The Marmot’s Hole

The 9th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) has opened in the lovely port city of Busan — OhMy’s Todd Thacker, lucky bastard that he is, is on hand to cover it.

Saw an interesting interview in Yonhap with Korean-American Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment, who brought Americans the remake of the Japanese thriller “The Ring.” Anyway, Lee, who is in Busan for the film fest and to attend the Pusan Promotion Plan, is apparently doing a roaring trade in getting U.S. film studios to do remakes of Asian films. He’s gotten Dreamworks to sign on to doing a remake of Kwak Jae-young’s 2001 flick “My Sassy Girl” (Korean: Yeopgijeogin geunyeo), which starred actress Jun Ji-hyun, whom Korean Internet users voted as the entertainer with the finest ass in the R.O.K. The U.S. remake, scheduled to begin shooting eight months from now, will be directed by Gurinder Chadha of Pyongyang fan-favorite “Bend It Like Beckham” fame, with Jun’s role going to Scarlett Johansson, whom I seem to recall from “Lost in Translation” as having considerably less booty. We’ll see how that turns out.

Lee also said pre-production work is going on with remakes of Korean films “Shiworae” (Warner Bros.), “Oldboy” (Universal) and “Janghwa, Hongryeon” (Dreamworks). Shiworae also stared Jun, and according to Lee, Julia Roberts, Halle Berry (hmmm… Halle Berry) and Jennifer Connelly are showing interest in the ass queen’s part. Despite having no problems what so ever being forced to watch either Halle or Jennifer on screen for an hour or two, I’m more keen to see how the remake of Park Chan-wook’s “Oldboy” shakes down. The original was a pretty dope picture, although I’m not sure how some of the dark humor would translate over into the U.S. production. I’ve heard Brad Pitt’s name mentioned in the past with the project, which would make sense, as I could see him doing a picture of that sort.

As for the interest U.S. film studios are showing in remaking Korean films, Lee credits the good storylines and new styles of expression being utilized by Korean directors. He also said Korean films have improved greatly over the last five years to the point that the country has started making “movie-like movies” like Hollywood.

As for the original pictures making it big in the States, Lee said there are a number of films that could be successful in their own way through small-scale releases, like Kim Ki-duk’s “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring” (Korean: Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom).

As for Korean actors or actresses who could possibly make it in the States, Lee selected — no surprise — Jun Ji-hyun. He said it’s not easy for Asian stars to land leading roles in Hollywood, but if she could learn English, she could become popular. Interestingly enough, after her last picture (which didn’t do as well at the Box Office as her people would have liked, despite being released simultaneously in Korea and Hong Kong), she took some time off to study English in San Francisco. Frankly, I’m not a huge Jun Ji-hyun fan — maybe I’m just not an ass man — and despite her popularity in other Asian markets (particularly China), I just can’t see her doing well in the States. Gong Li she ain’t. But then again, I’m biased — I just don’t dig her.

Actress Lee Young-ae hosted the opening ceremony of the Pusan International Film Festival, with Tony Leung Chiu Wai, the leading man in “2046,” the film that will open the festival. The two had a date on Friday afternoon/Chosun Ilbo

On to more news you probably didn’t really need to know. On the first day of the festival, opening ceremony host Lee Young-ae and Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai got to hook up on a little “date” and kiss each others ass. Tony’s flick “2046” — which I really have to see — opened the festival. Lee is an actress I really want to like — aside from being a remarkably beautiful woman, she comes off as being rather sophisticated with a decent head on her on shoulders. That being said, she has rubbed me the wrong way in just about everything I’ve seen her in, including those goddamn LG Xi commercials. As for Tony, you gotta like a guy who comes up with this stuff:

When asked about love, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, who is loved by women around the world for his sensitive portrayals of contemporary men, he answered simply, ???Love is Kimchi.??Kimchi tastes and smells awful when you first make it, but it gets its own unique taste as time goes by, he said, adding that love should have that seasoned quality, soliciting loud applause from those in attendance.

Asked if the two would like to work together, they responded:

When asked if the two actors would like to work in a film together, Lee answered that the language difference would be a problem, but after watching “2046″ she realized that movies could work beyond language. She added that it would be an honor if the two were to work together in a movie. Tony replied that he had seen many Korean films in the last few years and that if there were a good project, he would be happy to work with Lee.

According to the Sports Hanguk, however, Tony has his mind set on working with two other Korean actresses, Jeon Do-yeon (Why, Tony, why?!) and — you guessed it — Jun Ji-hyun. In the battle between sophistication and ass, ass wins out. There is no God.

Lastly, but certainly not least, we have afore mentioned director Kim Ki-duk. Apparently he made an impression on the Herald Gyeongje’s reporter covering the PIFF. Or at least his companion did. Hence, this headline:

Director Kim Ki-duk’s Accompaniment by Beautiful Foreign Woman Draws Attention

Ki-duk, you mack daddy. It’s gotta be the baseball cap. According to the Herald Gyeongje, the two spent the entire reception together, and despite the fact that he introduced her as an “old friend from Canada,” those around them watched the couple’s every move. Kim doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would give a shit what people around him thought, however. Or perhaps it would be best to say that I can’t imagine a guy who makes the kinds of movies he does would give a shit about the people around him thought. Which, coincidently, is one of the things that makes him such a kick-ass director, even if it’s hard to sit through some of his pictures without feeling at times physically uncomfortable.

Oh, interesting Kim Ki-duk fun fact — he’s from Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang Province. Not the most developed place in the Republic of Korea, I can tell you (good watermelons, though). Granted, he moved up to the Seoul area after finishing 3rd grade, but to come out of that place and end up at Venice has got to make the people there proud, although given its rather conservative nature, I have to wonder what they actually think of his movies.

DVD Note: The Korean blockbuster Taegukgi is now available for purchase. Picked up the box set, and damn, it was worth it. I did have a couple of problems with the film (although not as many as I thought I might before watching it), but it does do what it set out to do rather effectively. The special features disk is pretty good, too — if you can understand the Korean, the interviews with some of the old Korean War vets (including retired 1st ROK Army Commander Gen. Baek Seon-yeop) are really worth listening to — so if you find yourself able to purchase the box set, you’d be doing yourself a real disservice if you didn’t pick it up. English subtitles are available, as are Korean ones for those looking to brush up on their soldier talk.

UPDATE: The Jun Ji-hyun talk just won’t stop — Japanese actress Aoi Yu of “Hana and Alice,” who attended the PIFF, said she was frequently told that she looked like Jun. Even her own mother confused the two once! Well, look at the photos (like this one) and make your own call.