Whereas black comedy was one of the flagbearers of Korean cinema's renaissance in the mid-to-late 1990's, with brilliant little gems like 넘버3 (No. 3) and 조용한 가족 (The Quiet Family), once the industry started crushing one box office record after another, the genre was quickly bastardized by an onslaught of increasingly crude gangster comedies, more or less following the same modus operandi and gradually turning the genre into a wasteland. One of the lights shining in this spurious darkness was Jang Jin, whose low key, eclectic comedies full of creative little touches and great ensemble casts always made for a pretty interesting experience. Jang is notoriously prolific, not only as a director, but also as a stage and film producer - responsible for quirky jewels like 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol) - and even screenwriter. After his 2007 melodrama 아들 (My Son), he's now coming back with a rather peculiar subject, at least when it comes to Korea. A film about... the president?
Considering Korea's rather tumultuous modern history, the rather ironical slant of its presidents' portrayal in satires like 그때 그사람들 (The President's Last Bang) and 효자동 이발사 (The President's Barber) is not all that surprising, although there are also a few lighter examples, like the Ahn Sung-Gi/Choi Ji-Woo romcom 피아노치는 대통령 (The Romantic President). What's interesting about Jang's latest comedy 굿모닝 프레지던트 (Good Morning President), then, is that he's not only focusing on one of them, but three. And he's made pretty intriguing casting choices as well: Jang Dong-Gun plays Korea's first single, young and handsome "star president" (now that's wishful thinking...), uber-veteran Lee Soon-Jae is a sort of high concept comedy version of the late Roh Moo-Hyun (the "president of the people," who even plays Lotto and watches TV dramas), and the eternal mother of Korean TV, Go Doo-Shim, plays Korea's first female president, constantly fighting with the "First Gentleman."
Peculiar and rather topical subject, considering how controversial the current 2MB junta is, although Jang is not exactly the kind of director known for filling his works with biting political satire. But as far as clever dialogue and eclectic characters go, he's a pretty safe bet. The film opens this October, after its premiere as the opening film of the upcoming PIFF. Here's the teaser.
Considering Korea's rather tumultuous modern history, the rather ironical slant of its presidents' portrayal in satires like 그때 그사람들 (The President's Last Bang) and 효자동 이발사 (The President's Barber) is not all that surprising, although there are also a few lighter examples, like the Ahn Sung-Gi/Choi Ji-Woo romcom 피아노치는 대통령 (The Romantic President). What's interesting about Jang's latest comedy 굿모닝 프레지던트 (Good Morning President), then, is that he's not only focusing on one of them, but three. And he's made pretty intriguing casting choices as well: Jang Dong-Gun plays Korea's first single, young and handsome "star president" (now that's wishful thinking...), uber-veteran Lee Soon-Jae is a sort of high concept comedy version of the late Roh Moo-Hyun (the "president of the people," who even plays Lotto and watches TV dramas), and the eternal mother of Korean TV, Go Doo-Shim, plays Korea's first female president, constantly fighting with the "First Gentleman."
Peculiar and rather topical subject, considering how controversial the current 2MB junta is, although Jang is not exactly the kind of director known for filling his works with biting political satire. But as far as clever dialogue and eclectic characters go, he's a pretty safe bet. The film opens this October, after its premiere as the opening film of the upcoming PIFF. Here's the teaser.
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