Park Hae-il Movies

The path of a young lothario crosses with that of a femme fatale who stirs up more trouble than he ever bargained for, in Korean director Jeong Ji-woo's period romantic drama Modern Boy. Park Hae-il stars as Lee Hae-myeong, a carefree young man who spends his days waltzing through the dance halls of 1930s Seoul, with his Japanese buddy Shinsuke. They enjoy nothing more than seducing every young girl in sight. Then a mysterious and beguiling young woman (Kim Hye-soo) turns up; her name is Cho Nan-shil, but she calls herself Laura, and she exudes a bewitching aura, fully drawing Lee into her spell. After the two have gone out on several occasions and Laura/Cho has earned Lee's trust, she takes off with most of his belongings, but he persists in believing that she's fallen in love with him (and vice-versa), and that he can win her back. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Memories of Murder is a policier based on the actual case of the first recorded serial killer in Korea's history. The rape murders began in 1986 in Hwaseong, a small village south of Seoul, and continued for several years during a time of political upheaval in South Korea. Detective Park Doo-man (Song Kang-ho of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), an overconfident local cop, is assigned to the case, taking along his partner, Detective Cho Yong-koo (Kim Rwe-ha), whose interrogation methods involve covering his boot with a cloth so it won't leave scratches on detainees' necks. After the first few murders, they quickly narrow their sights on a suspect (Park Noh-shik). Seo Tae-yoon (Kim Sang-kyung of Turning Gate), a young detective from Seoul, volunteers to work on the case. Park resents his presence, but Seo quickly realizes that the locals have the wrong man. Before he can share his ideas, the department is humiliated, and the police chief is replaced. Seo quietly begins to piece together a pattern to the murders. For one thing, they all took place in the rain, and the victims all wore red. But the murderer seems to be one step ahead of the cops. Working independently (they disdain each other's methods), Park and Seo stumble upon another suspect, and the two local cops work on beating a confession out of him. But it's soon clear that they've arrested the wrong man yet again. They become more desperate, and the case begins to take a devastating toll on the policemen's lives. Memories of Murder, directed by Bong Joon-ho from a script by Bong, Kim Kwang-rim, and Shim Sung-bo, was a huge box-office hit in South Korea. The film won several awards at the 2003 San Sebastián Film Festival and was also shown at the 2004 New York Korean Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide