[Trailer is up. Looks very Yoon Jong-Chan like: not exactly subtle, but likely with enough raw power to warrant the histrionics.]
With only two films in the can during the last eight years, it would be hard to convince people that Yoon Jong-Chan is one of the most important voices in modern Korean cinema. But when those two films happen to be 소름 (Sorum) and 청연 (Blue Swallow), it's a whole different story. The first essentially redrew the map of Korean horror in 2001, at the time becoming one of the first examples of the genre to avoid the usual teen slasher/J-horror clone dichotomy and focus on much more interesting psychological thriller tropes. The second, although the controversy regarding its alleged pro-Japanese stance is likely to cement its legacy in undeserved infamy, was one of the few Korean blockbusters with a soul, an increasingly rare phenomenon. Leading both films was Yoon's already sorely missed muse, the late Jang Jin-Young. Both failed to leave much of a mark at the box office, and Yoon wandered in this strange limbo for a couple of years, that of directors with a few films in the can and some name recognition, but not enough political clout (or track record at the box office) to get the chance of shooting the films he wanted to make.
He was first slated to adapt a real life story from KBS' documentary series 인간극장 (Human Theater) entitled 친구와 하모니카 (Friends & Harmonicas), and although the film initially cast Choi Min-Shik and Oh Dal-Soo, it ended up in development hell and essentially vanished from production lists. The other work Yoon was preparing meant a lot more to him, since it was something he had in mind ever since his debut with Sorum: 로마빵집의 휴일 (Roman Bakery Holiday), a gritty melodrama about a gangster who is consigned to a forced hospital stay for a year, and the woman he falls for, herself suffering from amnesia. Sure enough, it didn't go all too well for this film, either.
I don't know whether the continuing development hell Yoon's films have been facing is behind the similarities between Roman Bakery Holiday and his upcoming melodrama 나는 행복합니다 (I Am Happy), but at last he's coming back. The film's cast is interesting, if anything because of the timing: were this 2005, I would have never believed Lee Bo-Young and Hyun Bin could carry something like this on their own. But Lee has been choosing better projects as of late - and her performance in 슬픔보다 더 슬픈 이야기 (More than Blue) was not half bad - and Hyun Bin's acting in Kwak Kyung-Taek's 친구 - 우리들의 전설 (Friend - Our Legend) was superb, suggesting that trendy dramas and silly star vehicles might be indeed a thing of the past for the two.
Story is a little similar too Yoon's former project because we're again dealing with a romance of sorts happening at a hospital. Hyun Bin's character is there for the paranoia which has been afflicting him since his mother caught Alzheimer's, and his brother committed suicide, only leaving behind tons of gambling-related debts. The fact he can't remember any of that can only make all the tragedy behind the scenes become a strange, bittersweet limbo in which he survives day by day, fleeting happiness drawn on the canvas by his delusions. Lee Bo-Young is the nurse always by his side (not to mention her father's, suffering from terminal cancer), having to wear a smile on her face every day, but increasingly sweltered by the clouds of incoming tragedy. So, like, what could possibly happen to them? Ephemeral happiness comes to an end, and it all goes to hell.
Again, sounds like the usual over-dramatic potboiler Chungmuro keeps churning out on the tune of a half dozen per year, but if you've ever experienced how Yoon deals with melodrama in his past works, then you'll probably be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, if the fact the film is adapted from 조만득씨 (Miss Jo Man-Deuk) by Lee Cheong-Jun, the supremely talented pen behind the novels which gave birth to 서편제 (Seopyeonje) and 밀양 (Secret Sunshine), wasn't enough. I Am Happy premiered as the closing film of this year's PIFF, and will debut in theaters on November 26.
With only two films in the can during the last eight years, it would be hard to convince people that Yoon Jong-Chan is one of the most important voices in modern Korean cinema. But when those two films happen to be 소름 (Sorum) and 청연 (Blue Swallow), it's a whole different story. The first essentially redrew the map of Korean horror in 2001, at the time becoming one of the first examples of the genre to avoid the usual teen slasher/J-horror clone dichotomy and focus on much more interesting psychological thriller tropes. The second, although the controversy regarding its alleged pro-Japanese stance is likely to cement its legacy in undeserved infamy, was one of the few Korean blockbusters with a soul, an increasingly rare phenomenon. Leading both films was Yoon's already sorely missed muse, the late Jang Jin-Young. Both failed to leave much of a mark at the box office, and Yoon wandered in this strange limbo for a couple of years, that of directors with a few films in the can and some name recognition, but not enough political clout (or track record at the box office) to get the chance of shooting the films he wanted to make.
He was first slated to adapt a real life story from KBS' documentary series 인간극장 (Human Theater) entitled 친구와 하모니카 (Friends & Harmonicas), and although the film initially cast Choi Min-Shik and Oh Dal-Soo, it ended up in development hell and essentially vanished from production lists. The other work Yoon was preparing meant a lot more to him, since it was something he had in mind ever since his debut with Sorum: 로마빵집의 휴일 (Roman Bakery Holiday), a gritty melodrama about a gangster who is consigned to a forced hospital stay for a year, and the woman he falls for, herself suffering from amnesia. Sure enough, it didn't go all too well for this film, either.
I don't know whether the continuing development hell Yoon's films have been facing is behind the similarities between Roman Bakery Holiday and his upcoming melodrama 나는 행복합니다 (I Am Happy), but at last he's coming back. The film's cast is interesting, if anything because of the timing: were this 2005, I would have never believed Lee Bo-Young and Hyun Bin could carry something like this on their own. But Lee has been choosing better projects as of late - and her performance in 슬픔보다 더 슬픈 이야기 (More than Blue) was not half bad - and Hyun Bin's acting in Kwak Kyung-Taek's 친구 - 우리들의 전설 (Friend - Our Legend) was superb, suggesting that trendy dramas and silly star vehicles might be indeed a thing of the past for the two.
Story is a little similar too Yoon's former project because we're again dealing with a romance of sorts happening at a hospital. Hyun Bin's character is there for the paranoia which has been afflicting him since his mother caught Alzheimer's, and his brother committed suicide, only leaving behind tons of gambling-related debts. The fact he can't remember any of that can only make all the tragedy behind the scenes become a strange, bittersweet limbo in which he survives day by day, fleeting happiness drawn on the canvas by his delusions. Lee Bo-Young is the nurse always by his side (not to mention her father's, suffering from terminal cancer), having to wear a smile on her face every day, but increasingly sweltered by the clouds of incoming tragedy. So, like, what could possibly happen to them? Ephemeral happiness comes to an end, and it all goes to hell.
Again, sounds like the usual over-dramatic potboiler Chungmuro keeps churning out on the tune of a half dozen per year, but if you've ever experienced how Yoon deals with melodrama in his past works, then you'll probably be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, if the fact the film is adapted from 조만득씨 (Miss Jo Man-Deuk) by Lee Cheong-Jun, the supremely talented pen behind the novels which gave birth to 서편제 (Seopyeonje) and 밀양 (Secret Sunshine), wasn't enough. I Am Happy premiered as the closing film of this year's PIFF, and will debut in theaters on November 26.
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