Song Hae-sung | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 11, 1964 |
| Education | Hanyang University - Theater and Film |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 송해성 |
| Hanja | 宋海星 |
| Revised Romanization | Song Hae-seong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Song Hae-sǒng |
Song Hae-sung (born October 11, 1964) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter.
Song made his feature film debut in 1999 with the time-traveling romance Calla , starring Song Seung-heon and Kim Hee-sun, but didn't become more widely known until the success of his second film, Failan (2001). Starring Choi Min-sik and Cecilia Cheung, the film is about a hoodlum who finds purpose in life after discovering true love, and it won praise from audiences and critics alike for its sympathetic portrayal of the weakness and deep flaws lingering behind the façade of bravado of Korean men. It earned Song two best director honors, from the 2001 Blue Dragon Film Awards and the 2002 Grand Bell Awards, cementing him as a major force in Korean cinema. [1]
His ambitious follow-up in 2004 was Rikidozan , a biopic on Rikidōzan, a legendary ethnic Korean pro-wrestler who became a national hero in Japan in the 1950s, starring Sol Kyung-gu in the title role. [2] [3] Despite its underwhelming box office, Song received his second Grand Bell Award for best director in 2005.
In 2006, he made a film adaptation of Gong Ji-young's bestselling novel Our Happy Time. Starring Lee Na-young and Kang Dong-won, Maundy Thursday focuses on the relationship between a suicidal woman and the man she visits on death row. A melodrama less about love than about compassion, [4] the film was a hit, attracting more than 3 million viewers to become the seventh most popular domestic film of 2006. [5]
Though he flatly refused when first approached to direct a remake of John Woo's Hong Kong noir classic A Better Tomorrow , Song eventually decided to make a South Korean version revolving around brotherhood and North Korean defectors. [6] A Better Tomorrow (also known as Invincible, 2010) starred Song Seung-heon, Joo Jin-mo, Kim Kang-woo, and Jo Han-sun, and director Song described the film as a drama more than an action film, "propelled by the emotional interaction between the characters, and the action is there to heighten and express the dramatic tension." [7]
He adapted another novel in 2013, Cheon Myung-gwan's Aging Family, about a grown-up trio of loser siblings who embark on a series of misadventures after moving back into their mother's home. Song said the image that crossed his mind while making the film was a bowl of bean paste stew adorned with five spoons, symbolizing a troubled but loving family. Casting Youn Yuh-jung, Yoon Je-moon, Park Hae-il, Gong Hyo-jin and Jin Ji-hee in the ensemble comedy (based on a work by Cheon Myeong-kwan Boomerang Family , Song joked that it was a "low-budget family Avengers ." [8]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Director | Failan | Won | [9] |
| Director's Cut Awards | Best Director | Won | |||
| 2001 | Cine21 Film Award | Best Screenplay [lower-alpha 1] | Won | ||
| 2002 | Deauville Asian Film Festival | Lotus d'Or (Prix du Jury) ("Jury Prize") | Won | ||
| Lotus du Meilleur Réalisateur ("Best Director") | Won | ||||
| Lotus du Public (Prix du Public) ("Audience Choice Award") | Won | ||||
| 2002 | 39th Grand Bell Awards | Best Director | Won | ||
| Jury Prize | Won | ||||
| 2005 | 42nd Grand Bell Awards | Best Director | Rikidozan | Won | |
| Best Film | Nominated | ||||
| 2013 | 50th Grand Bell Awards | Best Director | Boomerang Family | Won | |
| Best Film | Nominated |
Song Seung-heon is a South Korean model and actor. He has acted in various television dramas, notably Autumn in My Heart (2000), East of Eden (2008), My Princess (2011), Black (2017), Player (2018), The Great Show (2019), and Dinner Mate (2020). His latest on-screen appearance was in the fourth season of Voice (2021).
Last Present is a 2001 South Korean film. Directed by Oh Ki-hwan, it tells the tale of Yong-ki, a struggling comedian who continues to see parallels between his disintegrating relationship with his wife, Jung-yeon, and the characters he's playing on the stage.
Rikidōzan is a 2004 South Korean-Japanese film written and directed by Song Hae-sung. The film is based on the life of Rikidōzan, a legendary ethnic Korean professional wrestler who became a national hero in Japan in the 1950s. It stars Sol Kyung-gu in the title role, with Miki Nakatani, Tatsuya Fuji, and actual Japanese wrestlers Keiji Mutoh and Masakatsu Funaki in the cast.
Maundy Thursday is a 2006 South Korean film directed by Song Hae-sung based on a bestselling novel by Gong Ji-young. Starring Gang Dong-won and Lee Na-young, the film is about a convicted murderer awaiting execution, and the bond he forms with a suicidal young woman who starts visiting him in jail every Thursday.
East of Eden is a 2008 South Korean television series, starring Song Seung-heon, Yeon Jung-hoon, Lee Da-hae, Han Ji-hye, Park Hae-jin and Lee Yeon-hee. It was produced by Chorokbaem Media as a 47th Anniversary Special Project Drama for MBC, on which it aired from August 25, 2008, to March 10, 2009, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 56 episodes. The ₩25 billion drama tells the story of the brothers Dong-chul (Song) and Dong-wook (Yeon). Their fates diverge after the murder of their coal miner father, with one joining the mob and the other becoming a successful lawyer.
