Gang Hye-jeong Movies
- 2005
A hit man takes a vacation and finds both danger and faulty workmanship follow him wherever he goes in this offbeat comedy from Thai filmmaker Pen-ek Ratanaruang. Kyoji (Asano Tadanobu) is a hired killer based in Macau who works for Japanese crime boss Wiwat (Toon Hiranyasup). Kyoji poses as a chef to maintain his cover, and he gets to put both skills to use when Wiwat asks him to kill his wife Seiko (Tomono Kuga) with a poisoned meal, not a difficult thing to arrange since Kyoji has been having an affair with her for several months. After dispatching Seiko, Wiwat thinks Kyoji could use a little R&R, and sends him on a cruise to Phuket. However, Kyoji discovers he's been given a cut-rate stateroom in which anything that can go wrong does on a regular basis. However, this turns out to be the least of his troubled when he discovers he's being trailed by two mysterious figures -- an attractive single mother who may or may not be flirting with him (Gang Hye Jung) and a large man in a Hawaiian shirt (Mitsuishi Ken) whose motives are difficult to ascertain. Invisible Waves received its North American premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tadanobu Asano, Gang Hye-jeong, (more)
- 2005
Opening in September of 1950, after U.S.-led forces had landed in Incheon, turning the tide of the Korean War, Welcome to Dongmakgol tells the (fictional) story of a remote little village where the residents have never seen guns, and are completely ignorant of the conflict going on in their country. Their simple, quiet lives are disrupted when an American pilot, Smith (Steve Taschler), crashes just outside the village. While the kindly villagers tend to Smith's injuries, a pair of North Korean soldiers, young gung-ho Seo Taek-gi (Ryu Deok-hyeon) and the older Jang Young-hee (Lim Ha-ryong), and their commander, Lee Su-hwa (Jeong Jae-yeong), as well as a pair of South Korean soldiers, deserter Pyo Hyun-chul (Shin Ha-kyun of Save the Green Planet!) and medic Mun Sang-sang (Seo Jae-gyeong), all find themselves stranded in the little village. There's a lengthy standoff, but when the soldiers accidentally destroy the town's food supply, they all reluctantly agree to work together to help the town restore the food so they'll survive the coming winter. Before long, the soldiers begin to connect with one another and form a strong bond with the locals. There's even a budding romance between Taek-gi and a kooky, carefree village girl, Yeo-il (Kang Hye-jeong). Unfortunately for everyone, UN forces believe that Smith was shot down by North Korean forces, and are prepared to bomb the region to protect an important supply route. Welcome to Dongmakgol was a surprise blockbuster in South Korea. The film marks the feature debut of writer/director Park Gwang-hyeon, and is based on a play by Jang Jin. It had its U.S. premiere at the 2006 New York Asian Film Festival, presented by Subway Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeong Jae-yeong, Shin Ha-gyun, (more)
Three Asian directors, from Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan, join forces to create an omnibus horror film, Three...Extremes. In Fruit Chan's "Dumplings," shot by Christopher Doyle, Mrs. Li (Miriam Yeung), a thirtysomething former actress with a philandering husband (Tony Leung) goes to visit Aunt Mei (Bai Ling), who sells the most expensive dumplings in Hong Kong. Mrs. Li knows about their rejuvenating powers, and she also knows about their unpleasant main ingredient, but after some initial nausea, she digs right in. In Oldboy writer/director Park Chan-wook's "Cut," a successful filmmaker (Lee Byung-hun of Joint Security Area) arrives home to find that a disgruntled extra (Lim Won-hee) has taken over his home, and fastened his pianist wife (Kang Hye-jun of Oldboy) to the grand piano. The madman threatens to cut off the wife's fingers, one by one, unless the director strangles the helpless child he's tied to the couch. Takashi Miike directs the last segment, "Box," about a young author and former circus performer, Kyoko (Kyoko Hasegawa) seemingly haunted by the ghost of her twin sister, who died a mysterious and horrible death while practicing their act. Adding to Kyoko's trauma, her editor (Atsuro Watabe) is a dead ringer for her old stepfather/ringmaster, who may have perished in the same "accident" that took her sister's life. Three...Extremes was shown at Subway Cinema's New York Asian Film Festival in 2005. For the American release of Three... Extremes, the order in which the films are presented was altered from the original "Box," "Dumplings," and "Cut" to "Dumplings," "Cut," and "Box." This film was actually preceded by another omnibus film, Three, that was nevertheless retitled Three... Extremes II for the English-language market and issued after this one. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bai Ling, Miriam Yeung, (more)
South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook directed this violent and offbeat story of punishment and vengeance. Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is a husband and father whose reputation for womanizing is well known. One day, for reasons he doesn't understand, Oh Dae-su finds himself locked up in a prison cell, with no idea of what his crime was or whom his jailers may be. With a small television as his only link to the outside world and a daily ration of fried dumplings as his only sustenance, Oh Dae-su struggles to keep his mind and body intact, but when he learns through a news report that his wife has been killed, he begins a long and difficult project of digging an escape tunnel with a pair of chopsticks. Before he can finish -- and after 15 years behind bars -- Oh Dae-su is released, with as little explanation as when he was locked up, and he's soon given a wad of money and a cellular phone by a bum on the street. Emotionally stunted but physically strong after 15 years in jail, Oh Dae-su struggles to unravel the secret of who is responsible for locking him up, what happened to his wife and daughter, and how to best get revenge against his captors. Oldeuboi was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and won the coveted Grand Prix. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Choi Min-Sik, Gang Hye-jeong, (more)
