(Korean Movies) Kingmaker, 2021

“An old man named Aristotle who lived in Greece once said this.
Justice is the order of society.”

“Plato said that there is no need to obscure the means for a just end.
Plato is Aristotle’s teacher.”

– Among the lines of 'Kim Woon-beom' and 'Seo Chang-dae' in the movie

[ ABOUT MOVIE ]

The hottest movie of 2021!
The fierce election, two men at the center of it, Kim Woon-beom X Seo Chang-dae
Ideas about the legitimacy of the end and the means collide!

The film <Kingmaker>, directed by Seong-Hyun Byun and the main production team of <The Bully: The World of the Bad Guys>, which was invited to the 'Midnight Screening' in the non-competitive section of the 70th Cannes Film Festival, is about to be released. The movie <Kingmaker> depicts a drama that begins with a politician 'Kim Woon-beom' who has been defeated four times to try to change the world and 'Seo Chang-dae', an election strategist whose existence and name is hidden, jumping into a fierce election. It tells the story of two men.

As director Byeon Seong-hyeon said, “We tried to maximize cinematic fun and genre pleasure,” the movie <Kingmaker> presents politics and elections, which may seem heavy, in a suspenseful and stylish way. The fast-paced story development will increase the immersion of the audience and make them unable to take their eyes off of them until the last minute. In addition, director Seong-Hyun Byun's sensuous directing that stands out with his unique style provides a wealth of sights to see, heralding the birth of a well-made work with high perfection in all aspects.

In <Kingmaker>, two men, 'Kim Woon-beom' and 'Seo Chang-dae', who have the same desire to change the world but have different ways of achieving it, appear. The story of 'Kim Woon-beom', a politician who must have the legitimacy of purpose and means to win, and 'Seo Chang-dae', an election strategist who is determined to win, is a dilemma that everyone can face regardless of age and field. The film raises the question of whether the process and means should be justified for a just purpose, or whether any means should be sacrificed for the end. As such, messages that are in touch with the present era will leave a deep impression on the audience.

Seol Kyung-gu X Lee Sun-kyun X Yoo Jae-myung X Jo Woo-jin!
Perfect golden casting with improved perfection!
Korea's box office makers will perform well!

The movie <Kingmaker> is completed with a golden casting of actors representing Korea, including Seol Kyung-gu, an actor who performs overwhelmingly regardless of genre, Lee Seon-kyun, who radiates a strong presence in each work, as well as Yoo Jae-myeong and Jo Woo-jin, who have solid acting skills. raised
First of all, Seol Kyung-gu, who showed irreplaceable acting skills in each work, plays 'Kim Woon-beom', a politician who was defeated four times to try to change the world in <Kingmaker>. Seol Kyung-gu, who will appear in director Seong-hyeon Byun’s film again after 4 years, expresses a strong sense of trust by saying, “I trust director Seong-hyun Byun 100% since <The Rogue: The World of the Bad Guys>”, raising expectations for a perfect collaboration between them. Here, director Byun Seong-hyeon's words, "Sol Kyung-gu acted naturally as if he was Kim Woon-beom himself in <Kingmaker>" raises expectations for another life character that Seol Kyung-gu will create.

Lee Seon-gyun takes on the role of Seo Chang-dae, an election strategist whose existence and name are hidden behind 'Kim Woon-beom'. <Kingmaker> has attracted attention as Lee Sun-kyun's return to the screen after <Parasite>, which captured the 92nd Academy Awards. Previously, Lee Seon-gyun showed outstanding character digestion in each of the works he appeared in, establishing himself as an actor trusted by the audience. Director Byun Seong-hyun said, “Thanks to Lee Seon-gyun, ‘Seo Chang-dae’ was able to be born as a more sophisticated and neat character. Thanks to this, the parts that could have been heavy in the movie became lighter.”

On the other hand, Yoo Jae-myung, who has been working on the small screen and screen, took on the role of 'Kim Young-ho' in the play. Yoo Jae-myung is expected to show off his screen dominance as he plays 'Kim Young-ho', a lifelong rival and running mate of 'Kim Woon-beom'. In fact, Yoo Jae-myung said, "I was very grateful that I was offered such a wonderful role. The scenario was also interesting, so there was no reason not to participate.” Here, actor Jo Woo-jin, who is showing unlimited acting skills in each work, is disassembled as the ruling party's election strategist, 'Chief Lee', and heightens the tension. In particular, Lee Seon-gyun, who worked with Jo Woo-jin, said, "He was the actor I was most curious about. I thought it was really amazing to see the person named 'Chief Lee' being made three-dimensionally." The fierce performances of irreplaceable actors will further elevate the perfection of the movie <Kingmaker>.

