[Movie 2015] Memories of The Sword 협녀 : 칼의 기억

[rubie]

September 12, 2013
Jeon Do yeon receives an invitation from Burberry
BNTNews

[Lee Won hee] Actress Jun Do yeon is invited to the fashion show hosted by Burberry.

On September 16, Burberry will host a fashion show ‘Burberry Prorsum Womenswear SS14 Show’ at Hyde Park in London, England.
For the show, Burberry invited Korea’s top actress Jeon Do yeon, and she will be the first actress to attend this event twice in a row and the finale model of the show. Thus, Jeon will depart for London on September 13 to make preparations for the show.
Meanwhile, Jeon Do yeon is currently in filming of her new movie ‘Memories of the Sword.’ Jeon Do yeon will be playing a role of a blind woman who manages a tea house in Goryeo era. (photo by Marie Claire)

[rubie]

September 13, 2013
Lee Byung Hun and Jo Min Su hope that more attention can be cast on ‘Grand Bell Awards’
By Korea Star Daily | KpopFighting.com

The press conference for the upcoming ‘50th Grand Bell Awards’ was held earlier this week at Seoul’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, and also saw the appointment of actor Lee Byung Hun and actress Jo Min Su as honorary ambassadors of the awards ceremony.

Lee Byung Hun said at the conference, “’The Grand Bell Awards’ is ushering in its 50th year, and the reason for it being around for half a century is because it has grown up together with the Korean movie industry. If it wants to continue on for the next half century with much love, I feel that it has to become more influential and just. I hope that my presence will be of help to it, so here’s hoping that more attention will come its way. I am currently filming ‘Memories of the Sword’ with Jeon Do Yeon and Kim Go Eun, and is expected to take about 4 months for completion.”
The ‘Grand Bell Awards’ is an awards ceremony that is presented annually by the Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. It is ushering in its 50th year since its inception way back in 1962. Lee Byung Hun and Jo Min Su walked away with the Best Actor and Best Actress awards respectively at last year’s ceremony, so they naturally became the honorary ambassadors for this year.
The ‘Grand Bell Awards’ film committee expressed, “Lee Byung Hun and Jo Min Su were the faces of the ‘49th Grand Bell Awards’, so we decided to use them as our honorary ambassadors for this year’s awards ceremony. They have been showing great performances in film, while also seeking to better themselves in new unfamiliar roles at the same time. They have also done well in not only promoting Korean film culture in South Korean and Asia, but also to the whole world. They have greatly raised the profile of Korean films globally, and they are undoubtedly the perfect candidates to promote our awards ceremony this year.”
The ‘50th Grand Bell Awards’ will be held on November 11th from 7PM (KST) at KBS Hall at Seoul’s Yeouido, and the awards ceremony will be carried live through KBS 2TV.
By: Jung Sun WookCopyright@KpopFighting.com

[rubie]

LBH's past co-stars JDY (Harmonium in My Memory) and SM (GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra)
September 17, 2013
Jeon Do-yeon with Sienna Miller in London

Source: YonhapNews

South Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon (L) poses with Hollywood star Sienna Miller at a collection fashion show in London on Sept. 16, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Management Soop) (Yonhap) (END)

[rubie]

