in a seaside village, and she's a stickler. She knows where people hide library books and which ones are not in the right shelves. She al...| More

Korean World Premieres at PIFF 2008

Source | 2008/09/30 | Permalink |

The Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) is putting its weight behind local films this year, and, under the catch-phrase 'Way to Go, Korea!' will host the World Premier of 15 Korean features. Headlining is closing film "I am Happy" by YOON Jong-chan, a psychiatric drama based on a novel by Korean literary giant, the late LEE Chong-jun. The fest runs Oct 2 – 10 in the south-eastern port city of Busan.

PIFF's competition section, New Currents, will see the World Premieres of 3 Korean features. "Land of Scarecrows" is the sophomore effort by NOH Kyeong-tae ("The Last Dining Table"), a poetical cross-section of the lives of Korea's outsiders in pursuit of vanishing dreams. "Members of the Funeral" by BAEK Seung-bin is an HD feature about a family mourning the passing of relative and the memories it triggers, while KIM Tae-gon's "The Pot" focuses on the uncanny happenings surrounding a small family in their new apartment.

In the Korean Cinema Today – Panorama section are sev...| More