From In-hwan Park, Hae-young Lee, Seong-oh Kim, Bae-su Jeon,
Seo Eun-soo, Kim Jong-soo, Yoon Kyung-ho, Bae Jong-ok!
Overwhelm the screen with colorful multicasting!

In the movie <Kingmaker>, including In-Hwan Park, Hae-Young Lee, Seong-Oh Kim, Bae-Soo Jeon, Eun-Soo Seo, Jong-Soo Kim, Kyung-Ho Yoon, Jong-Ok Bae, etc. First of all, Park In-hwan, an actor in his 57th year of debut, who plays a dignified performance in every work, appears as 'Kang In-san', an opposition leader with a desire for power and honor. He plans to inject tension into the play in a situation where he faces 'Kim Woon-beom', 'Kim Young-ho', and 'Lee Han-sang' with his heavy acting. In addition, dramas such as [Moon Rising River], [Secret Forest Season 2], [The King: Eternal Monarch], [Voice], <Cooperation>, <Himalaya>, <Detective: The Beginning>, < Actor Lee Hae-young, who appeared in "Myeongryang", catches the eye by appearing in the role of 'Lee Han-sang', an opposition lawmaker. He has greed and ambition for power, but he has a weak side, so he is expected to excellently express the image of 'Lee Han-sang', who is easily shaken at important moments, and adds a sense of immersion.

On the other hand, actor Kim Seong-oh, who has a relationship in <Bullying Party: The World of Bad Guys>, takes on the role of 'Secretary Park', who is the closest aide to 'Kim Woon-beom', forming a tension with 'Seo Chang-dae'. Here, actor Jeon Bae-soo, who everyone picked as the mood maker on the set of <Kingmaker>, appears as 'Kim Woon-beom' as 'Aide Lee' of National Assembly member 'Kim Woon-beom' and holds the strong center of the secretary. In addition, Seo Eun-soo, who left a deep impression on viewers by appearing in dramas such as [Hotel Del Luna], [100 Million Stars from the Sky], [My Golden Life], [Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim], and [Incarnation of Jealousy], She is divided into 'Suyeon', an election campaigner who supports

In addition, actor Kim Jong-soo, who showed a friendly image in several works, tries to transform his image into the role of 'President' who commands the Republic of Korea in <Kingmaker>. In addition, Yoon Kyung-ho is expected to show solid and stable acting by taking on the role of 'Chief Kim', the president's action leader. Bae Jong-ok, who made a special appearance here, plays 'Lee Hee-ran', the wife of 'Kim Woon-beom'. 'Lee Hee-ran' will play a role as a strong political supporter who gives advice whenever 'Kim Woon-beom' loses his way and shakes. As such, the synergy presented by actors who are said to be the best in Chungmuro is expected to captivate theater audiences at once.

This is what perfect teamwork is all about!
<Rogue: The World of Bad Guys> Reunion for a reason from the crew!
Add depth and completeness unique to <Kingmaker>!

The production team of <Rogue: The World of Bad Guys> once again worked together for the movie <Kingmaker>. The movie <The Bullies: The World of the Bad Guys> was released in 2017 and drew attention as a new style of noir with unique directing and mise-en-scène. Following the rise of an ardent fandom called 'Bully', he won the Best Cinematography Award at the 38th Blue Dragon Film Awards and the Best Actor Award at the 54th Daejong Film Festival, proving both popularity and workmanship. In particular, <The Bullies: The World of Bad Guys> was invited to 'Midnight Screening', a non-competitive section of the 70th Cannes International Film Festival, and garnered rave reviews from domestic and foreign media.

Accordingly, the movie <Kingmaker>, which was completed with director Seong-hyeon Byun and Kyung-gu Seol, and the main production team of the previous work, including cinematographer Hyeong-rae Cho, lighting director Lee Gil-gyu, art director Han Ah-reum, music director Kim Hong-jip and Lee Jin-hee, and costume director Jo Hee-ran, met the veterans of Chungmuro. not only attracts attention, but also raises expectations for the birth of another well-made work. The production team of <Kingmaker>, based on strong teamwork and deep trust, coordinated the shooting start period according to the staff's schedule to work together, and continued closer collaboration than the previous work in all areas, further enhancing the perfection of the work. . Director Byeon Seong-hyeon, who drew detailed drawings with each production team before filming, said, “Even in <Rogue: The World of Bad Guys>, they were a team that got along very well. When I tried to say what part I wanted to correct during filming, the staff was already correcting that part.” In particular, Art Director Han Ah-reum said, “The fact that we communicate well with each other has been a great help to the work. I continued to work more meticulously than in my previous work, and I tried to bring both workmanship and popularity.”

