 From left, director Yun Jae-geun, actors Kim Yun-jin and Park Hae-il pose for the cameras during a press event at a theater in northern Seoul, Monday. The duo will star in the new movie ``Heartbeat'' which will be in theaters in January. / Courtesy of Lotte Entertainment |
By Han Sang-hee
In the upcoming movie “The Beating Heart” (working title) top actors Kim Yun-jin and Park Hae-il fight for the lives of loved ones over one pounding heart.
At a press event for the film Monday, the two actors showed their enthusiasm and high expectations for the film, along with director Yun Jae-geun. This is Yun’s debut work.
The film revolves around two characters: a devoted mom Yeon-hee (played by Kim) and street bully Hui-do played by Park. Yeon-hee’s dying daughter is in desperate need of a heart transplant, and her eyes light up when she discovers that Hui-do’s mother is brain dead after a fall. She frantically persuades Hui-do to give up his mother for her child, offering a large sum of money.
Hui-do, on the other hand, is having a hard time accepting the fact that he might lose his mother but when he is approached by a desperate woman asking for his mother’s heart for her daughter, he decides he’s not ready to give her up that fast. He refuses the money and eventually discovers secrets regarding his mother’s sudden deadly fall and is determined to dig deeper into the case.
In the meantime, the desperate Yeon-hee starts plotting her way to get her hands on Hui-do’s mother, even if it means she will have to commit a crime.
“The movie’s initial title was ‘Battle,’ which shows that it is fundamentally about two people fighting each other to save their loved ones,” Yun said.
The preview depicts the desperation of the two characters, running for not only their loved ones’ lives but also their own. Kim returns to the big screen after the success of the movie “Harmony” (2010) where she also portrayed a mother. This is actually the third film where the 37-year-old actress depicts a desperate mother figure. In “Seven Days” (2007), she played a mother whose daughter gets kidnapped and the only way to get her back is to free a prisoner from jail, while in “Harmony” she appeared as a mother in prison who has to give her child up for adoption.
“The mother I portrayed this time was a very ordinary and realistic mother figure. She tries to solve problems in a very realistic way and that’s quite different from the characters in my previous films where they were in special situations.
“I personally felt a bit frustrated because it felt she was a bit powerless, but then I think this side of the character will help viewers relate to her more and sympathize,” she said.
As for Park, the movie was an opportunity to learn more about learning from Kim, both professionally and also as a person.
“Kim felt like a brother sometimes on the set. Because we met each other in such intense situations, it was a chance for me to learn more about acting,” he said.
Kim, who said she read the scenario for the film during the shooting of the final season of television series “Lost,” also showed respect to her fellow actor, saying that it was Park that made her decide to join the film.
“He may be younger than me, but I find him very serious when acting and I thought I could depend on him and also from him as well,” she said.
“We all tried to put ‘reality’ into the film. It’s about how far ordinary people can go to save their loved ones and we hope this will be a chance to look back at your family and loved ones,” Kim added.
In theaters Jan.6. Distributed by Lotte Entertainment.
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