Hey folks, Harry here... Chan-Wook Park is frankly at the top of my list of Emerging Foreign Talents. JOINT SECURITY AREA and SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE mark an amazing one-two punch into cinema, like that of Spike Jonze's BEING JOHN MALKOVICH & ADAPTATION... only, hardly nobody in the United States has ever heard of Chan-Wook Park... I'm hoping that some of you out there are tracking these movies down, cultivate a following and a support for his work, it truly is remarkable in a way completely different from Beat Takeshi or Takeshi Miike's works... Or the hyper violence of the Hong Kong era... These movies have a style all their own, something absolutely captivating. The plot for OLD BOY below... well, I'm on board. Can't wait to see it!
Harry,
The first thing I'd like to say, is how utterly surprised I was when I first saw that Sympathy for Mister Vengeance was at the top of your best of 2002 list. I had to look twice to make sure that I wasn't seeing things. Almost nationally looked over at the box office yet critically appraised, the unexpected follow up to Joint Security Area was indeed an overlooked gem but still a personal victory.
A fan of Park's films since the forementioned JSA, [ a film that grossed several figures more than Sympathy ] recognition of the director on your part has prompted me to write you on developments of his next project. There's a good chance that whatever here does not come new to you, but so far I haven't seen anything on the site.
The working title of Park's next film so far is 'Old Boy', apparently based on the Japanese manga of the same title. The plot works as so. A healthy twenty year old male is kidnapped and imprisoned in a small room by gangsters hired by an unknown client. The duration spent in the room goes on until the deal expires, which happens to be 10 years. The man has no idea who the client is, nor does he know the reason behind his imprisonment. Upon being released, the unleashed man begins his hunt for the client responsible for his lost ten years.
Casting for the young man has already been decided. Actor Min-Shik Choi, who most recently starred in Strokes of Fire, [ the film responsible for director Kwon-Taek Im's Cannes Best Director Award ] is set to star as the young man. Choi is one of the most respected and loved actors working today, and has starred in some of the most influential Korean pictures in the last ten years, including No. 3, The Quiet Family, and the record-setting Swiri, all three which he incidentially co-starred with Sympathy leading man, Kang-Ho Song. "Sympathy for Mister Vengeance has a low temperature to it while Old Boy's will be high. That's why I've opted for hot blooded Choi rather than cold blooded Song."
Needless to say, interest in Old Boy is running high. Filming is set to begin in April or May with a hopeful Fall release. Anything else comes by my way you'll be the first to know.
Kamata Jun
