[movie 2006] Dirty Carnival 비열한 거리

[rubie]

Flawed 'Carnival' Still Worth Price of Admission

By Joon Soh

Contributing Writer

Jo In-sung stars in "A Dirty Carnival."

Despite the flood of gangster films that have graced local screens over the years, the genre remains quite popular with South Korean filmmakers. But for every new movie that comes out, it becomes an increasing challenge for directors to avoid having their stylishly noir filming feel like a rehash of old tricks.

Director Yoo Ha's "A Dirty Carnival" is the latest to delve into the world of the South Korean mafias. Expectations are high for the film as it follows Yoo's widely acclaimed "Spirit of Jeekeundo," a provocative look at high school violence and one of the top-grossing films of 2004.

In many ways, "Dirty Carnival" feels like a logical progression from "Spirit of Jeekeundo," as it expands on the idea of violence as a social phenomenon. The arena has changed from high school to criminal underworld, but the underlying concept of power remains the same.

The gangsters of "Dirty Carnival" live with a strict adherence to hierarchy and loyalty; they expect absolute compliance from their subordinates, the same obedience that they then purport to show to their superiors. The main protagonist, Pyong-du, played by Jo In-sung, sits in the middle of this hierarchy, as captain of his own team but also answering to his bosses.

But while these gangsters have their codes, Yoo also shows how the boundary between their world and ours is not all that clear cut, especially when it comes to money. The gangsters treat their work as a job, and worry over such things as the direction of their careers. They dream of a "spon," slang for a sponsor, or a patron who will financially back their illegal projects.

Indeed, their actions are akin to those of a venture capitalist looking for investors, and a bloody fight between rival gangs feels like a hostile takeover in the most frightening sense of the term. Within this scheme, Pyong-du is a middle manager, but with aspirations of moving up the ladder by any means necessary.

This combination of violence and commerce gives "Dirty Carnival" a disturbing sense of realism as it depicts a world where rules of mercantilism have run amok. This mixture may be somewhat familiar to fans of "The Sopranos," the American television show about a mafia clan in New Jersey, but within the context of Korea and its demanding social hierarchy, it resonates more deeply and strongly.

Because Yoo's approach to the Korean gangster theme seems so fresh, it makes it that much more puzzling and disappointing when he decides to also include some predictable elements of the genre. In an attempt to "humanize" Pyong-du, for example, Yoo introduces a kindhearted girlfriend (Lee Bo-young) whose purity shakes Pyong-du’s faith in his work. Unfortunately, these melodramatic elements have the opposite effect of their intention.

A more successful subplot revolves around Min-ho (Nam Gung-min), Pyong-du's elementary school friend and an aspiring filmmaker looking to make a hit gangster film. The story could probably have been better integrated into the rest of the plot, but the character's cynicism and desperation makes for an interesting and sometimes humorous complement to the harsh reality of the gangster's life. It also gives director Yoo plenty of opportunities to satirize himself, which he does with glee.

sohjoo@hotmail.com

06-15-2006 16:31

Source: http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/20...16314611720.htm

[rubie]

June 16, 2006

Jo In-sung Is Back in 'Dirty Carnival'

It is the dream of Byung-du aka "Number 3" (Jo In-sung), always ignored at the Rotary gang, to find a sponsor with plenty of cash and tidy up his failed life. When his higher-up in the organization declines the order of wealthy businessman Hwang to "take care of" a senior prosecutor, Byung-du snatches the opportunity. His right hand Jong-soo (Jin Gu) flits to the scenario like a moth to a porch light, while his elementary school buddy Min-ho (Namgung Min) is making a movie called "The Struggles of a Southern Sluggard" out of the entire process. This is where the mean streets erupt into a base and wicked carnival.

Chungmuro, home to the Korean film industry, could fill a truck with gangster movies that tell stories of lust and betrayal. But director Yoo Ha's "A Dirty Carnival" opening this Thursday breaks free from its predecessors in the genre. While the film on the face of it follows the conventions, the story is really about the consumerist mobsters' tattered lives. The director wanted to expand the film’s scope to include everything related to life in a capitalist society. The mobsters, the family that eats with them, and the elementary school classmate who once believed with all his heart that he could give everything, end up saying, "It's a dog-eat-dog world out there." The Jo In-sung we see in the film leaves quite an impression: this young star, rediscovered by Yoo Ha, proves that he still has a lot more to show us.

One recent survey showed that the type of man most popular with other men is a man of integrity and the "all-round cool guy." People associate this type of man with Jo In-sung. What this 187 cm-tall, 72 kg-slim man wears on TV becomes an instant fashion fad, but when he made his debut, he was told, he had a bad voice and a weird face.

But Jo wouldn't be who he is if he had let that discourage him. He found endurance and strength that are rare in one so young. And while the actor is famous for his younger-brother image, he is in fact the eldest son in his family. When he was a high school student, his family was hit hard by the Asian financial crisis, so he and his favorite younger brother had to go through hard times. After becoming famous as an actor, he said he was happy to pay for his brother's tuition. Jo's lifestyle is all about not wasting his energy but pouring it into the right thing. He seems reliable, quite unlike other young actors.

(englishnews@chosun.com )

Source: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/new...0606160011.html

[Guest xosandy]

June 21, 2006

The (Korean) Godfather's Arabian Nights, 비열한 거리 (A Dirty Carnival)

With a sad smile on his face all he could say before his best friend, asking why he did it, was: "쪽팔린다 아이가 (it would have been embarrassing [if I didn't do it]".

Yoo Oh-Sung in Kwak Kyung-Taek's 친구 (Friend) closed his character arc with one of Korean hoodlums' lifetime mottos: embarrassing yourself is worse than death. And why would that be such a serious matter for those scamps, parasites infesting the neon-lit Korean Jiang Hu? Society attaches a variety of names to them, from 깡패 (Kkangpae) to 양아치 (Yangachi), or the official version 조폭 (Jopok, short for 조직폭력배, Organized Crime Society), which are more or less insults in varying degrees. But they call themselves 건달 (Geondal), not just a name for them. Geondal mixes the characters for Heaven (건, 乾, Geon) and mastering (달, 達, Dal of 통달하다).

The term derives from the Sanskrit गंधर्व (Gandharva), which were spirits -- part human, part animal -- messengers between the Gods and humans. The trait d'union between us poor mortals, our innermost feeling and the Heavens, controlling the skies, like the modern Korean gangster. The moment they forget about their pride is when they really start acting like those third rate thugs, those 'Yangachi' people call them, and that's why not embarrassing yourself is one of the keys for survival in the Jopok world. The other two, as Park Hyo-Joon's character in Yoo Ha's 비열한 거리 (A Dirty Carnival) suggests, are not getting beat up to a pulp, and shining your shoes even if you're starving. It's all about the same thing then, never losing that sense of machismo, because without that they'd be as good as dead. Or even worse, embarrassed.

But judging by the current crop of Jopok comedies, you'd think embarrassing themselves is all gangsters do. From 조폭마누라 (My Wife is a Gangster) to the 두사부일체 (My Boss, My Hero) saga, passing for the two installments of the 가문... (Marrying The Mafia) franchise, most gangsters in Korean Cinema are Peter Pan Complex-afflicted mama's boys who can't seem to utter a full sentence without swearing, whose 3rd rate 가족주의 (family-ism) colours everything they do, and whose use of 사투리 (local dialect) inevitably means comedy, at least in the eyes of people who continue producing those films. But for every Yin there's always a Yang, as a recent wave of Chungmuro noir films is starting to reverse the trend. From Son Byung-Ho's majestic performance in 야수 (Running Wild) to the 'middleman of drug lords' Ryu Seung-Beom of 사생결단 (Bloody Tie), the petty and ambitious Pil-Ho (Lee Beom-Soo) in Ryu Seung-Wan's 짝패 (The City of Violence), arriving at the 'tough love' of A Dirty Carnival's hoodlums, the tides seem to be turning, at least for films not trying to market dumb country thugs as their main dish.