Source: Wikipedia
Memories of the Sword
Jeon Do-yeon as Seol-rang / WallsoLee Byung-hun as Deok-gi / Yoo-baekKim Go-eun as Hong-ee / Seol-heeLee Junho as YoolLee Geung-young as teacherKim Tae-woo as Jon-bokBae Soo-bin as Poong-chun
This is a story of three swordsmen, Jon-gul, Seol-rang, and Deok-gi, who led an uprising during the Goryeo era. When their desire for freedom and justice is about to be fulfilled, Deok-gi betrays them, leading to the death of Jon-gul, and to Seol-rang disappearing along with Jon-gul's infant daughter Hong-ee. When Seol-rang leaves, Deok-gi intones the prophecy that "You, no, not just you, but you and I both will be killed by Hong-ee."
Eighteen years later, Seol-rang, now called Wallso, is a blind woman with two children who manages a tea house at Byukran port. Determined to take revenge on Deok-gi, Wallso tries to teach Hong-ee to become a master of the sword, but Hong-ee (who changed her name to Seol-hee) is much more interested in day to day affairs than what happened to her father in the past.
One day, a big sword match hosted by the powerful military ruler Deok-gi (now known as Yoo-baek) is held in the market. Seol-hee participates in the match despite Wallso's objections. As the match progresses, she ends up fighting Yull, who is the master of the sword.
Yoo-baek realizes that Seol-hee's skill with the sword is similar to Seol-rang's, whom he had once loved. Yoo-baek orders his subordinates to catch Seol-hee, but she is able to run away. That same night, Seol-hee learns how her father, Jon-gul died. Wallso tells her that there are two enemies that Seol-hee is destined to vanquish: Yoo-baek, and Wallso herself. Shocked and desperate, Seol-hee leaves home: the beginning of a long journey of revenge.

[rubie]

Darcy Paquet wrote this article at Daum Movie Magazine (in Korean and English). Love how he wrote about A Bittersweet Life and the lead character played by BH. He also mentioned JDY's movie, My Dear Enemy and the actress+co-star. Mr. Paquet is a self-confessed JDY fanboy (quoting his own words).. it'll be interesting anticipating how Hyeopyeo: Memories of the Sword will turn out with both Lee Byung Hun and Jeon Do Yeon collaborating (again) on the silver screen.
September 30, 2013
Elegance

Recently I read a short interview with the American writer Andrew Solomon, where he was asked what book he is currently reading. He said, “I’m rereading The Portrait of a Lady, which I do every few years to remind myself that there really is such a thing as elegance, in life and in prose – and to remember how much devastation can unfold around it.”
I was struck by the way he used the word “elegance.” It’s a word that these days is used more often by advertisers selling luxury cars or jewelry than by ordinary people. It can be a useful term for describing art, fashion or architecture, but Solomon clearly had something else in mind when he spoke that sentence. His words gave the impression of elegance as something rare, or perhaps hidden, and he makes us wonder: why should it be linked with the word “devastation?”
In one sense, elegance can simply mean a commitment to beauty. But when Henry James wrote The Portrait of a Lady in 1880, the word was more often used in a social sense. It described the way you interacted with other people, and the way you chose to live your life. To live with elegance is to live according to certain ideals, not to compromise yourself in order to get along better with other people. To be elegant is, in one sense, to be in opposition with the world. Perhaps this clash between elegance and the reality is what can bring on such devastation. Solomon says, “I am moved by Henry James’s ineffable sadness, the belief that human experience is full of loss, and that high morals don’t stand a chance.”
I think it’s probably easier to capture the spirit of elegance in novels than in the more realistic medium of cinema. In contemporary cinema in particular, it’s a rare quality. Viewers looking for elegance in films this month would be more likely to find it in the retrospective devoted to 1950s-60s Japanese filmmaker Masumura Yasuzo screening at the Seoul Art Cinema. (An old retrospective at the Cinematheque Ontario was titled, “Elegant Beast: Discovering Japanese New Wave Master Yasuzo Masumura”) 
If I were the director of a film festival, I would love to screen a special section devoted to the idea of elegance. It would be interesting to ask different critics and directors to choose films that they believe express this quality. Since everyone has a different concept of elegance, there would probably be a wide spectrum of films. But there are some contemporary classics, such as Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood For Love 화양연화 (2000), that would be particularly likely to appear. My own choice for the most stunningly beautiful and elegant work of recent years is the Italian film I Am Love (2009) starring Tilda Swinton, which captures both the awakening of a woman and the decline of a wealthy family. 


Korean cinema is so modern, and so in tune with contemporary trends, that elegance (as opposed to style) is not something that many directors strive for. There are some classic examples that capture several senses of the word elegance, including Lee Man-hee’s Road to Return 귀로 (1967) and Kim Soo-yong’s Mist 안개 (1967). But among contemporary films there are two works in particular that for me embody this particular quality. The first one may seem a strange choice, since it contains such graphic violence and disturbing imagery, but what separates Kim Jee-woon’s masterpiece A Bittersweet Life 달콤한 인생 (2005) from other gangster films is its elegance. It’s not simply that the film is beautifully shot, or the way in which it captures both the refinement and brutality of the gangster’s life. It’s that the main character himself lives according to a certain code. It’s not so much a moral code, or a sense of idealism, as it is a strange sort of commitment to elegance.

The second film is My Dear Enemy 멋진 하루 (2008). In this case, it’s not so much the characters themselves who embody some form of elegance, but rather the tremendous naturalism of Jeon Do-yeon and Ha Jung-woo, combined with the sensitive directing of Lee Yoon-ki. The type of storytelling employed by the film stands in quiet opposition to commercial trends in the Korean film industry, in the sense that it’s a very simple story told without flourishes. But the way the film handles emotion is extremely refined and, yes, elegant. It may look ordinary on its surface, but My Dear Enemy is one of Korean cinema’s remarkable achievements of recent years.
Darcy Paquet

[rubie]

Thanks to the highlight at Angel 70 (capture from LBH DC)
The first look at Lee Byunghun's Deok-gi, at the filming location in Geochang-gun

[rubie]

October 7, 2013
Lotte adds three for Busan slateLine-up includes Memories Of The Sword, set to star Lee Byung-hun

By Jean Noh ScreenDaily.com
South Korea’s Lotte Entertainment is launching sales on three new additions to its line-up at Busan’s Asian Film Market. The slate is led by Park Heung-shik’s highly anticipated Memories Of The Sword, starring Lee Byung-hun from Red 2 and Masqeurade and Jeon Do-youn from The Housemaid and Secret Sunshine.
Set at the turbulent end of the Goryeo dynasty, the martial arts piece also stars Kim Go-eun, the ingenue from Eungyo, and Lee Joon-ho – also known as Junho from the K-pop group 2PM - who recently featured in surveillance thriller Cold Eyes. The film is set for release in the second half of 2014.
Lotte’s second new addition is The King’s Wrath (working title), a historical action piece about palace intrigues during King Jeong-jo’s reign in the Joseon dynasty. The film is directed by Lee Jae-gyu, well-known for hit TV series such as Beethoven Virus, Damo and The King 2 Hearts.
Actor Hyun Bin (Late Autumn), in his first film after completing his mandatory military service, stars as the king. Jung Jae-Young from Confession Of Murder and Cho Jung-Seok from The Face Reader also feature.
Currently in production, The King’s Wrath is set for local release in May 2014.
Lotte’s third new film is The Pirates (working title), directed by Lee Seok-hoon, whose credits include Dancing Queen. A big-budget seafaring adventure, The Pirates stars Kim Nam-gil from popular TV series like The Great Queen Seondeok and Bad Guy and Son Ye-jin from The Tower and My Wife Got Married.
Also currently in production, the film is due for release in the second half of 2014.

[rubie]

Thanks to the highlight at PlanetBH0712, these are some Hyeopyeo on-location filming captures courtesy Dodo Sky Crane Company. The company staff working at the site have taken some pics of the filming and the actors. However, pics of actor Lee Byung Hun were too far away to see clearly but he was at the site as well as Junho. From the original page, by Google-translate it says that their cranes were used for filming on October 4-5. Seems that there're a lot of high-wire action scenes with lots of big tress and stone structures around at the location in Geochang, thus the need for the cranes and moving equipment. The blog mentioned that everything was done professionally in quite a happy atmosphere despite the work involved.
Source: http://blog.naver.com/dodosky7777/110177201776
These pics has BH but it's too small to see anyone clearly.




