Following the dominance of courtroom drama <Silenced> in September and October, another midsized Korean film has taken hold of the box office, and refused to let go - <Punch> by director LEE Han has been #1 in the box office charts for five weeks at the time of this writing, with a chance of hanging on for a sixth. Released by CJ E&M, the film has sold 4.4 million tickets to date, far more than anyone anticipated when the film first reached theaters back on Oct. 20.

 

Based on a popular novel, the film tells the story of the uneasy friendship that develops between a high school boy (YU Ah-in) and his teacher (KIM Yun-seok), who also happens to be his next door neighbor. Initially the boy, named Wan-deuk, is bothered to distraction by the teacher, who keeps intruding into his personal life. However one day the teacher tells him that he has located the boy's mother, who ran away when he was just a baby. Wan-deuk, surprised by the news, is further shocked when he learns that his mother is from the Philippines.

 

Viewers seemed to be particularly taken in by the acting performances in <Punch>. The chemistry between rising star Yu and veteran actor Kim was remarkable, accounting for much of the film's humor and drama. But a strong supporting cast also added much to the film. Having previously directed melodramas <Lovers Concerto> (2002), <Almost Love> (2006) and <My Love> (2007), the film marked a change of direction for director LEE.

 

Meanwhile, a trio of local romantic comedies proved to be less successful in capturing the attention of viewers in November. <You're My Pet>, released on Nov. 10, tells the story of a woman who decides to adopt a younger man and raise him as a pet. The film is based on a popular Japanese manga of the same name. <Penny Pinchers>, also released on Nov. 10, is about a young job seeker desperate for income, and the money-obsessed woman next door who agrees to take him in and help him make a living. Finally, <Couples>, released on Nov. 2, is a remake of the 2004 Japanese film <A Stranger of Mine> by UCHIDA Kenji. The film starts off seeming to be an ordinary romantic comedy, but soon transforms into something more complex.

 

Of the three films, <You're My Pet> starring KIM Ha-neul and JANG Keun-suk took the highest gross with 470,000 admissions, but the film's distributor Lotte was surely hoping for a more robust response from audiences. <Penny Pinchers> took 370,000 admissions over the same period, and <Couples> managed to amass only 350,000 admissions. For all three films, it seems that it was not so much negative word of mouth that led to the low scores, but rather that, from the beginning, audiences found the other films on offer to be more enticing.

 

Another film that failed to match pre-release expectations was <A Reason to Live>, which first screened in the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in October. The work is from director LEE Jeong-hyang who scored a major hit with low-budget drama <The Way Home> back in 2002. After a nine-year silence, LEE managed to cast the very popular SONG Hye-gyo in a story about a woman dealing with the loss of her fiancé, and her decision to forgive the young man who killed him. However, the somber film has sold 83,000 tickets in November and only 130,000 tickets since its Oct. 27 release, marking a sharp disappointment for director LEE and distributor Showbox.

 

However, there is another Korean film that turned in an especially encouraging performance, even if it doesn't appear in either of the charts above. Acclaimed independent animated feature <The King of Pigs> directed by YEUN Sang-ho made its premiere at BIFF, where it won several awards. It then got a domestic commercial release on Nov. 3 through KT&G Sangsangmadang. As an independent film made outside of the mainstream filmmaking system, expectations are on an entirely different scale - 10,000 admissions is generally considered to be the mark of a highly successful independent release. Sure enough, with critical praise flowing and young audiences showing an interest in the work, <The King of Pigs> managed to sell 14,000 tickets over a four-week period.

 

Local documentaries also performed rather well in November. <Dancing Cat>, an independent documentary by YUN Gi-hyeong, centers on the fates of several street cats left to fend for themselves without their own homes. In only five days the film managed to sell 5,000 tickets, which is notable considering its small budget. In addition, <The Teacher and the Naughty> managed to take roughly 28,000 admissions in November, bringing its overall total to 37,000. The film centers on an elderly teacher of old Confucian values who brings together a group of children with behavioral problems.

 

In terms of foreign films, the highest-grossing work in November was the mythic epic <Immortals>, which took 1,092,145 admissions since its release on November 10. The film's total just eclipsed the November totals for <Real Steel>, a word-of-mouth hit which took most of its admissions in October. <Real Steel> has taken 3.2 million admissions to date.

 

Other foreign film releases include the science fiction film <In Time> with Justin Timberlake that took 327,568 in November for an overall total of roughly 600,000 admissions; and <Moneyball>, a film based on the general manager of the Oakland A's baseball club who was the first to adopt new ways to evaluate players and predict their success. Helped along by a personal visit to Korea by the film's star Brad Pitt, <Moneyball> took 333,719 admissions in its first five days on release.

 

As usual, December will see the release of several big budget Hollywood films including <Mission: Impossible 4>, <Tintin>, and <The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1>. However, this year they can expect a serious contender in KANG Je-gyu’s World War II epic <My Way>, which is expected to reach Korean theaters on Dec. 22. Given the past success of director Kang’s previous works such as <Taegukgi> and <Shiri>, we can expect that the upcoming winter vacation will be an eventful one at the box office.