[Movie 2012] 26 Years 26년

[rubie]

December 10, 2012
Weekend Box Office: Dec 7-9
Editor : Lee Tae Ho KSTAR10

South Korea's box office estimates for the weekend of December 7 to 9, 2012. [Korean Box Office Information System (KOBIS)]

[rubie]

December 10, 2012
Weekly Box Office: December 7 - 9, 2012
Source: KOFIC

[cynkdf]

rubie, thanks so much for the good news about 26 Years doing well at the Box Office. Long may this continue! Thanks to the uploader of this lovely video of the stage greeting yesterday (9 Dec):

[rubie]

December 7, 2012
Box office, November 22-December 5
by Darcy Paquet KOFIC
The past two weeks have seen a comparatively balanced division of revenues at the Korean box office, with no one film dominating the market. Sitting at the top of the chart is local box office hit A Werewolf Boy, which took 1,212,471 admissions in its fourth and fifth weeks on release. The film stars Song Joong-ki and Park Bo-young in a story of a family in the 1960s who come across a strange boy who initially appears to be a war orphan, but who is later revealed to be something else. To date the film has grossed an impressive 6.6 million admissions. Opening quite well, meanwhile, was the action thriller 26 Years, which sold 1,108,714 tickets in only a single week on release. Based on a well-known webcomic by Kang Full, the politically contentious work tells the story of a diverse group of people who band together in order to assassinate a former Korean president responsible for the Gwangju Massacre of 1980. Having collapsed in the preproduction stage two times before, the film was finally able to be completed thanks to an ambitious Kickstarter campaign that attracted 15,000 small donors. The film is the debut work of director Cho Geun-hyun, and stars Jin Goo as a young gangster, Han Hye-jin as an Olympic sharpshooter, Lim Seul-ong as a newly recruited police officer, Bae Soo-bin as a lobbyist, and Lee Geung-young as a company chairman who all join together in this act of extralegal punishment. Jang Kwang, who plays a similarly menacing presence in Silenced, plays the former president. Occupying the #3-#5 slots in the chart were The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 with 1,061,616 admissions; Don't Cry, Mommy with 919,759 admissions; and Confession of Murder with 795,421 admissions. Don't Cry, Mommy by debut director Kim Yong-han tells the true story of a woman who seeks justice after her high school-aged daughter is gang raped by several of her classmates. Confession of Murder is about a man who publishes a book confessing to a string of serial murders, shortly after the statute of limitations on his crimes has expired. The film stars Jung Jae-young and has grossed a very solid 2.5 million admissions since its November 8 release. Meanwhile another critically praised Korean film chalked up mixed results after its first full two weeks on release. Chung Ji-young’s National Security, about the brutal torture of democracy activist Kim Geun-tae in 1985, managed to sell only 311,099 tickets despite opening on 300+ screens. This is only a small fraction of the 3.4 million admissions earned by Chung’s previous film Unbowed. Nonetheless, given its small budget, National Security was just able to break even, and may end up taking a small profit. Apart from the DreamWorks animation Rise of the Guardian, the only other new release cracking the top 10 was the comedy EumChi Clinic (literally "Tone Deaf Clinic," official English title not yet available). Directed by Kim Jin-young (Meet the In-Laws), the film tells the story of a vocally challenged woman who, disguising herself as a high school student to get a half-price discount, signs up at "Tone Deaf Clinic." The film grossed 239,420 admissions in its first week. Closing out the top 10 was Cheolgabang Usussi, a social drama about a man who grows up desperately poor, but who finds meaning in life through helping disadvantaged children. Directed by Yoon Hak-ryul (Oh! Happy Day), the film has now been on release for two weeks and has grossed an impressive 63,786 admissions despite a comparatively smaller scale release on 119 screens.

[cynkdf]

Pics in today's media;

More stage greeting videos, many thanks to uploaders:

[rubie]

December 11, 2012
'26 Years' ranks #1 at the box office for 2 consecutive weeks
by jennywill allkpop.com
‘26 Years‘ has topped the box office for 2 weeks in a row.
The movie, which features Han Hye Jin, Jin Goo, Bae Soo Bin, 2AM‘s Seulong, and more, brought in a total of 1,815,877 moviegoer so far and has ranked at #1 for the second week. Following in 2nd place was the romantic comedy ‘My PS Partner‘, featuring Kim Ah Joong and Ji Sung. The Dreamworks animation ‘The Guardians‘ ranked at #3.
The extended version of ‘Wolf Boy‘ ranked at #4, followed by ‘Breaking Dawn Part 2‘ at #5. Not only so, but Lee Byung Hun‘s ‘Masquerade‘, which had been out for 13 weeks, still managed to rank at #8 in the box office.