The early Korean gangsters, like the Kim Doo-Han seen in Im Kwon-Taek's 장군의 아들 (The General's Son) or the SBS Historical Drama 야인시대 (The Rustic Era) always had a certain political weight on their shoulders, often painted as Independence Fighters and heroes, but with those problems solved, gangsters have become a new sort of scapegoat created by Korean pop-culture so the public will focus on the small fish and not bother the big sharks infesting the waters of Korean society. So from the heroes of yesteryear like Sirasoni we've moved to third rate thugs like Choi Min-Shik's role in 파이란 (Failan), or the delusional fools of all those Jopok comedies. But one interesting factor regarding this evolution of hoodlums and how pop-culture colours them is that many more recent films try to dig a little deeper into the forces which push people to lead those lives, some of which were caused by the painful recent history of the country, some others simply down to human weakness. From brilliant black comedies like 넘버 3 (No. 3) to films like 말죽거리 잔혹사 (Once Upon a Time in High School), we're not simply dealing with romantic parades about 'thug life', but instead intelligent looks at the dynamics that move the Jopok world. If the Yushin era influences the sense of violence and machismo building inside Kwon Sang-Woo's character in Once Upon a Time in High School, the moment when he hits his foe from behind on the way to the roof is when his life as a gangster starts, in some ways. A Dirty Carnival, the second chapter of a trilogy which could become Korea's own The Godfather, looks instead how those instincts bring the character into the Jopok world, and how he starts moving his first steps into the underworld.

Director Yoo took 6 months to write the script for A Dirty Carnival, a film which focuses on that paradox that is the 가족주의 (family-ism), the laws of loyalty and faith those gangsters live and die by. Perhaps the best example of how hypocritical that mentality can be is Kim Yoon-Seok's character in Running Wild, and his relationship with childhood friend-cum-boss Son Byung-Ho. He knows all too well how easily that faith can be broken, how you can suddenly become alien to the 'family'. If all Tony Soprano needs is a gun, all those '식구 (family members)' in Korea need is a knife. Perhaps the most unique model character in these recent Korean gangster-related films are those father figures, which are straight out of the Yushin-era (maybe because most directors shooting those films grew up during those days). The father is always a violent, scary figure; the image it represents is always that mix of machismo and paternalism. While the media is already pointing out that metrosexuals and ubersexuals are going out of fashion and machismo is coming back to Korean Cinema, perhaps it would be more appropriate to look at why those films convey that sense of machismo in the first place. It's not a simple trend, as the father figures in Yoo Ha's films always show.

Another important element of this film is the action as 'non-action'. I'm not simply meaning the style perfected by Jung Doo-Hong, that of taking elements from different techniques only when you need them, to build a 'non-style' when fighting. A flow of action that connects with the film, which never distances itself from the film's rhythm. No, the action in A Dirty Carnival, choreographed by one of Chungmuro's most talented action directors Shin Jae-Myung, is as far from technique as possible. It's brutal, hyper-realistic, and far from pretty. It's like two dogs fighting to the death. By casting inexperienced youngsters like Jo In-Sung, Jin Goo, Namgoong Min and Lee Bo-Young Yoo risked a lot, but that roughness and raw, unrefined power is perhaps one of the biggest charms of his films. Debuting pretty well at the box office fighting big guns like X-Men: The Last Stand and other Hollywood blockbusters, A Dirty Carnival has been received quite well by the press, so before we can enjoy the film on DVD, here's a collage of highlights from a few interviews with Director Yoo, explaining his latest work a little more in depth.

