Choi Min-sik (최민식)

Director Jeon Soo-il Talks About `Himalaya'

Source | 2009/06/17 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporters

Director Jeon Soo-il can be grouped among "the Kim Ki-duk clan" of artists who are better appreciated in the international film festival circuit than in local theaters.

His latest film "Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells" is slated to compete in July _ when he turns 50 _ at the 44th Karlovivary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic. This means that all six of Jeon's features will have been invited to major cinema events.

But as much as the film, now showing in theaters, marked the comeback of "Old Boy" star Choi Min-sik, its press preview attracted a mad crowd of reporters (Some 20 people had turned up for his previous multiple award-winning "With a Girl of Black Soil").

The aforementioned Kim is known to provoke onscreen, and Jeon also does not hesitate to depict shocking characters that take performance art to an extreme degree and commit suicide on stage ("I Have the Right to Destroy Myself").

"I had Choi Min-sik in mind when ...| More

Independent Movie, 'Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells'

Source | 2009/06/11 | Permalink |

A stranger's death is the beginning of a journey to the middle of nowhere.
A simple yet profound independent film has opened at Korean box offices amidst a flood of speedy, sensual blockbusters.
Let me invite you to a sanctuary for tired souls, "Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells".
Choi has spent his whole life trying to get ahead.
He has sent his family abroad while working in Korea.
Unfortunately, he is fired due to a corporate restructuring.
Then one day, Choi emerges from his misery to take the ashes of a Nepalese laborer to his family.

[Interview : Jeon Soo-il Director of "Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells" ] "It's the story of a man setting out to return the remains of a stranger to his home. But the journey turns out to be a soul search, and the man reflects upon his own identity".

A man who escapes from the world and finds himself in nature.
The part of Choi is played by Choi Min-sik.

Choi Min-sik is an actor already receiving worldwide recognition.
In "Old Boy" he ...| More

[ChanMi's movie news] "Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells" released soon!

Source | 2009/06/03 | Permalink |

This will be Choi Min-sik's first movie in 4 years!

The film's title is "Himalaya, WHere the Wind Dwells" for which there was a press meeting.

Here, Song Kang-ho came to congratulate...| More

Choi Min-sik Escapes Oncreen to 'Himalaya'

Source | 2009/05/31 | Permalink |

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

Actor Choi Min-sik has returned to local screens to take the audience on a faraway journey to "Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells", which opens in theaters June 11.

The actor is virtually synonymous with contemporary Korean cinema, with the so-called "first" domestic blockbuster "Shiri" (Swiri) (1998) to Im Kwon-taek's award-winning "Chihwaseon" ("Strokes of Fire", 2002) and Park Chan-wook's international breakthrough "Old Boy" (2003). He was also accused of upping guarantees for high-profile actors, though Kang Woo-suk later rescinded the statement and apologized.

The 47-year-old may have been absent from the silver screen for four years, but his presence remained strong ― in 2007, he showed off his theatrical streak in the play "Pillow Man" while last year the 14th Lyon Asian Film Festival held a retrospective on Choi.

"Expression (acting) itself is important, but the process of absorbing things before taking part in a project is vital. ...| More

'The Chaser' Is a Superb Thriller

Source | 2009/01/04 | Permalink |

Na Hong-jin's debut feature restores faith in Korean genre cinema
Kyu Hyun Kim (qhyunkim)

Jung-ho (Kim Yoon-seok, "Tazza: The High Rollers" - "The War of Flower") is a former cop turned pimp for a "massage parlor". He is convinced that a young, dorky customer Young-min (Ha Jeong-woo, recently on a roll, also excellent in US-lensed "Never Forever") has kidnapped and sold his "girls", including Mi-jin (Seo Yeong-hee). Unfortunately, what the cops uncover is far worse: Young-min is an impotent serial killer who uses a chisel and a hammer to slaughter his female victims. While the police investigation stumbles and takes detour, Jung-ho becomes increasingly aware that Young-min's latest victim, Mi-jin, is still alive somewhere, bleeding and bound: and that he is the only person who can rescue her.

"The Chaser" is the hands-down grittiest, snazziest and gutsiest Korean thriller of 2008, possibly in last three years or so. It is difficult to believe that this is a feature film debut fo...| More