Seol Kyung-Gu 설경구

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September 1, 2015

SUL Kyung-gu, KIM Nam-gil Board New Thriller
WON Shin-yun to Helm A MURDERER’S GUIDE TO MEMORIZATION

by Pierce Conran / KoBiz

Stars SUL Kyung-gu and KIM Nam-gil are set to team up for the upcoming thriller A Murderer’s Guide to Memorization. Based on the novel of the same title (published in 2013) from popular author KIM Young-ha, the film will be the fifth feature outing for WON Shin-yun, director of The Suspect (2013).
 
SUL will play an ageing serial killer suffering from Alzheimer’s who hasn’t committed a murder in 25 years as he strives to take care of his daughter, whom he stole from one of his victims. However, fearing for his daughter’s life, he decides to take one last life, that of her boyfriend.
 
The Pirates star KIM, who will first be seen in yet-to-be-released The Hymn and Pandora, will play the suspicious boyfriend while Seol Hyun (Gangnam Blues and member of K-pop group AOA) will play the daughter. Meanwhile, veteran star SUL is gearing up for the release of Korean War film The Long Way Home, in September, and will also be seen in the thriller Lucid Dream later this year.
 
Showbox will handle distribution for the title, which will go before cameras later this year.

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September 4, 2015

September box office to be dominated by men

It was the summer of women in Korean cinema, with heavyweights like Jun Ji-hyun (Gianna Jun), Uhm Jeong-hwa, Jeon Do-yeon and Lee Jung-hyun all returning to the screen around the same time. Now, the men are poised to take over for September. 

Here‘s a look at some of the Korean films coming up in September.

Deep Trap (Sept. 10)
Directed by Kwon Hyung-jin

Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee), a fan favorite who often provides balance and comic relief to otherwise heavy action movies, returns to the screen as the single lead role in “Deep Trap.” The film follows a young couple as they go on vacation to a remote island, where danger awaits. People who know Ma from his adorable role in 2013’s “Marriage Blue” or his easygoing part in this year’s “The Chronicles of Evil” should be forewarned: The movie is very graphic, and you may never see him the same way again.

The Throne (Sept. 16)
Directed by Lee Joon-ik

“The Throne” is easily one of this year’s most anticipated films, helmed by the director of “King and the Clown” and featuring an all-star cast. Song Kang-ho of “Snowpiercer” and “Thirst” plays Yeongjo, the 21st king of Joseon, through 40 years of his life. The film delves into the conflict between the king and his crown prince Sado (Yoo Ah-in, whose last movie “Veteran” surpassed 10 million tickets sold), which ultimately led to the young prince’s death. “The Throne” is this year’s Korean submission to the Academy Awards for the Foreign Language Film category.

The Long Way Home (Sept. 24)
Directed by Cheon Sung-il

“The Long Way Home,” one of two films to open for the Chuseok weekend, is the story of two soldiers during the Korean War -- one from North Korea, and one from South Korea -- who have no interest in ideology, and just want to find their way home. Sul Kyung-gu of “Hope” and “Haeundae” plays a South Korean farmer who is dragged into war and suddenly finds himself responsible for a top secret document. That document is stolen by a young North Korean soldier (Yeo Jin-gu, of TV show “Orange Marmalade” and film “Hwayi: A Monster Boy,”) who has to somehow safely drive a tank home.

The Accidental Detective (Sept. 24)
Directed by Kim Joung-hoon

The other film to open for Chuseok weekend is “The Accidental Detective,” a comedy about a veteran homicide detective (Sung Dong-il) and a mystery blogger (Kwon Sang-woo of “Pain” and “71- Into the Fire”) who become an unexpected team as they try to discover the truth behind a murder cover-up. The hardened detective is annoyed at every turn by the overambitious blogger, but in the end he knows that they must join forces to find the actual culprit. 

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)

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September 7, 2015

Sol Kyung-gu and Yeo Jin-goo to battle in war flick

Lotte Entertainment on Monday released images of the seven main actors of the upcoming war film “The Long Way Home."

