Kim Hyeong-ja (김형자)

2007/01/18 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

The new film "Mapado 2" is a sequel to a 2005 comedy, a story about a strange island where only a bunch of old grandmothers live.

The original was an unexpected hit, selling over 3 million tickets nationwide _ a huge success, especially given its low production budget of $3 million and its lack of big stars.

However, compared to the original, the sequel may be seen as a lazy and boring voyage to the same destination.

Most crewmembers from the original are on board for the sequel with only a few new members hired, including the director, Lee Sang-hoon.

But despite a few efforts to differ from the original, the film promises a safe journey with the familiar jokes and humor, which are, however, funny and enjoyable.

In the film, former detective Chung-su (played by Lee Moon-sik) takes a secret mission from a dying president of a big company. The businessman wants to see his first love before he dies.

The only information the detective ha...

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2005/04/01 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

A middle-aged revolution has taken control of movie theaters. For the third week since its release, the comedy "Mapa Island" - 'Mapado' has reigned supreme at the box office, surpassing the 2 million-viewer mark Friday. The film is completely devoid of top stars or even young actors.

In an era when films are drawing 10 million or more, 2 million might not seem like a lot, but the star driving the film's promotion is a middle-aged "grandmother-grade" actress, and middle-aged folk also make up the bulk of the filmgoers. The film -- starring 55 year-old Kim Hyeong-ja, 65-year-old Yeo Wun-gye, 54-year-old Kim Soo-mi and other actors of yesteryear as well as 39-year-old "perpetual supporting actor" Lee Moon-sik in his first leading role -- is leaving behind Academy Award-winner "Million Dollar Baby" and youth-oriented action comedy "She's on Duty".

"Mapo Island" - 'Mapado' is without precedent in drawing a 40-and-up crowd usually resigned to their living room home theaters. "In the ...

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2005/03/12 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

Comedy is one of the most favored genres in the Korean film industry. Moviegoers tend to favor slapstick, and though its intelligence level is often sub-zero, bigger and easier ticket sales bolstered by meaningless laughs and giggles are what producers and investors want.

"Mapado", directed by Cheong Chang-min, falls more or less into the comic genre. The issue to consider is whether the film breaks any fresh ground in offering the familiar fare of slapstick-oriented acts.

The plot is fairly straightforward. Two men - an unlikely combination of a corrupt detective and a good-looking gangster - happen to work together as a woman working for a former gangster boss runs away with a Lotto jackpot worth 16 billion won (yes, this cinematic device is now used in almost all of Korean comedy movies).

The boss orders his underling Jae-chul (Lee Jeong-jin) to nab the woman, and Chung-soo (Lee Moon-sik), a detective who is good at getting bribes rather than arresting criminals, gets inv...

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2005/03/03 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

"Mapado", or "The Island Named Mapa", slated for release on March 11, is quite a challenging film: the main characters in this movie, which purportedly targets an audience in their twenties, are middle-aged with nothing particular to enhance their appeal. They are Yeo Un-kye (aged 64), Kim Eul-dong (59), Kim Soo-mi (53), Kim Hyeong-ja (54), and the stage actress Gil Hae-yeon (40). Acting as "bizarre" elderly residents of a remote island called Mapado, the five women "play on" two male strangers: a gangster named Jae-chul (Lee Jeong-jin) and an absurd detective named Chung-soo (Lee Moon-sik). I met the five actresses for an interview on February 28. They kept saying to me, "Relax. Relax. Feel at home with us. We are not like pretty young actresses. Our director was at his ease with us too". I felt as if I was left alone on Mapado.

The fact that such experienced actresses came together for the interview was joyful and overwhelming at the same time. Unlike in the movie, where they sp...

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