Cha In Pyo 차인표

[Guest huangsy]

26 May 2008, 8 pm at Jamsil Gym, Crossing movie concert was held.

Singer Kim Jang Hoon sang at the event.

[rubie]

June 8, 2008

'Crossing' Depicts Plight of NK Defectors

By Lee Hyo-won

Staff Reporter

A scene from the South Korean movie "Crossing,'' which provides a window

into the famine-struck North Korea through the story of a loving father and son.

/ Courtesy of Big House-Vantage Holdings

A story that thousands of North Korean defectors share ― one of hunger, desperation and tiptoeing the fine line between life and death ― makes its way to screens this summer. South Korean director Kim Tae-kyun brings "Crossing," a cross-border film project inspired by true accounts of survivors ― the lucky ones who lived to tell their story.

Big budget homegrown movies like "Shiri" (1998) and "Typhoon" (2005) had touched lightly upon the issue of North Korean defector. ``Crossing,'' the nation's first movie entirely devoted to the sensitive matter, finally opens after four shushed years in the making.

It is an unforgettable motion picture that rouses reflection upon the role of cinema. It shows its power to take people to distant places ― after over half a century of division, the North has become perhaps the farthest place on Earth for South Korea.

The plight of the refugees is not an unfamiliar one here as TV documentaries shine upon the shaded segment of the Korean Diaspora. However, what the film achieves is wrenching, heartfelt drama ― it makes uncomfortable truths palpable and even digestible as it focuses on a bond between a loving father and son.

The movie zooms away from the media-friendly, symmetrical urban streets of Pyongyang and takes us to the destitute rural areas that are home to the vast majority. Korea's top star Cha In-pyo is Yong-su, a star football player-turned-miner who makes a meager yet peaceful living with his wife, son and pet dog. In his free time, Yong-su plays some ball with Juni (Shin Myung-chul) and cleans his TV set ― a gift from their Dear Leader Kim Jong-il himself.

However, when his starving pregnant wife contracts tuberculosis, Yong-su decides to make the illegal transit to China to get medication. He dodges bullets to cross the Tumen River, but more perils lie ahead as the Chinese police trail him.

One day, Yong-su hears about a paid interview for some South Korean agency. But it's too late when he learns that he'll be deported to Seoul. Meanwhile, his ailing wife dies and orphaned Juni ends up in a re-education camp. South of the 38th Parallel, Yong-su pays a broker to smuggle in Juni and spends each agonizing day buying medication and vitamins for his son.

Free of contrived melodrama, "Crossing" reads like a documentary. Shock flickers across Yong-su's face when he learns that, in the South, T.B. drugs ― which he traded in his entire life to attain ― are handed out for free. Cellophane-thin children called "kkotjebi" eat noodles off the ground in the marketplace. Soldiers beat a pregnant woman at a re-education camp. A family smuggling in the Bible disappears without a trace after a visit by secret agents. A woman traumatized by her child's death during the crossing to China piggybacks a pillow. The list goes on, and a Kleenex would come in handy.

"The movie captures not even one tenth of the atrocity in the North," the director told reporters at last week's press preview in Seoul. Indeed, the mise-en-scene tastefully halts before the most graphic scenes unfold. But by giving you only a small taste of the direst human suffering, the limitless imagination takes flight.

Nevertheless, the realism is intact. "I had to re-shoot the scene where defectors are taken away by Chinese authorities. One of our defector-turned-staff members saw it and said the actor was too compliant, that the resistance isn't violent enough. He told me,'You don't understand the degree of desperation. You'd bite in the very least,'" said the director. North Korean natives were present throughout the shoot, including the assistant director Kim Chul-yung and a North Korean diction coach.

"We are in no position to say we must pity the defectors and help them. But even if you saw a dog being beaten in the street, isn't it in our nature to stop it?'' Cha asked the reporters. Currently some 10,000 North Korean refugees live in South Korea, but they face a second plight ― one of isolation and indifference by the public.

For the lead actor, his role was particularly heartbreaking as he has an 11-year-old son, the same age as his onscreen son Juni. "It occured to me that it would take my son only a week of starving, suffering and being beaten to become like those children. But I can't imagine how long it would take to cure defectors and their emotional scars to become healthy children," said Cha.