In the poster, Sol Kyung-gu and Yeo Jin-goo, respectively, donned the uniforms of the South and North Korean militaries.

Sol plays a confused farmer-turned-soldier, while Yeo is described to have only seen the tanks in books until the fateful day he was drafted. The film’s plot involves a confidential document that could critically affect the development of the war.

“The Long Way Home” will open on Sept. 24 in South Korea. 

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

[Guest adikkeluangman]

There Is Something Different in the Production Schedule for a Film Starring Yeo Jin Goo

Actor Sol Kyung Gu revealed that there is something different in the production schedule for a film when it stars Yeo Jin Goo.

On the September 9 broadcast of SBS‘s “One Night of TV Entertainment,” Sol Kyung Gu and Yeo Jin Goo, who co-star in the movie “The Western Front,” are reached for an interview.

Sol Kyung Gu reveals, “The funniest and freshest thing about this movie was Yeo Jin Goo.” To much laughter, he explains, “When I got the schedule, it said, ‘Yeo Jin Goo’s midterm exams’ and ‘Yeo Jin Goo’s final exams.’”

In the making film that was revealed, Sol Kyung Gu is seen yelling to Yeo Jin Goo who is leaving the set, “Bye, Young Kwang! Good luck on your finals!” allowing us to peek into their great relationship and what’s it is like to have a 18-year old high school student on set.

http://www.soompi.com/2015/09/09/there-is-something-different-in-the-production-schedule-for-a-film-starring-yeo-jin-goo/

Hahaha, this is so cute. Because YJG looks much older, people tend to forget that he still in high school and going to school just like normal kid. I'm glad that he don't do home-schooling and going to school is the normal thing that he can do now.

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September 15, 2015

‘The Long Way Home’ Holds the Press Showing Session

Source: BNTNews

[by Woorim Ahn, photo by Baek Soo Yeon] Movie ‘The Long Way Home’ held its press showing at Konkuk Lotte Cinema in Kwangjin-gu, Seoul on September 15. 

The film is about a story of South Korean soldier Nambok (Seol Kyung Goo) and North Korean soldier Young Kwang (Yeo Jin Goo) fighting for a confidential document. 

Meanwhile, ‘The Long Way Home’ will premiere nationwide on September 24. (photo by bntnews DB)

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September 15, 2015

Sul Kyung-gu and Yeo Jin-goo's bromance blooms in 'The Long Way Home'

Source: OSEN via Hancinema.net

Flowers bloom even during a war. Although you may feel there's something missing because it is a bromance, not romance between a man and a woman, Seol Kyeong-gu and Yeo Jin-goo's comical and impassioned acting performance fill up the gap. Right after they bring laughs in a comical scene, the audience is exposed to a painful agony of a war that a country had to experience. Laughs in a tragedy is always sad and funny at the same time.

It isn't that easy to make the audience laugh and smile in turn. First of all, it should be based on a good scenario that maintains the emotional thread throughout the storyline. And of course there should be the strong acting performances by great actors.

The two leading actors in "The Long Way Home" Seol Kyeong-gu and Yeo Jin-goo bring on such funny scene through their almost perfect interaction. While the audience is laughing, they all of sudden become to realize the tragic reality of a war. However, there are no such tacky efforts trying to make the audience laugh hard and cry hard in turn intentionally.

"The Long Way Home" depicts a dangerous battle over a confidential military document, between a South Korean soldier, who enlisted by surprise while he used to be a farmer, and a North Korean solider, who learned how to operate a tank by a textbook only.

The South Korean private Nam-bok (Seol Kyeong-gu) and the North Korean private Yeong-gwang (Yeo Jin-goo), who happened grab the document in his hands, encounter each other at west frontline. The movie depicts the efforts of the two comically, who carry out their mission so that they can return to each one's home safely.

The irreplaceable A-list actor Seol Kyeong-gu and Yeo Jin-goo, who was awarded Best New Actor at Blue Dragon Film Awards for his role in "Hwayi : A Monster Boy", will show off their pleasant chemistry.