Lee Seon-gyun, who worked with him on the set, admired, saying, “It will be a new period drama that has very stylish images, lighting, and art that I have never seen before.” The synergy of directing will provide mise-en-scène and cinematic pleasure that goes beyond the limits of period dramas.

[ PRODUCTION NOTE ]

<Kingmaker> MAKING POINT 1.
The fierceness of the hot election war and
The passion of the actor who perfectly expressed even the delicacy of the character's emotions!

The actors' passion for acting made the characters in <Kingmaker> more lively. First, Seol Kyung-gu, who played the role of 'Kim Woon-beom', a politician with strong convictions, thought endlessly to build his own character while referring to scenes of actual politicians' speeches. In addition, he learned the dialect to keep the character's settings alive, and made meticulous efforts to increase and decrease the weight in order to express the character's appearance suitable for the situation. In particular, director Byun Seong-hyun selected the filibuster scene of 'Kim Woon-beom' as the scene that impressed Seol Kyung-gu's efforts. It is a scene that shows 'Kim Woon-beom' giving a speech for 5 hours quickly in just a few seconds, so in the movie, he memorized all the speeches of the filibuster scene even though the audio of 'Kim Woon-beom' was not included. The immersion of the movie was doubled thanks to Seol Kyung-gu's passionate performance, who did not skip even the brief passing scenes.

Here, Lee Seon-gyun, who played 'Seo Chang-dae', an excellent election strategist, looked at various speech videos and interviews, and figured out how they appeal to the public and how to convince the public, and reflected it in the 'Seo Chang-dae' character. In addition, in order to make the audience understand 'Seochangdae', which values the result itself rather than the process, the purpose of the character was concentrated and expressed, so that the changing process of 'Seochangdae' and his trauma could be clearly revealed. Director Byeon Seong-hyun, who said that he made the character of 'Seochangdae' while talking a lot with Lee Seon-gyun on set, said, "Lee Seon-kyun is an actor who never loses energy even if he shoots the same scene multiple times. Thanks to this, there were a lot of new things I could try.”

On the other hand, Yoo Jae-myung, who plays the role of 'Kim Young-ho', a member of the opposition party, referred to materials and images of the time, interacted with the other actors, and put all his heart into making the character naturally blend into the film. In particular, in the scene of the presidential nomination contest in the play, he performed impressively by expressing the weight of 'Kim Young-ho' with his heavy eyes and restrained appearance, even though there was no big action or special lines. In fact, Yoo Jae-myung left the impression that "I was so immersed in filming that there were moments when I didn't know whether it was real or a movie", making me guess how deeply immersed in the character he was.

In addition, Jo Woo-jin, who has played the role of a high-ranking public official several times in other works, struggled to make the ruling party's election strategist 'Chief Lee' in <Kingmaker> a differentiated character. He applied the image of a sensitive snake to the 'Chief Lee' character, making 'Chief Lee' with a different breath stand out in a jungle-like election board overflowing with wild beasts. To this end, he delicately created the character of 'Chief Lee' while paying attention to the accent and intonation of each line. As Seon-kyun Lee said, “I learned a lot because an actor who creates a character much more three-dimensional than in the script, and the details of each character are different”, Jo Woo-jin is expected to surprise the audience with a different character and acting that he has never shown before. . <Kingmaker>, created with the actors' efforts and passion, will visit the audience with the hottest movie in 2021.

<Kingmaker> MAKING POINT 2.
Sensual shooting and lighting for a stylish mise-en-scène!

The production team of the movie <Kingmaker> put a lot of effort into filming and lighting to feature the election campaigns of the 1960s and 1970s. Director Byeon Seong-hyun and the production team worked on pre-visual work before filming. After that, a lot of effort was put in from the beginning, such as working on two storylines for a long time of 5 months.

Here, director Byun Seong-hyeon paid attention to the story he was trying to tell, rather than using excessive technique during filming. By minimizing the number of cameras used in one scene and reducing the number of cuts, it helped the audience to be immersed in the story continuously. In addition, in order to capture the feeling of the 1960s and 70s, which is the background of the play, the filming was carried out using a vintage lens. I tried to use filters that fit the times in the play as much as possible, and I tried to convey the past truthfully by inserting scenes shot with 8mm film depending on the scene. Thanks to such a multi-faceted production team, <Kingmaker> was able to be born as a film that seemed to recreate the 1960s and 70s.

