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[movie 2006] Birth Of A Family 가족의 탄생


Felicia Soh

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Guest mj07

ahhh.. this is the director of "Momento Mori"? Interesting! I kept wondering what movie they were referring to! That's a great one, for it's genre!

This really sounds great, Felicia (and everyone else!) Lately I've really been enjoying movies that focus more on the relationships between the characters, as opposed to those that create a big melodramatic pot of stew and then just throwing the people into it! Thanks Bill at UMSKY :D

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Thanks for sharing your view, Mar.

After reading few of the comments made by the reporters, I get the impression that the storyline is quite catchy and full of substance……maybe some may not find the story plot appealing but society has changed and in reality this kind of relationship exists. It’s just that people tend to prefer to shun away or refrain from further discussions (like some kind of taboo) when they stumbled upon such relationship. Personally, I knew of a couple whom the wife is 12 years older than the husband. He was single whereas she was a divorcee with a child when they met. Today, they are still happily married and they added an additional family member ~~a new-born baby girl. :D

Hopefully, this movie serves as an eye-opener for some who has never given it a thought and I am pretty sure GDS and UTW will answer all your doubts! ;) Just explore how both of them create the atmosphere as lovers.....~~ one young namja with an older ajummah ~~ will it turn out HOTTTT or simply UNBELIEVABLE! :rolleyes: Watch it to find out..... :lol: To me, it’ll definitely be a great experience to watch this movie….. :D

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05-18-2006

'Family' Plays by Its Own Wonderful Rules

By Joon Soh

Contributing Writer

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Moon So-ri, left, Ko Doo-shim, center, and Uhm Tae-woong star in "Family Ties."

Every once in a while, there comes a movie that spins in a separate orbit from all others. Coming out of left field, it seems to play by a completely different set of rules than most feature films, leaving the audience to either love it for its sense of originality or dismiss it as being random and incomprehensible.

That’s the risk that the new film "Family Ties" takes, courting pretension and contrivance throughout its 113-minute journey. But in the final tally, the film wins its gamble, and those who are patient enough to see the story to its end will be rewarded with a fresh perspective on love, family and social conventions.

Director Kim Tae-hyung made his feature debut in 2001 by co-directing "Memento Mori," the inventive second installment of a high-school horror film series. Just as "Memento Mori" reconfigured the teenage horror genre, "Family Ties’’ sets to reinterpret the conventions of the drama.

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The film works as a compilation of three short films that tell distinct and seemingly disconnected stories. Each works well by itself, and are so good that you'll wish they didn’t have to end so quickly.

This is especially true for the first narrative, about a young street-food vendor who suddenly gets a visit from her missing brother. The 28-year-old man, played by Uhm tae-woong, hasn't been home in five years, and now turns up with his lover, a woman 20 years his senior.

The unusual story is also a treat as it stars Moon So-ri and Ko Doo-shim, two of the top actresses in the business. The two veterans are a pleasure to watch, as Moon transforms herself into the mousy vendor and Ko, playing the older lover, gets to show the public that she can play something other than a maternal figure.

It's a shame that we only get to watch the pairing of Moon and Ko for a short duration, but the remaining parts of "Family Ties" make up for it. The film consistently offers a wide range of complex female characters played by talented actresses, a refreshing change from the usual domestic melodramas. Kong Hyo-jin particularly shines in the middle story as a young tour guide whose personality is divided between her rage against her family and her job's demand for constant politeness.

Along with a penchant for odd characters, the stories share a common theme of dysfunctional families and relationships that later connect with one another in unexpected ways. In describing the relationships, director Kim wisely avoids angst and melodrama, and instead injects the stories with doses of humor that at points border on the absurd. This off-kilter quality gives "Family Ties" the right amount of tension; it keeps the audience smiling while they're trying to guess where this wonderful mess is heading.

joonsoh@gmail.com

05-18-2006 17:29

Source: http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/20...17290710970.htm

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Guest mj07

oooh, this is EXACTLY the kind of movie that I've been craving lately! Interestingly enough, YesAsia has it listed as being released on DVD at the end of July! Granted, we all know those dates are frequently inaccurate, nevertheless, the sooner the better!

thanks for posting that review, rubie!