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September 16, 2015

'The Long Way Home': Predictable but warm, humorous war movie

By Shim Sun-ah

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) - Any surprises in the story of two soldiers -- one from the South, the other from the North -- scuffling over a classified military document during the 1950-53 Korean War?

   Many moviegoers might predict a plot in which the two try to kill each other at first and become friends at last, with a tearful farewell to their home countries at the end, as both Koreas remain separated since the war.

And they would be right because the film "The Long Way Home" does not move an inch from that path, to the disappointment of many. It also is a very slow-tempo movie with many blank spaces like a traditional Korean black-and-white painting, which some viewers might find boring.

A still cut from "The Long Way Home," a Korean war film set to open in local theaters on Sept. 24, 2015 (Yonhap) A still cut from "The Long Way Home," a Korean war film set to open in local theaters on Sept. 24, 2015 (Yonhap)

But what fills the blanks is a brilliant performance by the two lead actors -- Sul Kyung-gu and Yeo jin-gu. Their doofus episodes and idiotic conversations reminiscent of "Dumb and Dumber" give unexpected humor for those who only expected a war drama. The film also has spectacular battle scenes and a message of inter-Korean reconciliation through the friendship of the two soldiers.

Sul played Nambok, a 40-something ignorant farmer conscripted to the war, who leaves his wife and newborn at home. Nambok is put on a mission to deliver a classified military document that may decide the fate of the war but loses it while under attack from the enemy. He then comes to face a young North Korean soldier named Yeonggwang (played by Yeo) who happens to acquire the secret document on his way to the North. He is the lone survivor of an air bombing that killed all of his comrades.

Yeonggwang is an ordinary high schooler who joined the army and became the youngest member of a North Korean tank unit. After being told by his dying superior that he would face being shot to death if he abandoned the unit's tank, he becomes desperate to drive it to the North.

A still cut from "The Long Way Home," a Korean war film set to open in local theaters on Sept. 24, 2015 (Yonhap) A still cut from "The Long Way Home," a Korean war film set to open in local theaters on Sept. 24, 2015 (Yonhap)

Nambok also desperately chases Yeonggwang, knowing that he will face death if he goes back to his army unit without the secret document.

They then confront each other inside the North Korean tank, with Nambok trying to retrieve the secret document and Yeonggwang refusing to return it, dreaming of becoming a hero when he goes back to the North with it.

It is the directorial debut for scriptwriter Cheon Sung-il, who wrote "The Pirates," a 2014 box-office hit that drew 8.66 million viewers and "My Girlfriend is an Agent" seen by 4 million people in 2008.

The film is scheduled to open in local theaters on Sept. 24.

sshim@yna.co.kr

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September 20, 2015

‘Veteran’ Hwang Jung-min selected best actor by directors

(K.S.C)

The Korean Society of Cinematographers said that actor Hwang Jung-min will receive the grand actor award at the 35th Golden Cinema Film Festival, to take place on Sunday at 6 p.m. 

“Ode to My Father,” the 2014 hit film in which Hwang played the lead role, will bag the best film award while its director Yoon Je-kyoon will get the award for best director. 

Best male and female acting awards will go to Sol Kyung-gu of “My Dictator” and Kim Hye-soo of “Coin Locker Girl.”

Yoo Hae-jin of “The Pirates,” Park Chul-min of “Clown of a Salesman” will be corecipients of the best male supporting role award, while Han Ji-min of “Salut d’Amour” will take the trophy for its female counterpart. 

Kang Ha-neul of “Twenty” and Yoo Yeon-seok of “The Royal Tailor” will receive the newcomer award, along with Kim Sae-ron of “A Girl at My Door” and Hong Ah-reum of “Makgeolli Girls.” 

The newcomer director award will go to Han Jun-hee of “Coin Locker Girl” and July Jung of “A Girl at My Door.” 

Golden Cinema Film Festival was founded in 1977 to award film works on a yearly basis.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

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Source: CINE21

NO.1023 | 2015-09-22 ~ 2015-10-06

[Guest adikkeluangman]

Yeo Jin Goo Jokes About Box Office Hopes for New Film on “My Little Television”

Actor Yeo Jin Goo appeared on September 19′s episode of “My Little Television” as contestant Kim Gura‘s secret weapon!

Kim Gura won the competition last time, and he’s gearing for the win again this week. Since his section is all about movies, he invites young star Yeo Jin Goo as one of his guests to talk about his upcoming film.

Yeo Jin Goo stars in the Korean War film “Western Front” with Seol Kyung Gu. As Kim Gura and his guests chat about the movie and Yeo Jin Goo’s success, Kim Gura asks Yeo Jin Goo how many people he expects will go see it.

“There have been a lot of films lately that have sold over 10 million tickets,” says Yeo Jin Goo, “but I don’t expect that.”

“However, because of the same syllable in my name and Seol Kyung Gu’s, I expect there will be 9.99 million tickets sold,” he jokes. The number nine can be pronounced as “goo” (alternatively written as “gu”) in Korean.

“Western Front” will be hitting theaters on September 24.

http://www.soompi.com/2015/09/19/yeo-jin-goo-jokes-about-box-office-hopes-for-new-film-on-my-little-television/ 

[Guest adikkeluangman]

Yeo Jin Goo Says Age Is Just a Number, Looks Forward to Dating

Yeo Jin Goo has just made the day of noona fans by revealing he has nothing against dating older women in the very near future.

On the September 20 episode of MBC’s “Section TV,” Yeo Jin Goo and Sol Kyung Gu sit down for an interview to promote their latest film “The Long Way Home.”

When asked what he looks forward the most about turning 20 — which is the legal age in Korea — next year, Yeo Jin Goo replies, “I want to start dating.”

Sol Kyung Gu then reveals, “Three months left. Noonas, that’s not too long. I sneakily asked him about [age difference], and he said up to 10 years is okay.”

The currently 19-year-old actor goes on to explain, “Even more than that is fine. I honestly don’t care about age.”

http://www.soompi.com/2015/09/20/yeo-jin-goo-says-age-is-just-a-number-looks-forward-to-dating/ 

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September 20, 2015

Kim Hye Soo and Sul Kyung Gu to be awarded the Best Actress and Actor

Source: Segye via Hancinema.net

Seol Kyeong-gu and Kim Hye-soo are being awarded the Golden Films Best Actress and Actor Award.

According to the Korean Films Directors Association, the 35th Golden Films Awards Grand Prizes go to Seol Kyeong-gu and Kim Hye-soo for "My Dictator" and "Coin Locker Girl".

Seol Kyeong-gu played a nameless theatrical actor in "My Dictator" while Kim Hye-soo played a female boss of a gang organization in "Coin Locker Girl".

Meanwhile, "Ode to My Father" is a nominee for 3 awards in a row.

The Best Supporting Actor Award goes to Yoo Hae-jin, Park Cheol-min and Han Ji-min.

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September 22, 2015

Becoming friends on screen and off

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

Yeo Jin-gu, Sul Kyung-gu. Provided by Studio 706

The time is the 1950-53 Korean War. In the upcoming film “The Long Way Home,” two soldiers from different sides of the Korean Peninsula accidentally encounter each other amid the deadly conflict and form an unlikely friendship. Forty-something Nam-bok from the southern side is conscripted to fight, leaving behind his farm. Yeong-gwang from the northern side is only 18 years old but assigned to drive a tank. Encompassing both drama and humor, this family-friendly film directed by Cheon Sung-il is slated to hit theaters this Thursday, in time for the Chuseok holiday (harvest festival).

The JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, recently met with the film’s two leading actors - Sul Kyung-gu and Yeo Jin-gu - for an interview.

On screen, Yeo is never an immature high schooler. The 18-year-old has always taken on adult-like characters with darker sides, in works like “Hwayi: A Monster Boy” (2013) and “Shoot Me in the Heart” (2014). But in “The Long Way Home,” Yeo seems to finally be acting his own age, playing the cheerful, innocent Yeong-gwang. 

