By Park Jin-hai
Two Korean films will highlight the midnight screenings category at next month’s Cannes film festival.
Jung Byung-gil’s “The Villainess,” a story of a female killer starring actress Kim Ok-bin, and Byun Sung-hyun’s crime thriller “The Merciless” starring Sol Kyung-gu and Im Si-wan, will be shown for the midnight screenings at the 70th Cannes Film Festival. The other film in the same category is the British-French drama “A Prayer Before Dawn” directed by Jean Stephane Sauvaire.
The midnight screenings series is in an out-of-competition category which selects three to five genre movies each year based on both cinematic quality and popular appeal. The festival’s general delegate Thierry Fremaux announced the lineup for the midnight screenings and called the two invited Korean works “fantastic movies” that show the “diversity and strength” of Korean films.
Director Byun said, “I’ve made various different attempts to get away from the existing crime action film routine. Judges must have given high marks to it.”
This year’s Cannes film festival has invited five Korean films. Apart from the two in the midnight screenings, Hong Sang-soo’s “The Day After” and Bong Joon-ho’s “Okja” succeeded in entering the competition category out of 18 and will compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or award. “Claire’s Camera,” directed by Hong, will also premiere for the special screenings.
Last year, director Park Chan-wook's "The Handmaiden" entered the festival's main competition category but failed to fetch an award. Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie thriller “Train to Busan” and Na Hong-jin's supernatural thriller “The Wailing” were also chosen for last year’s midnight screenings.
Movie critic Oh Dong-jin said, “Korean genre films tend to be dynamic, unique and sensational. Those strong-colored Korean films can help the film festival’s success to some degree.”