The Restless (2006) - 중천 (中天) (Joong-cheon)

Song Yoon-ah, Kim Tae-hee, Stars who have risen through evil roles

2008/05/01 | Source | Permalink |

In timeless stories, the evil characters are as famous as the main characters that they bother. But the stronger and more evil the character is, it is a bigger harm to the image of an actor.

This is why famous actors didn't take on evil roles, and new or unknown actors who wanted to leave a lasting impression took on these roles.

The actress who has received the most recognition for her evil role is Song Yoon-ah. In "Mister Q", she bothered Kim Hee-seon, the female lead, for Kim Min-jong. Viewers remembered her for her evil role, but now, she is receiving lots of love for her great acting in various roles.

Kim Tae-hee, a top star today, also rose with an evil role. She would stare at Choi Ji-woo with piercing eyes in SBS "Stairway to Heaven". Then, she changed her image through dramas "Forbidden Love", "Love Story in Harvard", and movie "The Restless".

Lee Bo-yeong, who has an innocent image, received popularity for her execution of an evil role. She left a lasting impressi...| More

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Trend in 2007 box-office success in Korean film industry, "The naming value of a star and the number of audience are in inverse proportion"

2008/01/07 | Source | Permalink |

"What is the interrelationship between the naming value of a star and the number of audience?"

In conclusion, the interrelationship is inverse proportion according to the trend in 2007 box-office success in Korean film industry. Among the 100 movies released this year, only 4 movies had more than 3 million audiences, including "D-War" (8 million), "May 18" (7 million), "Voice of Murderer" (3.25 million) and "Le Grand Chef" which recently reached 3 million.

Among many movies that went into the black, following are those which closely reached the break-even point, including "Miracle on 1st Street" (Im Chang-jeong and Ha Ji-won), "Voice of Murderer" (Seol Kyeong-gu and Kim Nam-joo), "May 18" (Kim Sang-kyeong and Lee Yo-won), "D-War" (Jason Behr), "Paradise 1986" (Park Hae-il and Seong Ji-roo), and "Le Grand Chef" (Kim Kang-woo and Lee Ha-na). Among the 100 movies released this year, only 7% made a profit.

However, all movies that drew attention for top stars' appearance have fa...| More

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Christmas blues besiege three Korean actresses

2007/12/26 | Source | Permalink |

Kim Tae-hee, Han Ye-seul and Choi Kang-hee enjoy similarly enviable public recognition as attractive actresses. But they are going through a similarly gloomy Christmas holiday.

The three actresses are now competing at the box office, jockeying for a position in the usually crowded year-end holiday season. But their films are struggling to gain a foothold in terms of ticket sales.

Kim Tae-hee, who plays a tough housewife clashing with her husband in Han Ji-seung's latest comic drama "Venus and Mars" (Ssaum), is dealing with the second lackluster public reception in as many big-screen attempts. Last year, she joined the 10 billion won ($10.6 million) film project "The Restless", which tanked at the box office with a mere 1 million tickets sold.

Released on Dec. 12, "Venus and Mars" sold about 320,000 tickets in two weeks. The film had drawn keen interest as director Han, a leading filmmaker known for his sophisticated style, has taken the helm, and equally famous actor Seol Kyeo...| More

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Divorcee Kim Tae-hee in Movie Ssam

2007/12/11 | Source | Permalink |

I've met many actresses in my day, but I must say Kim Tae-hee tops them all. She resembles a porcelain doll come to life.

She rose as the advertising model queen with her looks, but her acting skills took a harsh beating from critics after her first big screen movie "The Restless" was released last year. Now, her second movie, "Ssaum" ("Venus and Mars"), will be released on December 13. It's about a post-divorce battle between cowardly neat-freak Sang-min (Seol Kyeong-gu) who never says sorry, and fierce-tempered Jina (Kim Tae-hee). Kicking and screaming, Kim goes around with runny mascara eyes wielding a steel pipe, but everybody agrees, she was still very much the pretty face in the film. This may or may not be a compliment.

At any rate, Kim has bared her ambitions to the Korean film-going audience, and the stakes for her are higher than ever before.

Did you originally intend to be a messy person in the film?-

"I know that people want me to look messy. If I did this movie...| More

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Film puts new spin on domestic violence

2007/11/19 | Source | Permalink |

Director Han Ji-seung enjoyed a high degree of popularity in the 1990s with sophisticated films such as "Yellow Ribbon" and "A Day", but since 2000 he has not made a movie.

He is coming back with "Venus and Mars" (Ssaum), which will hit the theaters on Dec. 13. The film is drawing attention not only because it is Han's comeback feature, but also because the country's top actors took part in the project.

The new film stars Seol Kyeong-gu ("Public Enemy" and "Silmido") and Kim Tae-hee ("The Restless"), and the peculiar storyline -- a married couple fighting viciously and violently -- raises speculation about how the two stars have adapted to their new, challenging roles.

For Sol, acing tough is a piece of cake. He is, after all, adept at playing the tough guy. But what he has to deal with in "Venus and Mars" is a seemingly frail and vulnerable character played by Kim, who is now the most sought-after actress in Korea. Of course, Kim's character is not so fragile once the couple ...| More

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