kdrama and kpop

Best Picture Night and Day Night and Day director Hong Sang-Soo Best Director Na Hong-Jin (The Chaser) Kim Yoon-Seok accepted the award on his director's behalf Best Actor Kim Yoon-Seok (The Chaser) Best Actress Soo Ae (Sunny) Best Supporting Actor Kim Min-Joon (A Love) A Love director Kwak Kyung-Taek accepted the award on KMJ's behalf Best Supporting Actress Kim Hae-Sook (Open City) Best New Actor Im Ji-Gyu (Milky Way Liberation Front) Best New Actress --- Best New Director Oh Jeom-Gyun (Viva! Love) Best Screenplay Kim Hyun-Seok (Scout) Best Cinematography Lee Mo-Gae (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) Best Editing Kim Sun-Min (The Chaser) Best Lighting Choi Chul-Soo (M) Technical Award Jung Do-Ahn (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) Best Music Bang Jun-Seok, Lee Byung-Hoon (Sunny) Best Art Direction Jo Hwa-Sung (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) 부일 독자심사단상 The Chaser Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution / Merit Award Director Shin Sung-Il Special Jury Prize Ji Joong-Hyun (Martial arts director & Stuntman - The Good, The Bad, The Weird) Ji Joong-Hyun's father accepted the award on behalf of his son, who died in an accident while filming in China <News> Presenters Kang Soo-Yeon Ahn Sung-Ki

Director Lee Jun-ik built up a lofty reputation with "King and the Clown," a surprising hit which sold more than 10 million tickets in 2005. Naturally, expectations are mounting for his latest project, titled "Sunny" (Nim-eun meongose)."

But Lee expressed his displeasure at the current film industry trend in which the public judge a film only in terms of ticket sales. "Making films is not a record-setting competition," he told reporters on Monday at a news conference held in Seoul to promote his new film that cost a hefty 7.1 billion won to produce.

Lee's terse remark came as a response to a reporter's question about his conjecture about the number of viewers. "Nobody knows how many people will watch my film," he said. "Even though the film industry is now going through a drastic change, we should try to strike a balance between cultural value and economic value."

Set in 1971 when the Vietnam War is under way, the movie features Sun-i (played by Su Ae) who takes up a performing art job and embarks on an unlikely journey to reunite with her missing husband in the pernicious war zone.

Lee said he has made particular efforts to highlight the role of a female character for "Sunny." "I have been criticized for making male-oriented films, so I have tried to change my style to bring to the front a female character," he said.

The focus is duly placed on the trouble-laden path of Sun-i, who belatedly searches for her husband (Uhm Tae-woong). She summons an incredible courage to track down her loved one, and to that end, joins a troupe that is set to head for Vietnam to stage a performance for Korean soldiers. In the process, she relies on Jeong-man (Jung Jin-young) to make it to the dangerous region.

Director Lee stressed that Su Ae, a queen of Korean melodrama, was a perfect match for the cinematic image he had conjured up for the drama. "No other actress in Korea has the distinctively pure image that Su Ae has," he said.

The character she plays offers a totally different perspective about the movie, in a welcome departure from the traditional war movies where male voices dominate and female characters are largely sidelined. "A woman's point of view provides an objective angle that can reflect the war as it is," Lee said.

Su Ae said she took a two-month training to refine her dancing and singing, which are poetically inserted into the film. "I was very worried about whether I could pull off this character, and once the shooting started, the character itself was evolving on a daily basis, so I had to dig up the character to get it right," she said.

Jung Jin-young, who has long worked with director Lee, said the role he takes in "Sunny" was an interesting trip to a new world. "He always brings me to a new, exciting place, and I'm curious about where I should be led when we work together again," he said.

The Vietnam War is an important -- and troubling -- chapter for Korean history. Back in the 1970s, Korea was desperate to kickstart its economic growth and the country opted for joining the controversial war, and the movie, to be released here on July 24, tackles the issue from a fresh angle.

Director Lee said it's time to look back on the Vietnam War in a different, more objective angle. "When men ponder the war, the result is almost always black and white, good and bad, in a chain of confrontation. But when women look at the war, all the men, whether they are Vietnamese, American or Korean, are by and large the same human beings," Lee said.

By Yang Sung-jin (insight@heraldm.com), image from empas.com

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/

From left, director Lee Jun-ik and actors Su Ae, Jung Jin-young and Choung Kyung-ho
appear at a promotional event for 'Sunny,' a love story set amid the Vietnam War. / Yonhap

South Korean director Lee Jun-ik, 48, who marked an important chapter in Korean cinema with "King and the Clown" (2005), shows off a different cinematic theme through the Vietnam War love story 'Sunny," coming to theaters at the end of the month.

Some 320,000 Korean men were dispatched to fight alongside American troops in the Vietnam War. But unlike most war movies, and Lee's previous works, the film's protagonist is a woman. Top actress Su Ae plays the role of Sunny, an average housewife who becomes a singer in order to search for her husband. Many celebrities actually toured to provide entertainment for soldiers at the time.

