Ju Jin-mo Movies

A big gal goes to great lengths to release the beautiful woman inside in this romantic comedy from South Korea. Ami (Seo Yun) is a glamorous and sexy pop star who has a string of hit records to her credit, but what most folks don't know is she can't sing a note and the voice on her recordings is actually Hanna Kang (Kim A-jung). While Hanna has a beautiful voice, she also weighs 200 pounds, which has prevented her from having a career of her own, and while she's in love with Sang-jun (Ju Jin-mo), the producer who hired her to be Ami's voice, she lacks the nerve to tell him how she feels. When Hanna is invited to a posh party by Sang-jun only to discover Ami is wearing the same dress but in a much smaller size, she decides the time has come to make some changes. Hanna drops out of sight, has plastic surgery and liposuction, and a year later emerges as pretty and slender Jenny. No one recognizes Jenny as Hannah, and when she auditions for Sang-jun, he's certain he's found a new star to replace Ami, whose career has gone into a tailspin since Hannah went AWOL. Jenny's career is off to a great start, and she seems to have impressed Sang-jun on a non-professional basis, but Ami thinks there's something odd about this unknown singing sensation and starts doing some detective work. Minyeoneun gwiroweo (aka 200 Pounds Beauty was adapted from a popular comic book by Yumiko Suzuki. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A guy with a talent for cards makes his way into the dangerous world of underground gambling in this crime thriller from South Korea. Go-ni (Jo Seung-woo) is a small-town guy with a big appetite for gambling. Convinced he's on a hot streak one evening during a card game, Go-ni bets his life savings on a hand of hwatu, only to lose to a crooked cardsharp. Determined to get revenge, Go-ni sets out to find the guy who cheated him and win back his money. Go-ni's travels lead him to Pyeong Gyeong-jang (Baek Yun-shik), an unusually gifted card player who has gotten out of the game. Pyeong sees a talented protégé in Go-ni and takes him under his wing, introducing him to Madam Jeong (Kim Hye-su), an equally gifted female gambler. Jeong is attracted to the young and handsome Go-ni and takes him on as both a student and a lover, but the young man soon learns how dangerous a gambler's trade can be when he wins a hefty bankroll from Kwak Cheol-yeong (Kim Eung-su), an underworld kingpin who doesn't take losing lightly. Go-ni also foolishly breaks off his affair with Jeong when he falls for Hwa-ran (Lee Su-gyeong), a beautiful woman who runs a nightspot, and makes an enemy of A-gui (Kim Yun-seok), a thug with a hair-trigger temper who holds a grudge against Pyeong. As the various characters come together for a major hwatu tournament, Go-ni struggles to keep his mind on the game as he's forced to keep his eye peeled for enemies prepared to claim his life. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Touted as the most expensive Korean film ever produced, Musa is a sweeping real-life epic about an official envoy from Koryo (ancient Korea) struggling to stay alive in war-torn China. The film is set in 1375 when the Yuan dynasty collapses after a 100-year reign against the insurgent Ming. As the Ming dynasty solidifies power pushing the remaining Yuan armies to the north and west, Koryo sends a delegation of diplomats to shore up their strained relations with the new government. Upon arrival the lead diplomat is thrown in jail and the rest are exiled to the dusty hinterland for spying. There, the party is ambushed by Yuan soldiers. The survivors are led by General Choi Jung and a bodyguard slave of another fallen general, Yeo-sol. After facing all sorts of adversities, the group make it to a remote country inn where they learn that the beautiful Ming princess Furong (played by Zhang Ziyi of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame) has been kidnapped. When Yeo-sol gets abducted by the same band of Yuan thugs, Choi Jung resolves to free them both. Fleeing from the same Yuan army, the Koryo warriors with Furong in tow learn that the Yuan has burned all ferryboats in the Yellow River valley. When they happen upon a group of Ming refugees, Furong promises them supplies and safe passage home if they escort the refugees to the Mud Castle upriver. The castle, however, proves to be in ruins and the Yuan are closing in. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi