13th – 17th Aug 2018, Paidi Jairaj Preview Theatre, Ravindra Bharathi.
*1. Miracle in Cell No. 7 (13th August)*
Miracle in Cell No. 7 is a 2013 South Korean comedy-drama film starring Ryu Seung-ryong, Kal So-won, and Park Shin-hye. The film is a heartwarming comedy and family melodrama about a mentally challenged man wrongfully imprisoned for murder, who builds friendships with the hardened criminals in his cell, and in return, they help him see his daughter again by smuggling her into the prison. The film’s early working title was December 23.
Successful Ryoo Seung-Yong comes back as a fool for his daughter! Outsiders not allowed! In room 7 of the prison where all kinds of criminals are gathered, comes Yong-gu, a father with the sense of a 6 year old and his 7-year-old daughter Ye-Seung. The mission of these criminals in room 7 is to protect these two who can never stay apart for a single moment.
Direction: Lee Hwan-Kyung
Starring: Ryu Seung-ryong, Kal So-won, Park Shin-hye
Music: Lee Dong-jun
Cinematography: Kang Seung-gi
Editing: Choi Jae-geun, Kim So-yeon
Release Date: January 23, 2013
Running Time: 127 minutes
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean
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*2. The Beauty Inside (2015 film) (14th August)*
The Beauty Inside is a 2015 South Korean high-concept romantic comedy film based on the 2012 American social film The Beauty Inside, about a man who wakes up every day in a different body. It is Baik’s feature film debut, after a career directing commercials.
Furniture designer Woo-jin wakes up in a different body every day, regardless of age, gender and nationality. Sometimes he’s a man, a woman, old, young, or even a foreigner. He’s the same person on the inside, but on the outside, he’s always someone new. Looking at a different face in the mirror every morning is hard for him to get used to. The only constant in his life is the girl he loves, Yi-soo, who knows his secret and loves him anyway. Each time he transforms, Woo-jin must figure out how to reunite with Yi-soo.
Direction: Baik (Baek Jong-yul)
Starring: Han Hyo-joo, Kim Dae-myung, Do Ji-han, Bae Sung-woo
Music: Jo Yeong-wook
Cinematography: Kim Tae-gyeong
Editing: Yang Jin-mo
Release Date: August 20, 2015 (South Korea), September 11, 2015 (United States)
Running Time: 126 minutes
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean
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*3. Ode to My Father (15th August)*
Ode to My Father is a 2014 South Korean drama film directed by Yoon Je-kyoon. Starring Hwang Jung-min and Yunjin Kim, it depicts modern Korean history from the 1950s to the present day through the life of an ordinary man, as he experiences events such as the Hungnam Evacuation of 1950 during the Korean War, the government’s decision to dispatch nurses and miners to West Germany in the 1960s, and the Vietnam War. It is currently the third highest-grossing film in the history of Korean cinema, with 14.2 million tickets sold.
Ode To My Father is the story of Deok-Su, a completely ordinary man, who in the face of tumultuous events, marshals the extraordinary courage to protect his family. Sticking together they survive some of the modern history’s most significant events. As a child, Deok-Su had to say goodbye to his father during a North Korean refugee evacuation amidst the Korean War. His last words to his father were a promise that he would always protect the family. As he matures, that vow leads him to the coal mines of 1960s Germany, and even into the jungle of the Vietnam War. ‘Ode To My Father’ is a heartwarming tale of a regular man who musters superhuman resilience for the sake of his family, all set in the maelstrom of modern history as it crashed over Korea. With echoes of tumultuous events happening around the globe today, ‘Ode To My Father’ is a loving look at one family who manages to survive and even thrive.
Direction: Yoon Je-kyoon
Starring: Hwang Jung-min, Yunjin Kim, Oh Dal-su, Jung Jin-young, Jang Young-Nam, Ra Mi-ran
Music: Lee Byung-woo
Cinematography: Choi Young-hwan
Editing: Lee Jin
Release Date: December 17, 2014
Running Time: 126 minutes
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean, English, German, Vietnamese
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*4. I Can Speak (16th August)
I Can Speak is a 2017 South Korean film directed by Kim Hyun-Seok, starring Na Moon-hee and Lee Je-hoon. The film was released on September 21, 2017.
An elderly woman (played by Na Moon-hee) constantly files complaints with the local office about the wrongs that she sees around her each day. Along the way, she forms an unlikely friendship with a junior civil service officer (played by Lee Je-hoon) who begins to teach her English. Being the teacher of the elderly woman, he realizes the genuine reason why she learned English and becomes an important supporter in earnest. Though the film is a comedy, the genre serves as a vehicle to discuss the deeper topic of Korean “comfort women” during World War II.
Direction: Kim Hyun-Seok
Starring: Na Moon-hee, Lee Je-hoon, Choi Soo-in, Yum Hye-ra
Music: Lee Dong-Joon
Cinematography: You Yok
Editing: Kim Sang-bum, Kim Jae-bum
Release Date: September 21, 2017
Running Time: 119 minutes
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean, English
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*5. The Attorney (17th August)*
The Attorney is a 2013 South Korean courtroom drama film directed and co-written by Yang Woo-suk, in his directorial debut (Yang was previously a film producer and webtoon author). With 11,375,954 tickets sold and a revenue of ₩82.9 billion, The Attorney became the 8th best-selling Korean film of all time and the second highest-grossing Korean film of 2013.
It was inspired by the real-life “Burim case” of 1981, when during the authoritarian Chun Doo-hwan regime, 22 students, teachers and office workers who belonged to a book club were arrested without warrants on fabricated charges that they were North Korea sympathizers. Roh Moo-hyun, then a tax lawyer from Busan, formed a legal team with his allies (including Moon Jae-in and Kim Kwang-il) to defend the arrested individuals against the government. After the case, Roh became an influential human rights lawyer throughout the 1980s; he later entered politics and became the 16th president of South Korea. Later, Moon Jae-in also became the 19th president of South Korea.
Direction: Yang Woo-suk
Starring: Song Kang-ho, Kim Young-ae, Oh Dal-Su, Im Si-wan, Kwak Do-won
Music: Jo Yeong-Wook
Cinematography: Lee Tae-Yoon
Editing: Kim Sang-bum
Kim Jae-bum
Release Date: December 18, 2013
Running Time: 127 minutes
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean
