(Korean Movies) A Dirty Carnival, 2006

About Movie

A serious exploration of human 'violence' and 'gangsterity',
This is the second attempt after <Atrocities>, director Yoo Ha's 2006 problem film.

<A Mean Street> is director Yoo Ha's second investigation into human violence following <Atrocities>.
<The Horseman's Cruelty> was praised by the media and the public for its sharp eyes on the tyrannical school system in Korea, which was tyrannical during the Restoration Period, the meticulous depiction of the protagonist growing up from a boy to a man, and realistic action directing. In particular, the climax of the school rooftop scene still remains in the minds of many.
“The moment when Hyeon-soo hits the head of the head of the leadership team in <Cruel Horses> is the moment when human 'violence' is born. Through socialization, we create, nurture, consume, and annihilate our inner violence. From that perspective, I wanted to make a series about human violence and gangster.” Director Yoo Ha said. If <History of Cruelty> depicts the birth of human violence and gangster, this work talks about the process of its consumption. The film re-examines our society through the most violent group, the gangster. The gangsters, who are forced to grow up as macho men and have grown up their collective and masculine qualities, seem to have grown up intact, form a group and live with their own rules, where they also develop collectivity and masculinity. The director, who finds the violence and gangster characteristic of Korea in those who flock to them and regard them as masculine, brings together a class of intellectuals in our society who despise them and use them at the same time. And once again observe the entangled relationship of the food chain. Prosecutor Park and Chairman Hwang, who enjoy their wealth and status by using gangsters, and even Minho, who became a film director and came to visit a gangster friend out of necessity… In the end, the gangsters who seem strong and rough are actually the most powerful and powerless among the human food chain in our society. Realize that you are weak. The film shows how our society consumes gangsters with the double gaze and standard that they use and look at them. <Mean Street> will be director Yoo Ha's second film about the exploration of human violence, which started with <The Cruelty of Talking>. Through a wider range of observational subjects, 'how our society is consuming human gangsterity and violence' will be portrayed in more depth.

The story of a group of humans trapped in a chain of 'desire' that cannot be escaped

<A Mean Street> is not a story limited to a specific class of gangsters. It contains a broader story about the 'desires' that we humans have. In the movie, the miserable and miserable life of a third-rate gangster eventually turns him into a slave to desire. This desire for success and soaring is equally entrenched in the minds of all the characters in the film, which eventually leads them to betray each other and betray each other, and walk the path of ruin and success. The original sin of 'desire' is hidden in the despicable street characters taking advantage of each other and revealing their hidden violence. And the film even points out that this is not a desire that Byeong-Doo and other characters in the film have because they are special people, but rather a desire for success and a better life that we all have within us. Going one step further, the film looks at this existence of desire in connection with 'familyism' throughout our society. He believes that his attachment to his group, which he named his family, and the human psychology of taking care of his family in order to eat and live are intertwined with the human desire to live a better life. Director Yoo Ha describes the relationship between this desire and familism as a 'mouth hole' using the mouth of the main character, Byeong-doo. Just like Byeong-doo's line in the movie "What is a family member, the mouth we eat together," the director's point of view is that the beginning of all incidents is the human mouth, that is, desire.
The story of the desire that originates from the mouth and the group of humans who are destroyed because of that desire. <Mean Street> contains a serious theme that other films about gangsters have not been able to show within a specific genre of gangster movies.

This is a real gangster, real action!

<Mean Street> delves deep into the heart of the world of gangsters and then talks about them in more depth. In the director's meticulous coverage, the actual gangsters' actions are reflected in the scenario, and the everyday language they use becomes a line. The finished film expresses the gangsters more realistically and objectively. Director Yoo Ha's words that it is neither a film that glorifies gangsters nor a film that imposes moral standards on them reflects this well. This is also one of the clear differences from other films that use gangsters as the subject, and it is in line with the director's wish to pursue the completion of a 'genre film' called gangster films.
As the gangsters are portrayed realistically, the action scenes in the movie are also very realistic. The appearance of gangsters waving their fists because of trivial pride and small profits is not the cool action you see in existing action movies, but the real fight as it is. All of the large-scale action scenes that appear about four times in the movie exceed the level of danger that the actors were injured one after another during the actual filming. A battlefield where fists and bats come and go without mercy, screams and shouts can be heard without hesitation, and everything in your hand becomes a weapon, and the body-to-body battles are real. An action that suits the expression of desperation rather than coolness, in which he takes out a sword to survive, stabs and bleeds in order not to die. The raw action without any exaggeration is the action of <Meaningful Street>.

