Jung Woo-sung’s game of life and death in God’s Play
by girlfriday
So, when I first heard about this movie God’s Play about a baduk player, I wondered how on earth they’d raise the stakes and keep things interesting. Because there are really only so many times you can watch people play the same game in one movie. The answer, as it turns out, is genius-simple: You make Jung Woo-sung and Choi Jin-hyuk take off their shirts, stick them in a giant freezer, put a knife in the board, and THEN they play baduk. Of course! Silly me.
The new movie from Quick director Jo Beom-gu is based on a novel of the same name and features baduk as a gambling game. So despite the premise sounding more cerebral and featuring a hero who is an excellent baduk player and strategist by nature, it follows a familiar trajectory for any gambling movie where the villain is the house and the underdog hero seeks to take it all in one game of life and death.
Jung Woo-sung (Cold Eyes) stars as the downtrodden hero who loses his brother and gets sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, all at the hands of Lee Beom-soo (Triangle), the head of an illegal gambling house for baduk. The hero spends years in prison shoring up the skills to defeat him at his own game, and enlists the help of pro players Ahn Sung-ki (Jury), Kim In-kwon (Born to Sing), and Ahn Gil-kang (Three Days).
With their help, he sets a trap for Lee Beom-soo and they’ll play a game where the loser literally loses his life. Lee Shi-young (Golden Cross) plays a femme fatale, and Choi Jin-hyuk (Emergency Couple) is Lee Beom-soo’s right-hand man who runs the gambling floor, and also plays baduk shirtless in sub-zero temperatures for kicks. OH, here’s a thought — what if they didn’t start out shirtless? Strip baduk, anyone?
God’s Play opens July 3.
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Tags: Choi Jin-hyuk, Jung Woo-sung, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Shi-young
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1 mary
June 7, 2014 at 12:13 PM
I laughed so much at the screenshots and your commentary on the Strip-or-Die Baduk game, but when I watched those trailers... O___O
Wow. They managed to make the game thrilling and high-stakes. Seriously. Even the way Lee Si Young said "It won't be easy" and all those shots of placing a stone(?) on the board felt sexy-scary.
Also on Lee Beom Soo: who needs height when you've got intensity? :)
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Muenchabench
June 7, 2014 at 12:16 PM
and glasses, which is always an indication of EVILLLLLness
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Orion
June 7, 2014 at 12:54 PM
Don't forget the cow-licked hair. For extra evilness.
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2 Muenchabench
June 7, 2014 at 12:15 PM
Can shirtless Baduk become a thing for real? I'd really appreciate it. Though abs would be a required to enter.
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dkaoru
June 7, 2014 at 9:27 PM
I wonder how hollywood will re-make this... Strip Chess?
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3 jensredshoes
June 7, 2014 at 12:16 PM
So then is he all covered in frost? He looks even more like a perfect statue now. So pretty!
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4 dtp_jnr
June 7, 2014 at 12:24 PM
Underground gambling life or death stake like movies always remind of of Japanese movies lol......I'm sure this would be good.......
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5 Hachiko
June 7, 2014 at 12:25 PM
Wow..the Poster itself looks "inviting"... And, Lee Beum Soo and Choi Jin Hyuk look reallyyyy Hot in their new styles. Especially in their Suits! And the concept itself is nice. Just look at that poster where Jung Woo-sung is in his cell. Man, it's Baduk EVERYWHERE! I can't believe he even survives that, not to mention not going crazy! Really Great stuff, Bring it on!
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Jesse
June 7, 2014 at 12:54 PM
On the topic of playing Baduk and not going crazy, it reminded me of Natan Sharansky. While he was imprisoned in solitary confinement he played chess in his mind to keep sane. Google his name on the net to find out who he is.
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Hachiko
June 7, 2014 at 10:03 PM
Thank. Currently "googling'....
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Hachiko
June 7, 2014 at 10:15 PM
Waah..Read his Wiki page and his story is.... rahter complicated. What's brilliant is his Wife, Avital's struggle for his freedom for 13 GODDAMN YEARS!!
Man, somewhere I heard, DIE HARD and isn't it true in his life!
Thanks, Jesse:-)
PS: And, as you mentioned, playing chess to keep sanity? I am imagining his position, what with all his hard labor punishments and prison surroundings... Though I am not sure about other things, h's one hell of a tough cookie!
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6 Langit13iru
June 7, 2014 at 12:38 PM
Isn't the filming of this movie together with LBS Prime Minister and I where he need to use bandage for his hand?
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Orion
June 7, 2014 at 3:24 PM
Yes, this is the one. He fractured his left pinky during an action scene for 'The Divine Move', so they had to work around it in 'Prime Minister and I'.
He delayed necessary surgery due to his schedule, but I am guessing he had it when it was written into the series that Kwon Yool hurt his hand saving Da Jeong.
I guess this means his action scenes here might be a bit more limited than originally planned, unless it happened very late in filming and he had done most of them already.
Still, his character looks like the kind of villain who mostly lets his goons take care of things, so it wouldn't affect things much.
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7 Orion
June 7, 2014 at 12:46 PM
They had me at Jung Woo Sung and Lee Beom Soo baduking it out. Then they went and stripped them too. And they gave me the lovely Lee Si Yeong and everyone else. I don't care if there is no plot in this. Topless freezer manbattles and tattooed moobs, damn it!
