(Korean Movies) The Good, The Bad, The Weird, 2008

[ Preface ]
The films I want to see and make start with thrilling cinematic moments every time. Among them, the West's moments – the wilderness where the wind blows. A gunman walking alone. A muzzle bursting with fire in an instant. Villains that fall like fallen leaves in a cold wind. Gazes blazing in the suffocating silence just before pulling out the gun. Gunmen running and running in the vast wilderness. Even though it's a familiar cliche I've seen every time, it makes my heart flutter and makes my heart beat every time I see it.
Human desire makes us run after something. And someone grabs the edge of that desire and chases it. I thought that such a figure was the way we live, and made a run-and-run play, the Great Pursuit of the Wilderness with it.

Manchuria in the 1930s was a lawless land where multinational races collided and mixed with each other and lust was simmering. Within that rich cinematic space and time, the best villains of the time gather. I want to double the cinematic excitement that I received, expecting to experience new cinematic moments while maximizing, twisting, and disturbing the pleasure of the action genre until the final confrontation of the best with a single map.
Director Kim Ji-woon

[ About movie ]

Korean Western <Good, Bad, Weird>
Director Kim Ji-woon's genre challenge and his signature style always brought talented staff and actors together. And Kim Jee-woon's imagination to create a western, the most western and continental genre in Korea, found a realistic possibility in Manchuria in the 1930s, when Koreans lived as strangers.
<The Good, the Bad, the Weird> is a Korean character with strong vitality that survives even if it is trampled or broken, chasing and chasing through the unfamiliar and lawless world of Manchuria in the 1930s. In addition to the pleasure inherent in the Western genre, <Nonom Nom> is once again a new world that Korean films have never been to, including the appearance of the Asian continent, the breathtaking beauty of the cultural clash area, and the characters newly interpreted in the Western style, such as the outlaws, magicians and swordsmen. is presented to the audience.

Korea's first dream casting <The Good, the Bad, the Weird>
The news that the three male actors representing Korean cinema will be listed on the credits of a movie together was really big news. The realistic prediction that such casting would be impossible afterwards also elevates the fun of <The Good, the Bad, the Weird> to infinity.
The combination of actors who activate 100% of their talents and potentials, such as the extremes of style, the extremes of charisma, and the extremes of comedy that bursts out at unexpected moments, upgrades the fun of the film into dialectical synergy. Each of the proven acting skills and distinct personalities match each other for one moment, and the bizarre experience that collides the next moment makes you unable to take your eyes off the screen with explosive energy. <The Good, the Bad, the Weird> will be remembered as the most beautiful and exciting climax for each of the three actors and the Korean audience.

Powerful puzzle casting, character corps full of personality. Ensemble Drama <The Good, the Bad, the Weird>
The character corps, which weaves the weft and warp lines of <Nom Nom Nom> with various background colors behind the three main characters, is full of actors with irreplaceable personalities and acting skills, from Je-Moon Yoon to Dal-Soo Oh. The successive appearances of these representatives of the turbulent Manchurian group bring tension, vitality and laughter to <Nom Nom Nom>. It is also the responsibility of the ensemble they formed together to make the relationship of the three leading the play more dramatic and to give a sense of rhythm to the chase.
The heavy presence of Kim Pan-joo and Song Young-chang, pro-Japanese who coexist with dignity and cunning. Son Byeong-ho, an opium trader, showed his outstanding talent in comedy with his witty Chinese acting. Oh Dal-soo, a 'monster' whose existence itself is laughter. Ryu Seung-soo, who supported Tae-goo as a matchless match. The legal girl and Yoon Je-moon, who added joy as the head and vice-boss of the Three Kingdoms, a multinational gang of mischievous magicians. Ma Dong-seok is as fearsome as his main weapon, a sledgehammer. In addition, <Nom Nom Nom>, such as the Changi faction, the Guishi market group, and the Japanese military, shows the true story of a character battle in which the actors assigned to the enemy roles complete a single picture like a jigsaw puzzle.

A splendid time travel to Manchuria in the 1930s <The Good, the Bad, the Weird>
The 1930s was the culmination of the confrontation between the imperialist powers. Manchuria enters a period of anarchy and chaos. At the time, when guns and swords replaced the law, Manchuria was nothing more than a melting pot on the verge of an explosion where races and languages collided with Russians, Chinese, Japanese, and even Koreans. The protagonists of <The Good, the Bad, the Weird> are also outlaws who lived in Manchuria during a turbulent period in their own way, such as train robbers, bounty hunters, and demon bosses. And it is a space of bloody confrontation with the precarious beauty of Manchuria at the time, allowing the audience to participate in a splendid time travel.
From third to first class, an imperial train of various classes, races, and lifestyles, the opium den where the seduction of a beautiful woman in a blood-red cheongsam is thick, the great plains under the shackles, illegal weapon manufacturers and slave traders coexist to kill villains. The world of <Nom Nom Nom>, such as the mayor Gwi, who attracted them, does not stop at mere historical evidence. What would the landscape of Manchuria be like at the time when various cultures were mixed? Starting from the cinematic question of 'Sci-Fi', we invite the audience into a new space and time created by imagination comparable to sci-fi.

