Race to Freedom: Um Bok Dong

Race to Freedom: Uhm Bok-dong
Theatrical release poster
Hangul	자전차왕 엄복동
Revised Romanization	Jajeonchawang eombokdong
Directed by	Kim Yoo-sung
Written by	Kim Yoo-sung
Produced by	Lee Beom-soo
Starring	Rain Kang So-ra Lee Beom-soo
Cinematography	Park Yong-soo
Edited by	Park Gok-ji Lee Yoon-hee
Music by	Choi Yong-rak Lee Ji-yeon
Production company	Celltrion Entertainment
Distributed by	Celltrion Entertainment
Release date	February 27, 2019 (2019-02-27)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Budget	US$13 million
Box office	US$1.1 million

Race to Freedom: Uhm Bok-dong is a 2019 South Korean biographical drama film directed and written by Kim Yoo-sung. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} It stars Rain as a legendary cyclist Uhm Bok-dong.

This film was a critical and commercial failure, and is considered to be one of the worst South Korean films ever made.

Plot

Based on the true story of famed cyclist Uhm Bok-dong, who became a symbol of pride for Koreans when he defeated Japanese cyclists and won the championship in a bicycle race which took place during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea. ^[5]

Cast

• Rain as Uhm Bok-dong
• Kang So-ra as Kim Hyung-shin
• Lee Beom-soo as Hwang Jae-ho
• Min Hyo-rin as Kyeong-ja
• Shin Cheol-jin as Oil Shop Owner
• Jo Seo-hoo as Miki
• Oh Min-ae as Sang-goong
• Park Jin-joo
• Ko Chang-seok
• Lee Geung-young
• Lee Si-eon
• Lee Won-jong as Choi Jae-pil
• Hwang Hee as Long sword provost officer

Production

Principal photography began on April 18, 2017, and wrapped on September 29, 2017. ^[6]

Reception

The film was considered widely among Korean audiences as a massive flop, and a meme about the film having attracted the lowest audiences in South Korean film has given birth to a meme that uses the number of people who watched the film, which was about 170,000, as a unit called 'UBD". ^[7]

Controversy

The film got into a controversy because of Um's past as a thief. ^[8]

References

1. "자전차왕 엄복동". movie.naver.com. Archived from the original on 2019-10-31. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
2. "Daum영화". Archived from the original on 2019-02-24. Retrieved 2019-02-23– via movie.daum.net.
3. "영화 [자전차왕 엄복동] 상세정보". 씨네21. Archived from the original on 2017-06-15. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
4. "(Yonhap Interview) New film 'Uhm Bok-dong' pushes Rain to his physical limit". Yonhap News Agency . 21 February 2019. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
5. "영화 "비·강소라·이범수 주연, 기억해야 할 조선의 희망 엄복동 이야기" - 한국강사신문". www.lecturernews.com (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
6. "Rain, Kang So-ra to star in 'Uhm Bok-dong'". The Korea Herald . 18 April 2017. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
7. "'1일 1깡'으로 주목받는 '밈', 또 다른 '악플' 우려". edaily. 26 May 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
8. "'엄복동' 실존인물 절도·'국뽕' 논란에 감독·이범수 반응은". 19 February 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2021-10-17.

External links

• Race to Freedom: Um Bok Dong at HanCinema
• Race to Freedom: Um Bok Dong at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)