KWAK Kyung-taek has a knack for using the cityscape of Busan, “the film capital of Korea,” in his movies that are also known for main characters who personify traditional Korean male values of male bonding and camaraderie, perseverance, and passion. He made his directorial debut with the small-budget <3PM Paradise Bath House> (1997) and gained national fame with the huge success of <Friend> (2001). The movie attracted 8 million viewers across Korea and set a n...More

KWAK Kyung-taek has a knack for using the cityscape of Busan, “the film capital of Korea,” in his movies that are also known for main characters who personify traditional Korean male values of male bonding and camaraderie, perseverance, and passion. He made his directorial debut with the small-budget <3PM Paradise Bath House> (1997) and gained national fame with the huge success of <Friend> (2001). The movie attracted 8 million viewers across Korea and set a new box office record as the most popular Korean film at the time. Set in Busan, the movie follows the upbringing and friendship of two local gangsters and their childhood friends. The movie’s scenes of violence (a bold decision on the part of the director by the standard of the time) and coarse language (all in the rough Busan dialect) were deemed controversial. After <Friend>, many “Busan movies” poured out onto the market. KWAK also proved to be capable of attracting corporate capital for blockbuster film projects, and was also offered joint production or directing positions from overseas. He is also well versed in English, having studied filmmaking at New York University. In 2008, KWAK co-directed <Eye for an Eye> with AHN Gwon-tae, his former assistant, and in 2011 he directed <Pain>, a melodrama starring [KWON Sang-woo] and [JUNG Ryeo-won], which opened during the Chuseok period, one of Korea’s busiest box-office seasons. Along with <Love> from 2007, <Pain> proved KWAK’s knack for directing melodramas. In 2012, KWAK made the military service comedy <The Ugly Duckling>, which was featured at the Busan International Film Festival. In 2013, KWAK returned to the film that launched him to fame, by making the sequel Friend: The Great Legacy. Though it didn’t scale the heights of its predecessor, the film proved a hit with audiences during the end of year period. Going back to the 1970s Busan, KWAK then made the investigate thriller <The Classified File>. Based on a true story, it focused on a detective, played by KIM Yun-seok, who tries to solve a kidnapping with the help of a shaman (played by YOO Hae-jin). Following that summer hit, KWAK returned with another thriller, this time of the supernatural variety. <RV: Resurrected Victims> starred KIM Rae-won as man whose mother, played by KIM Hae-sook, returns from the dead to avenge her death.Less