Marriage is a Crazy Thing was adapted from a novel, and Once Upon a Time in High School was based on your childhood memories. But if we said A Dirty Carnival, as your first 'original work' and thanks to all the struggles that came with it, felt like a debut film it wouldn't be an exaggeration. Did you feel any pressure?

Director Yoo Ha: What I always try to stress is how important the story is. Of course nowadays Korean films are enjoying a period of great development; but even though at the core of films is storytelling, Korean films nowadays seem to often go the Mondo Cane way [going for the odd and unusual] instead of focusing on solid, sound storytelling. If you think about it, I started as a writer first and foremost [Yoo was also a poet before coming back to Chungmuro in the last few years], so I tend to be obsessed about creating a precise storyline [without holes in continuity, etc.] just like I did with everything I wrote. That's why I don't fear conventions, after all how many plots are out there except the usual few? Be it a Cinderella story or a coming of age Drama, there's always a certain pleasure to be felt if the story is conveyed effectively, no matter how conventional it is. It's the same for A Dirty Carnival's outline. There's been many stories about people going through the most inhumane ways to advance and improve their condition and that of the people they care about, eventually getting ruined in the process. But more than worrying about conventions, I try to focus on how to develop those archetypes into something which isn't negatively influenced by traditional tropes. If people can relate to Byung-Doo (Jo In-Sung) up to the end, then it doesn't matter if the story is conventional, they'll go along with it anyway. On the contrary, I think that using conventions the right way, communicating with the viewers with sincerity and with a solid story feels just as fresh, ironically. That's always been a big issue personally.

WARNING: SPOILERS

For instance, A Dirty Carnival's outline feels very much indebted to Film Noir's traditional formulae. What is it that fascinates you about Noir?

Yoo: More than keeping noir tropes in mind, I thought about the Godfather series as a model first. People noted how certain scenes of the film remind of Carlito's Way, The Godfather or the toilet scene in 초록 물고기 (Green Fish), but I wanted to use or parody those scenes on purpose. I wanted to borrow them in a self-referential way while at the same time giving it a certain air of ambiguity. In that sense, this film is a sort of Arabian Nights. The man Byung-Doo kills is not someone in his 'business circle', but a film director, and that's the best example of someone living off that gangster mentality and exploiting its appeal to the viewers. So using that parallel, the Director would be the King, Byung-Doo the Scheherazade of the story. Because his story ends he kills the King, but there's also another Byung-Doo behind that, trying to tell a story about that gangster mentality. And as the story continues and propagates, built by intrigue, it never dies. I wanted to use that Arabian Nights structure to talk about this gangster mentality, that's why the juxtaposition of marriage and murder reminds of familiar noir patterns.

END OF SPOILERS

You said this is not an action film. That it's more about the characters' flow of emotions. What did you intend with that?

Yoo: Those stylish action films, full of slow motion and perfect action techniques... I've seen many and I've quickly lost interest in them. More than heroic action this film deals with people who use their body for a living, in a very dirty but at the same time intense way. The action in my film is always connected to the Drama. If you think about it, if Hyun-Soo (Kwon Sang-Woo) wasn't exploding with emotions inside, the final fight on the rooftop wouldn't have been too appealing. A Dirty Carnival's action smells of flesh, just like Once Upon a Time in High School. It focuses more on realistic and emotional action than external beauty or technique. Should I call this a sort of upgrade of that concept? I tend to feel an almost dangerous pleasure in raw action like this.

How did you research for the film, and how did that change the film compared to its initial conception?

Yoo: I deluded myself I'd find some kind of 'Eldorado' talking with real gangsters, but I didn't use a lot of that, as it wasn't too far off the image I had in mind. It's just that by researching and meeting people in this 'line of work', it was inevitable the film's authenticity would improve tenfold. But on the contrary, by throwing away a lot of what I researched, I was able to make a whole new film. It was then that I got the idea of the director in the film deluding himself about that 'Eldorado', by translating into film the dirty desires of those people. At first the focus of the story was actually the director, but it turned out the opposite. By using the director's story as a sub-plot, I wanted to give the film a less conventional feel, as the film starts reflecting about the director's delusions about the world of gangsters.

Can we call Jopok our generation's Bruce Lee (laughs)? The things we can't experience ourselves, like using violence on other people, only gangsters can do it... that's what I mean.

Yoo: In The Godfather Marlon Brando says: "I'll make an offer you can't refuse." And that offer we can't refuse is at the center of that gangster mentality I'm talking about. The thing people fear the most is being threatened, isn't it? More than a knife in the face we're more scared of hearing something like: "Your son is a High School Junior, isn't it? They say those dark alleys are really scary..." When your fear reaches an extreme, you start dealing with them, you do things you never could in normal situations. That's the core of the gangster mentality, detectives might deal with things within the boundaries of the law, but gangsters don't. In reality when your daughter gets raped by someone, if things are done by law the culprit gets a sentence and probably goes out on probation. But gangsters don't use power through law, they deal with things themselves. In that sense that's why gangsters continue to prosper, because they form a connection between people and their innermost, forbidden desires. When I initially titled [in Korean] the film as A Dirty Carnival, I wanted to evoke this liberated area where humans could fulfill their innermost, repressed desires. In this film I deal with people's desire to escape from the boundaries the law puts on you, and how they fulfill that desire through that gangster mentality.

In Once Upon a Time in High School the subject of that repression is conveyed through the school, in A Dirty Carnival it's the kind of 'invisible violence' caused by Pariah Capitalism. It's as if those using that violence go back to the roots of Jopok's formation, and fight just as violently as they do. This combination of 'invisible repression' and very vivid violence and the sense of alienation it can give is incredible.

Yoo: I tried to give the film a very documentary-like feeling on purpose, even if it's fiction. In Once Upon a Time in High School's case, Hyun-Soo is a pretty good student, who wanted to achieve something through his imagination. When he loses his friend and the object of his unrequited love, his decisions lead him to the rooftop, where he submits to his desires of machismo, while fighting those people. He projects that sentiment he couldn't hide anymore on others, and then goes to the rooftop insisting it was the school environment which made him this way, his hitting his foe from behind the way to convey that feeling. That doesn't mean his macho persona is born there, it's absurdly nurtured by his exploding emotions. And I'm a living witness of that kind of feeling... I used to be a really nice person back then (laughs). Similarly, A Dirty Carnival features someone acting on other people's behalf, fulfilling their forbidden desires by using violence even if he doesn't know why. That's a breeding macho, if you will. There's a tragic beauty when you try to show something like that, and you can't paint it in heroic terms. I wanted to show it in a brutal, unglamorous, savage way as much as I could.

Didn't you worry about glamourizing Min-Ho too much? You can definitely sympathize with him in certain aspects.

Yoo: Hemingway said once that you shouldn't use villains in fiction, they should all be good men. If we start labeling that one as bad and this one as good, then the story would become really dull and fragmentary. It's just that good men can become bad because of the things they covet, and the things they want to protect. There's nothing 'dirty' at the beginning, it forms and creates itself through those connections between characters. So that's why I couldn't make Min-Ho a full-fledged villain.

What are your feelings after completing the film?

Yoo: It feels like I put my all in this film, much more than the past two. I might have felt the boundaries of my directing skills more than once, but I tried to give my best nonetheless. If the result is good then that's great, but even if it's not the case I won't feel sadness or regret. Making something like a nice melody, something you won't forget even years from now, that's incredibly difficult. Even in today's world bombarding us with images and where your visibility is extreme, that of the director is a very lonely occupation. Maybe the only difference with the past is that poets write for the minority, so even two people understanding your work will do. But films are different, as you write for the majority, and as hard as that can be it's also a very meaningful thing to experience.

I heard you're preparing the closing chapter of the 'Trilogy of Violence', 가리봉오거리 블루스 (Garibong Blues).

