I foresee this may start getting repetitive, but here’s another red carpet from the Pusan International Film Festival (we saw opening night’s red carpet yesterday).
This time, the event was the Asian Pacific Actors Network (APAN) Star Road. It seemed some of the stars who were at opening night were noticeably absent at this event, most likely because they traveled back to Seoul to pay their respects to Choi Jin-shil.
It’s kind of unnerving how all the news right now is either Choi Jin-shil’s sudden death or the 13th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), and sometimes while looking through the news listings, it’s easy to confuse the two based on the thumbnail images. (Given the timing, as far as I can see, there were no overlaps in attendees — or at least, very few — between PIFF and Choi Jin-shil’s funeral viewing.)
October 2 saw the opening night to the nine-day festival; PIFF closes on October 10 and is the largest film festival in Korea, and one of the largest in Asia. Over the course of the week, more than 300 films will be screened from 60-plus countries.
Kim Rae-won and Han Eun-jung, above, came as brand models for PIFF sponsor L’Oreal. Other famous name actors showed up to the red carpet night; the opening film was Kazakhstan’s The Gift to Stalin, as well as the Hyun Bin & Lee Bo-young film I Am Happy.
Another Wednesday-Thursday drama (ratings) battle is shaping up, with three new dramas squaring off against each other. SBS’s Iljmae and MBC’s Spotlight have just started airing, and now KBS’s Woman in the Sun is readying to join them. The series stars Kim Ji Soo in her television return after four years away, as well as Lee Hana, Han Jae Seok and Jung Kyeo Woon.
The drama held its press conference on May 23 in the 63 Building in Seoul, where the stars expressed their hopes for a successful run. Showing a particular preoccupation with ratings, Han Jae Seok mentioned his disappointment over his previous series, the high-budget flop Lobbyist: “The viewership ratings were lower than expected. The audience’s opinion and response didn’t meet expectations. To be honest, I was upset.” He was so worried about the ratings issue that he looked up his competition’s ratings numbers online to compare, but hopes that the vastly different genres will help viewers find his.
Meanwhile, Lee Hana goes up against her former castmate (having played Sohn Ye Jin’s younger sister in the drama Alone in Love and now competing head-to-head with Sohn’s Spotlight), saying lightly, “I’m sorry to her, but I hope our drama does better.”
In Woman in the Sun, described as a “story of love and hatred” centering around a “birth secret” and two half-sisters, Kim Ji Soo plays an ambitious news announcer who abandoned her half-sister, played by Lee Hana, in her childhood. Now famous and successful, her love interest is played by Han Jae Seok, a top mergers and acquisitions specialist. Lee Hana is the younger sister who grew up in foster care after being abandoned by her older sister in Seoul Station, who determines to get her revenge.
Well, I’ll catch this to see if it’s any good, but I’m keeping expectations (very, very) low. With Spotlight’s dullness and Iljimae’s utter absurdity, maybe Wednesdays and Thursdays will be quiet this season?
SONG OF THE DAY
Kim Yeon Woo - “사랑한다는 흔한 말” (These ordinary words, I love you) [ Download ]