More pics at the original source

[rubie]

More pics at the Geochang location

[rubie]

[rubie]

^ sighting of Junho

[rubie]

November 12, 2013
Rise of K-pop Stars on the Big ScreenK-pop Idols Eye Acting Careers
by Tae Sang-joon KOFIC

The number of ‘idol star’ musicians moving into acting has been growing recently. LEE Joon of popular Korean Wave boy group ‘MBLAQ’ starred in Rough Play, a film written and produced by KIM Ki-duk, as Oh-young. Leader of pop group ‘Big Bang’, CHOI Seung-hyun (a.k.a. T.O.P.), starred in LEE John H’s 71-Into the Fire (2010) three years ago and returned in as an actor with his first lead role in this year’s Commitment. Other cases include FT Island’s LEE Hong-ki in Rockin’ on Heaven’s Door, 2PM’s LEE Jun-ho and OK Taec-yeon, in Cold Eyes and Marriage Blue, respectively, while Girls’ Generation’s GWON Yu-ri made her feature debut with No Breathing, starring LEE Jong-suk and SEO In-guk. The list of boundary-crossing idol stars goes on with a number of films aiming for release next year that have cast young stars recognized as ‘idols’ by the public in both leading and supporting roles.
In the past, idol star film appearances were divided into two different trends: casting idol stars in leading roles or fairly significant supporting roles in high concept commercial films. The former films were usually targeted towards the Asian Korean Wave market including Japan, China and Taiwan, while the latter were based on a risk-reducing consideration by casting a well-exposed idol star instead of an unknown upcoming actor.
However, the Korean film community’s perception towards idol star casting has changed quite noticeably. Unlike the previous poorly developed Korean Wave films that relied on the popularity of the Korean Wave and K-pop, nowadays there are more commercial films considering idol stars as serious candidates for roles. One reason may be that compared to the past, there has been an improvement in the acting skills of these idol stars who receive singing, dancing and acting training to become ‘total entertainers.’ Another factor would be that as time has gone by, the public has become more forgiving towards idol stars balancing a career between music and acting. In addition, the lack of 20-something actors who have enough star power to be cast in commercial films has opened up more options for idol stars to fill in the gap. 
From an industrial point-of-view, with the difficulty of sustaining a career in music within a pop music market inundated with idol group stars, and a slightly slacking K-pop popularity, idol stars are actively seeking opportunities to work in film and TV dramas. As a result, rather than the trend of taking an acting opportunity as an occasional ‘excursion’ like in the past, there has been an increase in shifting the focus to acting from an original career in music. Even film producers have become fairly eager to cast idols stars as a means to secure the box office success of their films. On the other hand, skeptics claim that such idol stars are stealing upcoming professional actors’ places, but most agree that there isn’t much difference between the potential of an upcoming professional actor and idol star to become a serious actor whether it’s a leading or supporting role.
Among the idol stars in 2013, LEE Joon and CHOI Seung-hyun are at the forefront of the group. LEE Joon’s track record includes starring as the teenage Raizo whose adult version was played by Rain (JUNG Ji-hoon) in the Wachowski Siblings-produced and James McTeigue-directed Hollywood action film Ninja Assassin (2009). He subsequently appeared in Jungle Fish 2 and the TV drama series Iris 2, but finally received critical acclaim as the actor-wannabe Oh-young who hits the top as a bit part actor-turned-star, but then miserably falls from grace in Rough Play. His skilled performance in erotic and action scenes as well as his dialogue and emotional delivery, not to  movement, has earned him considerable praise. His next film will be webtoon author  HWANG Mi-na’s directorial debut film Botox (working title). Based on the original webtoon of the same title created by HWANG Mi-na, Botox is a story of the romance between the 42 year-old Young-sook and 21 year-old Gun.  LEE Joon is playing Gun, and PARK Jin-hee of Shadows in the Palace and Lost & Found will play Young-sook.
CHOI Seung-hyun is challenging the success of KIM Soo-hyun, who played a ‘pretty boy spy’ in the mega-hit Secretly, Greatly earlier this year, with Commitment. Storming the film awards scene by grabbing almost every upcoming star award with his performance as student soldier OH Jang-bum in 71-Into the Fire, CHOI Seung-hyung plays the North Korean spy RHEE Myung-hoon who jumps into a whirlwind of adversity to protect the younger sister he left back in North Korea and the new friend he meets in the South. Despite a divided response to the film, CHOI Seung-hyun’s performance is largely praised for persuasively shifting between the roles of naïve and clumsy high schooler and merciless killing machine. He has also been cast in the lead role of HAHM Dae-gi in Tazza 2, the sequel to filmmaker CHOI Dong-hoon’s Tazza: The High Rollers (2006) which attracted 6.83 million in admissions in 2006. The film will be directed by KANG Hyoung-chul of Scandal Makers (2008) and Sunny (2011).
Among the films in production at the moment, the casting of PARK Yoo-chun, currently a member of JYJ and former member of TVXQ in Sea Fog, on which Snowpiercer’s BONG Joon-ho is credited as a producer, is noteworthy. Based on the play of the same title, this film is the directorial debut project SHIM Sung-bo, the co-screenplay writer of Memories of Murder (2003). It is a thriller dealing with six sailors who inadvertently become drawn into peril when they board stowaways on their fishing boat in the middle of the sea. Sea Fog will be the theatrical debut film of PARK Yoo-chun who received popular acclaim for his performances in TV dramas including Sungkyunkwan Scandal and Missing You. The potential of his film chemistry with KIM Yun-seok of The Thieves and Tazza: The High Rollers as well as HAN Ye-ri of The Spy: Undercover Operation and Commitment is already raising attention from the public.
After a successful start as an actor with Cold Eyes, LEE Joon-ho of 2PM returns with a supporting role in Memories of the Sword starring LEE Byung-hun of Masquerade and JEON Do-yeon who is returning to the screen two years after starring in Countdown. Memories of the Sword, directed by PARK Heung-sik of Bravo, My Life (2005) and My Mother, The Mermaid (2004), is a heroic action film dealing with the swordsmen who led the people’s revolt during the military era of Koryo Dynasty. The Pirates of the Caribbean-esque adventure film Pirates (working title) starring SON Ye-jin and KIM Nam-gil has also cast f(x)’s Sulli in a significant supporting role. 
As is evident, idol star casting seems to be the latest trend in Korean films. Whether they will be just brief ‘one hit wonders’ whose images are exploited for marketing purposes or in fact become full-fledged professional actors with an eye for good projects and passion for acting, remains to be seen. 
By TAE Sang-joon 