The movie premiered in Washington D.C. in April for the North Korea Freedom Coalition meeting. At a recent screening here for members of the National Assembly, Park Geun-hye and other politicians were seen tearing up. "Crossing" is also scheduled to show at the European Parliament in July.

Coming to theaters across Korea June 26. 12 and over. 112 minutes. Big House-Vantage Holdings Co.

Credits: hyowlee@koreatimes.co.kr

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2.../141_25481.html

[rubie]

June 12, 2008

North Koreans depicted with rare realism

"Crossing," directed by Kim Tae-kyun, does not shoot for a box-office jackpot as other mainstream movies do. The production team, in fact, knows very well that the movie's serious theme - a realistic depiction of North Koreans - is unlikely to translate into big revenues.

But the movie aims high when it comes to the plight of North Koreans. Ranging from perilous border crossings to horrifying gulags to arduous resettlement in the South, the movie's realistic details are sharpened to perfection.

For North Korean defectors here, the movie means something more than a cinematic storytelling. At a special preview event in Seoul last Thursday, about 180 North Korean defectors watched the film, and many of them were crying during the screening. They seemed struck by the powerful images - scenes that inevitably bring back the dark memories of their life in the North.

"I had some doubts about this event because my movie might reopen the painful wounds inflicted on those who have defected to the South," Kim told the audience following the screening. "But I made the film in my humble belief that if there were somebody else who could cry with you, your tears would dry faster."

Kim said he felt deeply sorry about his belated attention to the dire situation of North Koreans. "I'm sorry to have made a movie that is painful to watch," he said.

Painful as it may be, a realistic portrayal of North Korea is long overdue. No major movie project dared to tackle the thorny issue, not least because the matter in question is still regarded as politically sensitive.

A growing number of North Koreans risk their lives to find asylum in South Korea and elsewhere, but the refugee issue rarely gets attention in the media here, much less on the silver screen.

Scenes from "Crossing"

In the film, Yong-su (played by Cha In-pyo), a North Korean in a mining town in northeastern Hamgyeong Province, leads a tough life with his wife, Yong-hwa (Seo Young-hwa) and his 11-year-old son Jun-i (Shin Myeong-cheol).

Yong-su finds brief yet precious comfort when he plays soccer with his son in the backyard in the evening. Life is hard, but Yong-su does not have any intention of breaking out of his life in North Korea. Yet he sees no other choice but to cross the border to China to make extra money to buy medicine for his sick wife.

His risky stay in China, however, means that he should always watch out for any sign of Chinese police because, if caught, he will be deported to North Korea and face dreadful consequences.

He falsely believes that he can get more money in the form of special subsidies if he contacts South Korean officials in China, but this decision lands him in South Korean territory, turning his status into a North Korean defector. While Yong-su is transferred to Seoul, his wife dies of a chronic illness. His son, Jun-i, is now left alone in the North.

The tragic turn of events pushes Jun-i to cross the border himself to reunite with his father, and from this point on, the movie devotes a fair share of the running time to show how Yong-su and Jun-i struggle in two different places that are separated by years of mixed feelings following the 1950-53 Korean War.

Director Kim's camera constantly switches between Yong-su and Jun-i, accentuating the excruciating pain of the separation, and, yet, underlining an emotional bond that transcends geographical gap.

The sheer dramatic power of "Crossing" comes from the stark reality facing North Koreans. Director Kim deserves special credit for embracing an objective angle rather than indulging in a preachy tone that is pervasive in politically charged movies. By rendering the suffering of North Koreans as it is, he succeeds in amplifying the movie's emotional impact that will prompt many viewers to realize their utter ignorance of what North Koreans really go through.

North Korean defectors' organizations supported the film project by offering detailed descriptions of the situation in the North and lending photographs that were used as references for the film. The production team also interviewed more than 100 North Korean defectors.

Enhancing the realism is the impassioned acting by Cha In-pyo and Shin Myeong-cheol, both of whom have perfect North Korean accents, another contribution from North Korean defectors who volunteered to help with the project.

Despite the impressive acting, whether "Crossing" will fare well at the box office remains uncertain. But the movie leaves no doubt about its aim to raise public awareness of North Koreans - by crossing a tricky cinematic border, in a step that is painfully rare in Korean cinema.

