[Movie 2012] Korea / As One 코리아

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@ RAINLUVER012 ... thanks for news ....waiting details

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Lee Jung-suk (aka Taesun in Secret Garden) joins Ha Ji-won & Bae Doona in this film.

credit Hancinema

Lee Jong-suk Works Together With Sin Se-kyeong, Ha Ji-won and Bae Doona

2011-06-27

Actor Lee Jong-suk has joined movie "Korea".

This movie is a true story about the sweat and tears, dispute and friendship of the members of the South and North Korean team who won the 1991 Chiba Worldwide Table Tennis Championships.

Lee Jong-suk will play the role of charismatic and skilled Choi Kyeong-seob, a North Korean member. He will be opposing the South Korean member Yoo Nam-gyoo. Choi Kyeong-seob is a blunt but pure and sincere guy who only knows sports. He is also called the pretty boy of the North Korean team, gaining him lots of popularity from the other female members.

Lee Jong-suk is currently practicing table tennis 3~4 hours a day with Hyeon Jeong-hwa (Ha Ji-won) and Lee Boon-hee (Bae Doona). He is working hard to transform into a perfect North Korean also learning the North Korean dialect from a North Korean defector.

Lee Jong-suk is also in the middle of filming the movie "Flight: Closer to the Sun" with singer and actor Rain and Sin Se-kyeong.

source: 이종석, 신세경 이어 하지원·배두나와 호흡

[Guest ganaax]

when i saw that news in hancinema, i thought to myself, this dude looks familiar… and then I remembered that he is dude from SG, i was like 

[Guest niknokdagu425]

GO GO GO KOREA HAPPY BDAY  HAJIWON im so excited about this movie and also Sector 7,aja aja

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http://amazingyeoja.blogspot.com/2011/06/img-additional-bts-photos-from-korea.html

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Korea BTS

credit @f927

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Films on wide range of sports to hit local screens

A well-worn clich says sports is drama without a script. And one of the reasons people love sports is because its improvisational theater exposes a full range of human emotions, from the exuberant joy of victory to the excruciating pain of defeat.

This summer, South Korean moviegoers will be able to experience that roller-coaster ride from the comfort of their seats in air-conditioned multiplex theaters, instead of on sun-drenched bleachers at baseball parks or football stadiums.

At least half a dozen sports films are in production and could be released in the next couple of months, according to distributors and production companies.

The films will cover a wide range of sports, from baseball, the nation’s most popular sport, to more obscure sports such as marathon, boxing and table tennis. Some are based on true stories, while others rely on fictitious characters to deliver the drama.

Fictional or not, filmmakers say few subjects are as compelling as stories of athletes who overcome adversities.

“It’s not as though we were trying to do sports from the beginning,” said Cho Yun-mi, head of Lemon Tree, a Seoul-based film promotion company.

One of the films it’s promoting this year is “Fight,” a fictional tale about a former all-star pitcher who grows up only after getting demoted to the minor league.

“We were looking for some dramatic and touching characters, and we stumbled upon athletes,” Cho added. “The way they go through grueling practices and a series of failures before ultimately realizing success can be an apt metaphor for life.”

The summer lineup will also include “Pacemaker,” about a marathon pacesetter who tries to complete his first marathon.

“Champ” will tell the real-life story about a jockey and his limping racehorse as they try to compete in a Grand Prix event.

Two films based on true stories stand out among the pack.

“Korea” will center on the joint South Korea-North Korea women’s table tennis team that won the gold medal at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba City, Japan.

It was the first time the two Koreas had fielded a united team in any international sports competition. In the team final, the Korean athletes stunned China, which had won the previous eight titles in a row.

Actress Ha Ji-won (left) watches a local table tennis tournament with former national player Hyun Jung-hwa. Ha has been cast in the role of Hyun for the film “Korea,” about the unified South Korea-North Korea table tennis team at the 1991 world championships. The film is set to open later this summer. (Yonhap News)

Ha Ji-won, a multiple award-winning star of blockbuster films, has been cast as Hyun Jung-hwa, the top South Korean player at the championships and an Olympic gold medalist. Bae Doo-na, another veteran, will be Li Bun-hui, the North Korean star and Hyun’s doubles partner in Chiba City.