In addition, the production team of <Kingmaker> emphasized the character's characteristics by using lighting. Director of Photography Jo Hyung-rae said, "I actively used shadows when filming for the character 'Seo Chang-dae', who works like a shadow." In particular, the character of Kingmaker Seo Chang-dae, who was unable to step forward and was hidden, was embodied as being trapped in the shadow of 'Kim Woon-beom' in the office. Lee Seon-gyun said, "I received a lot of help from expressing the psychology of 'Seochangdae' with lighting and angles well." Art director Han Ah-reum also said, "We put great effort into filming and lighting, and there are things to see that have not been seen in other films before. In particular, there are many scenes with a high level of mise-en-scène overall, such as speech scenes and competition scenes.”

<Kingmaker> MAKING POINT 3.
The fierce election war begins!
Space design where you can feel the heat of hot drama!

The place where the fierce election war takes place, and the space where the hot drama of the characters unfolds, was a very important element to the extent that it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the second protagonist of this work. Accordingly, the production team traveled around the country to find a shooting location that suited each scene, and gave each space a distinct concept to add a different personality.

In particular, it was an important task to visually show the differentiated images of each space in opposition while naturally melting the atmosphere of the elections in the 1960s and 1970s. First, the production team focused on using the space as an artistic device rather than reproducing the era in the same way when composing the election office of 'Kim Woon-beom', and designed it to be a space where you can glimpse his political growth. Unlike the election office of the local member of the National Assembly with a tone and mood reminiscent of a warehouse, Kim Woon-beom's Seoul election office is drawn with a more urban image after he was nominated as one of the candidates for the New Democratic Party's presidential election. In addition, the sophisticated design of props based on Korean materials, stacked documents, and large-scale systematically moving manpower capture the fierceness of all those who do their best in the election campaign. In contrast, the meeting place of the Republican Party in power is a space of pleasure and authoritative image based on the strategy of 'excessive design', as directed by Byeon Seong-hyun that "I wanted to add elements like black comedy rather than a realistic space". was born Here, the Central Intelligence Agency was created with the motif of an underground bunker located in Yeouido. With the Central Intelligence Agency in the center of a radial structure like a prison, this space was born with the concept of an interrogation room that stretches out in all directions, showing off the status of the Republican Party with a coercive and eerie atmosphere.

In particular, the scene of the presidential nomination contest held at the Civic Center in <Kingmaker> is a major point to watch in this work. The production team searched for a space that could accommodate a large number of people but still had old materials, and found a building with an interesting structure after difficulties. The Civic Center, which is drawn like a fancy festival, will lead the audience into the heat of the hot election board by capturing the fierce and breathtaking strategic battle and the election strategist Seo Chang-dae, who is active behind the scenes.

<Kingmaker> MAKING POINT 4.
Props and costumes with details added through variation and creation!
Completed the differentiated visual of <Kingmaker>!

In the process of making <Kingmaker>'s own mise-en-scène, the main point the production team discussed was the promise to "let's make something creative without harming the atmosphere of the times". To this end, the art team continued to try to make small variations or create new ones while examining the photos of the times in depth.

The production team, who wanted to show a differentiated visual, did not try to miss a single detail of small props that did not get caught on the screen. In fact, there was a limit to obtaining props from the 1960s and 1970s through museums or collections, and most of the desks and wooden furniture were either lost or unusable because of decay. In addition, each of the picket phrases used in the election campaign went through the process of inquiring about the right font for the scene, writing and making it one by one. Art director Han Ah-reum showed pride in <Kingmaker>, which was completed with the hidden efforts of the production team, saying, "The overall mise-en-scène is a high-quality work." Director Byun Seong-hyeon also said, “All the props were amazing. The small details were able to create an overall art,” he said, and Seol Kyung-gu did not spare his admiration, saying, “There is sincerity in every invisible thing, and it was an art that helped the overall picture and screen.”

Here, the stylish costumes of each character are considered another highlight in this work. <Kingmaker>, which features numerous characters in the background of a political board, follows the background of the times, while adding stylish costumes to each of the iconic characters in the play, providing a visual pleasure that further reduces the weight of the play. . In particular, <Kingmaker> adds to the interest in that it gives symbolic colors according to the characteristics of the characters and presents a different mise-en-scène. The green of the New Democratic Party, the red of the Republican Party, and the yellow color unique to 'Seochangdae' will stand out or harmonize with each situation and scene, giving you a sense of immersion that you can't take your eyes off of.