By Yang Sung-jin (insight@heraldm.com)

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/

[Guest huangsy]

on cover of Film 2.0 mag for week of 17 June 2008

[rubie]

June 16, 2008

Cha In-pyo - Sin Ae-ra couple, absorbed in boxing

Exercise together three times a week... display of affection

Cha In-pyo has been sweating in a boxing arena with his wife Sin Ae-ra for three weeks. In the midst of their busy schedules, they exercise together three times a day, taking care of their health and showing off their love. Cha In-pyo recently said, "A friend introduced me to boxing. I thought it was an extreme sport but it has good effects and it's fun, so I do it with Sin Ae-ra".

"After starting boxing, Sin Ae-ra jokes and puts on her boxing gloves and tells me to hit her if we have a fight. I've exercised a lot at fitness clubs, but boxing is better because we can both enjoy it".

Cha In-pyo, who used to be a leading 'best body', destroyed his body for the movie "Crossing". It was to show his character more realistically. He has finished filming and started exercising again. "Sin Ae-ra doesn't really like the muscular type. I thought that boxing would be more effective than building muscle".

Cha In-pyo is awaiting the premiere of "Crossing", which outlines the joys and sorrows of North Korean refugees' lives.

Original Korean article at news.empas.com

English translation courtesy hancinema.net

[Guest zaye_1986]

Cha In Pyo---u r not taht handsome but HONESTLY u have incredible Talents n UR HOTT!!!!

[rubie]

August 7, 2008

'Crossing' to Represent Korea for Oscar

By Lee Hyo-won

Staff Reporter

The North Korean defector movie "Crossing" will represent South Korean cinema as a possible competitor in the foreign film section at the 81st Academy Awards, the Korean Film Council announced Thursday.

"The seven jury members decided, after a two-day debate from July 30 to Aug. 1, to submit 'Crossing' for the competition spot in the foreign language film section of the Academy Awards," said the council. The film's publicist, Coming Soon, also confirmed the news.

"Crossing" beat other big Korean films "The Good, the Bad, the Ugly" and "The Chaser," both of which were shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The nation's first movie tackling the issue of North Korean refugees was judged, considering its international appeal and potential to draw more public attention to the pressing issue, to be most appropriate, said Han Sang-joon, head of the jury.

Last year, Lee Chang-dong's "Secret Sunshine," which gave Jeon Do-yeon the Best Actress Award at Cannes, did not make the nomination list for the Oscar. Since veteran director Shin Sang-ok's 1963 film "Mother and a Guest' tried to make the competition pool. Others including Kim Ki-duk's "Spring, Summer, Fall Winter.. and Spring" and Lee Jun-ik's "King and the Clown" followed but none made the final cut.

"Crossing" stars top actor Chan In-pyo as a father who crosses the border to China and becomes forever separated from his family. It was first shown in April at the North Korea Freedom Coalition meeting held in Washington D.C.

In July, the film was screened at the European Union Parliament in Brussels. A group of some 50 South Korean bicyclists took the film across Europe, from the Netherlands to Germany, as part of a campaign hosted by Justice for North Korea, an organization devoted to human rights issues.

Credits: hyowlee@koreatimes.co.kr

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2.../141_28992.html

[Guest *beccas]

I came across this really old drama on tv where cha in pyo appears, but I am not sure

if he is the main lead... it looked like it was from the 90's, but i couldn't catch the name

....the only scenes that i saw when inpyo is i think a rich guy or maybe salary man? he goes to this department store

where this really young looking girl works at and is checking her out.. then he asks her if she can try on this suit for her...

the girl tries it on and inpyo is checking her out in it. then she takes it off and he says he'll take it. then he

goes to this jazz bar and sees old friends... then he also plays one song with the saxophone i think on stage. at the jazz bar place

there is a lady looking at inpyo... i guess good friends or lovers?

the girl that works in the department store is asked by one of the employees there if she wants to go watch a movie, so actually

they go, but other woman and man coworker also go, but the employee that asked her out only wanted to be with her.

inpyo goes to his house, but then its raining and that girl that was in the jazz bar was outside. .and then inpyo looks out

the window and sees the girl there so he runs outside and hugs the girl and takes her inside his house and thats when the episode ended...

and the only thing i could get at the end was cha inpyo's name

sorry for the rough description , i know its sloppy and not very clear, but thats all i know.

does anybody have a clue what this drama is? ...i doubt ppl know because this drama looks more than 10 years old.