[rubie]

November 22, 2013
"Hyeopyeo" actors Lee Byung Hun and Kim Go Eun at the 34th Blue Dragon Awards. Both were also presenters at the award ceremony.
Source: Nate

[rubie]

 Hyeopyeo: Memories of The Sword - cast photos

Thanks to the fan-highlight at LBH Baidu / LBH DC Gallery / Twitter (oyudong) / twitter (Gladyzkhun)
From the Lotte Entertainment (Cinema) Calendar

[rubie]

Hyeopyeo Artwork by fans at LBH DC <3


 ^ Fan-caption says "together we're not afraid - Hyupyeo" (cr: mistymornmg)
It seems that the upcoming movie is not quite all-martial arts (as it's thought to be) but more into heavy melo-acting as well.. with powerhouse actors like Lee Byung Hun and Jeon Do Yeon especially.

[rubie]

From fan-highlight at LBH DC, seems that Hyeopyeo filming also took place at a sunflower farm according to the sighting report at this blog. From afar, looks like actress Kim Go Eu (or her stunt double) acting on a high-wire.
Also check out the LBH-JDY artwork, too. ^^

[rubie]

December 11, 2013
Jeon Do Yeon: "(I was) afraid Lee Byung Hun may be a different person, but he's just like 14 years ago"

Source: JoyNews24 l thanks to mistymorning for the translation ^^


"At the set of Hyupyeo, I was really thankful of LBH's presence. I realized after I saw the news that it had been 14 years since "Harmonium in My Memory"... JDY, LBH both of us changed much after the movie. LBH became a world renowned actor. Honestly I was a bit afraid thinking "what if he (LBH) has changed". I don't know how it would be."
But all worries are not necessary. LBH she met at the set was "the same person she could have seen yesterday". "It was really great, and I'm thankful" continued JDY. "Good person and good actor doesn't change regardless of time" "I probably got old and matured, but LBH was just like a person I saw yesterday, didn't change"
"(Compared to 14 years ago) the set's surrounding got younger. There's really not many people I can call Oppa and look up to. LBH is someone like that. Except Dir Park Heung Sik and the lighting director, all other staff and actors/actresses are younger than me. In some set, everyone else is younger except the Dir. But (because of LBH) I have someone I can call Oppa and depend on. He maybe feeling the same about me, being in the same set.

