
[Jainnie's CINE KOREA]
The notable thing about director
Lee Jae-yong is that he always seems capable of achieving a smooth balance between the experimental and giving the public something they are comfortable with. In his latest film
"Actresses", Lee features six of the country's top leading ladies in one big Vogue fashion shoot, with a delicious catfight squeezed in. He wraps a classic plot about beautiful women faced with insecurities, rivals and aging inside a deceivingly edgy "mockumentary" format.
The actresses, ranging in age from their 20s to 62, play themselves - or do they? At first, the movie seems to confront the mystery surrounding actresses in ...
More

'It would be a lie to say I feel no pressure because the movie captures us in such private moments'.
For actress
Ko Hyeon-jeong, the year 2009 will be remembered as the busiest, yet most rewarding of her career, as she has been recognized for her powerful acting skills on both the small and big screens.
She displayed an unprecedented amount of charisma in the hit TV drama "
Queen Seon-deok" as Mishil, a strong female character in whom good and evil coexist as she enforces her rule and pursues her own desires. The show marked the rare appearance of a strong female character in the Korean drama scene.
Ko also won acclaim for her role in the movie "
Like You Know It All" directed by
Hong Sang-soo. It was her second collaboration with the director after the 2006 movie "
Woman on the Beach".
She left acting in 1995 when she got married to current Shinsegae Group CEO Chung Yong-jin. She returned to acting 10 years later following a...
More

Scenes from the movie
"Actresses", which stars
Yoon Yeo-jeong,
Lee Mi-sook,
Ko Hyeon-jeong,
Choi Ji-woo,
Kim Min-hee and
Kim Ok-bin, have drawn viewers' attention with their true-to-life portrayals of the actresses' lives. Sometimes it is even hard to tell the difference between fiction and reality.
Ko Hyeon-jeong says actresses cannot always pretend to be on good terms with one another because reality is very different. Here's what these top actresses had to say about their lives in accounts that were sometimes amusing and sometimes moving.
◇ Generation gap
Kim Ok-bin, who is the youngest, waits in her car when she arrives at the film set early. When
Yoon Yeo-jeong arrives, she calls her "Master
Yeo Woon-kye". When
Yoon Yeo-jeong mentions her drama "Chang Hee-bin",
Kim Ok-bin asks her what role she played in it. When the two meet in the hall and ...
More

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
"There are three types of people: men, women and actresses", and
"Actresses" brings together not one but six heroines.
The third of
Lee Jae-yong's creations to be invited to the Berlin International Film Festival,
"Actresses" tactfully endorses the movie's opening remark as it peeks into the glamorous ― and not-so-glamorous ― lives of screen beauties.
The unscripted, semi-improvisational film combines reality and fantasy, and the result is something sassy, perky and tastefully droll, though some of the in-jokes may get lost in translation for non-Korean viewers.
"But you've got to understand! They're actresses, they cannot wait!" a staff member panics, as the jewelry that the actresses are supposed to wear in a Vogue magazine spread gets stuck in a snow storm ...
More