Action + Comedy + Martial Arts + Adventure + Action = An entertainment movie itself. Enjoy! bum bum bum!!
Although it claims to be Western, the personality of <Nom Nom Nom> is a hybrid. A race of villains with a sense of justice that transcends the law, the climactic masters trying to hide the best of their time, the battle with a sword with a gun instead of a sword, the scent of the martial arts of a group wandering around the mighty name of Manchuria, and the cool spirit that trivializes life. In the drama, there is a nuance of the action drama of the scoundrel in the 1960s, when Park No-sik, Jang Dong-hwi, and Oh Ji-myung appeared.
The chase for a single map is full of the excitement of an adventure movie, and the humorous codes of corps of characters like a character fair and 'strange guy' are full of comedy. However, before the grand appearance of the genre, the core of <Nom Nom Nom> is the fun itself. Just as the actors speak with their voices, <Nom Nom Nom> is an entertainment movie that is exciting, fun, and enjoyable for both those who do it and those who watch it.

[ Production Note ]

In search of the landscape of the continent, the 300-day long journey
During the filming period of 9 months, <Nom Nom Nom> unfolded a great journey through China, including Seoul, Jeongeup, Dunhuang Desert, the gateway to the Silk Road under the Gobi Desert of China, and the railway in Jiayuguan. Befitting a Western, <The Good, the Bad, the Weird> left Korea and headed for China in search of an expansive horizon and endless wilderness that only the continent can show. As director Kim Jee-woon said, 'The land of China suffers more than anything you imagine, and you get more pictures than you imagine' it was
The daily maximum temperature reaches 45 degrees, the morning minimum temperature is around 10 degrees and the daily temperature difference of more than 30 degrees, and the weather forecast itself is colorless. Filming took place in a murderous environment that does not allow The fact that there are no roads for vehicles to fit into the desired image, and the fact that the road that was newly paved before filming alone is 33km is a testament to the efforts of the production team.

100% real action without bands
The camera of Nom Nom Nom, which is full of action-packed action, shoots guns while riding a horse, a motorcycle gallops in the middle of an explosion scene, and a horse startled by a gunshot strikes the camera, doesn't take a hit. There was no help from CG at all. Jo, including minor roles, Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Jung Woo-sung, and three main actors were directly digested in action acting.
Regarding real action acting, Lee Byung-hun said, "I am excited and scared, and I hear the sound of Ready when my hands are sweaty. Tension and excitement crossed. When the horse starts to speed up, there is even a feeling that if it falls, it will die. However, when the OK sign was issued and a realistic picture appeared on the monitor, a great sense of satisfaction came. You did it! You don’t know that feeling unless you experience it,” he said. Even the tension and excitement that the actors must have felt, the real action of <Nom Nom Nom>, which is translated into the emotions of the characters, makes the hearts of the audience beat with the thrill of 100% purity.

<Nom Nom Nom> Weapon battle, from Winchester rifle to Walther P38 pistol!
Like westerns, like villains, they fire constantly. An independent firearms team was formed for the first time, and the number of firearms used reached 200, and the number of blank bullets was approximately 30,000, the highest volume in Korean film history. We rented antique firearms that were actually used in the 1930s, which are at least 70-100 years old, in Hong Kong, and dealt with the breakdown of the percussion device and damage while driving on the spot.
Taegu, who has to suppress the scene in an instant with a train robbery because there are various types by character, is a Walther P38, the latest pistol (automatic pistol) produced in 1938. use in pairs. Like a hunter, he uses a rifle with a long range, and a shotgun with a high accuracy as 5-6 shots are spread out at a time. The fact that he is tall and has splendid movements is the reason why he was assigned the Winchester rifle, a luxury product produced at the end of the 19th century. Changi's pistol has an angled muzzle in line with the character's strong image, and the unusual design of the Weblin Mark 4. It is a revolver that can stably fire the next shot by rotating the magazine even if one shot is not fired due to the nature of killing. In addition to this, the weapons battles of <Nom Nom Nom>, such as Lee Enfield rifle of the Three Kingdoms vice-boss Byung-chun, the Colt PP of the twin swords, and the Mouser C96 of the king of the guild market, which are introduced for the first time in a Korean movie, match various characters and are another way of finding hidden objects. promise to have fun

The power of Korea that excited the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, <The Good, the Bad, the Weird>
<Nom Nom Nom> passed the preliminary screening of the Cannes Film Festival in a beta state and was screened in an unfinished state such as CG according to the film festival schedule, but it was an ambush that heated up Cannes. “The kimchi western brazenly pointed the gun at the spaghetti western. A work full of commercial fun. More fun than Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. (Variety)”, “Awesome. The directing and acting are excellent, and the sense of humor and action are excellent. It's the perfect entertainment movie. (French Studio Magazine)”, “A complete reinterpretation of a Western film that combines oriental thinking and Kim Ji-woon’s style. (Germany Splendid Film)”, “The acting is vivid and the humor is constant throughout the film. It is a work that decorates the finale of the film festival. (Advocate Insider)” etc., the favorable reviews of <Nom Nom Nom> spread evenly across several factors such as the perfection of genre films, the fun of entertainment movies, and the actors' performances, proving the charm and versatility of <Nom Nom Nom>. . <Nom Nom Nom> successfully wrapped up the Cannes Film Festival with pre-sales in 11 countries, including Iran, a Muslim country where Korean films are rarely sold. However, the first audience of the finished version <The Good, the Bad, the Weird> is definitely a Korean audience.