[cynkdf]

rubie, thanks for the good news. I am so happy about the success of "26 Years" at the box office mainly because of BSB although I also like Han Hye Jin etc.  BSB's wonderful devoted fans from SooBeenPortal intended to meet him at the stage greeting in Suwon on his birthday (9 December) but owing to traffic problems, missed the stage greeting. But dear BSB was so thoughtful as to wait for them at the car park lot so that they could hand  their birthday gift to him, and he filmed this message:

[cynkdf]

Pics in today's online media of the director Jo Geun Hyeon and Im Seul Ong:

[cynkdf]

Today (12 December) is Lee Kyeong Yeong's birthday so 
Happy Birthday, Kyeong Yeong-ssi!
More online media pics of the cast:

Cho Deok Jeh 


Im Seul Ong






Han Hye Jin

[Guest sowhatsnew]

i'm really curious to see the reviews of this movie since it's been doing so well in the box office!

[cynkdf]

sowhatsnew, for this movie I am not THAT curious about the reviews - because in this case it's what the movie-going public thinks about the movie that is important, IMHO.  OK, so I am very biased about Bae Soo Bin and any movie he is in
Yay, 2 million admissions attained for "26 Years"  - break-even target achieved, congrats to all involved with "26 Years"!


http://www.kobis.or.kr/kobis/business/stat/boxs/findDailyBoxOfficeList.do?loadEnd=0&searchType=search&sSearchFrom=20121205&sSearchTo=20121212&sMultiMovieYn=&sRepNationCd=&sWideAreaCd=

[cynkdf]

Thanks to enewsworld for this interesting article:
http://enewsworld.mnet.com/enews/contents.asp?idx=23187&idxType=News

2AM’s Lim Seulong Charismatically Poses with Broken Foot

2012-12-09 21:00  l   CJ E&M enewsWorld Grace Danbi Honghttp://enewsworld.mnet.com/enews/cont..  
Unafraid of showing an imperfect side of him, 2AM’s Lim Seulong recently participated in a photo shoot with 1st Look magazine, complete with his foot cast for his broken toe.



During his interview with 1st Look, Lim Seulong revealed how he came to break his toe.

“I was exercising when it happened. After jogging, I turned around quickly and suddenly felt lightheaded and my legs went weak,” explained the singer. “My pinky toe twisted instead of my ankle and two bones broke. I’ll get rid of the cast sometime in early December.” 

He shared that he worried about flying to Japan for 2AM’s recent concert due to his new healthy condition. 

“But it was a concert that we promised and I decided it’s wrong not to keep a promise, so I chose to go to Japan.” 




Even after the flight over, things weren’t easy for Lim Seulong.

“I was in a lot of pain during the performance. My fever went up to 39 degrees Celsius at one point and I almost couldn’t even sing. But I held it all in and somehow finished the concert. I was taken to the emergency room right after and stayed until 1 a.m.” 

With Lim Seulong appearing in a new movie, it was impossible not to ask about 26 Years. 

“It’s a movie that I have a lot of expectations for. I’m really thankful that people are interested in it and I like that it’s becoming an issue,” said Lim Seulong on his controversial movie. “It’s especially touching that 20,000 something people donated money to make this movie happen.” 




26 Years is about a group of people who lost their family members during the Kwangju massacre back in 1980 and are trying to find the person responsible for the event.

“I had interest in it, but I didn’t know much about it,” said Lim Seulong, who wasn’t even born when the massacre happened. “To know politics, you need to study history. Politics and history are also connected with economy, society, and culture, so I ended up studying a lot and got even more interested.” 




On his strong commitment to the movie and his career as a whole, he replied, “If I have to do something, my eyes are on only that.” 

Lim Seulong’s pictorial and interview will be released on December 6. 

Photo Credit: 1st Look

[cynkdf]

Just saw this on Twitter:  it's Lee Seung Hwan's birthday today (13 December)
Happy Birthday, Seung Hwan-ssi!


KBS News reported about the 2 million admissions for "26 Years"

http://news.kbs.co.kr/news/NewsView.do?SEARCH_NEWS_CODE=2582251
Pics in today's online media:

[rubie]

December 13, 2012
Korean films get controversial (following after "Dogani")
by ieatlilies4breakfast Asian Movie Pulse                 Silenced (2011) a.k.a. “Dogani” is based on the novel by Kong Ji-young—horrible real events of sexual abuse at a school for hearing-impaired children, which attempted to raise public awareness about the 2005 case and to be critical of the Korean legal systems.


Pulling in more than 4 million admissions, the film prompted a national outcry in Korea and the citizens signed a petition for a retrial of the case.
After the demand for legislative reform, a revised bill, named after the Korean title of the film, the Dogani bill—heavier punishment for sexual crimes against minors and the disabled, was passed by the National Assembly in late October 2011.
Including superbly convincing performances from the young actors and actresses, Gong yoo and Jung Yoo-mi played a role in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Don’t Cry Mommy (2012) is based on an amalgam of true stories, Opening as a compelling portrait of a teenage girl whose first crush turns into a gang-rape nightmare that triggers her suicide, the film runs off the rails with her grieving mother’s quest for vengeance.
The film’s director Kim Yong-han’s feature debut makes a sincere if heavy-handed plea for re-evaluating Korean laws applying to underage sex offenders.
“Punishment for sexual assault between students are often very weak or sometimes the perpetrator is even found not guilty. I thought this is what causes a dilemma. Because the law forgives the culprits it doesn’t mean that the victims forgive them as well. Instead of making a simple revenge story, I wanted to show how painful it is for the victim through her mother’s point of view…” he told the KOFIC in an interview.
“…No to mention the need to tighten punishments for underage sexual criminals, the protection system for victims and their family is also far too weak. They are not properly protected after their ordeals, and this causes avicious circle. I hope this film can ring the alarm at least to the smallest extent”
Don’t Cry Mommy is now playing in theaters, Korea.
26 Years (2012) is based on the web-based comic strip by Kang Full, who is well known for suspense thriller The Neghbor (2012).
The film’s director Jo Geun-hyun said at the movie’s press conference, “When one does something terribly wrong and hurts others, they should at least apologize. And even if he or she chooses not to, they should be punished for what they’ve done. This is common sense, not some political idea.”
The film deals with one of the most tragic and critical events in Korean history. On May 18, 1980 in the city of Gwangju, state troops were ordered to open fire on civilians, killing and wounding thousands. Former president Chun Doo-hwan who ruled from 1980 to 1988, is believed to have given the order, and although he is not named explicitly in the film, the target of the assassination attempt is clearly meant to represent Chun, who was convicted in 1996 of crimes related to the Gwangju Massacre.
It is the fictional story of five ordinary people (a sports shooter, a gangster, a policeman, a businessman, and head of a private security firm) who band together in order to assassinate the man responsible.
26 Years has been garnering much attention as a politically sensitive film ahead of the presidential election this December. It is now playing in theaters, Korea.
“In my personal opinion, a director needs the attitude to speak out about problems that society currently faces. It doesn’t necessarily mean he has to make political films. We can always zoom in on social issues through a film with a director’s perspective.” director Kim Yong-han said.

[cynkdf]

rubie, many thanks for that interesting article.
 "26 Years" has been knocked off the top of the Korean Box Office by "The Hobbit"  - not totally unexpected this ..  let's hope "26 Years" maintains its 2nd place
http://www.kobis.or.kr/kobis/business/stat/boxs/findDailyBoxOfficeList.do?loadEnd=0&searchType=search&sSearchFrom=2012-12-08&sSearchTo=2012-12-14&sMultiMovieYn=&sRepNationCd=&sWideAreaCd=

[wmpc]

Darn! Wonder if there's anyway of bringing it back to the top...^^ But I guess second place and maintaining anywhere in the top 3 should still be good news to all involved.

[cynkdf]

Hi Wendy, second place for "26 Years"  is good enough, IMHO -  considering the astronomical budget of "The Hobbit", they need to generate huge box-office returns in order to reach break-even point.
Director Jo Geun Hyeon, Jin Goo, Han Hye Jin and Bae Soo Bin are in Gwangju today (15 Dec) for a stage greeting. 
http://junglegalaxy.wo.tc/10127
http://junglegalaxy.wo.tc/10128
http://junglegalaxy.wo.tc/10131

[wmpc]

Thanks for your ever latest /up-to-date pics and posts Cyn! They all look great!