Q. Your character Yeong-gwang, a North Korean, seems to be one of the most naive characters you have taken on. How do you feel about it?

Yeo: That is true. Yeong-gwang is a wide-eyed boy who doesn’t know anything about the cruelty in the world. And he doesn’t even know how to face those cruelties. I have showed a lot of dark sides in my previous roles, but this character will cross the line between dark and light. 

Unlike other war movies, this one depicts soldiers running for their lives from the battles. How do you feel about this?

Yeo: The film shows two very ordinary soldiers from different sides confronting each other on a grim battlefield. Of course, there were warriors who risked their lives in battles, but these guys just want to go home. It can be perceived as a more humane story. 

What was it like acting with Sul?

Yeo: I was really worried at first. I had to bully him at first because he is my enemy, but that was really hard because he is many years my senior. But on the set, he broke the ice first by saying bad words as a joke.

You graduate high school next year. What do you want to do first when you grow up?

Yeo: Until now, I have always answered this question by saying that I want to get a driver’s license and travel somewhere. But to tell you the truth, my real No. 1 wish is to go on a date. I want to feel that fresh, ticklish feeling. I should have done something when I was in high school, but I couldn’t because it was an all-boys high school (laughs). 

How did you pull off romantic performances then?

Yeo: It was really hard. Like many men, I am very blunt and unskilled at expressing my feelings. When I do romantic scenes, I try to get it done in the first take because I get so embarrassed. These days, fortunately, I can allow myself to feel attraction toward my on-screen partner. 

The 47-year-old Sul is not a sweet guy at first glance. While posing for photos during the interview, the experienced actor didn’t stop grumbling, although not in a serious way, asking if he had done enough by now. But until the end, he finished all tasks asked of him. Sul resembles his character Nam-bok a lot in this way. While pretending to be a complainer on the outside, he really has a warm heart.

Q. Looking at your filmography, it seems like rough and tough roles that get beaten up suit you better than the noble, white-collar ones?

Sul: I feel like I have done something right if I suffer while filming. Compared to “Rikidozan: A Hero Extraordinary” (2004), where I had to speak Japanese while wrestling, this film wasn’t so tough. After all, it is a comedy-drama depicting the squabbles of Nam-bok and Yeong-gwang 

Nam-bok and Yeong-gwang first confront each other as enemies. But it is Nam-bok who raises a white flag first and approaches Yeong-gwang. Why is that so?

Sul: Although they point guns at each other at first, seeing that Yeong-gwang is so young, Nam-bok must have felt that he is like a son to him rather than an enemy. 

And in the end, you help Yeong-gwang survive as well. 

Sul: For Nam-bok, trying to save himself as well as Yeong-gwang is not an act of heroism. It is like an instinct. What is the most valuable to him is getting by day-to-day without any trouble.

What was it like pairing up with Yeo Jin-gu?

Sul: Except for the fact that Jin-gu can’t drink, he was the one whom I clicked with the best out of all the staff and actors for this film. Jin-gu is very untainted and has a pure mind, but at the same time, he has strong aspirations for acting. I was at times envious of him because he started his career so early. I was just an ordinary high school boy at his age. 

BY JANG SUNG-RAN, KIM HYO-EUN [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]

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September 22, 2015

(Yonhap Interview) Actor attracted by dullness of 'The Long Way Home'

SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- Seol Gyeong-gu, one of the top actors in South Korea, said Tuesday that his new film "The Long Way Home" is quite attractive ironically because it lacks in polish.

"The film is a B-listed comedy," he said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency at a cafe in central Seoul. "The film itself is unpolished and so are its lead characters, which I think are a good match."

   It is the directorial debut for scriptwriter Cheon Sung-il, who wrote "The Pirates," a 2014 box-office hit that drew 8.66 million viewers and "My Girlfriend is an Agent" seen by 4 million people in 2008.