[rubie]

December 13, 2013
Omar wins Best Feature at APSA
By Stephen Cremin FlimBizAsia
Hany ABU-ASSAD's Omar has won the Best Feature Film prize at the 7th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane. The drama from Palestine had the most nominations this year, among 39 nominated films from 22 countries.
Only one film received more than one award, Ritesh BATRA's Indian drama The Lunchbox, which secured Best Screenplay and the second Jury Grand Prize despite not being nominated in the Best Feature Film category.
Mostofa Sarwar FAROOKI's Television, from Bangladesh, won the first Jury Grand Prize. Receiving the award, actress Nusrat Imrose TISHA (pictured) said "It's a big opportunity for us, for Bangladesh."
Directors Batra and Farooki are both currently attending the 10th Dubai International Film Festival where the latter's new film, Ant Story Pipra bidya, is competing in the Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature competition.
Ilo Ilo 爸媽不在家's Anthony CHEN 陳哲藝, from Singapore, was recognised in the Achievement in Directing category. A special mention went to Emir BAIGAZIN for Harmony Lessons Uroki garmonii from Kazakhstan.
LEE Byeong-heon 이병헌 | 李炳憲 won Best Actor for Masquerade 광해　왕이 되 남자. He is currently shooting PARK Heung-shik 박흥식's period action drama Memories of a Sword 협녀: 칼의 기억. Unable to attend, he sent an English-language video message.
ZHANG Ziyi 章子怡 won Best Actress for The Grandmaster 一代宗師. She sent an English-language video message from Los Angeles. Best Cinematography went to LÜ Yue 呂樂, also from China, for FENG Xiaogang 馮小剛's Back to 1942 一九四二.
The Best Documentary Feature Film was awarded to Joshua OPPENHEIMER's The Act of Killing, in which ageing Indonesian death squad leaders re-enact their mass-killings in the style of different movie genres.
Receiving the award, producer Anne KÖHNCKE thanked the festivals and distributors in the Asian region that have supported the documentary. She especially thanked the families of the victims of the mid-60s genocide for sharing their stories.
Best Children's Feature Film, for features that reveal the world from the perspective of a child, went to KANG Yi-kwan 강이관 | 彊利官's Juvenile Offender 범죄소년 from South Korea. It was accepted by the film's co-writer PARK Ju-yeong 박주영.
Although they started the evening with six nominations, the most from any country, Japanese films and film-makers won no awards. There were multiple wins for films and film-makers from India, South Korea and China among the 14 prize winners.
During the ceremony, South Korea's LEE Chun-yeon 이춘연, the president of landmark production company Cine2000 씨네2000, was presented with the FIAPF Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film in the Asia Pacific region.
Also during the night, The Academy Film Fund awarded four US$25,000 grants to Ainsley Gardiner's Canoe, Reis Çelik's Karbala Orchestra, Jeannette Hereniko's Fall Out and Garin NUGROHO's The Monkey Mask.
Two APSA Children's Film Fund script development grants, each worth US$20,000, went to India's Sudheer PALSANE for Noor and Australia's Kath Shelper for The Wonderful Adventures of Topsy Brown & Other Terrible Tales.
2013 ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS
Best Feature Film: Omar [Palestine]1st Jury Grand Prize: Television [bangladesh]2nd Jury Grand Prize: The Lunchbox [india]Best Children's Feature Film: Juvenile Offender [south Korea]Best Documentary Feature Film: The Act of Killing [Denmark, Norway, UK]Best Animated Feature Film: Koo! Kin-Dza-Dza [Russia]Achievement in Directing: Anthony Chen; Ilo Ilo [singapore]Best Screenplay: Ritesh Batra; The Lunchbox [india]Achievement in Cinematography: Lü Yue; Back to 1942 [China]Best Performance by an Actor: Lee Byeong-heon; Masquerade [south Korea]Best Performance by an Actress: Zhang Ziyi; The Grandmaster [Hong Kong/China]

