Han Jae-rim (한재림)

Actor Song Kang-ho [photographed by Beck Una/10Asia]

Beck: What did you find likeable and entertaining about the script for "Secret Reunion"?
Song: Ten years ago, I did the films "Shiri" and "JSA - Joint Security Area" which are both about South Korea, North Korea and men. So, "Secret Reunion" was similar to them in a way, a similar story, but the overall outline of the movie is completely different from the previous films. The film doesn't treat the South-North division as its theme but rather takes an incredibly soft, light and sophisticated approach to it. I thought that was closer to how the audience currently feels about the division and there was something lovely about a North Korean spy and a former South Korean intelligence service agent living together. I don't think I would have done the movie if it dealt seriously about the division at times like now.

Beck:But didn't you choose to do the film because of the character or the role you would get to take on?...More

The film industry is already preparing for next year. Many renowned filmmakers have returned to Korea to produce movies about war and sequels to hit movies.

Director Im Kwon-taek will produce his 101st movie "Scooping Up The Moonlight". Directors Kim Tae-yong and Lm Sang-soo will produce remakes of "Late Autumn" ("Manchu") by Lee Man-hee and "The Housemaid" ("The Housemaid - 2010") of Kim Ki-young, respectively. Films about war will also be introduced to mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.


◇The return of maestros

"Scooping Up The Moonlight", which will be produced under the auspices of the Jeonju City government, is Im Kwon-taek's first film to be shot with digital cameras. It is a story about seventh-grade public servant Jong-ho, who wants to become a fifth-grade official. To achieve his dream, he takes charge of the traditional Korean paper "hanji" at the municipal government and becomes completely mesmerized by it. Jong-ho is played by actor Park Joong-hoon, who will appear in a Lim production for the first time. Actress Kang Soo-yeon will work together with Lim for the first time since her appearance in the 1989 movie "Come Come Come Upward".

Actress Yoon Jung-hee, who was one of the top three actresses of the 1960s along with Moon Hee and Nam Jung-im, will make a comeback for the first time after her 1994 movie "Two Flags". She will appear in Lee Chang-dong's new movie "Poetry". It is a story about a 60-something woman who raises her teenage granddaughter and receives basic living subsidies. One day she signs up for a literature class and begins to write her own poems for the first time. The movie is slated to open in early May.


◇War movies

Four films about war will open next year. They will deal with diverse subjects, including student soldiers and maritime clashes between South and North Korea. The majority of them will be large-scale productions costing more than 10 billion won.

Director Lee Jae-han's "Into the Gunfire", which is to open in June, is about a 12-hour battle that was held between 71 student soldiers and the North Korean Army at the end of the Nakdong River battle during the Korean war. Actors kwon Sang-woo and T.O.P. (Choi Seung-hyeon) of the music group Big Bang will play student soldiers. Actor Cha Weung-won will appear as a North Korean commander, while actor Kim Seung-woo will play a South Korean commander. It is a blockbuster production that will cost 15 billion won to produce and market.

Director Lim Yeo-bin, who produced "Terrorist" in 1995, will this time produce "The Red Muffler 2", which will be a sequel to late Shin Sang-ok's movie "The Red Muffler". The grandson from the original production will appear as an Air Force pilot. The production cost have reached 8 billion won, and the movie is scheduled to open in October on National Army Day.

The second Yeonpyeong Clash of 2002 will be reenacted in the 3D film "We Are Beautiful" (tent...More

The Pusan International Film Festival's Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) – an Asian feature project financing platform – announced the winners of various awards handed-out to six of the 30 projects pitched during the event. PPP ran Oct 11 – 14 during the festival and its attendant Asian Film Market.

The top winner was Decadent Sisters, a new project by Japanese director-producer AOYAMA Shinji (Eureka, Sad Vacation). It won the Pusan Award of US $20,000 presented by Busan Metropolitan City.

A Korean project was also a big winner with director Han Jae-rim ("The Rules of Dating", "...More

Manilla's 2009 Korean Film Festival opened Sept 23, offering free screenings to the public during its one week run. Sponsored by the Korean Embassy and held at Shangri-La Plaza, the fest showcases seven Korean features and celebrates the "Philippines-Republic of Korea Friendship Year".

The program features some of the most artistically accomplished films in Korean cinema over the last 9 years, including renowned and emerging directors. Korean TV dramas are already popular in the Philippines, but audiences have yet to be exposed to Korean feature filmmaking.

The seven films in the program are "Old Boy" (Park Chan-wook), "Barking Dogs Never Bite" (Bong Joon-ho...More

Director Han Jae-rim will reveal his third feature film project "Trace" – a US $7.7 million superhero blockbuster – at the Asian Film Market's PPP, a major project market that takes place during the Pusan Int'l Film Festival in October.

Based on a web-based comic series by the same title, Trace is the story of Yoon-sung, a young man who wakes up with supernatural powers after days in a coma after an assault that takes his father's life. When the assault remains unsolved due to an apathetic police, Yoon-sung takes matters into his own hands. He discovers that another man with superpowers, Hee-sup, was involved and that he wants Yoon-sung dead.

The project is to be produced by Syd Lim and SEO Woo-sik of Barunson Film Division. The company has produced such major titles as ...More