You can boil an egg in a few minutes, coffee in even less, but selling out a 2,000 seat outdoor movie theater in seven seconds is quite impressive. Not to worry, this anticipated film will play several times over the course of the upcoming Busan International Film Festival, which kicks off October 6th.
BUSAN, South Korea -- The opening film for the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), Only You, starring So Ji-sub and Han Hyo-joo sold out in seven seconds after sales opened online Monday at 5pm. Tickets for the outdoor screening sold out in seven while the indoor screening of Only You* at CineMountain sold out in 20 seconds. The film is described as a fatal love story centered on an ex-boxer and a telemarketer.
This beats last year’s record set by Under the Hawthorn Tree, a film directed by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, which sold all of its 2,000 tickets in eighteen seconds.
This years closing film, Chronicles of my Mother,” directed by Japanese director/actor Masato Harada, sold out 1,500 tickets in 1 minute 23 seconds. You may remember Harada as the actor in The Last Samurai who hired Tom Cruise to off what was left of the Samarai in turn of the century Japan.
Online ticket sales for the remaining 305 films featured at this years film festival, including 89 international premieres, will be available online starting Sept. 28th, while mobile-web reservations start Sept 29th.
*Note: The English title of the movie Only You, "오직 그대만" is called “Always” in the BIFF listing, though more commonly known in English media reports as “Only You,” which is a literal translation of the Korean title.
Film info from BIFF site:
Only You (오직 그대만) "Always"
A fatal love story centered on ex-boxer Chul-min (So Ji-sub) and telemarketer Jung-hwa(Han Hyo-joo).He has closed his heart to the world and she remains spirited despite slowly losing her vision. Eliminating the so-called silent style of long shots and long takes and appealing to soul and spirit, this could be deemed Song Il-gon’s declaration of transformation from an auteur director to a popular director.
Those who were mesmerized by Song’s [Flower Island] and [Magician] may be somewhat disappointed. As suggested by the trite title, the movie is full of old cliches. But what makes it extraordinary despite its cliches is the director’s characteristic unconventional directing style and dramatic twists in detail that reveals moderation and omission.
[Always] takes small steps towards the climax without excessive use of words and action. Chul-min’s climactic scene trumps the explosiveness of [Rough Cut]. The director also adds class to the film through the remarkable visuals and sound design, sensuous but not superficial. As a result, this film is distinct from overwhelmingly common melodramas and successfully emerges as an ‘uncommon common’ drama. So Ji-sub and Han Hyo-joo are perfect in their roles. The commercial expression as ‘So-joo couple’ is no exaggeration. (JEON Chanil)
Director
SONG Il-gon
Song Il-gon was born in Seoul and studied cinema at the National Academy of Film in Lodz, Poland. He shot to prominence on the strength of the Cannes Jury Prize winning short film The Picnic (1998). His filmography includes New Currents-winner [Flower Island] (2001), [Spider Forest] (2004), [Feathers in the Wind] (2004), [The Magicians] (2005), and [Dance of Time] (2010).
No comments:
Post a Comment