Animal Leads in Korean Cinema
The heroes of
The Tiger (2015), a USD 14 million budget mega movie, are a legendary hunter CHUN Man-duk (
CHOI Min-shik) and Dae-ho, the last tiger of Joseon Dynasty. 100% CG generated, Dae-ho presented a great acting with subtle sentiments in scenes including the battle with men and the desperate and heartbreaking moment of losing his cubs.
Dae-ho is not the only one to challenge the performance of human actors. Ling Ling, a gorilla in
Mr. Go (2013), is a great baseball and circus player, and knows how to comfort Wei Wei, his best friend. This huge yet cute creature does not actually exist, being a pure product of technology. However, even these CG actors sometimes need a human voice. The monster in
The Host (2006), which debones creatures only using his mouth, manifests a real monster-like voice, which is not computer generated but acted by
OH Dal-su(
Veteran, 2015).
Although being unable to speak, real animal actors also often show a great acting as nuanced as CG generated animal actors do. Ma-eum in
Hearty Paws (2006) is a Golden Retriever, a famous guide dog breed. As puppies grow very fast, when shooting Ma-eum’s younger days, several puppies took turns in acting, all of which were very cute and talented child actors. A Golden Retriever also appeared in
Blind (2011), a film featuring a blind woman as the main character, to show a variety of acting including everyday acting to action.
As CG technology develops, human beings are not the only actors in cinema. Life of Pi would be a good example, where you see animation-like scenes in features and 3Ds. In the days to come, we are likely to meet many more animal friends in Korean films.