A Hard Day selected for Directors’ Fortnight

18 April 25, 2014June 21, 2014

by awcoconuts

Action-packed thriller A Hard Day (or To The End, previous working title: To The Grave) has been selected to screen at Directors’ Fortnight, a parallel program to the Cannes Film Festival. The explosive movie stars Lee Seon-kyun (Miss Korea) as a cop who commits a fatal hit-and-run, then tries to conceal his error. Jo Jin-woong (Full Sun) is his counterpart, a man of unidentified background who knows Lee Seon-kyun’s secret and is determined to make him pay for his mistake.

Directors’ Fortnight has been running alongside Cannes for decades, and while noncompetitive, the prestigious sidebar has featured the early works of such directors as Werner Herzog, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, and Sofia Coppola. A Hard Day, director Kim Sung-hoon’s sophomore effort, is said to have been chosen because the movie is elaborate, yet pleasing, and somehow fresh.

Lee Seon-kyun, in his first action role, threw his entire body into filming — the movie isn’t a well-coordinated illusion of stunts; rather, the actor was actually physically hit, bruised and broken. Of his character, Lee Seon-kyun said, “He is desperate to stay alive. He isn’t worried about coming across as cool and isn’t trying to be the new section chief. I wanted to portray realistic action scenes so I actually threw punches and got hit in character.”

The trailer is enticing — filled with fight scenes and explosions and flying bullets (I’m pretty sure I’ve said that about every upcoming action movie), and it is nice to see Lee Seon-kyun in a departure from his usual characters, so I’ll be adding this to my summer watchlist.

The movie will be released in theaters on May 29.

Via Dong A, TV Report

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Tags: Jo Jin-woong, Lee Seon-kyun

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1 mary

April 25, 2014 at 4:12 AM

The premise isn't too special but these two actors... I bet they'll make this one hell of a movie.

O__O

I don't know whom to root for...

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2 Chandler

April 25, 2014 at 4:26 AM

Love both these actors. It's really nice to see that Jo Jin-Woong is actually rather popular because I wasn't so sure of that. I've always been a huge fan of him so it's good to see that he's appreciated even if he doesn't land many lead roles. and I always look forward to seeing more Lee Seon-Kyun!

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3 fab

April 25, 2014 at 4:48 AM

Whoa! He actually got punched for real?? Impressive. Isn't that method acting?
Mark Ruffalo told once that he smoked a joint in a play on stage and got the best review he'd ever had. But he is also a brilliant actor.

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MapleSilver

April 25, 2014 at 9:02 AM

I heard this term a lot, method acting. What is it really and what other kind of acting is there?

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pabo ceo reom

April 25, 2014 at 10:02 AM

http://bit.ly/GRn5O1 ;)

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MapleSilver

April 25, 2014 at 7:51 PM

Thanks! He's always known for his natural acting, much like Gong Hyo Jin. So this totally fits.

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4 captaincrunch

April 25, 2014 at 5:32 AM

This looks pretty good!! Also - it's Lee Sun Kyun. No matter what the project, I'm in.

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5 Ivoire

April 25, 2014 at 5:45 AM

Thank you awcoconuts,

For another movie recommendation. At this rate, we will not be bored this summer :-) Also, I liked this, "The trailer is enticing — filled with fight scenes and explosions and flying bullets (I’m pretty sure I’ve said that about every upcoming action movie)..."
I look forward to seeing how this movie turned out to be.

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6 hoaa

April 25, 2014 at 6:45 AM

Cool. I will not gonna miss it haha.

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7 yumii

April 25, 2014 at 7:43 AM

Looks exciting.

Sometimes it seems that the ability to run long and hard is a basic requirement for all male actors in Korea.

Go Gong Yoo.

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8 MapleSilver

April 25, 2014 at 9:05 AM

Lee Seon Kyun seems to somehow always manage to have his films participate in international circuits. There was Paju, then the ones with Hong Sang Soo, and now this. I am so glad he continues to vary his roles. Way to go!!! I can't wait to see this one.

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9 izocha

April 25, 2014 at 9:14 AM

wow... that looks so intense and dark. (Squee!)

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10 Hiro

April 25, 2014 at 11:09 AM

OMG, i thought he was Lee Kwang Soo, ahahah

in this poster Lee Seon-kyun seems lee kwang soo

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11 judepps

April 25, 2014 at 11:12 AM

This is a different genre for Lee Sun Kyun, far from the last character he played.
I only saw his movie once "All About my Wife" and I prettily enjoyed it much. I think I need to look out for this one too-:)