I had three wishes.
Sick mother, let me take medicine without asking
Provide a warm home for the beloved Hyun-joo
To get a stable sponsor so that our Rotary brothers and sisters can get along well…

I wanted to be happy.
I wanted the world.

Hot Issue

Jo In-sung is reborn as a true actor!

<Mean Street> is a work that has been a hot topic since casting for young star Jo In-seong's gangster acting transformation. Jo In-sung, who has been loved by women for his image of an immature nobleman through dramas, is a big topic just for playing a gangster! Jo In-seong's affection for this work was unique to the extent that he read the screenplay and strongly wanted to appear on his own. In addition to external efforts such as cutting hair, changing eyes, and deliberately looking for clothes that don't look cool, he showed the guts to get up again even if he was injured and exhausted from shooting an action scene, and digested 95% of the shooting rounds up to 100 times. However, he surprised everyone by showing a mature image that puts the staff first. Jo In-seong's wish to become a true 'actor' seems to be coming true after meeting director Yoo Ha. Jo In-seong said that the last year he lived as a third-class gangster Byeong-doo after erasing his position as the best star was so precious. <Mean Street> will be a work that will mark the life of an actor named Jo In-sung.

Korea's representative director with work and box office, Yoo Ha

Director Yoo Ha is, as is known, a director from a poetic background. It is not only an unusual career as a director, but it is also a part that symbolically reveals the strengths of director Yoo Ha's films. The solidity of the screenplay written by director Yoo Ha shines even more when it is made into a movie. A solid drama develops strength toward the end of the film and delivers the subject matter clearly and easily to the audience. This has already been proven through previous works such as <Marriage Is Crazy> and <About Cruelty>, which have already been recognized for their work and box office performance. The fact that <Mean Street> is director Yoo Ha's next film alone has emerged as the most anticipated film of 2006, it can be said that it shows the trust and affection that critics and audiences send to him. Director Yoo Ha has entered the ranks of one of the few directors in Korea with artistic performance and box office success. He is preparing to create a brand called 'Director Yoo Ha's film' through his fourth film, 'Mean Street'.

Excellent acting ensemble of individual actors!

<Mean Street> is a work that can focus on the filmography of each of the actors. It means that everyone showed excellent acting. First of all, Namgoong-min, who plays the role of film director Min-ho, made another dazzling leap through his actual film debut <Mean Street>. Although he looks nice, Director Yoo-ha's judgment that he saw the horror in his eyes was not wrong. Jin-goo, who plays Jong-su, the right arm of Byeong-doo, along with Nam Goong-min, who has successfully portrayed an intellectual with ambivalence, shows eerie acting skills that can be called 'Discovery of Jin-goo' through this movie. In addition to these young actors, the heavy acting of senior actors such as Cheon Ho-jin and Yoon Je-moon is a factor that adds even more weight to <Meaningful Street>! Ho-jin Cheon as Chairman Hwang and Je-moon Yoon as the gangster boss were praised by the staff for saying that their roles could not be more perfect than this, and they perfected their characters.

Production Note

This is a real gangster fight! Show the essence of real action!

The action of <Mean Street> is the work of martial arts director Shin Jae-myung, who is raising his reputation for realistic action directing. Martial arts director Shin Jae-myung, who has already collaborated with director Yoo Ha through <Speaking of Cruelty>, is aiming for 'action that doesn't look cool!' As director Yoo Ha said that it is neither a film that glorifies gangsters nor a film that judges them morally, director Shin Jae-myung also put a lot of effort into directing action scenes that 'see the real gangsters'. It is not meant to make the gangsters look cool, but to express the realistic image of those who use evil and throw fists to live unconditionally. As a result, it created an action that was clearly differentiated from the action scenes in the existing movies, which showed off a cool fist and unrealistically flying up and kicking. The action of <Meaningful Street>, which the staff calls 'meal action' and 'just action', can be seen in the following scenes!

