By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
The box office can be as difficult to predict as the stock market, and South Korean cinema in particularly is suffering amid the global financial crisis. "
The Scam", the country's first stock market movie, will undoubtedly prove to be a smart investment. Unlike its scamming characters, newcomer director
Lee Ho-jae-I invests the right way, with a solid, "inflation-free" script and the magic chemistry of a talented cast.
The crime drama draws in viewers without becoming too technical, as it is more about the human desire for wealth than financial matters. Losing tens of millions of won in the stock market can be only a click away on the Internet. "Click", and hopeless debtors head to the Han River.
Hallyu star
Park Yong-ha (SBS's
"On Air") sheds his sleek image to play Hyeon-su, a victim of such a fatal click. After losing everything, he spends five years glued to the computer screen as an unshaven, full-time "a...
MoreRecent movies out in theaters probably left you dumbfounded for a couple of good reasons. You gaped at Kwon Oh-joong's sleek kung fu moves. (Wasn't he the chubby dude in that silly sit-com about a gynecologist's family?) Your eyes opened wide when you found out
Kim Ah-joong can sing. (She has a goddess-like figure and now she even sings?)
However stupefied, or scornful, you are, kudos to our celebrities who refuse to use understudies. But more kudos go out to the trainers who stayed behind the scenes coaching stars throughout the filming. Movieweek, a JoongAng film weekly, met with these hidden stars of recent films and the hidden-stars-to-be of blockbusters coming to theaters.
Kung fu master
Actor
Kwon O-joong depended on
Park Chan-dae, a kung fu master, for more than three months as he practiced his martial arts moves prior to the filming of the "
Three Kims".
For up to five hours a day, five days a week, Mr. Park stayed with Kwon, transforming him into the heroic kung fu coach who teams up with other martial arts leaders in a small provincial town to fight back the newest wave of gangbangers.
"Kwon already knew the basics of kung fu because he learned them when he was young, so I had a much easier time working with him than I would have with amateur understudies", Mr. Park said.
Kwon was an enthusiastic student, Mr. Park said, carrying out his assigned training regimen faithfully. As a result, Kwon's kung fu ability matches that of someone involved in the sport for five years.
As for Mr. Park, he started kung fu when he was 6. By the time he became a junior in high school, he was a national contender in Korea's wushu tournaments. He is a six-time champion in world wushu tournaments and received the presidential sports award, along with a national sports medal. In March 2001, he declared his retirement from competition. He is currently the head of the
Park Chan-dae Wushu Demonstration Team.
Sing like a rock star
Kim Ah-joong should be thankful that her director is a close friend with Lee Jae-hak, the bassist for the popular alternative rock band,
Loveholic. Leaning on a friendship that dates back 16 years to their college days,
Kim Yong-hwa,...
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