At the end of last year, the epidemic in South Korea was tense again, and the prospects for the film industry became more and more heart-wrenching.
At this difficult time, most of the films that were already slow to progress did not know when they would be completed; the films expected to be released in 2021 were more uncertain than in previous years.
This year, Park Chan-wook is making a new film [The Decision to Break Up], and the heroine is Tang Wei;
It was Kore-eda's first Korean-language film [Broker], a collaboration with actor Song Kang-ho, but it is not yet known how it will progress.
These two films will certainly not meet the audience in 2021.
Other star-level directors such as Bong Joon-ho, Hong Chang-so, Lee Cang-dong, Kim Ji-woon, etc., are either preparing new films or are in a state of recuperation.
However, based on the mature genre film industry, without their works to support the façade, Korean films can also bring surprises to film fans every year.
From mid-2019 to early 2020, [Parasite] detonated Korean films, not only winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, but also winning four Academy Awards, including Best Film and Best Director.
However, before this heat could be translated into productivity, Korean films were forced into a cooling-off period that did not know when to end, along with global films.
The film industry is facing the impact of the epidemic and is struggling.
The sci-fi action film [Seo Fu], starring Kong Liu and Park Baojian, was scheduled to be released in December last year, but was postponed to 2021 due to the sudden increase in the epidemic in South Korea.
Sci-fi Action Movie [Xu Fu]
The anti-Japanese theme biographical film [Hero] has also been rescheduled to 2021.
Anti-Japanese Biographical Film [Hero]
The long-awaited sequel film [Berlin 2: The Observer], [Veteran 2], [Co-Help 2], [Crime City 2], etc., still have no further news.
Relatively clear is [Witch 2], which has been officially put into production and is expected to be released this year.
[Witch 2]
The first [Witch] is a small investment and big return of science fiction action movies, the heroine due to experimental mutation, after injury can quickly repair herself, the action is fast, the strength is amazing.
[Witch 2] Received higher investment due to the success of the first film, but still cost less than similar films, and was still written and directed by Park Hoon-jeong.
Park Hoon-jeong's gangster revenge movie [Paradise Night], which was completed last year, is scheduled to be released this year.
The film was screened at last year's Venice Film Festival and received poor response.
[Paradise Night]
National actor Song Kang-ho has a number of starring films in preparation or production, including the political suspense film [The Fifth Column], the aviation disaster film [Extraordinary Declaration], the sports film [One Win], and the temporarily shelved [Spider's Nest] due to financial difficulties.
[The Fifth Column] is about the Ministry of Defense investigative officers getting involved in a spy plot just before they retire.
The film has been difficult to produce for nearly five years, and in 2016, it is ready to start shooting, and there is no news of release so far, and there may be little hope in 2021.
[Extraordinary declaration] may remind chinese audiences of [Chinese captain], which is the story of the plane after it was out of control and forced to land.
In addition to Song Kang-ho, Lee Byeong-hyun, winner of the three major Korean film awards, and Jeon Do-yeon, the cannes film queen, are also the protagonists of the film.
[Extraordinary Declaration]
Following the success of portraying real politicians last year in [The Ministers of Nanshan], Lee Byung-hyun re-enacted the role of a real-life adaptation.
In the film [Competition], Liu Yaren, a representative of the new talent actor, plays the mentor and apprentice, playing Cho Hyun-hyun, the first professional nine-dan Go player in South Korea, and his student Lee Chang-ho.
[Contest]
In addition, the disaster film [Concrete Utopia], which tells the story of Seoul survivors gathering together to survive after the earthquake, is also starred by Lee Byung-hyun and is scheduled to start in March this year.
Kang Te-gyu, Korea's most famous commercial film director and producer, followed the 2015 Changshou Chamber of Commerce to direct sports films.
The story takes place in 1947, when a coach played by Ha Jeong-woo leads a Korean runner to Boston for an international marathon.
The film has been completed and was originally scheduled to be released last year, and I hope it will go well this year.
Choi Min-sik starred in the North-South theme film "Mathematicians of strange countries", which features a famous North Korean mathematician in exile in South Korea.
In the north-south theme movies that have always featured agents and politicians, this film takes a different approach, telling the story between exiled mathematicians and Korean students.
[Mathematician of strange land]
In "Towards a Happy Country", Choi Min-sik and Park Hae-il perform the last trip of the two who are about to die.
The film was selected for last year's Cannes Film Festival, director Lin Changshu is famous for his erotic scenes, and the travel scenes of the two big male protagonists do not know what kind of surprises there will be.
[Towards a Happy Country]
Park Hae-il also released a historical war movie this year, the second part of Kim Han-min's Lee Sun-sung trilogy, [Idle Mountain: The Appearance of the Dragon].
The first film, "The Battle of Mingliang" (2014), starring Choi Min-sik, was released in China, but it did not perform well at the box office.
But it has set a number of box office records in South Korea, including the box office champion in Korean film history, which was broken by [Extreme Profession] in 2019.
[Shiyama: The Emergence of the Dragon] Based on the naval battle of Shiyama Island, with the success of the first part, it is inevitable to balance between experience and breakthrough, which is the eternal problem of the sequel movie.
Actors Lee Jung-jae and Jung Woo-sung will be directors for the first time, directing the most mature genres in the Korean film industry, crime and action films, with self-directed films [The Hunt] and [Protector] respectively.
Jung Yu-sung also played the lead role in Lee Jung-jae's film. Both are top actors in Korean action movies, exuding wild middle-aged charm.
[Protector]
[Hunting] is a north-south theme of the spy war film, [Protector] is a man's desperate protection of another person, the former highlights suspense, the latter focuses on the warmth of violence.
"Elevator God of War" Hwang Jung-min will play a staff member of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the movie [Negotiation], freeing South Korean hostages taken by the Taliban.
[Representations]
The film is based on a true event that took place in 2007 when 23 South Koreans were taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Actor Xue Jingqiu, known for his tragic roles, starred in the action movie Night Fork, playing an agent looking for a missing high-ranking official in North Korea.
It is conceivable that the agent he plays is not wild and tough, but may still be a tragic character.
[Night Fork]
[Made of The King] is a political theme film starring Xue Jingqiu, the story takes place in the 1960s and 1970s, Xue Jingqiu plays a politician who participates in the presidential campaign - the vicissitudes of the wind, all in their control;
[Made by King]
In addition, the "Teenagers" starring him is a typical Korean court film, telling the story of a group of teenagers who committed murder and overturned the case seventeen years later.
After [Su Yuan], director Li Maoyi cooperated with Xue Jingqiu for the second time.
In the movie "Zishan Fish Atlas", Xue Jingqiu plays Ding Ruoquan, a scholar exiled to Montenegro during the Joseon Dynasty, and the story is about his creation of fish atlases.
[Zishan Fish Recipe]
Lee Lee has directed the biopic [Dong Joo] by the Korean poet Yoon Dong Joo, which delicately portrays the conflict between the personal choices and historical torrents faced by the poet during the Japanese occupation.
Finally, by the way, there is a noteworthy newcomer female director, Kimbera.
In 2019, she became popular with her debut film [Hummingbird] and is currently preparing a second work , [Spectrum].
It's a soft sci-fi movie about aliens communicating with humans.