Gangnam Blues

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Gangnam Blues
Gangnam 1970 Poster
Teaser poster
Directed by Yoo Ha
Produced by Yoo Ha
Yu Jeong-hun
Written by Yoo Ha
Starring Lee Min-ho
Kim Rae-won
Music by Jo Yeong-wook
Cinematography Kim Tae-seong
Hong Seong-hyuk
Edited by Park Gok-ji
Production
company
m.o.vera Pictures
Distributed by Showbox/Mediaplex
Release dates
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  • January 21, 2015 (2015-01-21)
Running time
 135 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean
Budget US$9 million
Box office US$16.1 million[1]

Gangnam Blues (Hangul: 강남 1970; lit. Gangnam 1970) is a 2015 South Korean noir action film written and directed by Yoo Ha, and starring Lee Min-ho and Kim Rae-won.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The film is set in the 1970s against the backdrop of the real estate development of Seoul's Gangnam district amidst socio-political turmoil and terrorism. The friendship of two childhood friends is tested as they find themselves entangled in the collusion and battles between political powers and criminal organizations.[10][11][12]

Plot

In the 1970s, during the height of political corruption, Gangnam, the southern part of Seoul is starting to be transformed into a developed area. Childhood friends Jong-dae and Yong-ki struggle to get by, until their shanty homes are demolished by local thugs. Desperate for cash, they get involved in violent political clashes, and are separated during one of the skirmishes. Three years later, Jong-dae lives as an honest man with former gang leader Gil-soo. Meanwhile, Yong-ki has joined Seoul's most powerful criminal organization, the Myeongdong-pa. As a gangster, Yong-ki is entangled in a high-stakes battle over land in Gangnam, all in the name of putting together secret presidential election funds that drive up the value of the city. As the gangs fight over the rights to various plots of land, Yong-ki is captured and interrogated by a rival gang.

Cast

  • Lee Min-ho as Kim Jong-dae[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]
  • Kim Rae-won as Baek Yong-ki
  • Jung Jin-young as Kang Gil-soo
  • Kim Ji-soo as Min Seong-hee
  • Kim Seolhyun as Kang Seon-hye[22][23][24]
  • Yoo Seung-mok as Seo Tae-gon
  • Han Jae-young as Park Chang-bae
  • Jung Ho-bin as Yang Ki-taek
  • Choi Jin-ho as Park Seung-gu
  • Um Hyo-sup as Kim Jung-kyu
  • Heo Seong-min as Jae-pil
  • Kim Yoo-yeon as Jeom-soon
  • Ji Dae-han as Chang Deok-jae
  • Choi Byeong-mo as Section chief Mun
  • Lee Seok as Chun-ho
  • Kwak Min-ho as Min-kyu
  • Jeon Bae-su as Chairman Gu
  • Park Min-gyu as Cheol-seung
  • Jang In-ho as Myeong-chun
  • Park Hyeok-min as Gyeong-pyo
  • Jo Mun-ui as Saudi Kim
  • Park Tong-il as Mayor of Seoul

Production

This was the final film in director-screenwriter Yoo Ha's "street series" trilogy, after Once Upon a Time in High School (2004) and A Dirty Carnival (2006). He called it "a story about people who are used, then discarded, about lives that are, like the buildings they live in, unauthorized. [...] represents the obsession over land ― land from which we are born, to which we return when we die. It is a feast of all things wretched."[25]

Yoo originally didn't want to cast Lee Min-ho in the leading role, finding Lee's breakout performance in TV series Boys Over Flowers "a bit cheesy" and that the actor was "so handsome he was like a manhwa character." But after being convinced by his wife, Yoo realized the potentially huge impact of "flower boy"[26] actors completely transforming their image, and together they collaborated to "burn to the ground" Lee's previous screen persona as a chaebol's son.[27] Lee filmed a sex scene with actress Kim Ji-soo, but it was not included in the final cut because Yoo felt it was unnecessary to the flow of the film.[28][29]

Yoo also asked actor Kim Rae-won to shed 15 kilograms since his character works as a rag man in the beginning of the film; Kim lost the weight in one month, which he said also made his fist-fighting scenes as a gangster more realistic.[30]

Filming began on April 16, 2014 and wrapped on August 31, 2014.[31][32][33]

The early Korean working title was Gangnam Blues (Hangul: 강남 블루스), which was changed to Gangnam 1970 in October 2014.[34][35] Gangnam Blues was retained as the international English title.[25]

Release

South Korea

Gangnam Blues was released in 684 theaters in South Korea on January 21, 2015. Despite its "restricted" rating, it topped the box office on its opening day, with 152,500 tickets sold.[36][37] Within 5 days, it had reached the 1 million admission mark (1,097,103).[38][39][40][41] After 35 days of release, the film recorded 2.19 million admissions.[1]

An uncensored version (running time: 141 minutes) became available for streaming on VOD service IPTV on March 19, 2015.[42]

China

The film was released with a different cut for the Chinese market in March 2015, in order to capitalize on Lee Min-ho's big fan base in the region. The new cut included more scenes of Lee, including those further developing the relationship between Lee's character and his love interest (played by Kim Ji-soo), as well as an alternate ending.[43][44][45]

Critical reception

Modern Korean Cinema's Pierce Conran called the film "an evocative and immensely entertaining saga that pits a common tale of brotherhood and betrayal against a thrilling period setting mired in violence and corruption" and praised it as "one of the most beautifully designed and lushly filmed Korean productions ever made." He found Lee Min-ho "thoroughly convincing as a rising gangster with a cool exterior and emotional core," but that Kim Rae-won's performance had "a little less depth," yet nevertheless was Kim's best performance since 2006's Sunflower, in which he also played a gangster.[46]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2015
51st Baeksang Arts Awards[47]
 Best New Actor (Film) Lee Min-ho Nominated
Best New Actress (Film) Kim Seolhyun Nominated
Most Popular Actor (Film) Lee Min-ho Won
19th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival[48][49]
 Producers' Choice Award Lee Min-ho Won
52nd Grand Bell Awards
 Best New Actor Lee Min-ho Won
Best New Actress Kim Seolhyun Nominated
36th Blue Dragon Film Awards
 Best New Actor Lee Min-ho Nominated
Best New Actress Kim Seolhyun Nominated
Technical Award Shin Jae-myeong (Martial Arts) Nominated
Popular Star Award Lee Min-ho Won
Kim Seolhyun Won
2016
5th Marie Claire Film Festival
 Rookie Award Kim Seolhyun Won
11th Max Movie Awards
 Rising Star Award Kim Seolhyun Won

References

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  26. ↑ A South Korean colloquial term for "pretty boy."
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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