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 Im Sang-soo will produce remakes of "Late Autumn" by
Lee Man-hee and "The Housemaid" 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 "Poem". 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" (tentative title) and "Yeonpyeong Maritime Clash". The former will be produced by director
Kwak Gyeong-taek, who produced ...
More2002 Venice Film Festival's Best actress winner
Moon So-ri will challenge herself this time with a leading role in director
Hong Sang-soo's next project. Details about HONG's film are sparse. The celebrated indie director is known for improvisation, writing and rewriting while filming.
Kim Sang-kyeong has been cast in the male leading role. It will be KIM's third film with HONG after "...
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Entertainment stars and documentaries have been thought to be an odd combination, but that perception is now changing. Recently, stars have not only been lending their voices to, appearing in and producing documentaries, but are also becoming the subjects themselves.
◇ Celebrities taking active part in making documentaries
It is no longer unusual for a star to narrate a documentary, as the genre is trying to appeal to more viewers regardless of the topic dealt with.
Actor
Kim Sang-kyeong recently narrated a "MBC Special" program investigating an arson incident in a crammed residence in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul in February. Comedienne
Kim Mi-hwa, TV show host Kim Sung-joo, and actor
Lee Beom-soo lent their voices to the MBC medical documentary "Doctors", and actor
Ahn Seong-gi lent his to "Tears of the Arctic", an eye-opening documentary about arctic inhabitants which was aired on MBC late last year and received a positive re...
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"May 18", a film which attracted 7.3 million moviegoers last year and was chosen by audience members as the Best Film of 2007, will open in theaters in Japan in May.
The film will be distributed by Japan's leading film production and distribution company Kadokawa Pictures. The PG-12 rated film will open in numerous cinemas around Tokyo, including Shinjuku and Shibuya.
The film features some of Korea's top actors, including
Kim Sang-kyeong, ...
MoreApart from being famous worldwide, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Al Gore and Zinedine Zidane have one other thing in common -- they were born in the Year of the Rat, according to the traditional zodiac system still widely used in Korea.
With the first day of the Lunar New Year tomorrow, rats, the first among the 12 animals in the zodiac, symbolize diligence, fecundity and cleverness. Kim Hoon, a top-rated writer, was born in the rat year, and nobody questions his diligence.
Forget dirty, germ-spreading rodents because the zodiac only focuses on the positive traits of each animal. There are plenty of role models for those who identify themselves with the rodent. Mickey Mouse is a fine example. Or Remy of "Ratatouille", a young rat who cooks delicious meals at a French restaurant.
Since there are only 12 animals, it is hardly surprising that Korea has many celebrities who were born in the Year of the Rat. But what's unusual is that many of today's leading stars, now in their mid-30s, were born in 1972, another rat year.
Seo Tai-ji is a case in point. Seo's 15th anniversary album, released in November last year, instantly sold out, and he is getting ready to release his eigth regular album in March this year. His comeback is delibera...
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