Got Some Action to 스페어 (Spare)?

Posted by . X . at 9:27am.

Posted in Film News , Asia.

When you hear a director has been working for seven years on his film debut, that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Don’t they all? When you hear he’s dreamed of becoming a director watching Hong Kong action films ever since his high school days, and tried to turn all those influences into a film, eh. Ryu Seung-Wan anyone? When you actually get to the trailer, and it looks this promising, then that’s another story. With the action kid (why am I calling someone older than me “kid?” Anyhow) soon to unveil his Manchurian Machismo Action Parody (?) 다찌마와 리 (Dachimawa Lee), you’d think it wouldn’t be so crappy if we got some more action coming from Korea. Lee Seong-Han’s upcoming 스페어 (Spare) could become a cross between 짝패 (The City of Violence) (as it’s lensed by Kim Young-Cheol just like Ryu’s film) and the rugged action concertos of 거칠마루 (Geochilmaru). What we know for sure is Kim Young-Cheol didn’t use any particular editing tricks nor special effects, it’s all bonafide action made of long shots and assorted degrees of pain. Which sounds just about right.

Cast is interesting, with young actors like Jung Woo and Im Joon-Il who starred in The City of Violence, eternal Ryu Seung-Wan regular Kim Soo-Hyun playing a ruthless loan shark, and former pro-boxer turned actor Koga Mitsuki from 魁!!クロマティ高校 (Cromartie High School). Indiestory plans to release the film on August 28, and we can only hope a DVD of this will eventually come out despite the very limited release. Below the break both the teaser and trailer.

Share on Facebook

Reader Comments

JustinD 07/25/2008 @ 11:11am

That looks like a ton of fun! The trailer’s a little wonkily edited, but the general feel of the productions shines through.

*wipes away a tear* It’s good to have you back .X.
. X . 07/25/2008 @ 11:13am

Yeah, very low budget and probably very thin on plot (guy deals with loan sharks, can’t pay the interest, they want to sell him by the ounce, pain starts), but looks pretty badass.
lblisters 07/25/2008 @ 12:13pm

Been watching for this since it was mentioned in passing in a blog post for DD’s release of City Of Violence… it played at (iirc) Pusan and the handful of Korean-language reviews we found on daum were very positive. After so many slick but boring films, I’m ready for a low-budget ass-kicker.
. X . 07/25/2008 @ 12:17pm

Also had a low profile press screening and there’s a few reviews out there (think the usual low on plot high on action template), and since it’s Indiestory it could have a long-ish release at one of the indie theaters. But this thing needs a DVD.
Ivo Brito 07/26/2008 @ 4:25am

The movie looks very cool, Korea need to do more of these stylish action movies.
lblisters 07/29/2008 @ 8:17am

Turns out this will be playing at the Korean Film Festival in NYC, late august.