Cannes 2011: Korean Helmers (Ki-duk, Sang-soo, Hong-jin, Joon-ho, Chang-dong) Invade the Fest

The headlines on Korean film sites might read “Korean films fail to get into main competition”, but perhaps that’s because the film scene here has gotten used to Cannes. Four Korean films have been recognized by the film festival. Three films have been selected to the Un Certain Regard category: Hong Sang-soo’s “The Day He Arrived“; Kim Ki-duk’s “Arirang” and Na Hong-jin’s “The Yellow Sea“.  We’ll unveil the fourth film below. 

One of those directors who has made Korean movie enthusiasts expect Cannes success is Hong Sang-soo. This is his seventh film at Cannes. Last year, Hong’s film “Ha Ha Ha” was invited as a noticeable film — as it won in its Un Certain Regard section. Little is know about “The Day He Arrives“, which he was also the screenwriter. The film is a 79-minute drama based in the frigid winter of northern Seoul. The lead actor, Yoo Joon-sang, also starred in “Ha Ha Ha“. Kim Bo-Kyeong (“Paju“, “Chingu“/”Friend“) also stars in the film. Hong, who made a big splash with his 1996 film, “The Day the Pig Fell Into the Well“, also had success with the 2010 Venice played “Oki’s Movie“, which also won the Return of the Tiger Award at Rotterdam earlier this year.

Na Hong-jin’s film, “The Yellow Sea“, is the second of his films in three years that has been invited to Cannes. This also Na’s second overall film, and his follow-up to “The Chaser“, which he also wrote. “Yellow Sea” is written by first time scriptwriter Kim Sun-min, who has won regional awards for her editing, working on some of Korea’s biggest titles.

Jin’s previous success, “The Chaser“, is one of the most highly regarded films in the Korean community, and was a Midnight Screen Selection in 2009. Bringing back “Chaser” stars Ha Jeong-woo and Kim Yoon-seok, Jin’s film focuses on a Korean man, Gu-Nam (Ha Jeong-woo), who is a taxi driver in Northeastern China. Gu-Nam, whose wife left for Korea six months before, continues to gamble and lose, racking up a serious debt. Then, Gu-Nam is offered a job that will pay off his debt: return to South Korea and assassinate a man he knows little about. Returning to Korea for the money and to see his wife, Gu-Nam arrives and is immediately chased by police for a murder he didn’t commit.

As Gu-Nam realizes he is in a trap, he is also being pursued by Myung-Ga (Kim Yoon-seok), a professional assassin from the same part of China. Gu-Nam has to find out who hired him, why Myung-ga is after him, or spend the rest of his life in jail. (The name of the movie “The Yellow Sea” is the [regionally heavily disputed] Korean name for the sea between China and the Korean peninsula. The body of water is also referred to as the East China Sea.)

After four years, Kim Ki-Duk returns to Cannes. “Arirang” follows his previous competing category film, “Breathe”. Kim, one of Korea’s highly regarded artistic director’s, is trying to continue his career success from earlier films, such as “Samaritan Girl“, “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…And Spring“, and “Bad Guy“. Little is known about “Arirang”, which has the same name as the title of Korean’s English TV broadcast network. Kim has written all of the films he has directed, including “Arirang”. It was mentioned during the press conference yesterday that this is a highly personal film for the filmmaker who has had some recent health issues.

Korea’s fourth selection is in the Cine Foundation student category, Son Tae-kyeom’s “Night Flight”.

And finally, two leading Korean directors will help decide key prizes at Cannes this year.
Bong Joon-ho, director of previous Cannes films “Mother” (2009) and “The Host” (2006), will head the jury of the Camera d’Or. Recently, Bong was on the jury of the Sundance festival.
Lee Chang-dong, who had his films “Poetry” (2010), “Secret Sunshine (2007), and “Oasis” (2003) at Cannes, will chair the jury of Cannes’s Critics’ Week section. Last year, Lee won best screenplay for “Poetry”.