Cha Seung-weon Movies

Acclaimed South Korean director Jang Jin's heartfelt family drama My Son (AKA A Day with My Son, AKA Adeul) concerns a convict father allowed to leave prison for a very short time, to reconnect with his 18-year-old son. Their meeting will mark the first since the boy's infancy. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

The South Korean education system serves as a microcosm for society in this incisive comedy drama from filmmaker Jang Gyu-seong. A corrupt teacher who accepts bribes from parents and punishes his students when mom and dad fail to line his pockets, Kim Bong-du (Cha Seung-won) is exiled to a remote farming village when his commonplace scheme is revealed to all by a scorned parental unit. Kim Bong-du's class now consists of only two boys and three girls, and when he tries to revive his profitable scam, the only things he is offered are kind words and vegetables. Drowning from boredom in his remote schoolhouse, Kim Bong-du sees a chance for escape when he hears that his school is to be shut down and his students transferred to another district. Filling the young ones' minds with dreams of the bright lights of Seoul and the endless possibilities that await them in the city, Kim Bong-du is surprised to learn that he has actually developed a conscience when the day comes for him and his students to part ways. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Break Out opens at an elementary school reunion, where Bongu (Kim Seung-woo) is the butt of malicious gossip about his many failures. Flat broke, Bongu is due out in the country for reserve training the next day. Once there, he meets fellow reserves Bum-soo (Kang Sung-jin), who won't stop complaining about having to be there, and Yang Chul-gin (Cha Seung-weon of Kick the Moon), a surly gangster who bumps into Bongu and spills his lunch. Bongu has a rough day, and doesn't have enough money for the bus home. He spends his last few pennies on a cheap disposable lighter. When Bum-soo comes by and offers to share a cab to the Seoul train station, Bongu accepts. At the station, Bongu uses the men's room, and absentmindedly leaves his lighter in the stall. When he returns for it, he sees that Yang has pocketed it. Bongu gets up the nerve to ask for it back, but Yang won't admit he's taken the lighter, and has his goons rough up Bongu. Yang has his own worries as he and his henchmen board the train, prepared to confront a powerful senator, Park Yong-gap (Park Yeong-gyu of Attack the Gas Station!), who made all kinds of promises to Yang for his help in getting elected, and now won't return his calls. At the end of his rope, Bongu follows Yang onto the train, determined to get his lighter back. Yang and his thugs end up holding the whole train hostage, but the stubborn Park will not give into his demands. As the train hurtles toward certain doom, Bongu, Yang, and Park become enmeshed in a comic battle of wills. Break Out, directed by Jang Hang-jun, had its U.S. premiere at Subway Cinema's 2003 New York Asian Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide