[Movie] Wrestler 레슬러 || Love Sling

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May 10, 2018

 

Putting his best foot forward :

In ‘Love + Sling,’ Yoo Hai-jin plays a father helping his son succeed

 

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

 

Veteran actor Yoo Hai-jin, 48, discusses playing a single father in his latest movie “Love + Sling.” [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

 

Veteran actor Yoo Hai-jin, 48, returns to theaters today with “Love + Sling.” He plays a single father named Gwi-bo who is a former member of the national wrestling team who helps his son achieve wrestling success. 

 

Top, Seong-ung (Kim Min-jae), left, listens to his father’s (Yoo Hai-jin) advice during a match. Above, Gwi-bo is carried by Seong-ung after winning a wrestling tournament. [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

 

Known for his colorful acting and his comedic timing, Yoo is known as a reliable actor who can play any character that is thrown at him. In his most popular films, such as “A Taxi Driver” (2017) and “Luck-key” (2016), Yoo has earned praise for craftily adding his distinct brand of subtle humor to each character. 

 

The sports drama centers on the relationship between Gwi-bo and his son Seong-ung (Kim Min-jae), who is a promising wrestler. As a widower who makes a living by teaching wrestling and aerobics at the gym he runs, Gwi-bo has high hopes for his son and expects him to excel at the upcoming wrestling tournament. Seong-ung feels energized by his father’s support and believes that he can go far in the sport as well. However, this all changes when Seong-ung’s childhood friend and crush, Ga-yeong (Lee Sung-kyung), declares that she is in love with Gwi-bo. 

 

This is not the first time that Yoo has played a father, but it was his first time playing the father of a grown-up child. 

 

Yoo sat for an interview with Ilgan Sports, an affiliate of the Korea Joongang Daily, prior to the film’s release to talk more about the film and how he felt about his character. The following are edited excerpts from the interview. 

 

Q. It seems that the public shares a misconception that Gwi-bo and Ga-yeong are in a romantic relationship. How would you categorize the relationship between the two characters?

 

A. I consider it to be a one-sided love. We all have those moments when we secretly had a crush on our teacher or on the friend who goes to the same church. Parents also [sometimes] experience one-sided love when they express their love for their children. Gwi-bo and Ga-yeong are not mutually in love; their relationship can be simply defined as Ga-yeong having a crush on Gwi-bo. 

 

How was working with Kim? Was it awkward to father a son in his 20s on screen? 

 

I didn’t really know much about Kim [until filming this movie together]. When I met him for the first time, I honestly felt that it would be difficult to play father and son. Since we possess different facial features, I felt that it would be hard to show that we were related by blood (laughs). Nevertheless, we got closer to each other while shooting the film. Kim has a reliable personality, and it was nice to have such a [hard-working actor] follow me. It must have been extremely tough for Kim to play a professional wrestler because he wasn’t just mimicking [the moves]. He had to appear on screen as a promising, talented athlete, and he filmed all those scenes himself. Also, Kim has a cute side, so working with such a [lively] person was entertaining. 

 

How do you feel about being known as a trustworthy actor? Do you feel pressure about having to bear any extra responsibility? 

 

Well, I am extremely grateful for that title, and I do feel an immense responsibility to maintain that. I feel pressured and worried that viewers will lose trust in my acting. I do realize that it is difficult to constantly show a new side [of my acting], but I always strive to do my best. 

 

What is your biggest worry these days? 

 

I wonder whether there is anything else that I can do to show a different side of myself. Additionally, I am concerned that I won’t be able to smoothly fit into a character. Well, it would be unnatural for me to not think this way, since my job involves lots of effort and change. On set, I do whatever I can to improve my acting. Instead of perfection, I want to show that I am constantly putting in all my effort. 

 

How did playing a single father influence how you think about parenting? 

 

Playing a single father changed my perspective and feelings towards children. For example, when I see a [naughty] child on the streets, I feel pity for their parents and even think about being in their shoes. Basically, I think more deeply on the subject. I don’t have any kids, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not aging. I think and act more maturely compared to my youth, when I was busy drinking and joking around.

 

BY PARK JUNG-SUN [lee.jeonghyun@joongang.co.kr]

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May 19, 2018

 

[HanCinema's Film Review] "LOVE+SLING"
 

Source: HanCinema.net

 

 

Initially the narrative arc of "LOVE+SLING" seems obvious. Seong-woong (played by Kim Min-jae) is an aspiring Olympic wrestler. He's coached by his father, the ever cheerful single dad Gwi-bo (played by Yoo Hae-jin), and is in an as-yet still platonic relationship with obvious love interest Ga-yeong (played by Lee Sung-kyung). They're childhood friends, what with Ga-yeong being the middle daughter of Gwi-bo and Seong-woong's neighbors Seong-soo (played by Sung Dong-il) and Mi-ra (played by Jin Kyung).

 

By the way, in case you're unfamiliar with those names, this is an absolutely fantastic cast. The three leads demonstrate surprisingly complex emotional reactions to some fairly bog standard situation comedy tropes. Well, all right, I write that, but at the same time, you're probably not going to guess the utterly bizarre conflict that ends up springing from Ga-yeong's weirdly creepy confession to Seong-woong. But even looking past that, Sung Dong-il is excellent as the generally clueless drunk, as is Jin Kyung who treats Gwi-bo like a girlfriend, and even little Lee Han-seo gets some great one-liners as the precocious youngest daughter.

 

But back to that weirdly creepy confession. Initial goofiness notwithstanding, over time I came to realize that "LOVE+SLING" actually has a pretty substantial message on the importance of dreams. Specifically, having the right kinds of dreams. From the beginning we can tell that Ga-yeong's dream is stupid because it hinges on the actions and feelings of other people. This is unrealistic, because other people cannot be controlled.

 

This bleeds over into the other two characters as well. Seong-woong is so grumpy that he apparently can't have his dream causes him to turn on his dad. The main substance of the complaint? That Gwi-bo's dream is also unrealistic, for the same reason Ga-yeong and Seong-woong's dreams are unrealistic. It's a rude awakening for Gwi-bo that's made all the more stark by how he is a perfectly happy, normal, and well-adjusted guy. It's just, his dream is really dumb. That's the conflict and the source of most of the humor.

 

One factor I especially liked was how Gwi-bo has a secret that he could reveal at any point to crush Ga-yeong's dream. While the prospect of this revelation is toyed with and seriously discussed, ultimately, all three main characters have to find their own path instead of relying on the others to create their happiness. That makes for a really great narrative of self-discovery with refreshingly little emphasis on sexuality. This makes "LOVE+SLING" a bit of an anti-romantic comedy.

 

Oh, but rest assured, there's plenty of homo-eroticism. Because Gwi-bo and Seong-woong are both wrestlers you see. Yeah I know that humor's a bit low but it just comes off so great in context. More movies should have big comedic setpieces take place in the gym with everyone wearing matching leotards and making exaggerated grunting noises. And let's not forget Seong-woong furiously chugging all that milk as fast as possible- or even just the subtler moments, like Gwi-bo and Mi-ra haggling with the butcher. "LOVE+SLING" is an excellent movie, on every level.

 

Review by William Schwartz

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@rubie   @Libera Did you know the Name of song played in Amusement park  (Male voice) in Movie

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THIS song is used in this movie