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oooh, this is EXACTLY the kind of movie that I've been craving lately! Interestingly enough, YesAsia has it listed as being released on DVD at the end of July! Granted, we all know those dates are frequently inaccurate, nevertheless, the sooner the better!

thanks for posting that review, rubie!

Nah... nothing to it, always a pleasure sharing. :blush:

Looks like a really good recommendation given by the Korea Times, 3.5 out of 5.0 is not bad at all. I remember watching Ko Doo Shim in a series 4 years back and she was this ruthless businesswoman, so mean and real. That's why I'd always remember her... and the character she's playing now is so different from the usual and I'm sure she'd pull it off effortlessly. There'll be more positive feedback coming, that we can be sure of.

Credit to Felicia for starting the thread and keeping it updated. Way to go... :w00t:

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rubie, another thank you for posting the review! I would've watched this for the cast alone (Moon SoRi! Uhm TaeWoong! Go DooShim! Gong HyoJin! Bong TaeGyu! Ryu SeungBeom in a cameo! I still haven't seen "Blossom Again" so Jung YooMi doesn't get an exclamation point yet ;)); I mean, at the very least you're sure it's going to be well-acted, but I'm reallyreally glad it's getting raves. It sounds like a fascinating little film, I hope it does well at the box office (eventhough it's up against "The Da Vinci Code" :tongue2: ).

VIP screening: mms://wms07.bcst.krn.yahoo.com/c/cine21.com/movie/making/2006/05/family_vip_700k.wmv

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(more pics here)

Lots of famous faces showed up. The ones I recognized: Director Bong JoonHo, Jeon DoYeon, Kim MinSun, Lee SungJae, Kim JungEun, Eric and JunJin of Shinhwa, Gong Yoo, Ji JinHee, Lee ChungAh, Lee ChunHee, Ji JinHee, Lee YoungJin, Jo EunJi, Kim NamJin, and of course UTW's noona Uhm JungHwa. ^_^

Credit to Felicia for starting the thread and keeping it updated. Way to go...

Hear, hear. :)

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Thanks Rubie for posting the review and Melusine for sharing the link to watch some of A-stars attending the premier of the movie. This is REALLY kicking-off to a fantastic start…..FiGhtInG! Strike it straight to the box-office!! icon-goodluck.gif

So happy it earned 3 ½ stars out of 5 which is a pretty good rating cheers2.gif and I wonder whether they had changed the movie title to “Family Ties”. I think this title or the one which one reporter mentioned “The Exploration of Love” should be more appropriate than the original “Birth of A Family”….just my opinion!

Like you, Mar, I am also looking forward to watch this movie as it focused more on relationship and family ...you know after a while of watching too many heart-wrenching dramas, we need to recover from the saddiee syndrome and bring ourselves to see the other side of horizon.....Happiness!! wave.gif

Here's cheering for the success of this movie ~~~

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Guest mj07

found another good review on koreanfilm.org

Family Ties

Whenever a great film is made by a pair of co-directors, it is tempting to wonder who among the two is the truly talented one. Was the real genius behind Smoke Wayne Wang or Paul Auster? Some may have wondered the same thing about Memento Mori, the cult horror film from 1999 that is well remembered for its nuanced and haunting portrait of a girls' high school. Yet we may have to get used to the idea that Min Kyu-dong, who went on to direct All For Love in 2005, and Kim Tae-yong are both, indeed, quite talented.

Kim's Family Ties is an ensemble story told in three seemingly unconnected segments. (Skip this paragraph if you'd prefer not to know anything about the plot) Acting legend Moon So-ri takes the lead in the first, playing a woman who is visited by her long-lost, delinquent brother (Eom Tae-woong) who had vanished years earlier. He announces that he has gotten married, introduces Mu-shin (Goh Doo-shim), a woman who is considerably older than he is, and then casually moves in. Part two is tightly focused on a character played by Gong Hyo-jin (Conduct Zero, Memento Mori), a quick-tempered young woman named Sun-kyung who finds out that her mother (Kim Hye-ok) is seriously ill. Sun-kyung has been on bad terms with her mother, particularly because the latter is having an affair with a married man, and has a young son. Part three is about a young couple having problems in their relationship, and features Bong Tae-gyu (See You After School) and Jeong Yu-mi (Blossom Again).