[Demen]

from what you said, i think that drama is "All My Love for you", an 1994 MBC project

and, after that drama, CIP & female lead Shin Ae Rae became husband & wife in real life

just smile if i'm wrong

[Guest renatinha]

omg.. i wanted to watch it too it looked so good.

[Guest *beccas]

ohhhhh thank you so much...

i didn't know ppl actually knew this drama and wanted to watch it too.

but really thank you.

[Guest huangsy]

Cha In Pyo has joined US charitable organisation

차인표, '크로싱' 美 기금 모금 행사 참석

[마이데일리] 2008년 11월 13일(목) 오전 10:34 가 가| 이메일| 프린트

[클릭하시면 원본크기 이미지를 보실 수 있습니다.] [마이데일리 = 강지훈 기자] 배우 차인표가 영화진흥위원회(위원장 강한섭)가 주최하는 영화 `크로싱`의 미국 현지 프로모션 활동의 기금 모금 행사에 참석한다.

차인표는 14일 오후 6시 30분 미국 LA에 위치한 월셔그랜드호텔에서 제81회 미국 아카데미시상식의 한국 후보 추천작 `크로싱`의 현지 프로모션 활동을 지원하고자 기금 모금 행사에 참석한다. 차인표는 기금 모금 행사 및 상영회에 참석해 영화 프리젠테이션과 질의응답 시간을 가질 예정이다.

이 행사에는 차인표 외에도 정창화 감독 등 한국영화 관계자와 문 블러드 굿 등 할리우드에서 활약하고 있는 한인 2세 배우들도 함께 참석할 예정이다.

[rubie]

November 21, 2008

Celebrity Couple to Receive Philanthropy Award

Celebrity couple Cha In-pyo and Shin Ae-ra

Celebrity couple Cha In-pyo and Shin Ae-ra will be honored with the 20th Asan Special Award.

The Asan Foundation explained that the couple has contributed greatly to combating social prejudice by officially adopting two children, and devoting themselves to helping those in need by supporting 31 children across the world with continuous donations.

The couple said, "We never expected to receive the award, as there are so many people who are helping others in hidden places, but we are very delighted, because we can help more children with the prize."

They will be awarded a medal with 50 million won (US$1=W1,497) of prize money during a ceremony at Asan Education Institute in Seoul next Thursday.

The Asan Award aims to recognize philanthropic individuals or organizations, in memory of founder Chung Ju-yung. This year, 25 people, including the celebrity couple, will be awarded a total of 460 million won.

Credits: englishnews@chosun.com

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/new...0811210007.html

[Guest kimlxf]

I love Cha In Pyo and after perusing through this thread, I love him even more.

I am so interested in seeing a screening of Crossing.

[Guest huangsy]

15 Jan 2009 at '2009 Korea CEO Summit- Creative Awards'

[Guest kdramafanusa]

Source: KBS

Actor Cha In-pyo, Who 'Fathered' 34 Children

[ 2009-01-27 ]

The top celebrity couple, Cha In-pyo and Sin Ae-ra, is known for their religious faith and tight family bond. They had a child of their own, adopted two more, and recruited numerous others in helping destitute children. Their charitable deeds have inspired many to also serve their needy neighbors.

Serving Others, Adopted Children

Anyone who gets to know the joy of sharing is said to want to continue their service. This has become the everyday norm for Cha, which led to his dormant acting career. He has also donated W100 million each to the charity organizations Good Neighbors and Compassion. He was at one time burdened by the excessive attention the couple’s activities were attracting. He was uncomfortable with respectable titles people invariably used to described him. He knew only too well the capriciousness of social perceptions. But he has now become relatively free from what others think. He says he began a new task of "emptying the drawers of his mind" through which he was able to shake off much of the greed he had inside him.

