Beautiful (Korean: 아름답다) is a 2008 South Korean film, and the debut feature of director Juhn Jai-hong.[2] The film is based on an original story by Kim Ki-duk.[3][4][5][6]
| Beautiful | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Hangul | 아름답다 |
| Revised Romanization | Areumdapda |
| McCune–Reischauer | Arŭmdapta |
| Directed by | Juhn Jai-hong |
| Screenplay by | Juhn Jai-hong |
| Story by | Kim Ki-duk |
| Produced by | Kim Ki-duk David Cho |
| Starring | Cha Soo-yeon Lee Chun-hee |
| Cinematography | Kim Gi-tae |
| Edited by | Juhn Jai-hong |
| Music by | No Hyeong-u |
| Distributed by | Sponge Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Box office | US$9,840[1] |
Plot
editEun-Yeong is a young woman who finds her beauty to be a curse, drawing unwanted attention from all kinds of men and making other women jealous. Nevertheless, she leads a relatively content life until she is raped by one of her stalkers, Seong-min, who then blames Eun-Yeong for the incident, saying, "I did it because you're so beautiful". Traumatized by her attack, Eun-Yeong tries to destroy her beauty, first by attempting to become obese, and when that fails by making herself unattractively thin. When her beauty does start to fade, she becomes alarmed and tries to regain it by wearing gaudy makeup and revealing clothes, her behavior increasingly destructive and unstable. A policeman, Eun-Cheol, watches her downfall with pity and sympathy, but eventually, he too submits to his lustful desires.
Cast
edit- Cha Soo-yeon ... Eun-yeong
- Lee Chun-hee ... Eun-cheol
- Choi Moo-sung ... Detective Kim
- Kim Min-soo ... Seong-min
- Lee Min ... Mi-yeon
- Bae Yong-geun ... Beauty salon boss
- Kim Seon-bin ... Working man
- Jo Seok-hyeon ... Lavatory man
- Lee Chang-min ... Police station man
Release
editBeautiful premiered in the Panorama section of the 58th Berlin International Film Festival,[5][7] and was given a limited theatrical release in South Korea on February 14, 2008, where it was screened in just five Seoul theaters.[8][9] As of March 31, 2008, it had received a total of 1,478 admissions,[10] and as of April 13, it grossed US$9,840.[1]
Awards
editBeautiful won the Grand Prix at the 2008 Fukuoka Asian Film Festival.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b "South Korea Box Office April 11–13, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ Lee, Hyo-won (12 February 2008). "Singer-Turned-Director's Fearless Endeavor". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ^ Yang, Sung-jin (5 February 2008). "Beautiful examines idea of beauty a la Kim Ki-duk mode". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ^ "A "Beautiful" But Miserable Woman". The Dong-A Ilbo. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ^ a b Lee, Hyo-won (14 February 2008). "Beautiful Shows Ugly Side of Beauty". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ "K-FILM REVIEWS: 아름답다 (Beautiful)". Twitch Film. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ a b Paquet, Darcy (17 July 2008). ""Beautiful wins top prize at Fukuoka". Korean Film Council. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ D'Sa, Nigel (15 February 2008). "Beautiful Opens on Valentines Day". Korean Film Council. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ^ Yang Sung-jin (13 February 2008). "Arthouse films warm cold season". The Korea Herald via Hancinema. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ "Theatrical Releases in 2008: Box-Office Admission Results". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
External links
edit- Official website (in Korean)
- Beautiful at IMDb
- Beautiful at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
- Beautiful at HanCinema