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fab
June 8, 2014 at 4:27 AM
WORD.
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8 missDVM
June 7, 2014 at 1:03 PM
Choi! Jin! Hyuk!!
*starts countdown for movie*
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9 Megumi
June 7, 2014 at 1:05 PM
This movie looks intense and hot, will check it out for sure, Jung Woo Sung looks ridiculously hot in those screenshots, CJH and LBS also look very fine.
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Ek Ladhki Thi
June 7, 2014 at 1:36 PM
Jung Woo-sung in that white suit, I was omomomomoing all over the place.
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10 Mimie
June 7, 2014 at 1:11 PM
That's what I said after the trailers' out, this movie is not just about baduki, but STRIP BADUK! It manages to strip all the dudes it can strip, which is more than fine by me.
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11 fan
June 7, 2014 at 1:15 PM
them two hotties will melt the freezer
i wouldn't even care what this movie was about, i'd still watch it.
i'd love it if this led to Jung Woo Sung and Choi Jin Hyuk going on running man together to do an epic battle. They were both hilarious on the show
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12 Ek Ladhki Thi
June 7, 2014 at 1:31 PM
Yay! I like Jung Woo-sung and Lee Si-young, loving Choi Jin-hyuk's new look. Not a fan of Lee Bum-soo but this movie looks like it'll be good. Can't wait.
Also, has anyone watched The Huntresses? I can't seem to find it, can anyone help me out? Thanks.
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13 coffeenlucia
June 7, 2014 at 1:39 PM
I actually really love baduk ^-^ And all the TV shows I've watched relating to baduk / go / weiqi are all pretty good, like Hikaru no Go and Weiqi Shaonian.
will be checking this out~
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14 jam
June 7, 2014 at 3:34 PM
oh snappppp totally diff than what i expected lol who knew a game of baduk could be this intense? LBS and JWS look great in their roles. hope to see CJH a bit more too :)
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15 whilethemusiclasts
June 7, 2014 at 4:07 PM
You had me rolling at "strip baduk" hahaha. Also, I can't get over how intense this film is setting out to be when it's really all about baduk. I love it already. I do love Jung Woo-sung and Choi Jin-hyuk but I do hope they get Lee Beom-soo shirtless as well.
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Orion
June 7, 2014 at 4:24 PM
They do. You can see it in the second trailer. His entire torso is covered in tattoos.
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16 ColleenF-H
June 7, 2014 at 4:17 PM
Is it wrong that I love Jung Woo Sung? Him shirtless in a freezer well that is just a little too much sexiness in one place. My goodness he is just so far beyond Yummy!!!!
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17 Sho
June 7, 2014 at 4:25 PM
Whoa! Definitely looking forward to this movie =0 The trailer is enough to make me want to check out the director's other works ^^
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18 pohonphee
June 7, 2014 at 5:22 PM
If they have Jung Woo-sung for a movie and they don't get him shirtless in it, now that what I call totally waste of talent! Ha ha
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19 isabel
June 7, 2014 at 5:41 PM
Lee Bum soo's get up, I don't know how to react. But then, to have Jung Woo sung, Choi Jin hyuk and Lee Bum soo in one movie has me excited.
Shirtless life-or-death gambling movie, bring it on!
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20 momosan
June 7, 2014 at 7:31 PM
You know, when I was learning go, I'm pretty sure that if they mentioned playing half nekkid men who looked like Jung Woon Sung, I'd have paid a WHOLE lot more attention.
::looking around office to see where I put the go board.
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21 Jyyjc
June 7, 2014 at 8:53 PM
Lee beom soo really looks like a caricature villain there. All that's missing is the twirly mustache.
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22 Quiet Thought
June 7, 2014 at 10:48 PM
That is an awesome A-list cast all the way through.
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23 cheekbones
June 7, 2014 at 11:06 PM
It certainly is a brilliant idea, to say the least. I almost didn't recognize Choi Jin-hyuk.
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24 jomo143
June 8, 2014 at 5:19 AM
Silly us, yes? But I like it, too!
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25 Areki
June 8, 2014 at 5:32 AM
That second photo - sitting up straight in front of the board, with blood dripping on his face, but seemingly perfectly calm and concentrated...... for me, that is beyond HOT.....
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Areki
June 8, 2014 at 5:32 AM
.... but I will watch the movies for the story, of course :D
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Orion
June 8, 2014 at 5:39 AM
I have watched the previous films by this creator (although I had to drop the last one I tried at some point) and I can safely say, there will probably be no story in sight anyway.
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26 korfan
June 8, 2014 at 6:21 AM
Who said that when you open the door of a freezer it's always cold??
Lies. ...... Lies, I tell ya.
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27 Quiet Thought
June 8, 2014 at 1:22 PM
I think I can say with absolute confidence that no one will ever make a movie like this about Checkers or Monopoly.
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28 Amiga
June 8, 2014 at 1:32 PM
So hopefully this movie will be on Netflix about mid-point thru Choi Jin Hyuk's military service. It will be my withdrawal/relief fix.
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29 Perrie
June 8, 2014 at 3:48 PM
Gangster Choi Jin Hyuk is the msot handsomest Choi Jin Hyuk
thumbs up!
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