[rubie]

December 12, 2013
Jeon Do-yeon speaks about her latest movie, motherhoodCannes-winning actress says she still struggles with confidence issues
By Claire Lee The Korea Herald

Actress Jeon Do-yeon stars as a Korean housewife imprisoned in France for carrying drugs in her latest film “Way Back Home.” (Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald)
Even after winning the Best Actress Award in Cannes in 2007, celebrated actress Jeon Do-yeon says she still struggles with self-doubt. 
“I think that is why I work hard,” the 40-year-old actress said in an interview with reporters in Seoul, Wednesday. “I don’t think I ever started something with confidence. My close friends tell me, whenever I tell them I feel insecure, ‘You’ll be fine, you know you’ll do fine. You are just saying this.’ 
“And I usually end up doing fine, I usually pull it off. But that doesn’t mean I am confident while I’m at something. I consistently doubt myself and my abilities.” 
And yet, she somehow pulled it off again. Jeon’s latest film, “Way Back Home,” topped the box office chart on Wednesday, the day of its release. In the movie, Jeon plays an ordinary Korean housewife and the mother of a young daughter who is imprisoned for two years on Martinique Island after being caught carrying cocaine at the Paris Orly Airport. 

Poster of "Way Back Home."
The drama, directed by Bang Eun-jin, was inspired by a true story that took place in 2004. Jang Mi-jeong carried a bag filled with cocaine to France, thinking it was a bag of diamonds. She had been reportedly asked by her husband’s friend, whom she had known for more than 10 years, to transport the diamonds for pay.
“Director Bang used to be an actress and had been researching and writing the script before I got involved,” Jeon said. “So the way she viewed my character was different from the one I had in mind. Her approach was more emotional whereas I tried to remain relatively objective. 
“The Jeong-yeon (the name of the character in the movie) I wanted to show was a woman who grows up from the very difficult experience,” she continued. “In the beginning of the movie, she is just a naive woman who easily falls for what people say. And she becomes stronger by the end of the film.”
“Way Back Home” is the first movie in which Jeon plays a mother since the birth of her daughter in 2009. She won her Best Actress Award in Cannes for playing the emotionally distraught mother in Lee Chang-dong’s 2007 drama “Secret Sunshine.” Jeon said her experience being a mother should reflect rather naturally in “Way Back Home,” though she didn’t specifically use it in order to relate to her character. 
“I think I wasn’t feeling too confident because I hadn’t had the experience raising a child when I was shooting ‘Secret Sunshine,’” Jeon said. “I wasn’t sure what was right and what was wrong when playing a mother role. It was weird because director Lee Chang-dong said he wanted me to play the role mainly because he saw this ‘maternal instinct’ in me. But he had never even seen me playing with any child. I guess every woman has it, and very often they are unaware of it until they get to realize it.”
Marriage, motherhood
Jeon married a businessman who is nine years her senior in 2007. She said her life has been easy and comfortable for the most part, but being married is one of the toughest challenges she has faced. 
“I had wanted to be married, and finally got married,” she said. “But I think I only had fantasies about marriage at the time. I learned about all the responsibilities that come along with it after I got married. I didn’t know they existed and was literally shocked. I thought, ‘why had I never thought about this before?’
“Being an actress requires you to focus on yourself,” she continued. “And being married conflicts with that. You are not just you, but you are a wife and a mom. I am an emotional person and hit my highs and lows very frequently. And being married conflicts with that, too. It’s like this: You just want to focus on one thing, or your own feelings and emotions, but you have to think about whether or not your child went to kindergarten that day.” 
Being a mother, on the other hand, is both a humbling and challenging experience, she said. Her biggest interest and first priority is always her child, the actress added.
“I think I get to grow up as a person by being a mother,” she said. I realize how flawed and incomplete I am as a human being when I am with my daughter. She is mostly very well behaved. Whenever I go away for a shoot, she asks me how many nights I won’t be home. When I tell her three nights, she asks me if I can come back after just one night. But she wouldn’t ask me not to go at all. And I’d feel bad.” 
Her next project is “Hyeopnyeo,” a period drama and martial arts flick directed by Park Heung-shik. In the upcoming movie, scheduled to hit theaters next year, she stars as a swordswoman during Korea’s Goryeo kingdom (918-1392). Her co-stars in the movie are actress Kim Go-eun and actor Lee Byung-hun.
“I think I can be myself the most when I am working,” she said. “And I can’t only concentrate on myself like that when I am not working. So I can’t complain about other things that I have to deal with about my work, such as what you need to sacrifice for fame.”
In spite of her high-profile career as an actress and her many achievements, including six Best Actress awards from home and abroad, Jeon said she does not consider herself as someone successful. 
“I think I still have a long way to go to be successful,” she said. “I assume that a successful person would feel like she or he has done a lot, and achieved a lot. I don’t feel that way about myself yet. I think I am still in the process of reaching that level.”

