Watching Sympathy for Lady Vengeance Again

Three cheers for Park Chan-wook who was recently voted Best Director of the year by his fellow film directors. Though the thumbs-up was primarily for his latest film, Thirst ( which I've yet to see), I'd like to think his body of work has something to do with the accolade as well.

Anyway, watched again his Sympathy for Lady Vengeance recently as I was in a nasty mood. But I think Park's handling of music in this movie and the wintry scenes are partly reason for my revisiting this compelling work.

Three Cheers for Kim Myung-Min and Ha Ji-won ( and Gamsa-hamnida to Kwon Sang-woo!)

Great to have two favourites in the same movie and even better to hear that Kim Myung-min and Ha Ji-won have won the awards for Best Actors in the movie, Closer to Heaven ( also known as My Love by My Side) in the most recent  Blue Dragon Film Awards held on 2 December, 2009.

Kim Myung-min ( Maestro Kang of  Beethoven Virus fame) probably suffered more than Rain ( who couldn't eat rice for 6 months apparently for Ninja Assassin)  in terms of the physical preparation for his role. As someone suffering from Lou Gehrig's Disease, he had to lose 20 kg during the course of the shooting to depict his character's debilitating condition. Talk about taking Method Acting to the max. Click here  and here for more on his hunger pangs.

BTW, a big Gamsa-hamnida to Kwon Sang-woo for dropping out of the role. No idea why you chose to leave the production set but you earn brownie points for being partly responsible for Kim Myung-min getting this part. Don't know if you're kicking yourself for passing up the opportunity of a lifetime or you're relieved that you didn't have to go through so much rigorous fasting for the role, but I'm so glad Kim did it instead of you!

As for Ha Ji-won, her other film, Haeundae probably has gotten more attention but I'm thrilled that she's getting this recognition for her role her as a funeral director who falls in love with Kim's character. She's been growing from strength to strength as well and I hope even more meaty roles will be offered to this versatile actor.

Update: Fans of Kim Myung-min have created a website. You can read his acceptance speech  at the Blue Dragon Film Awards at http://www.myungmininternational.com/



Source:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/12/2009-blue-dragon-film-awards/
http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/01/kim-myung-min-takes-a-method-approach-to-weight-loss/

SHIRI - a fish, a wish and a codename

Turning the clock back to 1999 -to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of SHIRI - Korea's first blockbuster and the rise of Korean films in the global arena. What a cast - Han Suk-kyu, Choi Minsik, Song Kang-ho, and Kim Yoon-jin - big names that have grown even bigger. It has action, romance, tragedy, humour, tight editing and great acting plus a song by Carol Kidd that closes the movie beautifully.

The name of the film refers to:
1. A kind of freshwater fish, native to Korea - apparently it only exists in the purest of waters so ironically can only be found in the DMZ.
2. The codename for the North Korean spy, one of the main characters in the movie
3. a wish for reunification ( not just for the divided Koreas but also for the lovers)
"Here's the official music video from the film Shiri, directed by Kang Je Gyu (Brotherhood) and starring Han Kyu-Suk (Scarlet Letter), Choi Min-Sik (OldBoy), Kang Ho-Song (JSA) and Kim Yoon-Jin (Lost)."

Thank you to bobbybulletbobson for posting on youtube.

BTW, closing scene was shot in Joongmun-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju-do

For Darcy Paquet's review, click here.
For Anthony Leong's review, click here.