Chang Chen (장첸 (張震 ))

Korean actress Song Hye-kyo will appear as the heroine of the popular Chinese director John Woo's new movie "1949".

The 26-year-old will play a war widow in the movie about a tragic love story set in 1949, when China was in the middle of a civil war between the Nationalist and Communist parties.

Song, who is very popular in China riding on the back of the Korean Wave (or Hallyu, referring to the popularity of Korean pop culture especially in Asia), ...More

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

Korean actress Song Hye-kyo will star as the heroine of John Woo's new movie "1949".
The 26-year-old star will join Taiwanese actor Chang Chen in the movie depicting a tragic love story set in 1949, when China was suffering a civil war between the Nationalist and Communist parties.

Woo, the director of hit movies "Face Off (1997)" and "Mission Impossible II (2000)", appeared with Terence Chang, the producer of the film, and Song at a press conference held at the Hotel Majestic Cannes, with the festivity of the Cannes Film Festival still in the air.

"Among my...More

The Korean movie industry got off to a shaky start this year, due to the weakened market position of local flicks versus Hollywood blockbusters, but it received a big shining ray of hope from director Lee Chang-dong's thought-provoking drama, "Secret Sunshine".

Jeon Do-yeon, the heroine of "Secret Sunshine", grabbed the prestigious Best Actress award at the 60th Cannes Film Festival in May, setting the upbeat tone for the domestic film industry.

The 34-year-old actress won international acclaim for her brave and inspiring depiction of a grieving Korean woman struggling to rebuild her life in a new city in "Secret Sunshine", the first picture in four years by Lee Chang-dong, a former Korean culture minister.

Despite the positive turn on the filmfest front, the local movie market faced increasing pressure this year. Although the market volume of the Korean film industry remains relatively solid, with 104 films released between January and November this year, the number of moviegoers is steadily declining, and the profitability of major production houses is worsening, leaving a slew of projects stranded.

"The number of Korean movies with box-office influence is going down, and the campaign to export Korean films to foreign markets is nowhere near the target level", said Shim Young-seop, a leading movie critic. Meanwhile, Hollywo...More

CANNES, France -- Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon, who stars in a tragic movie on death and faith, "Secret Sunshine", won the Cannes film fest's best actress award Sunday.

The 34-year-old actress was acclaimed for her brave performance as a grieving wife and mother in the Korean melodrama, the first picture in four years by Lee Chang-dong, a former Korean culture minister.

"I can't believe I'm here", said Jeon, wearing a silver evening gown.

"There are many fabulous actresses here at the festival, and I would like to represent them all here tonight. It is a great honor for me to have this prize".

She appears in nearly every scene of Lee's two-and-a-half-hour-long film, portraying Shin-ae, a piano teacher who moves with her son to the hometown of her late husband, whose death is still the source of nearly unbearable pain.

She dotes on her young son as a link to his father, and the two have a palpably close relationship.

When, in a cruel and unexpected twist in the story, the small boy is abducted and killed, Shin-ae turns to evangelical Christianity on the advice of her pharmacist, a devout believer, as a means of dealing with her grief. Filled with religious fervor, she decides to visit her son's murderer in prison to tell him she has forgiven him. But she is horrified when the killer tells her with a serene smile that he has repented and God has already offered him absolution.

"Who is God to forgive him before I have?" she asks her Christian friends in a rage.

Jeon is known in Korean cinema as a chameleon who fully inhabits her roles. She shot to stardom at home with her debut in the 1997 romance "...More

The Korean director Kim Ki-duk screened his movie "Breath" on Saturday in competition at the 60th Cannes Film Festival. The official screening and press conference were held at the Lumiere Theatre in the French resort town.

Kim, wearing dark sunglasses at a press conference, joked, "The sunglasses I'm wearing now are the ones I wore when I appeared as a prison official in the film. You may be still watching the movie right at this moment". "Breath", which ...More