In the forthcoming film, Seol played Nambok, a 40-something ignorant farmer conscripted to the war and assigned a mission to deliver a classified military document that may decide the fate of the war. After losing it while under attack from the enemy, he then faces a young North Korean soldier named Yeonggwang (played by Yeo Jin-gu) who happens to acquire the secret document on his way to the North.

Their goofy episodes and idiotic conversations reminiscent of "Dumb and Dumber" give unexpected humor for those who only expected a touching war drama.

The movie poured most of its 8 billion won (US$6.7 million) in production cost into filming the battle scenes that appear at its first and last parts. But most of the interaction between the two actors happen inside a full-size replica of a North Korean tank used during the 1950-53 Korean War, which cost the production company 150 million won to make.

"I received a call on the first day of the filming that I don't have to come because the tank won't move," Seol said, recalling the day.

Even after it was fixed, the tank kept making noise, so the actors had to work in constant fear.

"I probably would have gotten my dander up in such circumstances, but the funny thing is that I could not hate them," he said, referring to the filmmaker and the crew.

That was not all. As the shooting took place in the middle of the routine annual joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, the noise of scrambling jet fighters interrupted work, according to him. "I had fun while filming the film though, not because I worked in perfect harmony with the cast and the crew but because of those happenings. It was an odd experience."

Questioned about his favorite roles on the silver screen, he selected Yeong-ho, a distraught middle-aged man in "A Peppermint Candy," a 1999 film by Lee Chang-dong, and Cheol-jung, a cop in director Kang Woo-suk's "Public Enemy" (2002).

"It was hard to portray the two characters the most, but I think they will remain long in my memory."

 The 47-year-old actor shot to fame with the 1999 film that was the opener of the 4th edition of the Busan International Film Festival.

But he said his worst character also was Cheol-jung who turned into a prosecutor in "Another Public Enemy," the sequel to the 2002 film. "I had the prejudice about prosecutors as those in power, so I hated his formal and high-handed way of speaking."

Seol is known for gaining or losing a lot of weight in a short period of time through intensive exercises and diet to prepare himself for his next movie characters.

He weighed over 100 kilograms when he filmed "Rikidozan: A Hero Extraordinary," a 2004 Korean film about a legendary Korean-Japanese pro-wrestler. In comparison, his average weight is around 80 kilograms.

After shooting the latest film, Seol said he lost about 10 kilograms for the next role in the big screen: a serial killer suffering Alzheimer's in director Won Shin-yun's "Murderer's Guide to Memorization."

 Based on Korean author Kim Young-ha's best-selling novel by the same name, filming is scheduled to begin late next month.

"I'm gaining weight again. I have to slim down," he said with a laugh.

sshim@yna.co.kr

[rubie]

September 30, 2015

[V Report Plus] Top 5 Korean actors with most ticket sales since 2002

South Korea’s English broadcaster Arirang TV shared a segment from its “Showbiz Korea” program in which it singled out actor Song Kang-ho as the top generator of ticket sales in the domestic box-office. 

(Naver V app)

Between the year 2002 and now, Song garnered 74,736,952 admissions, seating himself on top of the A-list. 

Song is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his acting career this year. Of the 18 films he played lead roles in, 11 went on to become box-office hits. The actors’ proud works “The Host (2006)” and “The Attorney (2013)” each raked in over 10 million admissions, with the latter landing the 48-year-old star with the Best Actor award at the 2014 Blue Dragon Awards. 

Song’s latest flick, “The Throne,” released Sept. 16, is currently leading the box-office rankings. 

Following Song’s lead in Arirang’s ranking were actors Ryu Seung-ryong (64,971,576 admissions), Seol Gyeong-gu (62,984,832 admissions), Hwang Jung-min (58,721,711 admissions) and Ha Jung-woo (56,801,630 admissions).

Acclaimed supporting actor Oh Dal-su was not included in the list as it considered only leading roles.