"Working with historical stories made me realize that everything was history not 'herstory.' Most works of art and literature are told from the point of view of males,'' said Lee, who himself was criticized for his overly male-centric movies. "We're living in the 21st century, and I thought it would be meaningless to tell another war story from the male perspective. This is prevalent among American movies on Vietnam," he told reporters at a press event in Seoul, Tuesday.

"From a woman's eyes, there is no ally or foe. Everyone's running around with a gun," he said, further explaining that the film is not political. Rather, it is about the raw human experience.

However, the movie isn't free of the ideological ideals, said Lee. "In most Vietnam War movies, which are American, we tend to sympathize with the U.S. and it doesn't affect us when Vietcong fall dead. It's been decades since Korea-Vietnam relations were normalized, and it's about time we offer a new perspective," he said.

The director also explained that this movie does justice to the fact that not enough cultural content is devoted to the subject matter here. Lee is known as a period specialist due to his box office smash story set in the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). But his last two works "Radio Star" and "The Happy Life" featured rock music. "This is probably the epitome of my work," he said, as the film combines a historical setting and music.

Preview clips of the movie showed Su Ae singing the songs herself. The 27-year-old revealed that she had actually planned on debuting as a pop singer. But such plans were thwarted and she rose to stardom through the TV melodrama "Love Letter."

However, she said she was a terrible singer and had to receive vocal lessons for two months prior to the shooting. "The director said that I was beyond terrible when he first heard me sing," she laughed. "I don't have many lines, so I had to communicate through facial expressions. It was tough but very enjoyable."

To this, the director added, "Hey, it's no fun if it's easy, that's what actors get paid for, isn't it?" and drew laughter from the room.

The movie also stars Lee's "designated persona" Jung Jin-young. About their fourth collaboration together, the 43-year-old actor said the shoot in Thailand felt more like a vacation. The director said the two were kindred spirits before they were cineastes, and exhibit great teamwork "whether it's making a movie or selling cabbage."

Rising star Choung Kyung-ho, 24, finally mixes lines with Jung. Before he played the part of a younger Jung in the movie "For Eternal Hearts," so they never appeared in the same frame. Choung plays the role of a double bassist who helps Sunny find her husband while being continuously ripped off by their manager (Jung). The youngest in the batch, he said that the film enabled him to learn more about the Vietnam War, and that the explosions frightened him during the shoot.

"This movie is not just about a woman searching for her loving husband. Through the process she embarks on a journey of self-discovery," said the director. In theaters July 24. Distributed by Showbox/Mediaplex.

Credits: hyowlee@koreatimes.co.kr

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2008/07/141_26839.html

Not only stars become best friends to each other. A stylist maintains much closer relationship to a star than their manager and is solely responsible for their management. Therefore they are an inseparable assistance and a strong supporter and a best friend.

If a certain star made a sudden escape from disgraceful "worst dress" to honourable "Best dresser" category, there must be a well-matched stylist behind them.

Actor Lee Young-ae often says that she shared "10-years-old friendship" with Ma Yong-hee, her stylist. Hereupon once can see a relationship between a star and their stylist is beyond what is shared between colleagues.

A program called "Trend Report, Feel – Season II" (directed by PD Lee Sun-young/ 11pm on Tuesday) from Mnet, investigated the inseparable relationship between a star and their stylist and analysed their fashion sense and changes in styles.

The latest fashion star, Kim Tae-hee, who had been wearing tube-top mini-dresses in recent film festivals, was helped by a top stylist, Han Hye-yoen, who had been responsible for fashion styles of many top stars including Kim Jeong-eun and Rain. Thanks to her, Kim Tae-hee received praises that "Her new style had maximised Kim Tae-hee's attractiveness" and was chosen as the "best dresser" and became a new "fashionist star".

Stylist Choi Hye-ryeon , who is known as Daniel Henney's stylist succeeded in achieving an ideal proportion for Song Hye-kyo to minimise her weakness of short height, when she became her stylist. Previously Song Hye-kyo maintained old styles that acted against her young age. Stylist Choi is now emphasising a chic look in her by dressing her in mini-look using dress as well as shirts. Eventually she succeeded in putting Song Hye-kyo's name on the best dresser list.

Soo-ae, whose nickname is "Dre-Soo-ae" for being chosen as a best dresser every time she appears in official events, is getting a helping hand from Stylist Jung Yoon-ki. He is known as "Soo-ae's red carpet exclusive stylist" as well as "Korea's first male stylist ever". He is talented in maximising Soo-ae's gracefulness and elegance. Thus he is an inseparable assistance for Soo-ae. Stylist Jung Yoon-ki was also responsible for Ko Hyeon-jeong's dress who made a comeback in 10 years with the drama "Spring Days"; and the style of Kim Hye-soo, who is the star of the Blue Dragon film festival. In particular, he often works with many female stars who are largely popular with male audiences.

Highlight & translated at http://www.hancinema.net/news_0.php
Source:http://kr.news.yahoo.com/service/news/shellview.htm?articleid=20080115151358525a7&linkid=63&from=rank