Yoo: It's a story about a gangster in his forties, but I have no intention of going into it right away. This time, no matter how diligent I tried to be, shooting the scene when someone is getting his belly sliced open was painful for me as well (laughs). Next time I want to take it easy for once.

--

http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/006609.html

[Guest xosandy]

A Dirty Carnival Beats X-Men

A Dirty Carnival¡± directed by Yoo Ha drew the most viewers at the box office on Tuesday, with some 80,000 viewers at 390 theaters nationwide, leaving U.S. blockbuster ¡°X-Men: The Last Stand¡± behind, which tallied some 75,000 viewers at 428 theaters.

¡°A Dirty Carnival¡± has become the first Korean movie in seven weeks to beat Hollywood blockbusters that had topped the box office here since ¡°Mission: Impossible 3¡± was released on May 3. The top spot has since been occupied by ¡°The Da Vinci Code,¡± ¡°Poseidon,¡± and ¡°X-Men¡± before ¡°A Dirty Carnival¡± captured it on Tuesday.

The news particularly pleased the Korean film industry, although it is just a daily tally. CJ Entertainment, the movie¡¯s distributor, said, ¡°We expected that the movie would draw more viewers than ¡®X-Men¡¯ from Monday, and it finally did on Tuesday. The difference is no more than several thousand people, but we are really happy.¡± On Monday, ¡°A Dirty Carnival¡± drew 55,000 viewers, closely following ¡°X-Men¡± with 60,600, after trailing the U.S. movie by a large margin over the weekend.

Now it remains to be seen whether ¡°Les Formidables,¡± ¡°A.P.T.¡± and other Korean movies to be released soon can maintain the momentum generated by ¡°A Dirty Carnival.¡± Hollywood blockbusters waiting to be released are ¡°Superman Returns¡± and ¡°Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man¡¯s Chest.

http://english.kbs.co.kr/entertainment/news/ent_news.html

[Guest tjadl6386]

This film is doing well although I've read a lot speculations that this will not do well. I'll be watching this since Lee Bo Young is in it.

[Guest sunshine4ever]

hi xosandy <333, thank you so much for the news!!! oh, I'm so happy that Dirty Carnival's doing really well!!! hope it will continues to be this great...interesting that it comes at a time when soccer was a big thing!!! oh!!! still good luck to the "Dirty Carnival" cast and Insung

[Guest june1ov3]

yay! nam goong min is gonna be in it =)

i can't wait until this comes outtt :]

yay! nam goong min is gonna be in it =)

i can't wait until this comes outtt :]

[Guest sunshine4ever]

Sang Sang Plus on 6/6/06

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7BC54OF4

around 100 mbs, thanks to creidesca's clubbox

the show lasted for an hour and Insung's and the cast of Mean Streets are in it..

[rubie]

Sunday, July 2, 2006

Chain of violence in 'Dirty Carnival'

While brutality is a dangerous subject in reality, it makes an excellent theme for a movie. A cruel gangster movie, for example, gives one the strange satisfaction of watching someone being stabbed to death, but at the same time, puts one at ease from knowing that he or she is safely away from the violence onscreen.

By taking a "stab" at the tangle of voyeurism and fear, poet-turned-director Yu Ha opens up a bloodshed world of violence in his movie "Dirty Carnival" and claims it to be reality.

Actor Cho In-sung

Byeong-du, played by actor Cho In-sung, is an ambitious second boss in a gang, who has a "real" family of a sick mother and two younger siblings, and a "gang" family of five brothers depending on him. While he strives to somehow make a decent living for the two families, his merciless boss blocks him by taking away a gambling house which is Byeong-du's only means of living. Facing a dead end, Byeong-du chooses to abandon his loyalty by making a deal with a man called president Hwang - whose full name is unrevealed in the movie - and kills a senior prosecutor and his own boss. Through this deal, Byeong-du is guaranteed enough financial support to feed his families, but is forced to enter a brutal food chain in which only the strongest man survives.

