Kwak Ji-min (곽지민)

A chance to catch up on movies you missed

2004/12/29 | Source | Permalink |

December 29, 2004 ㅡ Hypertheque Nada at Dongsoong Art Center is hosting its annual end of the year film festival. The event began in 2000 as a way of screening movies that patrons might have missed, especially arthouse films.
Looking back on films released in Korea this past year, the 24 chosen by the organizers of the festival, "Nada's Last Propose", range from Korean to Spanish to German. The festival, launched on Friday, runs until Jan. 13 at the Daehangno theater.
Highlights include two films by Kim Ki-duk. His "Samaria" won the Silver Bear at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival. The movie stars Seo Min-jeong as Jae-young, an underage prostitute whose pimp is her best friend, Yeo-jin (Kwak Ji-min). The two are trying to save money to escape to Europe. Screenings are today at 4 p.m., Jan. 3 at 11:20 a.m. and Jan. 7 at 6:20 p.m.
Kim's "3-Iron" (Binjip) won the Best Director award and the Future Critics Award at the 2004 Venice International Film Festival. The mo...| More

Japan's movie circles gives attention to a late teens star 'Kwak Ji-min'

2004/12/17 | Source | Permalink |

Japan's movie circles is giving attention to a late teens star 'Kwak Ji-min, a leading actor of movie 'Samaria', with the Japan release of 'Samaria' in January, next year as a momentum.

She has been included among 30 Hanryu stars that a Japan's famous magazine has selected and is being watched as a new figure to lead Hanryu ahead.

Starting from movie 'Samaria' to be released from Japan, late teens star Kwak Jin-min is likely to get into its strides about her advance into Japan.

She didn't still discuss concretely, but with the release of 'Samaria' in Japan as a momentum, she appears to exchange wide opinions with a party concerned in Japan about her activities there.

At the movie 'Samaria's release stage which will be held on Jan. 16, next year, Kwak Ji-min and Seo Min-jeong take part. The two actors has been the center of attention of the world as movie 'Samaria' receives the Director Award from the Berlin International Film Festival on past February, this year.

Plot...| More

Religion and Sex a Disturbing Combination in 'Samaria'

2004/03/04 | Source | Permalink |

By Joon Soh
Staff Reporter
Religion seems to be on director Kim Ki-duk's mind as of late. After last year's contemplative "Pom Yorum Kaul Kyoul Kurigo Pom (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring)", which looked at the cycle of suffering from a perspective of a Buddhist monk, Kim layers "Samaria", his new film about teenage prostitution, with variations on Catholic concepts of sin and guilt.

Unlike "Spring", however, the film doesn't extensively rely on religious iconography to generate meaning. Rather, it's a springboard for what seems a rather personal take on the psychological and moral battles that has plagued Kim throughout his career, always with provocative results.

The moral battleground in this film is a particularly sensitive one _ that of "wonjo kyoje", the phenomenon of older men who pay young high school girls for sex and companionship. Kim begins the story with two students, Chae-yong (Seo Min-jeong) and Yo-jin (Kwak Ji-min), who attempt to use prostitution to...| More

Korean Actress Hopes for Happier Roles

2004/02/11 | Source | Permalink |

BERLIN - After her screen debut as a sexually exploited schoolgirl in South Korean director Kim Ki-duk's "Samaria", Kwak Ji-Min said she's hoping for a less tragic second role.
"I want a film that's light and with a happy ending", the 19-year-old actress told reporters Tuesday after the movie's premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival.
"Samaria" is one of 23 films competing for the festival's top prize - the Golden Bear. The festival ends Sunday.
In "Samaria (Samaritan Girl)", Ji-Min plays Yeo-jin, a kind of benevolent pimp to her best friend, whose earnings are supposed to fund the pair's trip to Europe.
Yeo-jin is charged with managing the money and keeping a lookout for police patrolling for underage prostitutes. After she fails in the latter responsibility, her friend - Jae-young, played by Seo Min-jung - dies trying to escape authorities.
Yeo-jin falls into despair and, as a form of repentance, decides to have sex with all the clients in Jae-young's address boo...| More

Poster for New Kim Ki-duk Film to Provoke Controversy

2004/01/16 | Source | Permalink |

by Cheon Sang-hee

Controversy is expected to follow film director Kim Ki-duk's use of the teenage leading lady of his latest movie, "Samaria", in a provocative "half-nude nun" pose in the film's poster.
The film deals with a relationship between a teenage girl and an older man.

While shooting the poster for the film, the leading actress, Kwak Ji-min, 19, posed topless, wearing only a coif -- the veil used by Catholic nuns. Photographer Lee Jeon-ho, who did the poster work for the hit film, "Old Boy", shot the photo in a studio in Seoul's Gangnam district last December. The film is scheduled to open in March.

The film, which has been invited to the 2004 Berlin Film Festival, to be held in February, tells of the mental anguish felt by a father (Lee Eol) whose teenage daughter (Kwak Ji-min) is prostituting herself to an older man. Kim's piece ties together a whole assortment of peculiar and extreme situations, like when the father, a detective, witnesses his daughter engaging...| More