-Incheon tunnel large-scale group brawl! –
The scene of a group brawl between the Rotary faction to which Byeong-doo belongs and the rival three-way faction takes place in Hangang Park, a scene that has made the production crew troubled from the beginning of the production. Since it is a scene where dozens of characters appear and they have to fight each other without missing a single one, the sum of the action scenes and actors had to be meticulous. After scouring the country to find a tunnel near an abandoned factory in Incheon, the production team devoted a week to this scene last winter, where breath leaked even when standing still. The filming was tough enough that all the staff had to wear raincoats and boots to film, rolling in mud and shivering in the cold.
A desperate and realistic action scene that cannot be found in existing Korean movies was born!

-6 to 2! Van Action-
The confrontation scene between the rotary group and the viper group in a running van properly expresses the action that takes place in a narrow space. As the action takes place inside a moving car, there were many limitations in space. For this reason, it took three days to shoot for this scene, which was only a few minutes. The actors who actually took part in the filming experienced the desperate feeling of 'Isn't it really like this and I can't get out of here and die?' The reality of the action that takes place in a small space is so lively.

– Cheonho-dong arcade action-
This arcade action scene, which is a prelude to the battle between the Rotary faction and the three-way group, Incheon Tunnel, shows the essence of realistic action. As martial arts director Shin Jae-myung said that it will give you the feeling of passing by and watching a fight in the arcade, their confrontation is really a 'fight' rather than an action. On the day of the opening ceremony of the Rotary faction, the actors and the martial arts team deliberately did not match too much in order to bring out the mean side of the three-way group that sneaks in to fight over the territory. Actors ran through the narrow, dangerous space lined with machines, smashing machines, and fighting scenes so intense that they threw each other. In addition, the movement of the filming team to capture the actors' action performances was also a difficult and difficult filming as it was another action directing. In fact, because of this shooting, 10 entertainment devices in the arcade were completely destroyed. A scene where the hard work of the actors and martial arts team to convey a realistic feeling is intact.

Jo In-sung, N0.2 Carved a dragon to become a gangster!

According to the production team, who obtained information from the actual gangsters' coverage, the size and type of tattoos of gangsters actually differ according to their rank in the organization. As Byeong-doo is the number 2 person in the Rotary faction, Jo In-seong had to draw a large dragon on his back. This large dragon tattoo that starts on the upper left chest and wraps around the entire back costs 10 million won! Two professional tattooists were mobilized for this henna tattoo, which was valid for 3 days including the shooting date, and Jo In-seong was unable to move for 8 hours. As a result, the large dragon that was created boasts a majesty to the point where you will be amazed the moment you see it in reality. This dragon tattoo played a big part in helping handsome Jo In-sung take on the form of a gangster Byeong-doo. In addition to the dragon tattoo of Jo In-seong, including the tattoos of the members of the Rotary family, the cost of a tattoo for <Meaningful Street> amounts to 50 million won.

They're back, reenacting the glory of <Crazy Cruelty>!

It is no exaggeration to say that <Mean Street> is a work made by the staff and actors who made <The Meaningful Street>. Producer Choi Sun-joong, cinematographer Choi Hyun-ki, art director Kim Ki-cheol, and martial arts director Shin Jae-myung. Not only for the staff, but also for the actors, <Mean Street> is a collection of 'them of the talkers'! Starting with Hyo-Jun Park, a hamburger from <Maljuk Street Cruelty>, moved to the Rotary faction, most of the members of the Rotary faction are the characters who appeared as Jo and Dan in <Maljuk Street Cruelty>. In addition, Lee Jong-hyuk, the leader of the <Mean Streets of Cruelty>, shows his face as the main character of the movie <Mean Street>, making a friendship appearance. It goes without saying that the atmosphere on the set is unique because of the actors and staff who have reunited after two years! The breathing enough to tell each other what they want just by looking at their eyes was the driving force that made it possible to go through the long journey of 100 rounds. It may be natural to expect that <Mean Street> will recreate the glory of <Meaningful Cruelty>, which achieved the national myth of 3 million people.