By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Cinema has seen its fair share of uncanny elderly heroines, from Miss Daisy (not) behind the driving wheel to the cross-dressing Mrs. Doubtfire, but feisty Korean grannies turning into larger-than-life bank robbers in the whim of a late-life crisis, is a first.
"Yukhyeolpo Gangdodan" ("
Revolver Gangsters' Gang") is like a hearty bowl of "makgeolli". It's brewed from vintage humor like the traditional rice wine -- the physical farce, crude jokes and other comic formulas may not be strikingly novel but they are just the stuff that make local audiences drunk with laughter.
But the family comedy is also determined to inspire tears with a dose of heartfelt drama, and Charlie Chaplin's famous saying comes to mind -- "Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up but a comedy in long-shot".
Basically, three senior citizens decide to rob a bank, or more precisely, recla...
MoreSeollal (Lunar New Year's Day) and Chuseok (Mid Autumn Festival) are the busiest season for movie theaters. As the Lunar New Year approaches, a host of Korean films are getting ready to hit the screens once the Avatar blast is over.
Many of them are so called "well-made movies" that are both entertaining and touching since the Lunar New Year's Day is a holiday for family reunion. Genres and stories range widely, offering a broad array of choices for movie goers.
A heart-warming drama about a choir of a female prison starring
Kim Yoon-jin
#The Tear-Jerker
"Harmony"
Harmony (directed by
Kang Dae-gyoo and produced by JK Film) tells the story of a choir made up by female prisoners. The globally-recognized actress
Kim Yoon-jin and Korea's representative veteran actress Na Moon-hee play the lead roles, raising expectations for movie aficionados.
Kim Yoon-jin plays Jeonghye, a young woman of great maternal love who gives birth to a baby in prison and organizes a ...
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'I wanted a role that would really be different ... but I'm attracted to strong female characters'.
When people make mention of actress
Kim Yoon-jin, the adjectives attractive, intelligent and charismatic often pop up in the text.
Kim, who is known outside of Korea as Sun Kwon on the U.S. television drama "Lost", has built her career around characters who also possess these qualities.
Now, Kim is hoping to add a new dimension to her image with a new role in the Korean film
"Harmony", which was released yesterday.
In the film she plays Jeong-hye, who is given a 10-year prison term for killing her abusive husband. Shortly after she is put in jail, Jeong-hye gives birth to a child. Eighteen months after that she will have to give up her child for adoption, in accordance with Korean law. In the meantime, Jeong-hye organizes a choir ...
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Kim Yoon-jin and Nah Moon-hee are in the human drama "Harmony". This movie will be moving bringing tears as well as laughter. This is a movie that a grandmother and a grandson can watch together!
It is set in a women's prison and there aren't real antagonists in this movie. Jeonghye acted by Kim Yoon-jin must raise her son in the prison and the music professor and the prison guard Moon-ok is acted by Nah Moon-hee. The woman with the voice of heavens Yoomi is acted by Kang Ye-won and the wrestler Yeonsil is acted by Park Joon-myeong. There are many characters and they are all good people!
Even the mean character Bang acted by Jang Young-nma...More
