A Man who was Superman
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User Rating
Current user rating: 84% (6 votes)
Profile
- Movie: A Man who was Superman / If I Were Superman
- Hangul: 슈퍼맨이었던 사나이
- Revised romanization: Superman ieotdeon sanai
- Director: Yoon-Chul Jeong
- Writer: Yoon-Chul Jeong
- Producer: Joo-sung Kim
- Cinematographer: Young-hwan Choi
- Release Date: Janaury 31, 2008
- Production Budget: US$ 4.1M
- Runtime: 102 min.
- Movie Studio: CJ Entertainment
- Distributor: CJ Entertainment
- Language: Korean
- Country: South Korea
Plot
Producer SONG Soo-jung has been producing new-wave human-interest documentaries for the past three years at a television station—and she is sick and tired of wringing fake tears and emotions that tug at sympathy. She quits, saying she would rather film unsympathetic African lions, and takes one of the station’s cameras in exchange for her overdue paychecks. However, the Africa shoot is suddenly cancelled and on top of that she gets the camera stolen. It’s then that a man in a Hawaiian shirt chases the thief and recovers the camera for her, later claiming to be Superman. He cannot use his superpowers, however, because villains have put Cryptonite inside his head.
As Superman devotes himself to doing small, good deeds—such as punishing a flasher lurking near an all girls’ high school and finding lost dogs for their owners—he also does strange things like standing on his hands while claiming he is pushing the earth away from the sun because the polar cap is melting. Soo-jung decides to use the slightly mad but endearing man as the subject for her next documentary show. As usual, she fabricates touching moments and turns them into a program called, "Save the Earth, Superman!" She ends up with a ratings winner.
After a night of celebration, Soo-jung struggles with a hangover at home when Superman suddenly appears right before her eyes. He claims that the truth must be told and takes her to a manhole where he claims there are monsters. The sewer reeks with rot and filth, and of course there are no beasts in sight, but Superman injures his head and Soo-jung ends up taking him to a hospital. Soo-jung discovers there really is something inside his head when she sees his x-rays, and decides to continue covering his story....
Cast
Starring
- Hwang Jeong-Min - Superman
- Gianna Jun - Su-jeong Song
Supporting Cast
- Seon Woo-Seon - Jak-ka Kim
- Kim Jae-Rok - Bruce Lee
- Park Yong-Su - Park-sa Kim
- Lee Sang-Yeop
- Jin Ji-Hui - Hee-jeong / Ji-yeong
- Jo Hie-Bong - Cameo
Trailer
Image Gallery
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Film Festivals
- 2008 (13th) Pusan International Film Festival - October 2nd-10th - Korean Cinema Today - Panorama
Comments
Leave a Comment
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RamenLover Says:
Oct 18 2008 5:04 pm
What "A Man who was Superman" has going for it is an intriguing premise :
A guy, possibly insane, proclaims to be Superman, while a burned out news reporter uses the guy for her next human interest story.
There's two notable performers in the lead roles: Jeong-min Hwang and Gianna Jun (aka Ji-hyun Jeon). Jeong-min Hwang gets the flashier role of the two: a deranged lunatic with a few secrets in his closet. For Gianna Jun, "Superman" marks a break from her typical roles. She's normally identified with the cute / sweet young characters she has played in films like "Il Mare" "My Sassy Girl" and "Windstruck". Her character in "Superman" marks an obvious departure from this stereotype, you'll often see Gianna Jun with a cigarette in hand or muttering curse words in "Superman". She certainly doesn't embarrass herself in this movie, but you get a sense that she tries so hard to play the jaded news reporter to perfection that any empathy for her character gets lost in the translation.
The obvious lack of chemistry between these two "superstars" in Korean cinema becomes another problem as the movie rolls along. Again, Gianna Jun didn't embarrass herself playing the bitchy news reporter, but it was asking too much from the audience to believe that such a cynical person with her good looks would suddenly fall for a guy that's almost homeless, possibly insane, and runs around all day in the same Hawaiin dress shirt. Better chemistry would have made this angle less of a problem.
There's also an ending scene that comes out all wrong. While people are trapped in a burning building, "Superman" and the news reporter talk calmly among themselves about their problems. Maybe this scene was intended to add more drama, but it came off as two self-centered persons oblivious to the actual crisis behind them.
By the time "A Man who was Superman" rolls to the end credits you're left with an underwhelming feeling. Potential was there for a great film, but in reality you get a decent film that slightly underwhelms. 6/10
--RamenLover