Super Family (Movie - 2005)

Hwangjin-y - Movie - 2007 screens in North Korea

Source | 2007/06/01 | 0 comments | Permalink |

The big-budget period drama "Hwangjin-y - Movie - 2007" has received a special screening in North Korea ahead of its local release.

The film, which is based on the life of Korea's most famous gisaeng (the Korean equivalent to the Japanese "geisha"), is adapted from a famous novel by North Korean author Hong Seok-jung.

As the novel references several famous sites in what is now North Korea, the filmmakers made a special effort to shoot the film's final segment at the Geumgang ("Diamond") Mountain resort area in the North. The Geumgang complex is the one part of North Korea that is freely open to tourists from the South, following its development as a tourist complex in 2000. "Hwangjin-y - Movie - 2007" is the second Korean film to shoot in the complex, following comedy "A Bold Family" ("Super Family") in 2005.

The screening was held in the Geumgang complex for South Korean tourists and employees of the Hyundai Asan company that operates the tours. A total of 6000 people ...| More

Two Friends to Co-Star in New Movie

Source | 2006/11/20 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

Kim Soo-ro and Kam Woo-seong, two veteran actors, worked together on the upcoming comedy film "Ssonda" ("Shooting)". Close friends in real life, they are confident that their combination will produce some laughs.

"I was able to focus all my energy on the film without having to use some of it to get to know unfamiliar co-stars", Kim said Friday during a news conference at Lafesta Mall in Ilsan, Kyonggi Province. "Working with people I know definitely helps me to make more commercially successful films".

The friendship between the two 36-year-old men began when they co-starred in the 2005 comedy "A Bold Family" ("Super Family"), in which they played brothers with contrasting personalities but the same goal: their father's fortune.

In the new film, directed by Park Jeong-woo, the actors play men with totally different personalities who accidentally meet at a police station and spend the night together. The movie depicts their struggles in gettin...| More

'Kidnappers' Needs Education to Be Funny

Source | 2006/11/02 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter

The first and most important mission of comedy movies is to see that the audience bursts into laughter.

But it seems that local directors are often obsessed with the idea that they should also include a new perspective or message at the end of their comedy films.

If their attempt is unsuccessful, however, viewers can get easily lost in between hilariousness and seriousness and the movie can flop.

The new film " Chanhokhan Chulgun" (Educating Kidnappers - "A Cruel Attendance") seems to be a victim of such an obsession.

In the first half, the film succeeds in cracking hilarious jokes from humorous situations, but the remainder of the film bores the audience with the theme of "the importance of family".

The film, directed by Kim Tae-yoon, is centered on the irony of a kidnapper's daughter being kidnapped.

The main character is Tong-chul (played by Kim Soo-ro), who finds himself in trouble after his failed stock investment, he loses a ...| More

Angry Vampires

Source | 2006/02/10 | 0 comments | Permalink |

by Seung-Jae Lee

Let's get this straight. The movie "Vampire Cop Ricky" is not what you'd expect. It's about 40 degrees off from what you're imagining, with less laughter and more seriousness.

What makes this movie so disconcerting is that there's a disparity between what viewers want Kim Soo-ro to be, and what he himself aspires to be. So it's not that the movie can't make you laugh, it's that it won't.

Here's the gist of the story: Na Do-yeol, played by Kim Soo-ro, transforms into a vampire only when he's angry or aroused. One day, a cop named Kang (Cheon Ho-jin) who's been a brother to Na, is struck down by villain Tak Moon-su (Son Byeong-ho). Tak has been working for Na to stay undercover. Conflicted, Na decides to go for revenge, but is stopped in his tracks by a bounty hunter (Oh Kwang-rok).

Who is Kim Soo-ro? He is an actor who has made people laugh in numerous movies like, "Attack the Gas Station!"; "The Foul King"; "Volcano High"; "S Diary" and "Super Family". He'...| More

Local and Foreign Films With English Subtitles

Source | 2005/09/08 | 0 comments | Permalink |

A State of Mind

Until the end of September

Hypertheque Nada, Kangbyon CGV

Directed by British filmmaker Daniel Gordon, the 2004 documentary tells a story of two female North Korean gymnasts who dedicate themselves to the Mass Games. Gordon, the first foreigner to shoot a documentary in Pyongyang, sheds light on the lives of ordinary people in North Korea through the two gymnasts, apart from any political stance. In the documentary filmed in the secretive communist nation for about six months, 13-year-old Park Hyon-sun and 11-year-old Kim Song-yon practice their skills to honor their "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il, but lead ordinary lives like people of other countries. Along with "A State of Mind", the director's first documentary on North Korea will also be shown at theaters for the first time. "The Game of Their Lives" in 2001 is a story about the big breakthrough of the North Korean national football team in the 1966 World Cup. The two documentary films are shown at Hypertheque ...| More