Naver’s real-time broadcasting app V allows fans to interact with their favorite K-pop stars through live broadcasts. The app is available for Android and iOS. For more information, visit www.vlive.tv

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

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#Haeundae

Source

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October 1, 2015

Wandering through ‘The Long Way Home’

Film seeks to be both war drama and human comedy, but ends up being neither

“The Long Way Home” is a film that seeks to address both the implications of war on a grand scale and the microscopic relationship between two individual soldiers, all the while providing wholesome, family comedy, moving drama and high-quality battle scenes.

None of these ambitious aims, however, are quite met. 

Nam-bok (Sol Kyung-gu) is a farmer who has been drafted to fight in the Korean War and entrusted with the mission of delivering a crucial, top secret document containing war strategies to ally troops. After an impromptu attack by enemy forces, however, he loses the document and becomes separated from his platoon. 

Meanwhile, Young-kwang (Yeo Jin-goo) is a teenaged North Korean student and tank man who is just learning how to drive the vehicle. Due to a bombing, he too loses his fellow troop members. By chance, he comes across Nam-bok’s document and decides to return to the North with it.

The two unaccompanied soldiers end up bumping into each other in the fields of the Western front. A cartoonish cat-and-mouse chase ensues over ownership of the document, which later dissolves into an unlikely brotherhood when the two, detached from the political agendas of their respective regimes, realize that they are both only individuals who want to return home to their families. 

At a press conference for the film on Sept. 15, director Chun Sung-il -- a screenplay writer who makes his directorial debut with “The Long Way Home” -- commented that he sought to paint “a dual picture” of war on a large scale and the individual plight of those involved. What would happen when two soldiers, both of whom do not really understand the big ideologies or motivations behind war, meet in person?

But these questions of warfare and individual sacrifice evaporate even before they are properly posed, in a plot that is threadbare at best. 

Granted, the contrast between the macro and the micro is continually highlighted, albeit incoherently. The battle scenes feature some intricate computer graphics work, with long, extended takes of explosions. The clumsy showdown between Nam-bok and Young-kwang, both inexperienced in combat, is captured in picturesque shots of the western fields. A cow moos, crickets chirp and the sun beats down on a lethargic pastoral setting that seems as far removed from warfare as possible. 

In the end, however, “The Long Way Home” becomes as aimless as Nam-bok wandering alone in the fields, a hodgepodge of lofty musings, old-fashioned slapstick comedy and trite drama. 

But, the characters are adeptly enacted by the 18-year-old Yeo, who is rightfully anticipated by many to lead the next generation of solid actors in Korean cinema, and the veteran Sol, whose pathos-filled portrayals of the unsophisticated everyman need no introduction. 

“The Long Way Home” opened in local cinemas on Sept. 24. 

By Rumy Doo (bigbird@heraldcorp.com)

[Guest adikkeluangman]

[Pic] from ddinnong2's (BTS of Cold Eyes VIP Premiere) 

 

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December 17, 2015

What Movie Ticket Sales Say About Tastes Across the Country

Source: The Chosun Ilbo

Seoul citizens made up 24 percent of cinemagoers in the country this year. Films which see a flood of advance ticket sales tend to have a high percentage of audiences from Seoul, mainly due to a more established culture of booking tickets. 

Films with a high percentage of audiences from the provinces tended to stay at the top of the box office for longer.

Stars who sell in Seoul tend to get their film to the top of box office in the first week of its release, while actors who tend to be popular in the provinces get films to enjoy extended popularity.

Analysis by the Korean Film Council of actors who have at least two successful films that attracted at least 5 million viewers in the past five years shows that Ha Jung-woo, Song Kang-ho, Kim Hye-soo, Han Hyo-joo, and Lee Jung-jae are popular in Seoul.

The figure was calculated by comparing the number of cinemagoers by region.

In the provinces, films starring Son Ye-jin, Sol Kyung-gu, Kim Soo-hyun, Ryu Seung-ryong, and Son Hyun-joo performed strongly. 

It is notable that actors in their 20s such as Yu A-in, Kim Soo-hyun, and Shim Eun-kyung tend to be popular in the province

[Guest adikkeluangman]

Teaser poster for movie The Long Way Home

Teaser trailer for movie The Long Way Home