President Hwang teaches Byeong-du to grow into a proper man by showing him the principles of the world. It is not only money that leads Byeong-du to stab his once beloved boss to death. The brutal process is the price he pays in order to join the vital system and become a "proper" man. But ironically, it is not the act of violence that destroys him.

Byeong-du makes the mistake of splitting his world into two. For him, the brutal world where he has to kill his own boss, bully weaker people and stage a bloody battle with rival gangs is completely separate from his world of trust and compassion.

In his second world, he has a sick mother to take care of, a little sister who loves him dearly, a beautiful first love he cannot forget and a best friend with whom he can share his deepest secrets.

By tilting himself more and more toward the second world, Byeong-du makes the crucial mistake of forgetting the rules of the game. By giving his full trust to his right-arm Jong-su and best friend Min-ho, Byeong-du takes the risk of becoming the "weaker" one in the food chain. Although he himself killed his boss for the price of success, Byeong-du seems unaware of the fact that his own throat could be slit open by someone who also wants to be admitted into the brutal system - and that someone could well be one of his closest people.

At this point, audiences come to a sickening realization - that this stupidly naive character actually mirrors us, the "ordinary" people.

Evidently, director Yu didn't choose gangster as his theme for mere entertainment. By showing the coexistence of the two seemingly different worlds, he continually forces the audience to see that we all are actual producers and consumers of violence.

The movie may end with Byeong-du as the last victim, but having the two worlds coexisting and the brutal side constantly threatening to take over, no one can be sure who will be the victim next time. Knowing that there is no end to this brutal chain, president Hwang, Min-ho and Jong-su - the temporary "survivors" - drink in celebration with their eyes still full of fear and insecurity.

The "dirty carnival" does not belong only to gangsters. Everyday we too enter the chain of violence and strive to survive remembering the rule that "only the strong remain."

The only defect of this movie is perhaps the fact that no one will be able to simply enjoy a gangster movie after realizing the realities lying beneath the violence.

(hayney@heraldm.com)

By Shin Hae-in

2006.07.03

Source: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/htm...00607030014.asp

[Guest sushimi]

someone knows what did Lee Jonghyeuk in this movie? and what he did on this picture? is it a good movie? i saw last week it was the number 2 of the box office in korea.... but is not enough to know if it's a good movie for me...

[Guest ice_cryst]

Jo Insung is insured for 300 Million Won for Mean Street

Translated by: Clar @ http://www.sweetinsung.net

Jo Insung will have his body "tattooed" with a dragon for his role in Mean Streets as a breakthru' of his image.

The dragon tattoo will use a special paint, and requires up to 10 hours of mecticulous painting by hand. Insung will have the dragon drawn on his hip, covered his back and all the way to his shoulder, estimate that the tattoo will be done by mid of this month.

Insung has tried several ways to change his image for this role other than having a tattoo, like cutting his hair. He also went thru 2 mths of intensive training in action school, and weight lifting for better body shape.

Mean Streets is abt the friendship of a gangster and a director friend. The film will be release next year.

-------------------------------

Jo Insung - Dragan Tattoo

Source: naver

Translated by: Clar @ http://www.sweetinsung.net

2 months intensive training to rid of the "Pretty Boy" image.

Insung will be insured for his new role in Mean Streets which he will be gangster (Byun Doo) in the movie. This role will requires him to do alot of high difficulty stunts.

This will be Insung 1st attempt to do high diffculty stunts without the assistance of a stuntman. And if accidents happen, he will be paid 300m Won on insurance coverage.(est US$289,000)

Insung is always being view as " Pretty Boy", but in this movie, he will be doing the dangerous stunts himself. Thr will be several action-packed scene, with the typical use of big public bus and train.

The director, Yoo Ha's previous movie (The Cruel History of Maljuk Street) used minimal safety wire and stuntman to acheive the most realistic visual effect so as to shocked his audience. In a way, it adds on to Insung's burden.

