[Korean Film News] First French-Language Film By Korean Director

Im Sang-soo is being sought after by several producers to make a film in France. The South Korean filmmaker who directed "A Good Lawyer’s Wife" (2003), "The President’s Last Bang" (2005) and "The Old Garden" (2006 -- to be released Jan 4) has announced he will make a French-language movie. According to the Hankyoreh, Im said during a telephone interview on December 25 that he was in talks with three or four producers, all of whom showed an interest in the synopsis for his latest project. The final decision should be made within the next month, with filming to begin in France once a producer is decided upon. Although Im's films have found a sympathetic audience in the French, the Korean language poses an obstacle to winning over a wider public. Hence the decision to go with a French-language film. The movie will be a comedy about a South Korean woman who has been studying in France for a long time, and who runs a racket with French men as her victims, using sex as bait. A South Korean producer will help with the movie’s release in Korea. Im’s effort will be the first French-language movie by a South Korean director. Though Hong Kong’s John Woo and Taiwan’s Ang Lee are playing an active part in the Anglophone world of Hollywood, said Heo Mun-yeong, a programmer at the Pusan International Film Festival, "Unlike Hollywood, it is a rare case that the [French film industry] would hire a foreign director to shoot a movie." Heo added that the French film industry might have been attracted by Im’s unique style. In August, the Seoul Central Court overturned a ruling from February 2005 forcing MK Pictures to remove four minutes of documentary footage from "The President's Last Bang," based on the assasination of dictator Park Chung-hee by his chief of intelligence. In doing so, the court issued a strong message affirming the right of freedom of expression concerning the depiction of public historical figures.

[Source: The Hankyoreh, Koreanfilm.org]