Kim Seong-hun (filmmaker)

Summary

Kim Seong-hun (born February 20, 1971) is a South Korean film and television director. He directed How the Lack of Love Affects Two Men (2006), A Hard Day (2014), the sexually-explicit One Summer Night (2016) and Kingdom (2019–).

Kim Seong-hun
Kim Seong-hun in 2019
Born (1971-02-20) February 20, 1971 (age 53)
Alma materHankuk University of Foreign Studies
Occupation(s)Film director,
television director,
screenwriter
Years active2003–present
Korean name
Hangul
김성훈
Hanja
金成勳
Revised RomanizationGim Seong-hun
McCune–ReischauerKim Sŏng-hun

Career edit

Kim Seong-hun began his filmmaking career as an assistant director on the romantic comedies Oh! Happy Day (2003; starring Jang Na-ra and Park Jung-chul) and He Was Cool (2004; starring Jeong Da-bin and Song Seung-heon).[1]

In 2006, he directed his first feature film How the Lack of Love Affects Two Men, which follows a widower and his son who both fall for and fight over their new basement tenant (played by Baek Yoon-sik, Bong Tae-gyu and Lee Hye-young).[1] It was a critical and commercial failure, and it would take eight years before he could get his sophomore film funded. Kim said, "It was so embarrassing to realize that was all I could do. [...] I had the firm resolve to give myself one more try before I die."[2]

Inspired by Pedro Almodóvar's Volver, Kim began writing a new screenplay in 2008, finished its first draft in 2009, and continued to edit it until 2013 when filming finally went underway.[3] He cast Lee Sun-kyun as the antihero and Cho Jin-woong as his antagonist in a black comedy/thriller about a corrupt homicide detective who hides the body of a hit-and-run victim in his mother's coffin only to find himself terrorized by a mysterious yet formidable blackmailer.[4][5] A Hard Day (the Korean title translates to "Take It to the End") premiered in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival where it drew unanimously positive reviews, with Variety praising Kim for "handling a taut yet elaborately plotted narrative with poise, control and near-faultless technical execution."[6][7] Domestically, A Hard Day had a lackluster opening but strong word of mouth propelled it to becoming a box office hit, with more than 3.4 million tickets sold.[8][9] The film received numerous awards and nominations, and Kim won Best Director at the 51st Grand Bell Awards, the 1st Korean Film Producers Association Awards, the 6th KOFRA Film Awards, the 20th Chunsa Film Art Awards and 51st Baeksang Arts Awards, as well as Best Screenplay at the 15th Busan Film Critics Awards and 35th Blue Dragon Film Awards.[10][11][12][13][14]

Filmography edit

Film edit

Film credit[15]
Year Title Credited as Ref.
Director Writer Producer
2003 Oh! Happy Day 1st assistant director
2004 He Was Cool script editor
2006 How the Lack of Love Affects Two Men director script editor
2014 A Hard Day screenwriter
2016 The Tunnel screenwriter
2023 Ransomed screenwriter Yes

Web series edit

Year Title Network Credited as Ref.
Director Writer
2019–2020 Kingdom Netflix Yes Kim Eun-hee [16][17]
2021 Kingdom: Ashin of the North [18][19]

Awards and nominations edit

Award Year Category Recipient Result Ref.
2014 Best New Director A Hard Day Nominated [20]
Best Screenplay Nominated
34th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2014 Critics' Top 10 Won
2014 Best Film Nominated [21][22]
Best Director Won
Best Screenplay Nominated
15th Busan Film Critics Awards 2014 Best Screenplay Won
1st Korean Film Producers Association Awards 2014 Best Film Won
Best Director Won
2014 Best Film Nominated [23][24]
Best Director Nominated
Best Screenplay Won
6th KOFRA Film Awards
2015 Best Director Won [25]
2015 Best Director (Grand Prix) Won [26]
Best Screenplay Nominated
2015 Best Screenwriter Nominated [27]
2015 Best Film Nominated [28][29]
Best Director Won
Best Screenplay Nominated

References edit

  1. ^ a b "KIM Seong-hun". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  2. ^ "Second Time Lucky for Obscure Korean Film Director". The Chosun Ilbo. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  3. ^ Im, Ju-ri (7 June 2014). "A Hard Day director's last chance for success". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  4. ^ Heskins, Andrew (16 October 2014). "Kim Seong-hun interview: "Maybe we should change it to Hard Days"". Eastern Kicks. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  5. ^ Baldock, Luke Ryan (2 November 2014). "LKFF 2014: THN Interviews Kim Seong Hun Concerning A Hard Day". The Hollywood News. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  6. ^ Conran, Pierce (23 April 2014). "Director's Fortnight to Have A HARD DAY". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  7. ^ Lee, Maggie (19 May 2014). "Cannes Film Review: A Hard Day". Variety. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  8. ^ Baek, Byung-yeul (22 June 2014). "A Hard Day defies predictions at the box office". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  9. ^ "Hard Day Steadily Draws Viewers". The Chosun Ilbo. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  10. ^ Conran, Pierce (24 November 2014). "ROARING CURRENTS Tops 51st Daejong Film Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  11. ^ Ma, Kevin (18 December 2014). "Attorney wins four at Blue Dragon Awards". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  12. ^ "Han Gong-ju picked as best film of 2014 by Korean film reporters". The Korea Herald. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  13. ^ Ma, Kevin (9 March 2015). "Hard Day leads Chunsa Film Art nominations". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 14 March 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  14. ^ Lee, Hoo-nam; Kim, Hyung-eun (28 May 2015). "Baeksang honors new, veteran stars". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  15. ^ "KMDb - Kim Seong-hun". Korean Movie Database. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  16. ^ Cho, Yeon-gyeong (February 8, 2019). "Writer finds a home for her zombie fantasy: Kim Eun-hee says Netflix was the right place for 'Kingdom'". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  17. ^ "Two of Korea's Top Storytellers Unite for Kingdom - A New Netflix Original Series". Netflix. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  18. ^ "'킹덤2' 김은희 작가 "전지현, 매력적…액션 담고파"(인터뷰)". entertain.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  19. ^ "Mysteries of Kingdom Series To Be Unravelled By Kingdom: Ashin Of The North, A Special Episode Starring Gianna Jun and Park Byung-Eun". Netflix News. November 1, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  20. ^ Kim, June (6 October 2014). "SHIM Eun-kyung, SONG Kang-ho, HONG Sangsoo and ROARING CURRENTS Win at 23rd Buil Film Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-10-09.
  21. ^ Kim, June (12 November 2014). "The 51st Daejong Film Awards Nominations Announced". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-11-12.
  22. ^ Conran, Pierce (24 November 2014). "ROARING CURRENTS Tops 51st Daejong Film Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-11-25.
  23. ^ Kim, June (18 December 2014). "35th Blue Dragon Awards Names THE ATTORNEY Best Film". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  24. ^ Ma, Kevin (18 December 2014). "Attorney wins four at Blue Dragon Awards". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  25. ^ "Han Gong-ju picked as best film of 2014 by Korean film reporters". The Korea Herald. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  26. ^ Ma, Kevin (9 March 2015). "Hard Day leads Chunsa Film Art nominations". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 2015-03-14. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
  27. ^ Yoon, Ina (4 March 2015). "Korean Films and Artists Nominated for the Asian Film Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
  28. ^ Lee, Hoo-nam; Kim, Hyung-eun (28 May 2015). "Baeksang honors new, veteran stars". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  29. ^ Conran, Pierce (27 May 2015). "CHOI Min-sik and REVIVRE Triumph at 51st Paeksang Arts Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2015-05-28.

External links edit