Kim Il-woo Movies
- 2000
Alcoholic sushi-chef Park Bong-ja (Seo Kap-suk) returns to her apartment one night to find a strange girl (Kim Jin-ah) asleep in her bed. The girl, it turns out, is a homeless teenage hooker, and her lack of social standing, similar to Bong-ja's, paves the way for an intimate relationship between the two women. Their relationship enables Bong-ja to release many years' worth of pent-up emotions, while the young prostitute reveals the dark secrets of her past. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kim Il-woo
Set in 1963, Nae Maeumeui Pungguem/The Harmonium in My Memory tells the tale of Kang Su-ha (Lee Byung-heon), a 21-year-old novice schoolteacher who lands a job in the very small town of Sanri, mostly populated by illiterate families stuck in poverty, and with little interest in education. Add to this the fact that Kang is very nervous and clumsy in the extreme, and it's no wonder he has a hard time keeping his class in order. Kang makes the acquaintance of Yang Eun-hee (Lee Mi-yeon), a lovely young woman who is also on the school's faculty, and, though it takes a while, Kang eventually works up the courage to actually talk to her. However, Kang has an unexpected obstacle in this potential romance. One of his students, 17-year-old Yun Hong-yeon (Jeon Do-yeon), has a furious crush on Kang, and she isn't about to make it easy for him to him to pursue the woman of his dreams. The film was cited in the press for the fine performances of the three leads and the accurate recreation of Korea on the cusp of modernization. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lee Byung-hun, Jeon Do-yeon, (more)
- 1997
Director Park Chul-Soo combined comedy with social comment for this South Korean film set in a large city at the obstetrics ward of a clinic run by women (Hwang Shin-Hye, Bang Eun-Jin) for women. Teen mothers, peasants, career women, and husbands bring up various issues and topics, while a real birth is interpolated into the fictional storyline. Shown at the 1997 Vancouver Film Festival and the 1998 Berlin Film festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hwang Shin-Hye, Bang Eun-Jin, (more)
- 1994
This South Korean drama makes a poignant case for the reunification of north and south as it uses childhood memories to chronicle the events that divided the population of a small island. The film begins in modern times and looks back. Moon Chae-ku and Kim Chul have been friends since childhood. Together they are returning to Kwisong Island to bury Moon's father. Unfortunately, bitter locals will not let the boat containing his body land. Moot tries to talk to them, but they are adamant. Kim begins to remember the 40-year old events that led to this moment. Kim again becomes a baby. Oknim is a young village woman with mild mental retardation. Before her wedding she tells Kim how the souls of the dead become stars. He remembers Moon Duk-bae, his friend's philandering, uncaring father who watched his sickly daughter die and his wife go mad with grief and then sent her to her death which caused the whole conflict. Moon Duk-bae also helped the Nationalist Army find and execute supposed Communists upon the tiny island. In the present it is a shaman that brings them all back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Moon Sung-Keun, Ahn Song-Gi, (more)
