Breathless (2009-South Korea)
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- Movie: Breathless
- Revised romanization: Ddongpari
- Hangul: 똥파리
- Director: Ik-jun Yang
- Writer: Ik-jun Yang
- Producer: Seong-jin Jang
- Cinematographer: Jong-Ho Yun
- World Premiere: October, 2008 (Pusan Int. Film Fest.)
- Theatrical Release Date: April 16, 2009
- Runtime: 130 min.
- Language: Korean
- Country: South Korea
Plot
Sang-hoon is a scamp working to get money from debtors to creditors. One day, he encounters Youn-hee, a high school student. Both of them have gone through unhappy childhood with crashed families. The film contains the autobiographical thoughts of Ik-jun Yang, the film's director.
Notes
- The Korean title Ddongpari means literally "shit fly"" - representing a lowly animal that hovers around excrement.
- "Breathless" opened at #11 during its opening South Korean weekend, gaining 21,969 admissions on 63 screens.
- Through its South Korean box office run, "Breathless" sold a total of 122,976 tickets (an unusually high figure for an independant film).
Cast
- Ik-jun Yang - Sang-hun
- Kim Kkot-Bi - Yeon-hee
- Lee Hwan - Yeong-jae
- Park Byeong-Eun
- Kim Hee-Su
Trailer
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Image Gallery
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Film Festivals
- 2008 (13th) Pusan International Film Festival - October 2nd-10th - Korean Cinema Today - Vision (World Premiere)
- 2009 (38th) International Film Festival Rotterdam - January 21st-February 1st - Bright Future: VPRO Tiger Awards Competition 2009 (International Premiere)
- 2009 (11th) Deauville Asian Film Festival - March 11th-15th - The Features Competition
- 2009 (8th) New York Asian Film Festival - June 19th-July 5th (North American Premiere)
- 2009 (13th) Fantasia Film Festival - July 9th-29th (Canadian Premiere)
- 2009 (28th) Vancouver International Film Festival - October 1st-16th - Dragons and Tigers (English-Canadian Premiere)
- 2009 (6th) Hong Kong Asian Film Festival - October 15th-30th
- 2009 (10th) TOKYO FILMeX - November 21st-29th - Competition Section
Awards
- 2009 (38th) International Film Festival Rotterdam - January 21st-February 1st
- "VPRO Tiger Awards"
- 2009 (11th) Deauville Asian Film Festival - March 11th-15th
- "Lotus Du Meilleur Film – Grand Prix / Best film"
- "Lotus Air France – Prix de la Critique Internationale/ International Critics’ Award"
- 2009 (8th) New York Asian Film Festival - June 19th-July 5th
- "Best Debut Feature"
- 2009 (13th) Fantasia Film Festival - July 9th-29th
- "Best Feature Film"
- "Best Male Performance" (Ik-jun Yang)
- 2009 (29th) Critics Choice Awards - October 2009
- "Korean International Critics Award"
- 2009 (46th) Daejong Film Awards - Nov. 6th
- "Best New Actress" (Kim Kkot-Bi)
- 2009 (3rd) Asia Pacific Screen Awards - November 26th
- "High Commendation (Best Performance by an Actor)" (Ik-jun Yang)
- 2009 (10th) TOKYO FILMeX - November 21st-29th
- "Grand Prize"
- "Agnes B. Award (Audience Award)"
- 2009 (30th) Blue Dragon Film Awards - Dec. 2nd
- "Best New Actor" (Ik-jun Yang)
- "Best New Actress" (Kim Kkot-Bi)
Comments
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sam saidelys Says:
Oct 03 2009 6:33 am
the film literally did leave me breathless at times, the brutality followed by some of the most moving and gutwrenching scenes of tragedy moved me to tears on several occasions. Yang is a fantastic director and actor. A really brilliant cast provides the best movie since Oldboy. An instant classic is Ddongpari.
lunapark6.com Says:
Jul 27 2009 12:18 am
After watching “Breathless” I can certainly understand why the movie generated so much buzz at international film festivals earlier this year. The film features brutal gang violence, seething hatred towards abusive parents, and most importantly two main characters that captures your attention with their dynamic relationship and the genuine heart that blossums from their unique relationship. Just as impressive, “Breathless” marks the debut for Ik-jun Yang who takes the role of director, screen writer, and main actor for the film. The film isn’t a perfect film, it runs longer than what seems necessary & the story is conventional (down to its cliché “Carlito’s Way” like resolution), but in terms of sheer impact the film is extraordinary.
In “Breathless,” Sang-hun (Ik-jun Yang) works as a low-level gangster collecting money for his longtime loan shark friend. Sang-hun seethes with rage due to his troubled childhood and abusive father. At any moment, Sang-hun can lash out at relatives, friends, & strangers with the only way he knows how to solve problems: savage violence.
One day, Sang-hun walks along a residential road and spits on the sidewalk. He unintentionally hits a brash young high school student named Yeon-hee (Kkot-bi Kim). When Yeon-hee tells Sang-hun to clean up his mess, he knocks her out with a punch to the face. Sang-hun then sits across from her until she regains consciousness. He offers to buy the girl a beer and the beginnings of an unusual friendship occurs.
What you’re first likely to notice with “Breathless” is the unflinching violence that is shown onscreen. Ik-jun Yang opts for realism in a world were he may be intimately familiar with and, because of this, doesn’t try to sugar coat it with any romantic illusions of a mobster’s life. You’ll also hear way more Korean curse words than in any other film. Regardless of whether you have ever heard the Korean language spoken before, you’ll pick up on various ways to utter the word “Shibal.” If all this nihilism was just for the sake of realism than “Breathless” would probably be no better or worse than a porn film, but the lifelike characters and the dynamic relationships that sprouts out from all the violence works as the lifeline for the film.
The relationship between Sang-hun and Yeon-hee is something to watch as both performers excel in their portrayals. Ik-jun Yang as Sang-hun walks the streets as a raging beast and to his credit does wonders to bring out the frailty of his wounded soul. Kkot-bi Kim, who plays the brash young high school girl, has the daunting task to portray a young girl with similar problems as Sang-hun and she is able to do so convincingly. With her long straight bangs hanging over her expressive wide eyes, you can’t help to think of a young Du-na Bae when watching Kkot-bi Kim perform.
Where “Breathless” isn’t nearly as successful is in resolving its story. The screenplay is scorching for the first 90 minutes or so, but then ties all its loose ends in a drawn-out, clumsy manner. Perhaps there should be a rule that all first time Korean indie film directors shouldn’t make a film longer than 90 minutes (this year’s other standout Korean indie film “Daytime Drinking” suffers from the same problem). Nevertheless, if you don’t mind violent movies, “Breathless” is a film you should seek out. Its certainly the best Korean gangster film I have seen in a long, long time.