Ahn Pan-seok (안판석)

Prescription for Melodramatized TV

2007/01/15 | Source | Permalink |

By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

If you suffer from an "imbalance" because of watching the same-old soaps with same-old love triangles and affairs, dramas about medical doctors may be just the prescription you need.

This year, four new medical dramas will air, attracting viewers who want to see something new and unconventional.

They are "Hayan Kotab" ("White Big Tower"), "Oegwauisa Bong Dang-hui" ("Surgeon Bong Dal-hee"), "Ibalsadul" ("Barbers") and "Chonghappyongwon 2" ("General Hospital 2").

These dramas are not the first to center on lives of doctors at hospitals. In the mid-1990s, "Chonghappyongwon" (General Hospital), "Haebaragi" ("Sunflower - drama") and "Uigahyongje" (Doctor Brothers) were huge successes.

Although they were set in hospitals, their main stories dealt with romance between doctors. But the emphasis of these new dramas is on portraying the work and the lives of doctors as realistically as possible.

These dramas have whopping production budgets, an a...| More

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Movie With English Subtitles

2006/09/14 | Source | Permalink |

South of the Border (Kukgyongui Namjjok) (2006)

Seoul Selection Bookstore

11:00 a.m. Saturday

Directed by Ahn Pan-seok, the film is the first to deal with the lives of North Korean defectors in Seoul. The film revolves around Kim Sun-ho (played by Cha Seung-won), who defected to the South with his family, while leaving his girlfriend Yon-hwa behind after promising to bring her to Seoul as soon as possible. In Seoul, he tries to save money to help her escape from the North, but one day, hears that Yon-hwa has married another man. He becomes hopelessly depressed but later tries to find a way to adapt himself to life in the South. The venue is located near Anguk Station on subway line 3. Tickets, 3,000 won. For more information, call (02) 734-9565 or visit http://www.seoulselection.com

"Time" (Sigan) (2006)

Sponge House

Roughly until the end of September

Directed by Kim Ki-duk and starring Sung Hyeon-ah and Ha Jeong-woo, the film revolves around a couple who find the...| More

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'Border,' Personal Stories of NK Defectors

2006/05/04 | Source | Permalink |

By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

The situation in the war-torn Korean Peninsula has been an important motif in many local films.

In recent years, however, their main focus has shifted from the severe conflict between the two Koreas to individual tragedies and experiences.

The latest film "South of the Border (Kukkyongui Namjjok)", takes an even more personal look at the tragic situation and moviegoers may find it just another typical melodrama if they don't pay much attention to the fact that it is the first to deal with the lives of North Korean defectors in Seoul.

Directed by Ahn Pan-seok, the film revolves around Kim Sun-ho (played by Cha Seung-won), who is a horn player in an orchestra in North Korea.

As he belongs to a comparatively high class in his country, Sun-ho enjoys his life and has plans to marry his girlfriend Yon-hwa, whom he is very much in love with.

One day, Sun-ho's family receives a letter from his grandfather in Seoul, whom they had thought was dea...| More

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Go South

2006/04/27 | Source | Permalink |

by Mun-Myung Huh

This movie ("South of the Border") being the first by director Ahn Pan-seok, who previously worked as PD and directed TV dramas such as "The Rose and Bean Sprout", uses humane paradoxical aesthetics to make modern people, who float in buoyant freedom and greed, ponder on the things they take for granted by portraying special people who have deserted their nation and family in order to survive. At a glance, the plot seems a bit flat. Pyongyang Mansoo Art Team horn player Sun-ho (played by Cha Seung-won) and War Memorial guide Yeon-hwa (played by Jo I-jin) are in love with each other. The two lovebirds are excited at the prospect of their upcoming marriage, but their fates are turned when Sun-ho's family is caught exchanging letters with their South Korean relatives and must flee the country.

After successfully fleeing from North Korea after a myriad of events, Sun-ho endeavors to also bring Yeon-hwa to the South, even by being cheated out of his settlement money, ...| More

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[MOVIE REVIEW]Comic star's melodramatic acting in 'South of the Border'

2006/04/27 | Source | Permalink |

The only seeming virtue of war seems to be that it enriches the soil of narrative experiences, which explains why there are so many Korean hits dealing with either the Korean War or its aftermaths. Out of the top 10 all-time most successful Korean films in terms of box office earnings, half of them are such films including "Taegukgi" (2004) and "Welcome to Dongmakgol" (2005).

Another promising contender for the list is still yet to come this spring, a film titled "South of the Border", which is about a North Korean defector Seon-ho (Cha Seung-won) who cannot forget his dearest lover Yeon-hwa (Jo I-jin) left behind in the North. But he marries a South Korean woman, Kyung-ju, (Shim Hye-jin) upon hearing the news that Yeon-hwa married in North Korea, which later turned out to be untrue.

Different from most of its predecessors in the category, the film isn't focused on tension between the two Koreas, but is rather devoted to issues related to North Korean defectors in the South while...| More

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