Song Jae-Ho Movies
- 2009
A string of serial murders rock Seoul, Korea, forcing a medical physician and an aspiring detective to undertake their own amateur investigation, in this offbeat period mystery-thriller. The year is 1910, the place, the heart of the Joseon Dynasty. Hong Jin-Ho (Hwang Jeong-min) longs to establish himself as a private detective - and sees a move to America as his ticket out of Korea. Meanwhile, a local medical intern, Kwang-soo (Ryoo Deok-hwan), discovers a corpse in the woods and steals it to practice routine dissection - but it so happens that the body in question belongs to the son of the most powerful figure in Seoul. For this reason, Kwang-soo's possession of the body soon puts him at risk for being tagged as the murderer. Kwang-soo contemplates stealing away in the dead of night, but his path soon criss-crosses with that of Hong, and Kwang-soo asks him to find the murderer. Soon, a second body turns up, murdered in exactly the same way; the gentlemen then team up and use a cloth found in one victim's hand as a clue to track down the killer. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hwang Jeong-min, Ryoo Deok-hwan, (more)
South Korean filmmaker Im Sang-su (A Good Lawyer's Wife) tackles the assassination of President Park Chun-hee (Song Jae-Ho) in his political satire The President's Last Bang. Im focuses on the internecine bickering and jockeying for position that took place among the dictator's closest advisors. Park was in the midst of a brutal crackdown on student protestors, angry workers, and others whom he saw as a threat to his regime. As the film opens, KCIA Chief Agent Ju (Han Suk-Gyu of Shiri) is getting rid of a hooker and her overzealous mother while President Park prepares for a banquet at his safe house with disgruntled KCIA Director Kim (Baek Yun-shik of Save the Green Planet!), Chief Secretary Yang (Gweon Byeong-Gil), and Chief Bodyguard Cha (Jeong Weon-Jung), who has already offended Ju and Kim with his malicious "office politics," and two charming young ladies, a well-known pop singer (Kim Yun-Ah) and a co-ed (Cho Eun-ji). Kim has just had an unhappy doctor's visit, and been told he's suffering from a bad liver and chronic fatigue. Apparently pushed to the breaking point, he enlists his underlings, Ju and Colonel Min (Kim Eung-soo) in a deadly plot. Im insists that while some of the dialogue was necessarily invented, his film tells the story of what actually happened on that historic night in 1979. Park's relatives, still politically active in the country's right wing, sued the filmmaker and successfully kept him from using archival footage of the president in the film's final cut. The President's Last Bang was selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center for inclusion in the 2005 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Song Jae-Ho
- 2003
Set in the politically charged climate of Korea in the early '80s, Kim Hyun-jeong's Double Agent stars Han Suk-kyu (Tell Me Something) as Lim Byeong-ho, a North Korean intelligence operative who defects to South Korea. Lim is tortured for weeks before his motives for defecting are deemed acceptable. Then the information he brought over is vetted, and he is put to work. He assists in training South Korean soldiers. After two years, having earned more trust, he is given greater access and asked to examine North Korean intelligence. His new partner encourages him to go to church and tries to interest Lim in baseball. Lim receives a coded message over the radio from the beautiful Yoon Soo-mi (Ko So-young). He's told to make contact with her. It becomes clear that Lim is still working for the North Koreans. He and Yoon begin dating as cover for their meetings. Yoon transmits orders and Lim gives her classified information. As Lim and Yoon spend more time together, a genuine affection grows between them. But soon a European reporter who seems to know all about Lim approaches him, and Yoon's contact, a highly ranked spy, is captured by the government. The couple's loyalties are tested and their safety is threatened. In danger of exposure, they desperately try to find a way out. Double Agent had its U.S. premiere at Subway Cinema's 2003 New York Asian Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Han Seok-gyu, Goh So-yeong, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, (more)