[cynkdf]

Wendy, they do look great, don't they? I am sure they are energised  by the response of the good people of Gwangju.  Must once again express my grateful thanks to all uploaders of pictures and videos, what would we do without them?
Thanks to the fans who tweeted these photos of the stage greeting in Gwangju:











More online media pics of cast members over the past couple of days:

[cynkdf]

http://enewsworld.mnet.com/enews/contents.asp?idx=24035&idxType=News

[interview] Han Hye Jin Says She Starred in ′26 Years′ to Act

2012-12-15 19:00  l   CJ E&M enewsWorld Lee, JinHohttp://enewsworld.mnet.com/enews/cont.. Translation Credit : Erika Kim  http://enews24.interest.m..
These days, Han Hye Jin is the subject of much political controversy and concern, just because she starred in one film.

The lead actress of the film 26 Years said that, in a time when issues with the history of the nation have come to light due to the upcoming Presidential elections for Korea, she is sad that "a film isn′t taken as merely a film."

Why, then, did she feel so attached to the film 26 Years, and why did she push forward with her decision to appear in it?Enews met with the actress to hear her answers.



Han Hye Jin up close

"My thoughts still haven′t changed."

She was calm yet determined regarding opinions that her film was a political one or that it had been made for political purposes.

She said, "It′s a film that, aside from the political issues, shows a corner of our history which died out for no reason. Please take the film merely as a film."

She is known to be a kind and considerate actress. As the issue was a serious one, however, she took a different stance. She believed in the road she had taken, and pushed forth with those beliefs.



How does it feel now that you′ve seen the film?

"I′ve seen it twice. The director and other actors all agreed; it′s a film that makes you want to watch it again and again. When I watched it for the first time, the animations in the beginning were so strong that I couldn′t concentrate because of my surprise. When I watched it for the second time, however, I found some things I didn′t notice the first time around. It leaves behind many emotions, and it makes me feel sad."

It seems ′26 Years′ means something special to Han Hye Jin.

"After the preview, the oppas (big brothers) beside me [such as Jin Goo or Bae Soo Bin] were all crying, and so was I. No one could speak; we were busy sobbing. It was different from other films. Everyone looked at each other with eyes full of sympathy. It was the first time a film had lingered for so long."

I was impressed with the line ′Dad, just die.′

"It was my first shoot. I don′t know how many times I read the script; I couldn′t understand how that child must have felt. I wasn′t even there during 5.18 (the May 18 Gwangju democracy movement), but my heart broke at how the character must have felt when the father who had been a burden to her died like that."

The film is said to be a political one both because of its timing and its content.

"Actually, a lot of people told me before the interview to ′be careful,′ but I just said whatever was on my mind. I′m sad that our film could be used for political means, or that it could be involved in such issues. Politics? No, this is a film that, outside all of that, shows a corner of history in which so many people died. It′s a film which has us share its pain. I hope no one sees it as a political film."

Because of such concerns, many were also worried about you, the lead. Were you worried yourself?

"I believe in my decisions, and follow them to the end. I just chose the piece because I wanted to act as an actress. I′m not afraid even if trouble may come because I starred in this film. The truth behind that also will be unveiled someday. I believed in that thought."



It must have been a hard time. Who supported you the most?

"My family helped me the most. My father and my mother always give me good advice. They believe that there′s always a reason behind what their Hye Jin does.... My sisters also comforted me and told me not to worry, since I made the decision."

Why have you become to attached to ′26 Years′?

"My feelings? I think it′s because I related to it a lot. I understood, and I related to it; I really wanted to try it out. When actors meet good scenarios, they always become anxious. The film is based on a historical event, but I would be lying if I said I thought anything of its meaning. The film was just a piece I wanted to star in as an actress."

Do you hope that ′26 Years′ will have an effect on the Presidential elections?

"I just hope the film comforts the families of the deceased. If it does affect the elections, I hope it has a positive effect. I hope it isn′t used for any one side, or used to mislead."

It seems you often go on volunteer work overseas.

"I have many opportunities because I′m the honorary ambassador for World Vision. Since I can see for myself what I′m doing while I work, it makes me feel prouder. One of the chlidren I support even got married. I think it′s great to be with an organization that helps me help others directly."

You′ve taken on a lot of strong roles; are there any other character types you would like to try in the future?

"I hope to take on characters that have clear and definite personalities. I also hope they would be strong; I′m very attracted to evil roles, like the role Lee Young Ae sunbae (senior) took in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. ′You take care of yourself~′ I like that line (Laugh)."

Photo credit: Hea Jung Min