Given the names in this cast, it may come as no surprise to hear that the acting is top-drawer. Moon So-ri, Gong Hyo-jin, and Bong Tae-gyu are each more than capable of carrying their respective segments, and the supporting roles are well-cast. Gong's performance in particular is worth watching five or six times just to revel in its energy and to catch all of its details. As a bonus, Ryoo Seung-beom makes a brief appearance playing her ex-boyfriend (a nice bit of irony, since in real life too, Ryoo is Gong's ex-boyfriend).

The original Korean title "Birth of a Family" gives some clues as to the thematic point of the film. It is family relationships that provide the work with its narrative scaffolding, yet these family units are not stable. Indeed, we witness the birth of at least two families onscreen. In this way, the families come across as quite unconventional (separate from the fact that all these people tend to act a bit crazy).

It's particularly interesting to consider the genesis of these families. Rather than being based on blood relations, they are often born out of a random or irresponsible act by other person. Yet it is made clear that the family is no less valuable because of it. This is not a controversial concept in many parts of the world, but it attracts notice in Korea because many cultural traditions are at least nominally founded on blood ties. Korea has moved far beyond its cultural traditions in many ways, but enough remains that this film carries a somewhat progressive sheen. (Consider, for example, the popular TV drama "Autumn Love Story," in which two newborn baby girls are accidentally switched in the hospital, and then fifteen years later when the families discover what happened, are switched back)

Sometimes it seems that Western film critics look down on Asian films that take family issues seriously, compared to (for example) the hip, ironic portrayals of family breakdown seen in many U.S. independent films. When Im Sang-soo's A Good Lawyer's Wife premiered at Venice in 2003, the reaction of many critics seemed to be that their own society had "been there, done that" -- that the film had nothing new to say to them. But I wonder if this isn't just a closing of minds to issues that are still pretty vital to people in any society.

Family Ties is unlikely to travel far on the festival circuit, given that the director is not well known and it doesn't fit the mould of a European-style art film. But aside from a few weak points (the music, for example, or a tendency to push too hard in certain scenes) this is likely to be one of the most interesting films that Korea produces in 2006. Korean critics have embraced it, but I suspect that in the West it will remain an underappreciated achievement. (Darcy Paquet)

source: http://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm06.html#familyties

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Guest Pucca.sg

Some photos taken from the movie "Birth of Family" premiere on 18/5/06 to share :)

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Credit to 제이피이 from Uhmsky cafe^^

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Sunday, May 21, 2006

Film sees love, not blood ties, key for family

It's interesting to compare how Korean and English dictionaries define the word "family." While the former defines "family" as a group of people related to each other through marriage, in the latter (there can be exceptions, mind you) the "marriage" part is gone.

Though not widely accepted as "proper" yet, more and more people form families without marriage in this country as well. Maybe the time is not far off when Korean dictionaries will revise the definition.

What is it, then, that turns a group of people into a family, if not by marriage or blood relations? It is the kind of question the new film "Family Ties" asks its audience, to which it also gives its own answer.

The film features three key couples. It starts as a compilation of three unrelated families, but later they turn out to be within the same frame. They include Hyung Cheol (Um Tae-woong) who comes to live in his sister's (Moon So-ri) house with his lover Moo-shin (Ko Doo-shim), who is 20 years older than him, and the daughter of her ex-husband's ex-wife. Not a single character from the film appears to be ordinary, nor are the relationships among them.

For Kyong Seok (Bong Tae-kyu) and Chae-hyun (Jung Yu-mi), another couple in the film, his lack of affection clashes with her overly affectionate attitude. Mae-ja (Kim Hye-ok), an ailing middle-aged widow, falls in love with a married man with two children, which turns off her sensitive daughter Seon-kyong (Gong Hyo-jin).

Kim Tae-hyung, the film's director who is best known for "Memento Mori" (2001), the second installment of a high-school horror film series he co-directed, doesn't see such combinations as things to overcome. This makes it different from most of other Korean, and even Hollywood family films, whose common theme is recovery of traditional family values.

Until the end, the couples' conflicts never escalate to a catastrophe. Instead, they develop understandings based on affection, which make them accept each other as they are. Such love and understanding, judging from the film, is the key ingredient that makes a group of people a family, which sounds plausible thanks mainly to brilliant acting by the cast.

The film, though, largely ignores how painful and traumatic it can be to grow up in such a dysfunctional family. The story and characterization of the film contains lots of narrative truth but little realism.

