Volcano High
From AsianMediaWiki
Contents |
[edit] Profile
- Movie: Volcano High
- Revised romanization: WaSanGo
- Hangul: 화산고
- Director: Tae-gyun Kim
- Writer: Tae-gyun Kim, Dong-heon Seo
- Producer:
- Cinemotagraphy:
- Release Date: December 5, 2001
- Runtime: 120 Min.
- Studio: Cinema Service
- Language: Korean
- Country: South Korea
[edit] Plot
It is the 108th year of Volcano High School. In the classroom, chalk fly around like bullets. On the schoolyard, students and teachers hang in the air, competing against each other, using martial arts. At Volcano High, where every student is a martial arts expert, it is not surprising to see tea leaves moving in the shape of dragons or hallway windows shattering into bits with no one touching them.
At Volcano High, the legend of the Secret Manuscript - the one who inherits these writings will rule the world - has been continuously passed down. The Secret Manuscript is more famous because it helped the principal JANG Oh-ja calm 17 years of internecine feuding due to the privatization of schools. From the outside, Volcano High School seems peaceful. However, a bitter showdown for the Secret Manuscript is at hand. Among the challengers are the assistant principal who thirsts for the principal's position; SONG Hak-rim who became the best in the shortest time in the history of Volcano High; and JANG Ryang, captain of the weight lifting team who dreams of becoming the best at Volcano High.
On a windy, rainy day with thunder and lightening, KIM Kyung-soo transfers to Volcano High, his ninth school for he has been expelled from eight other schools because he cannot manage the power he is gifted with. Having become a problematic student despite his intentions, Kyung-soo is determined to graduate from Volcano High no matter what happens. However, at Volcano High, where all the students are martial arts experts, it is inevitable that they will grasp the potential talent of the new kid. At the brink of erupting, Volcano High regards Kyung-soo as the eye of a hurricane¡¦ Will Kyung-soo manage to graduate in the middle of the violent storm caused by the battle for the Secret Manuscript?
[edit] Production Notes
In January of 1997, the screenplay <Volcano High> garnered much attention at a screenplay contest for its unique genre, 'campus martial arts.' It took five years for "Volcano High" to meet the audience on screen. That was because in order to realize the novelty of the screenplay through cinematic imagination, there was an overflow of requirements that had to be fulfilled such as the maturity of the Korean film industry, capital and technology, etc.
How do you express teachers and students flying in the air, engaged in energy battle? How do you show a student who is knocked across the classroom by a piece of chalk hitting him like a bullet? Since the action in "Volcano High" unfolds inside a school, it has to be a new kind of action without being too forceful. In consequence, 'digital martial arts action' came to mind, which has been internationally popular. As already confirmed in "The Matrix" and "Charlie's Angels", the combination of new technology and Asian martial arts has created novel action which existed only in one's imagination. We term this 'digital action' or 'techno action' or 'fantasy action.' "Volcano High" unfolds three-dimensional action as actors run across hallway walls, speed action so fast that the eye can barely keep up, and power action as actors race across at impossible angles, all of which never tried before in Korean film.
[edit] Cast
- Hyuk Jang ... Kim, Kyeong-su
- Min-a Shin ... Yu, Chae-i
- Su-ro Kim ... Jang, Ryang
- Sang-woo Kwone ... Song Hak-Rim
- Hyo-jin Kong ... So, Yo-seon
- Sang-hun Jeong ... Golbangi
- Hyeong-jong Kim ... Shim, Ma
- Shi-ah Chae ... Yo-mi
- Sung-ha Cho
- Moon-sik Yun
- Su-jeong Eom
- Won-jung Jeong