Prior to the filming of the movie, Jo Insung has already cut off his hair and goes thru' intensive phyiscal training to change his image.

Even thou' Insung has been thru' 2 months of training in the action school, and even got himself injured on the shoulder, he still plunge into the filming of Mean Street with greatest passion.

This is pretty interesting...I liked Jo In Sung, he's a good and handsome actor. Lee Bo Young is pretty as well.

[Guest xosandy]

Film "Dirty Carnival" Draws 2 million viewers

The film "Dirty Carnival," starring Cho In-sung, has drawn two million viewers just a month after its opening.

The movie's promotion company said July 19 that "Dirty Carnival," which opened June 15 just in time for the World Cup fervor, has made a successful run in the domestic box-office on par with Hollywood blockbusters.

The movie's success can be attributed to the excellent directing skills of its director, Yoo Ha, as well as the superior acting of its cast, which includes Cho, Jin Koo, Nam Kung-min, Chun Ho-jin and Lee Bo-young. Despite a somewhat heavy plot for a summer movie, "Dirty Carnival" captivated viewers' hearts with its heartfelt story about real life. Adding to the movie's popularity was an active promotion campaign that lasted for three weeks after the film's opening. Cho in particular received rave reviews for his true-to-life portrayal of a gangster.

With few successful domestic movies opening in the first half of the year, with the exception of "King and the Clown," the success of "Dirty Carnival" is even more noteworthy. As it continues to draw more viewers, attention is now focused on whether the movie will set another record.

http://english.kbs.co.kr/entertainment/new...6664_11858.html

[Guest Ailin*]

I came across this "Behind the Story" segment of this movie in Happy Time NGs 7-16-06 show and I'd thought I share it here.

It's in LQ - 7.82 MB.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FYTSYS3Z

source: creidesca's cb; split by me

[Guest glitzyglam]

oh man, I'm so excited!!!

i LOVE Jo InSung and Jingoo!!!!

hehe, I was wondering what happened to Jingoo!!!

[Guest coreana_ira]

I came across this "Behind the Story" segment of this movie in Happy Time NGs 7-16-06 show and I'd thought I share it here.

It's in LQ - 7.82 MB.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FYTSYS3Z

source: creidesca's cb; split by me

hi... can u upload this in youtube or yousendit...

coz, i dunno how to dl wif megaupload... tx...

[Guest Ailin*]

I came across this "Behind the Story" segment of this movie in Happy Time NGs 7-16-06 show and I'd thought I share it here.

It's in LQ - 7.82 MB.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FYTSYS3Z

source: creidesca's cb; split by me

hi... can u upload this in youtube or yousendit...

coz, i dunno how to dl wif megaupload... tx...

Here are Yousendit and Sendspace links, in addition to the Megaupload link above...

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=29E9EC3D69E8FDC5

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xezb2u

source: creidesca's cb; split by me

[Guest purpleZ]

Don't know if it's posted already. Some screen caps of Mean Streets a.k.a A Dirty Carnival Screening or Premier. Glad that Ha Ji Won came

Thanks to ssred for informing me and thank you reary of Indosiar forum for the information. For you who haven't watched it, you can watch it on You Tube: TVBS G - Entertainment News (in Chinese). Credit to kelly 0209 for posting the clip. If I find the time, I'll try to translate it and post it here.

Below the screen caps (big file):

[Guest conduongmuathu]

Lee Bo Young - Jo In Sung and Ha Ji Won - cool clip

Have just had it in Ha Ji Won thread

[Guest Saragorn]

I'll definitely catch this when it comes out on DVD. I'm in love with Nam Goong Min in One Fine Day and anything with Jo In Sung is always good.

[Guest coreana_ira]

Here are Yousendit and Sendspace links, in addition to the Megaupload link above...

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=29E9EC3D69E8FDC5

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xezb2u

source: creidesca's cb; split by me

hi... ailin... thanks for the link...