(Korean Movies) The Show Must Go On, 2006

Song Kang-ho, the actor loved by the times
Meet Han Jae-rim, a director who loves the times
Actor Song Kang-ho. Although he is an actor who shines only by his name, when he looks into the faces of the directors he worked with, he firmly establishes that he is the best actor.
He recently worked with director Bong Joon-ho on <Monster>, <Memories of Murder> with director Park Chan-wook for <Joint Security Area JSA> and <Vengeance is Mine>, with director Kim Ji-woon for <The Quiet Family> and <King of Fouls>, and Lee Chang-dong for <Green Fish>. to the director. It is not an exaggeration to say that all the work with Korean signboard directors is his responsibility. In addition, as these directors are planning or in the process of working on <Bat> (Park Chan-wook), <The Good, the Bad, the Weird> (Kim Ji-woon), and <Milyang> (Lee Chang-dong), how is the director's trust in Song Kang-ho? You can check to see if it is.
And now, Song Kang-ho met with director Han Jae-rim, who received the attention of the audience and critics and even won the Grand Bell Award for Best New Director with his debut film <The Purpose of Love>. This meeting between a representative Korean actor and a director full of personality becomes a cornerstone that makes <Elegant World> more trustworthy.
In this way, the synergy created by the meeting between Song Kang-ho, the actor loved by the times, and the director who loves the times, dealing with the most intimate and direct themes, will come to the audience's enjoyment.

[ ABOUT MOVIE – 2 ]

Birth of Korean noir
Life noir for people living in Korea
'Life noir', a genre of <Elegant World>, is an implicit word that announces the birth of a Korean-style noir, and is the theme the film wants to express.
The dictionary meaning of 'noir' is a genre of movies depicting crime, ruin, and dark towns. For this reason, many of the films that faced the audience in the genre of noir showed the protagonists, who are gangsters, falling apart while dreaming of a life in one room. However, <Elegant World>, which stands for Korean noir, is different. Whereas the existing noir depicts the world of men who live and die by form, <Elegant World> depicts the world of Korean fathers who live and die in their families. Most of the films were noir films represented by raining streets and dark and heavy screen images, but <Elegant World> depicts the reality of us living in the barrenness of having to choke intermittently in dryness.
As the director said, “I want to show a noir that is seen through everyday eyes, not a noir that only looks cool, away from reality.” Through the 'gangster head', who has a high probability of dying from overwork, not accidental death, like other office workers, the more he throws himself away for the sake of his family, the more he strays from his family and forms a sympathy with the sorrow of the head of the Republic of Korea who are marginalized. .
The moment you face <Elegant World>, the life noir of a head of the family who may be your neighbor, you will realize the extraordinary truth that your family is a fierce battlefield and your life is noir.

[ ABOUT MOVIE – 3 ]

A gangster, a salaryman, and a father
Actor Song Kang-ho's character
Seokja named 'Song Kang-ho' has the power to make everything in the movie feel real through his acting, and there is a hidden surprise that penetrates the whole movie with his acting alone. Actor Song Kang-ho expanded his realm as an actor with his own style, and the audience fell into that realm. Not only domestic but also overseas critics responded with favorable reviews for his acting.
Since he caused 'Song Kang-ho Syndrome' as the head of <Number 3> 'The Immortals', Song Kang-ho's acting style, which is expressed as 'shallow knowledge, stuttering tone, and charisma that does not disappoint even though it is', has established itself as a brand. However, it is not only that he returned to acting as a gangster after 9 years after <No.
In addition to the gangster role in <Green Fish> and <Number 3>, a father who loves his children risking everything in <Vengeance is Mine>, <Hyoja-dong Barber> and <Monster>, a salaryman who dreams of a new life in <The King of Fouls>, etc.
As can be seen from his filmography, 'Kang In-gu' in <Elegant World>, who lives an organized life like office workers for an elegant life with his family, is a role that encompasses the characters played by Song Kang-ho. He can digest any role like a custom-made suit, but the role of 'Kang In-gu' is really for Song Kang-ho, a role that only Song Kang-ho can do.
<Elegant World> is a special opportunity and another challenge for him, who has given and imprinted specialness on each role.

[ ABOUT MOVIE – 4 ]

Same expression, different purpose
Birth of a new purpose series
The reason <The Purpose of Love> caused a sensation is because it broke the illusion of 'love' with realistic and straightforward expressions, as if they were stripping away the shame of those who knew and pretended not to know. Breaking the illusion is an extension of that, and there is <Elegant World>.
In <Elegant World>, there is a gangster who lives an organized life because there is nothing else he can do, and the gangster has a family to support. As the head of a family, he tries hard to organize life for his family, but it is not easy, and the more he does it, the further he becomes from his family. Neither home nor work life is smooth.
The irony and the hardships and ironies that an ordinary father with an unusual job goes through at work, family, and personal life is more convincing because it is the appearance of removing the illusion of a family confined within the framework of 'happiness'. If <The Purpose of Love> showed the reality of love that has been unpacked by the mass media, <Elegant World> is about the identity and teleology created by the frame of the family and the bridle of the head of the household. We will present a heavy topic worth pondering.
For this reason, <Elegant World> heralds the birth of a new purpose series that dissects a different purpose in life, although it has the same sharpness that makes you face the problems that have been hidden or avoided.

[ PRODUCTION NOTE – 1 ]

The biggest car chase scene in Korean film history
Last September, the largest car chase scene in Korean film history was filmed in Haeundae, Busan.
This scene, played by Song Kang-ho, in which the population is chased by the organization, is the most urgency highlight scene in the movie, in which a passenger car, such as a large bus, collides in a quadruple while driving at the station.
With the full support and cooperation of the Busan Film Commission, the film was filmed under full control of the six-lane round-trip road at Jangsan Station in Haeundae-gu, Busan.
It is unprecedented for the first time in history to completely control the roads in Busan. During the filming of <The Second Coming of the Matchmaker>, four lanes in front of Seomyeon Department Store were partially controlled, and part of the Haeundae Coastal Road was blocked during the filming of <Typhoon>, but this is the first time that such intersections have been completely controlled.
Also, in terms of scale, it is the largest scale in Korean film history, and a total of 76 vehicles including buses and cars were mobilized. About 60 actors and 100 staff participated, and about 70 security personnel including 30 police officers dispatched from Haeundae Police Station were mobilized. became
This scene, which took 48 hours to complete, will express the desperation of the main character in the film, while at the same time providing more spectacular fun to the audience.

[ PRODUCTION NOTE – 2 ]

Song Kang-ho's first life action
Song Kang-ho, who has established himself as Korea's most beloved actor by crossing various characters, performed the first life action in his acting career.
Life action is an action that can be easily seen in everyday life, not a double side kick flying in the sky or a fictitious 18-to-1 duel.
When the workers at the construction site of a construction company refuse to do the work, the population fights with the subordinates, leading the members of the gang who hired them for a daily wage of 300,000 won. It was held at a construction site in Ulsan, and it was said that the actors and staff all suffered a lot because of the high temperature that exceeded 38 degrees on that day.
The only way to escape the heat is a towel to wipe off the sweat and a bottle of frozen water, and the fight to live only to live without fashion or weight, with wooden, bricks, barricades, and bare fists, is very realistic for the audience. It will come in ironic form.
In particular, Song Kang-ho, who entrusts his subordinates to fight and holds a bottle of frozen water with a towel wrapped around his neck, is the best scene chosen by the director, which clearly shows the theme of the movie.

[ PRODUCTION NOTE -3 ]

Joining world-famous film musician Yoko Kanno
A world-class filmmaker joined for <Elegant World>. World-renowned Japanese film musician Yoko Kanno, trusting in Song Kang-ho's excellent acting skills and director Han Jae-rim's directing ability, willingly took charge of the music for <Elegant World>.
After graduating from Waseda University in Japan, he was in charge of the keyboard and composition of a band called 'TETSU 100%'. In 1994, at the age of 27, she was in charge of the blockbuster <Micro Plus> in the animation industry, and she won the Grand Prize in the Animation Division at the 13th Japan Golden Disc Awards in 1999. is a musician In particular, with the music of <Cowboy Bebop>, she is renowned as the most famous animation music director in Japan, the heaven of animation.
Her music, which captivates everyone across generations and regions with her unique blend of all forms of music, from opera to pop, from acoustic to electronic, and from traditional to modern, is a <elegant song> that everyone can sympathize with. It can't be the perfect match for the world>.

[ PRODUCTION NOTE – 4 ]

After Song Kang-ho and Oh Dal-su's <Monster>, meeting at the Han River
Kang-ho Song and Dal-su Oh, they met again after <Monster>!
Moreover, the place they chose to meet is the Han River. The two people, who had already met in a relationship of being chased and chased by 'Gangdu' and 'Monster' in <Monster>, appeared in <Elegant World> in a unique relationship as stilts and rival organizations, and met at the Han River.
Not to mention Song Kang-ho, Oh Dal-soo is a model of individualistic actors who cannot be left out in Chungmuro. It is very welcome for the audience that such two met through one movie. In particular, the relationship between the two in the movie is special and ironic, which makes the movie even more exciting. The setting of an old hometown friend and member of the opposing party is not serious or tragic because it is Song Kang-ho and Oh Dal-su, and rather than contrived, the validity of 'it may be' is obtained.
In addition, the ambiguous meeting of the two, neither a meeting of friends nor a war of words between other organizations, will provide cinematic fun and at the same time make the themes of the film clearer at the same time as a gangster and father, life and noir, and a friend and enemy.
In particular, the play in the water scene, which started as a joke about Hyeon-soo's first love in the play, is one of the famous scenes where you can feel the innocence of actors Song Kang-ho and Oh Dal-su!