A trio of Koreans, essential to the Korean film industry, were the first to make a splash with financial support from a major Hollywood film studio in 2010.  In their first film together since, The Chaser (추격자, 2008), Director Na Hong-jin (나홍진), actors Kim Yoon-seok (김윤섹) and Ha Jeong-woo (하정우) reunited in The Yellow Sea (황해).  The film—the first Korean movie to receive direct investment from Hollywood—is similar in story line to the The Chaser, a 2008 box office success in Korea.  The 36-year old Mr. Ha is one of Korea’s most popular and successful actors, making his film’s a must watch for introducing oneself into modern Korean films (along with Won Bin 원빈).

THE YELLOW SEA

In The Yellow Sea, which is alternatively titled The Murderer, Ha Jeong-woo returns to Korea to settle a debt.  And like The Chaser, Ha is on the run from Kim Yoon-seok, who plays an assassin.  (It should be noted that Kim Yoon-seok starred in a satire of the The Chaser in his film immediately prior, Running Turtle (거북이 달린다, 2009.  In that film, Kim plays a familiar role—a suspended detective who is chasing a criminal, who, in this case, robbed him.)

Ha plays a Joseongjuk (조선족), an ethnic Korean living in China.  By day, Gu-nam (Ha) is a taxi driver, and by night he is gambling, usually playing mahjong, a rather complex Chinese board game sometimes played as a three-person game in Korea.  Meanwhile, his wife, who has promised to send money back, is working in South Korea, but he hasn’t heard from her since she left.  Deep in debt, he soon suspects she is having an affair, only to be fired and lose his severance pay to his debt collectors.  But this is only the beginning of the film’s suspense.  Kim Yoon-seok’s character offers him a way to earn money if he travels to South Korea to kill a businessman.  While on the stake-out, Gu-name searches for his wife, but has the matter complicated by the Korean mafia, the Chinese Korean mafia, and the police all hunting for him.

The films name refers to the sea between the Korean Peninsula and China, which is a very sensitive issue for Koreans.  Some maps refer to it at the East China Sea, an infuriating name for many Koreans.

After writing and directing his first–and only–two feature films, Na Hong-jin was backed by Fox International and Hollywood production companies to make follow-up films.   However, he has yet to make a film since 2010, although it was announced he would make a film called Gokseong (곡성), which instantly made it one of the most anticipated films of 2015, as well as being rumored to debut at last May’s Cannes Film Festival.  But the production fell through, and the film ended up being Office by Chaser co-writer Hong Won-chan, whose directorial debut received mild reviews at Cannes.

LATE AUTUMN

Another production worth seeing is the remake of Korea’s 1966 classic, Manchu (만추).  The film, called Late Autumn, is a Korean-American joint project, directed by Kim Tae-yong.  Set in the U.S., Late Autumn brings together two major Asian stars, Korea’s Hyeon Bin 현빈 (from the TV hits “My Name is Kim Sam-soon” 내 이름은 김삼순 and “Secret Garden” 시크릿 가든) and China’s Tang Wei (from the Chinese hit Lust, Caution).

MOTHER

The movie that has, perhaps, drew the largest American and international exposure to Korean film is Bong Joon-ho’s (봉준호) Mother (마더).  It is a love story between a mother (Kim Hye-ja 김혜자) and her son (the extremely popular heart throb Won Bin from Taegukgi 태극기).  It soon turns into murder story turned criminal love story, where Kim Hye-ja tries to prove her mentally disabled son’s innocence.

Kim Hye-ja, has a stunning performance, one that helped Bong (from the hit horror film The Host, 괴물 meaning monster) continue his film success.  However, Kim’s follow-up film, Snowpiercer, received poor reviews and was a step-back.  But he returned to his previous form with the dramatic and tragic Haemoo (해무), meaning sea frog, a film based on a true story about fisherman smuggling Chinese immigrants to Korea.  The film stars The Yellow Sea‘s Kim Yeon-suk.  He has plans for a sci-fi thriller next year, as a follow up to The Host, a massive box office success and modern Korean horror classic. 

[See Part 2, featuring three individual directors, in the next post.]