In one scene, Seon-kyong makes an unplanned visit to the home of her mom's lover when the family is dining together. There she asks him if he loves her mother, with a clear intention of revealing his hidden love to the rest of his family, including his wife.

Breaking the awkward silence, he replies "Yes. I truly love her," which throws her into panic. The film doesn't take pains to show what happened to the hapless wife and children after that.

Veteran actress Ko and Moon, though their roles are comparatively minor, demonstrate why they are such highly sought after figures in local films. Bong and Jung are also a pleasure to watch, as the young, promising film stars provide solid acting in the movie.

A piece of trivia on the film: Ryu Seung-bum who has a cameo role in the film as Seon-kyong's ex-boyfriend is an ex-boy friend of Gong in real life too. Can this mean the two stars are back together as a couple? They deny this, but who knows what's really going on in the entertainment world.

(danlee@heraldm.com)

By Lee Yong-sung

2006.05.22

Source: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/htm...00605220007.asp

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Guest mj07

I'm actually glad to hear that there isn't as much focus on the pain and struggle these sort of non-traditional families face. I think most viewers have seen more than their fair share of melodramatic films/dramas. It doesn't sound like this movie ignores the pain, just doesn't make it the focal point.

Sounds more and more interesting!

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Guest Pucca.sg

I just happened to see this JUNE ISSUE 25 "SURE" Korean Magazine focus on the casts of "Birth of Family"

Credit to //cafe.daum.net/uhmforce & uhmsky

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Appreciate Mar & Rubie for sharing articles and news related to the movie. :)

Thanks Pucca for sharing UTW's pictures in this thread...Wheeew! Gong Hyo Jin's sexy leg is revealed in one of the pictures....and UTW looked so different...so cool... with his sleek hairdo! :P

Here's one interesting article from Uhmsky cafe posted on 22 May 2006.....

I do not envy "Davinci Code" as far as the audience's response is concerned." -My Daily

Visiting cinemas to express his thanks to audience as the movie "Birth of Family" was released, Uhm TaeWoong said he was being satisfied with audience's passionate response and so he did not envy 'Davinci Code"

Uhm TaeWoong and Moon Sori who starred in "Birth of Family", the only domestic movie facing "Davinci Code" as a competitor that came at the same time on the 18th of May , had stage greetings with its onlookers of about twenty theaters in BuSan and Daegu last weekend.

Uhm and Moon presented surprising events dedicating their songs to the audiences who attended in the theaters as a token of gratitude. Most of all,it was impressive that many fans from the Um TaeWoong Fan Cafe welcomed and cheered him everywhere he and his troupe including director Kim TaeYong went.

He said "I am always happy to see fans loving Korean movies even though Hollywood blockbusters like "Mission Impossible 3" and "Davinci Code" are now threatenning them."

Having taken a role to love veteran actress Go DuSIm regardless of the age gap between them in "Birth of Family",Uhm TaeWoong is going to show his new figure in SBS Monday~Tuesday mini series drama "Stranger than Paradise" that will go on the air around the end of July. A lot of his fans are looking forward to seeing how well he will act this time in the coming drama in which he is a brother of actor Lee Sung Jae.

Credit to Bill at Uhmsky for the translation

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Guest Pucca.sg

Last Saturday, there's a programme about him showing on MBC channel

I have posted some capture shots to share:-

Credit to uhmsky cafe

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Guest thesarahchong

It seems like it's been forever since I've seen Uhm Taewoong.

It's great news to see that his movie is a success, I never doubted it would be. I just can't wait to see it. (:

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Guest Pucca.sg

another MV ..singing by the cast themselves :)

mms://movie.film2.co.kr/movie2/trailers/M0003447.asf

source

film2.co.kr

Thanks for providing the link :)

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Guest dramalover

Some photos taken from the movie "Birth of Family" premiere on 18/5/06 to share :)

25.jpg

Credit to 제이피이 from Uhmsky cafe^^

Just love his smile and hair style here...thanks pucca for sharing..

oooh, this is EXACTLY the kind of movie that I've been craving lately! Interestingly enough, YesAsia has it listed as being released on DVD at the end of July! Granted, we all know those dates are frequently inaccurate, nevertheless, the sooner the better!

Wow,that's good if the DVD will get released earlier and I hope with English subs...thanks for the info..

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