Yeom Jeong-ah Movies

After 16 years of imprisonment as the result of a farcical trial, a once-rebellious student who sought solace in a remote mountain village during the 1980s-era South Korean uprising discovers the true fate of the lover who sheltered him, and the child he never knew he had. As the repressive dictatorship began to flex their might and the student uprising swelled to a mighty crescendo, frightened Hyun-woo retreated to a mountain village and fell in love with Yoon-hee. His relative safety in the remote community weighing increasingly heavily on his conscience as news of student protests persists, Hyun-woo eventually determines to leave Yoon-hee as he sets his sights on Seoul. En route, Hyun-woo is intercepted by police and given a life sentence for his alleged crimes. Though the ever-faithful Yoon-hee vows to be there on the day that her beloved is set free, a reunion was not meant to be. Upon release, Hyun-woo is shocked to discover that Yoon-hee gave birth to his daughter shortly after he was arrested, and shattered to discover that his beloved had perished during his extended incarceration. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Writer/director Choi Dong-hun makes his feature debut with the stylized caper movie The Big Swindle. The film opens in the middle of a car chase, with Choi Chang-hyok (Park Shin-yang) fleeing the cops in the aftermath of a massive bank scam gone awry. The chase ends with Chang-hyok's car exploding in a fireball. As the police investigate the case, flashbacks show how the job came together. Chang-hyok, fresh out of prison, uses the connection of a fellow ex-con, counterfeiter Gasoline (Kim Sang-ho) to get in touch with the criminal mastermind Master Kim (Baek Yun-shik of Save the Green Planet!). He also uses his charm to get in even closer touch with Master Kim's mistress, Seo In-Keong (Yeom Jeong-ah of A Tale of Two Sisters), who seems to have a few schemes of her own. Chang-hyok lays out his plan to con the Bank of Korea out of millions, and Master Kim rounds up a crew to do the job, including Gasoline, a sneaky little guy called Big Mouth (Lee Mun-shik), and Swallow (Park Won-sang), a vain lothario who beats up women. When the job goes bad, Chang-hyok goes boom, and Big Mouth is caught. The cops discover that Chang-hyok has a bookish, more responsible older brother, Chang-ho. They bring him in for questioning, and before long, he's also getting attention from a pissed off Master Kim, who's looking for the missing loot, and Seo In-Keong, who's suddenly interested in a "nice guy." The Big Swindle was featured at the 2005 New York Korean Film Festival, with director Choi and star Baek in attendance. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

This supernatural horror film from Kim Jee-woon is inspired by the ancient Korean folktale "Jangha and Hongryun." Set in an isolated lakeside house, it begins with two young girls, Su-mi (Im Su-jung) and Su-yeon (Mun Geun-yeong), returning home after a period of hospitalization following the death of their mother. In the meantime, their father Mu-Hyun (Kim Gab-su) has married Eun-joo (Yeom Jeong-ah), whom the girls obviously despise. Strange, violent visions begin to disturb Su-mi and she becomes convinced that Eun-joo is keeping a dark secret from the family. The American remake rights to A Tale of Two Sisters were sold to Dreamworks SKG in 2003. ~ Tom Vick, Rovi