Hyun, a former national team coach and now an executive with the Korea Table Tennis Association, has been teaching Ha and other members of the cast since the start of the year.

“The Perfect Game” is a baseball flick about two of the country’s greatest pitchers, culminating with their thrilling duel more than two decades ago.

On May 16, 1987, Sun Dong-yol of the Haitai Tigers and Choi Dong-won of the Lotte Giants met for the third and the final time in their illustrious careers in the Korea Baseball Organization. Each right-hander went the distance as their teams ended in a 2-2 tie after 15 innings in one of the most memorable games in the league’s 29-year history.

Sun is largely regarded as the finest pitcher the KBO has seen.

In 11 seasons split as a starter and a closer, He went 146-40 with 132 saves and a 1.20 earned run average on his way to winning three most valuable player awards, which helped the Tigers win six Korean Series championships.

Choi, a fireballer whose career was cut short by injuries, is best known for winning all four games himself in the 1984 Korean Series. He remains the only KBO pitcher to win all four games in the best-of-seven championship series. Choi still holds the record for most strikeouts in a season with 223.

Director Park Hee-gon said two stars of the film, Cho Seung-woo as Choi and Yang Dong-geun as Sun, have been training with a former national team baseball pitcher.

Actor Yang Dong-geun throws out the first pitch at a local baseball game. (Yonhap News)

Park said the actors have done a fine job depicting pitchers, but added baseball action is only part of the story. The director said it doesn’t follow the “loser-makes-good” storyline of clichd sports flicks.

“The film is about the fierce jealousy of the two men who had accomplished pretty much all except for one thing,” Park said. “And it started with the question, ‘What if the other man had that one missing piece?’”

Park said he chose to focus more on the human element than on actual athletics. That way, he may be following in the footsteps of recent hit sports films.

“The National Team,” a 2009 film about Korean ski jumpers, is one of the highest-grossing local films of all time. Experts credit the film with helping the recent emergence of sports movies.

Other hits include “Forever the Moment” from 2008, a true story about the South Korean women’s handball team at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and “Mr. Gam’s Victory” from 2004, a true-life tale about a mop-up bullpen pitcher, Gam Sa-yong, thrown into a starting role against the KBO’s best team in 1982.

All three are as much about human drama as sporting competitions, with underdogs trying to fight their way into relevance. None of them ends on a victorious note ― a ski jumper botches his landing, South Korea loses to Denmark in the handball final and Gam gives up a walk-off home run ― but that didn’t keep moviegoers from filling the seats.

Jeong Seung-chul, a 37-year-old enthusiast of both sports and films, said he had become tired of predictable endings in some earlier sports movies but that he enjoyed the three films.

“After a while, you can grow bored of seeing good guys always win,” he said. “I think it’s more dramatic when those good guys don’t end up winning but still take away something meaningful from their defeats. That’s probably a more realistic metaphor for life because you don’t always win in life.”

Sometimes, financial issues can force filmmakers to opt for the drama over the action. They say it’s virtually impossible to project the thrills of real-life competitions onto the big screen.

Choi Min-soo of CJ E&M, the distributor for “Korea,” said there’s only so much cameras and high-tech equipment can do.

“If you want to shoot sports scenes and make them realistic, it will cost more than twice as much as shooting a normal film,” he said. “This is why sports films can be risky.”

Risky or not, filmmakers have tried to jump on the bandwagon.

With three all-sports cable stations and three golf channels providing blanket coverage, and a record number of fans going to stadiums across the country, the time has hardly been riper for sports movies. 

(Yonhap News)

http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110714000462

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Bae Doo Na to Be Cast in Hollywood Film with Tom Hanks and Halle Barry?

Actress Bae Doo Na is highly likely to be cast for a leading role in an upcoming Hollywood film featuring Tom Hanks and Halle Barry, local media reported today. “Bae Doo Na had meetings with Hollywood producers recently, and they are believed to have finalized on her casting,” an industry official was quoted as saying by Sports Chosun.

The tentative title of the movie is known to be “Cloud Atlas.” Produced by the Wachowski brothers, the movie will feature Tom Hanks and Halle Barry as the leading cast, the report added. Bae Doo Na is expected to play the role of Son Mi, a human clone who ends up fighting for the clones’ human rights. The film is based on the 2004 novel with the same title, written by British writer David Mitchell.

“Cloud Atlas” will start filming from mid-September in Berlin. According to IMDB, the film is scheduled to open in theaters in October, 2012.

Bae Doo Na reached stardom in 1999 through the KBS teen drama “School.” Laster she appeared in movies, “Barking Dogs Never Bite,” “Take Care of My Cat,” and “The Host,” as well as dramas “I Want to Keep Seeing You,” “Beating Heart,” and “Gloria,” among many others. She’s currently filming new movie “Korea” with Ha Ji Won, and will join the “Cloud Atlas” crew as soon as it’s done producing.

http://www.soompi.com/news/bae-doo-na-cast-in-hollywood-film-starring-tom-hanks-and-halle-barry

[Guest f927]

Korea BTS ~

^ Jul 19 - A visit from the Mayor of Andong city <권영세> during film shooting

^ Jun 29 - from the film location site <Andong gymnasium> of the movie, Korea.

all images/info credit: 안동에서 촬영 중인 영화 ‘KOREA’

^ It says that the movie, Korea <tentative title> is aimed for release on Jan 2012.

EDIT: Filming site ~ credit dcgall

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Korea BTS ~

all images credit dcgall

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Historic World Championships Hits the Big Screen

By: Mike Meier

Hyun Jung Hwa, the central character  Photo By: Rémy Gros

07/25/2011       

On Monday 27th July 1953, a country and its culture were formally ripped apart.

It was the day that the countries North Korea and South Korea came to be, separated at the infamous 38th Parallel.

However in 1991, the sport of table tennis brought hope and inspiration to Koreans worldwide. It was a moment in time that many will never forget.

“Korea”, the movie coming to theatres early next year, is based on the true story of the South Korean and North Korean Women’s Table Tennis Teams combining forces at the World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan.

Helped Create Movie

The story is shown through the eyes of Hyun Jung Hwa, the 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist, former South Korea National Team Head Coach, as well as national hero and celebrity.

Hyun Jung Hwa herself played a large part in the creation of the movie, everything from editing scripts for writers, to coaching the actors/players the proper table tennis technique.

Hard Work and Fun

“This has been a lot of work, but so much fun,” said Hyun Jung Hwa. “I’m very happy to be able to tell this story to the world.”

But just like the current divisiveness and back biting between the two countries, team Korea does not get along well from the beginning.

Rivalry

Hyun Jung Hwa’s rivalry with North Korea’s Lee Bun Hee is stirred a great deal.

She is played by Ha Ji-Won, while Lee Bun Hee is played by Bae Doo Na, both of whom are extremely famous actresses in South Korea.

Celebrities

Ha Ji-Won’s new film “Sector Seven” will be shown in more than 30 countries, while Bae Doo Na may be featured in a big-budget Hollywood film sometime next year.

The producer of the movie, Kim Ji Hye, was excited to land the two stars and hopes their celebrity status will shine a big spotlight on the sport of table tennis.

“To have both actors star in the same movie is absolutely amazing,” Kim Ji Hye said. “Both have trained very hard and now play table tennis very well. I trust that fans of the sport will not be disappointed!”

Team Unites

After the team commences its training camp in Chiba, both the players and coaches learn how their practice styles, not to mention their lifestyles, differ dramatically. But through focusing on their common heritage, the team truly becomes one.

“It wasn’t South Korea and North Korea,” Hyun Jung Hwa said. “It was just Korea as one, at least for a short time.”

Call for Dissolution

The unified Korea squad reaches the semi-finals but North Korea government officials call for the team to dissolve, citing a breach in discipline.

Yet the team continues to compete, defeating the ever-powerful Chinese team in an intense final match.

From the Heart

“China has always been a strong team,” Hyun Jung Hwa said. “But just like in the real World Championships, we played our hearts out and won the title in dramatic fashion.”

The film is currently scheduled to be released in South Korea in January or February 2012. But now, with current interest by other countries to show the movie, the film’s producer would love to make that happen.

Global Appeal

“Koreans know about Hyun Jung Hwa and the 1991 World Championships,” Kim Ji Hye said. “I hope other people, regardless of where they live, will enjoy the movie, too.”

Mike Meier, graduate of the Texas Wesleyan University table tennis team in 2007 and current international umpire, has a role in the movie as well.

Umpire

Meier is the head umpire of the movie’s final match, as well as a table tennis rules consultant, helping make sure the rules are abided by throughout the film. Meier has lived and worked in Korea now for more than a year.

Mike Meier, author, umpire and actor

Photo courtesy of Mike Meier

http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story1.asp?ID=25080&Category=general&Competition_ID=&

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Unified Korea and Table Tennis in a Movie

“Korea” is a movie about how table tennis has played a major role in the temporary unification of North and South Korea. It is based on a true story of Hyun Jung Hwa and Lee Bun Hee in the memorable World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan where both countries were addressed as one. The two Korean peninsulas were unified even for just a short time. Hyun Jung Hwa is from South Korea and was a 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist.

ITTF News — The movie “Korea” is expected to hit the big screens in of course, Korea in the first quarter of next year. The movie will show the inspirational unification of North and South Korea for the World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan in 1991. It will also depict how Korea was able to defeat the ever powerful Chinese team in the finals. The two lead roles, Hyun Jung Hwa and Lee Bun Hee will be played by popular Korean actresses Ha Ji Won and Bae Doo Na respectively. As early as now, the movie has alreadty created its awareness and people from other countries also expressed their interest towards the movie. Because of this, it might just be shown in some countries internationally.

Check the full news in ITTF.com.

Photo source: korea-is-one.org

http://tabletennista.com/2011/7/unified-korea-and-table-tennis-in-a-movie/

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"As One" (aka Korea) credit dcgall

[hudson]

Ha Ji Won for the movie As One (Korea) by MBC News on 10 Dec 2011

credit to Baidu

[rubie]

Poll: Which 2012 Korean movies that you are most excited about?

http://www.soompi.com/forums/topic/374847-which-2012-korean-movies-that-you-are-most-excited-about/

As of February 25, 2012, 132 member(s) have cast their votes in the multiple-answers movie fun poll. The tally is not definite as members yet to vote can still pick their favorites. However, this is a one-time poll.. once voted, members will not be able to vote again. Related movie posters and info posted at the poll thread for reference

The current result starting with the highest voted movies

1. The Thieves

Lee Jung Jae, Kim Yoon Seok, Kim Hye Soo, Jeon Ji Hyun) (46 votes [25.43%])

2. Miss Conspirator

Go Hyun Jung, Yu Hae Jin. Ko Chang Seok, Sung Dong Il, Lee Mun Shik, Park Shin Yang (42 votes [21.11%])

3. The King of Joseon

Lee Byung Hun, Han Hyo Joo, Ryu Seung Ryong, Shim Eun Kyung (39 votes [22.54%])

4. Coffee

Joo Jin Mo, Kim So Yeon, Park Hee Seon, Yoo Sun (31 votes [15.58%])

5. Introduction to Architecture

Uhm Tae Woong, Han Ga In, Lee Je Hoon, Suzy (31 votes [15.58%])

6. Korea

Ha Ji Won, Bae Doo Na (29 votes [13.07%])

7. Love Fiction

Gong Hyo Jin, Ha Jung Woo (19 votes [9.05%])

8. The Howling

Song Kang Ho, Lee Na Young (17 votes [9.25%])

9. Never Ending Story

Uhm Tae Woong, Jung Ryeo Won (15 votes [7.54%])

10. Soar into the Sky

Jung Ji Hoon, Shin Se Kyung, Kim Sung Soo, Yoo Joon Sang (15 votes [8.67%])

11. Papa

Park Yong Woo, Go Ah Ra, Daniel Henney, Son Byeong Ho (14 votes [8.09%])

12. Dancing Queen

Hwang Jung Min, Uhm Jung Hwa (13 votes [6.53%])

13. Train (aka Helpless)

Lee Seon Kyun, Kim Min Hee, Jo Sung Ha (13 votes [6.94%])

14. The Tower

Sul Kyung Gu, Son Ye Jin, Kim Sang Kyung (12 votes [6.36%])

15. Berlin

Ha Jung Woo, Han Suk Kyu, Jeon Ji Hyun, Ryu Seung Bum (10 votes [4.52%])

16. Nameless Gangster

Choi Min Sik, Ha Jung Woo (10 votes [4.52%])

17. Unbowed

Ahn Sung Ki, Park Won Sang, Na Young Hee, Kim Ji Ho, Moon Sung Geun, Lee Kyeong Yeong (10 votes [5.20%])

18. Sansevieria

Dir. Yoo Ji Tae, Bae Soo Bin, So Yoo Jin (7 votes [4.05%])

19. The Taste of Money

Kim Kang Woo, Kim Hyo Jin, Baek Yoon Shik, Yoon Yeo Jung (6 votes [3.47%])

20. Pacemaker

Kim Myung Min, Go Ah Ra, Ahn Sung Ki (5 votes [2.51%])

[rubie]

March 21, 2012

Ha Ji-won to return to the big screen as ping pong player

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldm.com) koreaherald.com

Ha Ji-won (right) and Bae Doo-na star in director Moon Hyun-sung’s upcoming film “Korea.” (CJ Entertainment)

Actress Ha Ji-won is returning to the big screen as a ping pong player in the upcoming sports flick “Korea,” according to the movie’s producer CJ entertainment.

Based on the true story of Korea’s first-ever unified Korean national table tennis team in 1991, the movie features Ha as Hyun Jung-hwa, the South Korean player on the two-member team. Hyun’s team won the gold medal against all odds at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.

Ha, in fact, received private lessons last year from Hyun, who now serves as the executive member of the Korea Table Tennis Association, just for the film. Ha had never played ping pong before taking on the role, according to the producer.

The actress, whose previous roles include a stunt woman, a Joseon gisaeng and a boxer, is famous for going through rigorous training to fully portray her characters. Aside from the ping pong lessons, she’s taken lessons in boxing, martial arts and even traditional Korean dance for her previous films and TV drama shows. Her latest film was last year’s 3-D monster thriller “Sector 7.”

Meanwhile, actress Bae Doo-na, who appeared in Park Chan-wook’s “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” (2002) and Bong Joon-ho’s 2006 monster film “The Host,” is starring as the team’s North Korean player Lee Boon-hee. Bae is said to have great ping pong skills, which was one of the reasons why she was chosen for the role. She is returning to the silver screen six years after her last film, “The Host.”

“Korea” is slated to be released in local theaters in May.

[rubie]

March 20, 2012

Korea (As One)

Source via London Korea Film Festival

Korea (As One) South Korean ping-pong star HYUN Jung-hwa and North Korea’s LI Bun-hui have each been defeated by Chinese player DENG Yaping—a.k.a. “The Ping-Pong Witch” —every time they reach a tournament’s finals. Teaming up as a United Korea for the first time in 1991 at the World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba City, Japan makes for moments of crisis and bungled coordination, but game-by-game, HYUN and LI become a true team. But then comes the announcement that the United Korea team will be inexplicably disbanded. On the morning before the women’s doubles finals against China and knowing the Unified Korea team is stronger, HYUN pleads with the coaches and players of the North Korean team to not break them up. She tells them: “I want to play on the United Korea team.” The North Korean side is moved beyond ideology and allows the North Korean players to play on the United Korean team. The women’s doubles team goes on to defeat China in the finals, becoming the first and the last United Korea team ever to win gold.

[rubie]

March 21, 2012

Trailer for Ha Ji Won's Ping Pong Film "Korea"

by: jbarky soompi.com

Ha Ji Won’s upcoming ping pong film “Korea” released a trailer. “Korea” is about the 1991 World Ping Pong Championship and the first North-South Korean team. In the film Ha Ji Won portrays the 1991 World Ping Pong Championship gold medalist Hyun Jung Hwa while Bae Doo Na portrays the North Korean teammate Lee Boon Hee. Ha Ji Won actually received private lessons from Hyun Jung Hwa in 2011. Hyun Jung Hwa is currently an executive member of the Korea Table Tennis Association.

The movie trailer for “Korea” is unique because it does not focus so much on the movie but on the actual ping pong player Hyun Jung Hwa.

Hyun Jung Hwa says in the beginning of the trailer “I was 22 in Korean age. Lee Boon Hee was one year older than me. Our team was made up of college age athletes. We were very young but we felt a lot of responsibility. We had to train hard and do our best.”

She continues “Although we spent 46 days together, the only memories I have is training. I felt like I should have tried to be closer, and I should have been better to her. I regret not being able to do those things.”

The trailer ends with clips of Ha Ji Won and Bae Doo Na playing ping pong.

Check out the trailer here