Public attention is also on his number of children--his eldest biological son Jeong-min, second daughter Ye-eun, adopted in 2005, and youngest, Ye-jin, who just turned a year old. Counting the 31 children and college students the couple sponsors through Compassion, they have 34 children in total. Cha clearly remembers the series of events that shook him up to the core and transformed into a serving person. In Oct. 2005, he followed his wife, a PR envoy of Compassion, to the Philippines on a Vision Trip, or a short term mission trip. He was stunned by the destitute, starving children there. His heart began to break in the thought that all human lives are equal, but that these children lived in such devastation. After the trip, he couldn’t forget their faces. They smelled bad and were dirty but had pure hearts. His wife first suggested that they help the kids, which led to their support for ten children through Compassion. Initially, it was simply good-hearted support, until Cha made a major life decision. He would adopt a child. Since having their son, Sin asked him about adopting a girl. But right around this time, his mother-in-law was diagnosed with gastric cancer and the couple looked after her for five years. When she died, they then revisited the idea and adopted Ye-eun in Dec. 2005. They still believe God had answered their prayers. They say that giving to others is actually giving to yourself, and that loving others is another way of loving oneself. They say that the joy in serving and giving is truly immeasurable. The joy the couple received from Ye-eun exceeded their expectations. This led them to adopt Ye-jin two years later.

Sharing the happy virus

An MBC special program entitled "The Secret of W35,000" followed Cha’s second visit to Ethiopia. Since it aired, 10,000 Koreans have joined the monthly W35,000 child sponsorship with Compassion. The growing recognition of the song "Dear My Rica," whose lyrics were written by Cha is a testament to the fantastic role model the couple represents. The song is about his own story of when he visited the Philippines instead of Sin to meet the orphan Rica, whom his wife sponsors. Sin was not able to go because of her busy schedule. Cha wrote a brief note on his personal homepage about the trip and his encounter with Rica, which moved many people.

The couple’s humility, sincerity and love is serving as a "happy virus" and catalyst that is inspiring many Koreans to look to our needy neighbors. The public sees that Cha and Sin are similar even in their career moves, not to mention their private lives. Since appearing in the film "Korean Peninsula" and the TV drama "White Tower," Cha filmed the much-talked about movie "Crossing," about the touching love of a father and son. In the film, he played a North Korean defector whose love for his child had many viewers sobbing throughout the film. This is remarkably in line with his wife’s movie "Ice Bar" in which she plays a strong but kind single mother who raises her son by selling smuggled cosmetics. The two have grown identical in their career moves and attitudes. In choosing their next drama or film, they are famous for looking at the work itself and not how much it pays.

Cha and Sin are no doubt a top celebrity couple in Korea. But they are clearly different from other star celebrities. Cha is also set to publish a children’s book "Goodbye, hill" in March. The story is set in a "tiger village" near Mount Baekdu during the Japanese colonial era. The book is just one of the many things he wants to give back to society. His wife plans to enter graduate school next year to study social welfare. Her dream is to build a childcare center.

We realize the true meaning of life and happiness from Cha, who hopes to see all Koreans take a small step forward in helping others in the future.

[Guest huangsy]

You can see CIP in the interview of his wife

mms://newsvod.kbs.co.kr/news/news_8am/2009/02/04/700k/140.asf

[Guest huangsy]

CIP has been cast in SBS' telecinema, a 2-part drama, 꿈은 이루어진다 (Dream fulfilled), will air in 1st half of 2009

http://kr.news.yahoo.com/service/news/shel...mp;newssetid=83

[Demen]

wao, CIP in a new project, cant wait

[rubie]

March 18, 2009

Actor Cha In-pyo publishes novel

Actor Cha In-pyo, 41, has become a novelist. Cha next Wednesday will be releasing his first novel titled "Goodbye, Hill," about a village on the edge of Mount Baekdu in the 1930s, internet bookshop Yes24 said yesterday.

The novel highlights the importance of peace and forgiveness through the main characters, including a boy who comes to a village to pay revenge to a tiger that hurt his mother, a local girl and a Japanese military officer.

Cha, who reportedly worked on the novel for the past 10 years, said he hoped to tell a story of "our grandfathers and grandmothers who survived through the era when Korea was the weakest and the poorest." Cha will be holding a meeting with readers to mark his first publication on April 6.

Credits: angiely@heraldm.com via koreaherald.co.kr, image from daum.net