Fate is a 2008 South Korean neo-noir action thriller film directed by Kim Hae-gon.
The Korea National Ballet is a South Korean ballet company. It was founded in 1962 in Seoul as the National Ballet Company. It was one of the affiliates of the National Theater of Korea until 1999, when it separated to independently reestablish itself in the Seoul Arts Center in the following year.
A Better Tomorrow is a 2010 South Korean neo-noir action drama film starring Joo Jin-mo, Song Seung-heon, Kim Kang-woo and Jo Han-sun. It is an official remake of the 1986 Hong Kong film A Better Tomorrow. It was directed by Song Hae-sung and produced by Fingerprint Pictures. John Woo, who directed the original 1986 version, acted as executive producer.
The Face Reader is a 2013 South Korean period action drama film starring Song Kang-ho as the son of a disgraced noble family who goes around Joseon and a gwansang expert. He is able to assess the personality, mental state and habits of a person by looking at his or her face. His talents bring him to the royal courts where he becomes involved in a power struggle between Grand Prince Suyang and general Kim Jong-seo, a high-ranking loyalist to King Munjong. It is the first installment of the Jupiter Film's three-part film project on the Korean fortune-telling traditions and was followed by two sequels, The Princess and the Matchmaker and Feng Shui in 2018.
Boomerang Family is a 2013 South Korean comedy-drama film directed by Song Hae-sung, and starring Park Hae-il, Yoon Je-moon, Gong Hyo-jin, Youn Yuh-jung, and Jin Ji-hee. Based on the 2010 novel Aging Family by Cheon Myeong-kwan, the film is about three misfit siblings in their thirties and forties who all decide to move back in with their mother.
Calla is a 1999 South Korean romance film about a man who travels back in time to save the girl he loves from getting killed. Directed by Song Hae-sung, it stars Song Seung-heon and Kim Hee-sun.
Top Star is a 2013 South Korean drama film directed, co-written and produced by veteran actor Park Joong-hoon, in his directorial debut. It stars Uhm Tae-woong as the manager of a top actor who dreams of someday becoming famous like his client, but when a twist of fate grants his wish, his life completely changes. The film premiered at the 18th Busan International Film Festival.
Venus Talk is a 2014 South Korean film about the sex and love lives of three women in their forties, played by Uhm Jung-hwa, Moon So-ri and Jo Min-su. The romantic dramedy is directed by Kwon Chil-in. The screenplay by Lee Soo-ah won the Grand Prize at the 1st Lotte Entertainment Script Contest. It was released in theaters on February 13, 2014.
Chronicle of a Blood Merchant is a 2015 South Korean drama film of the bestselling 1995 Chinese novel of the same title by Yu Hua. The film, set in 1950s Korea, was co-written and directed by Ha Jung-woo, and he also starred alongside Ha Ji-won.
Eyes of Dawn is a South Korean television series starring Chae Shi-ra, Park Sang-won and Choi Jae-sung. Directed by Kim Jong-hak and written by Song Ji-na based on the 10-volume novel of the same name by Kim Seong-jong, the story spans the years from the Japanese colonial period to World War II, Korea's liberation and the Korean War.
KPlus is a South Korean model and actors management company established by fashion model-turned-CEO Go Eun-kyung in 2008.
Park Sang-woo, known professionally as Park Hae-joon, is a South Korean actor. Park first drew attention as a supporting actor in the television series' Doctor Stranger and Misaeng: Incomplete Life both released in 2014, which led to him being cast in his first leading role in Jung Ji-woo's film Fourth Place (2015). He gained widespread recognition through The World of the Married (2020).
Wonderful Nightmare is a 2015 South Korean fantasy romantic comedy film starring Uhm Jung-hwa and Song Seung-heon.
Flowers of the Prison is a 2016 South Korean drama television series starring Jin Se-yeon, Go Soo, Kim Mi-sook, Jung Joon-ho, Park Joo-mi, Yoon Joo-hee, Kim Soo-yeon, Jun Kwang-ryul and Choi Tae-joon. It is MBC's special project drama to commemorate the network's 55th-founding anniversary. The drama also marks the 3rd time collaboration between director Lee Byung-hoon and writer Choi Wan-kyu, after Hur Jun and Sangdo. It replaced Marriage Contract and aired on MBC every Saturdays and Sundays at 22:00 (KST) for 51 episodes from April 30 to November 6, 2016.
Voice is a South Korean crime-thriller television series starring Lee Ha-na, Jang Hyuk, Lee Jin-wook, and Song Seung-heon which follows the lives of 112 emergency call center and dispatch team members as they fight against crimes using the sounds that they hear. It premiered on OCN on January 14, 2017. The first season concluded on March 12. The second season aired from August 11 to September 16, 2018. The third season aired from May 11 to June 30, 2019. The fourth season was premiered on June 18, 2021, and it aired on every Friday and Saturday at 22:50 KST on tvN till July 31, 2021.
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