Baek Yun-shik Movies

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, All Movie Guide

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

The genre-bending black comedy sci-fi thriller Save the Green Planet! marks the feature debut of writer/director Jang Jun-hwan. Shin Ha-kyun of Joint Security Area stars as Byun-gu, an eccentric beekeeper who, with the help of his tightrope walker girlfriend, Sooni (Hwang Jeong-min), kidnaps a powerful and successful businessman, Man-sik (Baek Yun-shik). Byun-gu believes that Man-sik is an alien from the planet Andromeda, one of many hiding among us and plotting to destroy the Earth in a few days. Amphetamine-popping Byun-gu sees himself as the planet's last hope, and sets about torturing Man-sik with relish, trying to convince him to contact the "Royal Prince" and call off Armageddon. A battle of wits and wills ensues, with Man-sik trying to convince his captors that he's human and attempting to escape. Man-sik recognizes Byun-gu as a disgruntled former employee whose comatose mother suffers from a mysterious illness. It begins to seem that Byun-gu's true motivation may be personal, but he's still ruthlessly determined to get Man-sik to confess and cooperate, even if he has to risk killing him. Meanwhile, a disheveled detective, Chu (Lee Jae-yong), and his young acolyte, Inspector Kim (Lee Ju-hyeon), discover that the person who kidnapped Man-sik may have struck several times before, always with deadly results. The distinctly offbeat Save the Green Planet! was a box-office flop in South Korea, but it won some acclaim on the festival circuit. The film had its U.S. premiere at the 2004 New York Korean Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide