Good news for Los Angeles fans of Won Bin (Taegukgi), Kim Hye-ja (Mom’s Dead Upset), and/or director Bong Jun-ho (The Host): Their latest film, the thriller Mother, is getting a screening at this year’s AFI FEST 2009 in Hollywood.

The film has already been licensed for North American theater release, but that will not occur until early next year. AFI FEST runs from October 30 through November 7, and has just announced its first twelve official titles to screen at this year’s event, of which Mother is one. (Others include Lee Daniels’ Precious — which looks heartbreaking and awesome — and Warner Herzog’s The Bad Lieutenant.)

Mother also screens this week at Toronto International Film Festival and at New York Film Festival on October 9.

Usually, I write about these film festival screenings without firsthand experience, but I’ve been to AFI FEST many times when I lived in LA and it’s a really great film festival, with a broad, eclectic range of films selected from all around the world. If you’re in the area, I’d highly encourage you check it out. (Not sure if the cast will be there for the Q&A session afterward, but you never know.)

Via Sports Chosun

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Looks like director Bong Jun-ho’s most recent film, Cannes entry Mother (starring Won Bin and Kim Hye-ja), will be getting a theatrical release in the U.S.

American film distributor Magnolia Pictures has bought the rights for a North American run, and announced on August 31 that the release will happen sometime in early 2010. Magnolia is the distributor that also imported director Bong’s previous film, The Host, for a U.S. run in 2007. Along with Mother, they have also licensed Bong’s debut feature film, 2000’s A Higher Animal (starring Lee Sung-jae, Bae Doo-na). A representative from Magnolia said, “In the future, we would like to continue to distribute the movies directed by Bong Jun-ho.”

Mother screens this month at the Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival. Mother is also South Korea’s entry for the upcoming Academy Awards in the foreign film category.

Via Sports Chosun

RELATED POSTS

• Mother opens big with a box-office record
• Won Bin interviews about Mother, acting, and future goals
• Won Bin in Bazaar, and at Cannes
• Mother’s mother-son pair at film press conference
• Won Bin makes his comeback next month

Filed under: Chungmuro/Film by javabeans - 14 Comments →

Thriller film Mother has claimed the top spot for Korean movie openings this year, drawing in more than 220,000 attendees in its first day (May 28).

This breaks the April 30 opening of Park Chan-wook’s vampire-horror film Thirst, which recently won a jury prize at Cannes, which drew in 178,000 people on opening day. It also beat out Hollywood blockbuster Terminator 4, which came in second in its second week.

Mother has generally received praise from audiences, particularly for director Bong Jun-ho, who’s made a name for himself with films like The Host and Memories of Murder. Kim Hye-ja plays the determined mother out to rescue Won Bin, the mentally slow son accused of murder.

Via IS Plus

RELATED POSTS

• Won Bin interviews about Mother, acting, and future goals
• Won Bin in Bazaar, and at Cannes
• Mother’s mother-son pair at film press conference
• Won Bin makes his comeback next month

Filed under: Chungmuro/Film by javabeans - 13 Comments →

With Cannes over and the thriller movie Mother releasing this week, there’s been a lot of stuff in the news involving the film’s three main players: Won Bin, Kim Hye-ja, and director Bong Jun-ho.

Aside from Won Bin’s status as one of the hotties of the first wave of Hallyu (initiated by his 2000 tearjerker drama series Autumn Fairy Tale with Song Hye-gyo, Song Seung-heon), this role has been highly anticipated because he’s had such a long break from acting. In stark contrast to most heartthrobs who try to capitalize on fame as much as possible (cramming schedules with movies, dramas, CFs, and magazine shoots), then hurry to burst back on the scene after army duty by trying to hit the ground running, Won Bin has had a relatively sparse career, stayed out of the limelight, and resurfaced only sporadically in recent years as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.

Here’s an interview with the actor, who strikes me as very humble and also very aware of (perhaps even overly disparaging of) his acting limitations.

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Won Bin is currently in France for the Cannes Film Festival, along with the cast and director of his latest film, the Bong Jun-ho-directed thriller Mother (see pics below); this coincides with his latest France-set photo shoot (with the Eiffel Tower in the background, natch) for the June issue of Harper’s Bazaar.

Inside the magazine, the “original pretty boy” talks about acting and films, as well as his five-year hiatus, his days starting out as an actor, his family, hometown, and other diverse topics.

Mother releases on May 28 and will be his first film in five years.

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