[rubie]

December 17, 2013
How Korean Actress Jeon Do-yeon Builds Trust With Her Audience By Jeyup S. Kwaak WSJ

Jeon Do-yeon in ‘Way Back Home’
South Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon has spent most of her 20-year career playing strong or troubled women that challenge social norms, a rarity in a country where the number of strong female lead roles pales in comparison to those available for male stars.
Ms. Jeon returned to the screen last week in that familiar capacity in director Pang Eun-jin’s “Way Back Home.” The drama is based on the true story of a housewife who agrees — after her family runs into financial difficulties — to smuggle a friend’s suitcase to France that she thinks is filled with unpolished gemstones in return for a fee. She later realizes that she has been used as a drug mule after she is caught at the Paris airport with a bag containing cocaine.
Unable to explain the situation in a foreign language, the woman eventually is sent to a prison in a French-administered Caribbean island — beyond her family’s reach and neglected by the South Korean embassy in Paris thousands of miles away.
Ms. Jeon said she initially felt “stifling frustration” after reading the script but tried to shift her focus on the woman’s longing for her child and husband. “It’s not a movie that’s meant to make wounds,” she said.
Ms. Jeon’s performance has drawn comparisons to her showing in “Secret Sunshine,” the 2007 film directed by Lee Chang-dong that earned her the best-actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival that year and global recognition.
The 40-year-old actress told The Wall Street Journal that she attributed her success to luck, adding that the reality has “always been disadvantageous for women” due to the dearth of challenging female roles in Korean cinema.
“I want to be an actress that can give a sense of trust to a film that people want to see when my name is on it,” she said.

‘It’s not a movie that’s meant to make wounds.’
Ms. Jeon said that the best recompense for her work is the offer of another role, adding that awards don’t drive her. She keeps her palm-shaped trophy from Cannes hidden in a closet.
She said she feels “an enormous sense of loss” after finishing the cycle of a film shoot and the subsequent media interviews for a movie’s promotion.
Since her Cannes win, Ms. Jeon’s star power has risen significantly at home, too, and she stands in a league of her own, according to filmmakers and critics. But perhaps because of her choice of difficult women, Ms. Jeon has yet to produce a major commercial success at the domestic box office.
That could change with “Way Back Home”: The film ranked second at the weekend box-office, behind the blockbuster “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” which pulled in 6.56 billion won ($6.2 million), according to the Korean Film Council. “Way Back Home” earned 4.46 billion won in the three days ending Sunday.
While the film has earned mixed reviews, critics have hailed Ms. Jeon’s performance.
“I can’t imagine anyone else in the role,” said Seoul-based film writer Pierce Conran. “Jeon has always had an incredible talent for portraying strong characters masking their vulnerability.”
“Way Back Home” executive producer Seo Young-hee describes Ms. Jeon as “peerless among actresses of her generation,” and she was Ms. Seo’s first choice from the film’s inception.
Ms. Jeon is now working on the martial-arts period drama “Memories of the Sword” with South Korean heartthrob Lee Byung-hun, best known outside the country for his role as Storm Shadow in the “G.I. Joe” movie franchise.
“Memories of the Sword” is slated for release next year.