Villain and Widow
2010 South Korean film
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Villain and Widow (Korean: 이층의 악당; RR: Icheungui akdang; lit. 'Villain on the Second Floor'[3]) is a 2010 South Korean crime comedy film written and directed by Son Jae-gon about a depressed widow who rents out a room to a suspicious man who claims to be a novelist.[4]
| Villain and Widow | |
|---|---|
| |
| Hangul | 이층의 악당 |
| Hanja | 二層의 惡黨 |
| RR | Icheungui akdang |
| MR | Ich'ŭngŭi aktang |
| Directed by | Son Jae-gon |
| Written by | Son Jae-gon |
| Produced by | Choi Pyung-ho[1] |
| Starring | Han Suk-kyu Kim Hye-soo |
| Cinematography | Choi Sang-ho |
| Edited by | Shin Min-kyung |
| Music by | Kim Jun-seong Lee Jin-hee |
Production company | Sidus-Benex Cinema Fund1 |
| Distributed by | Sidus FNH |
Release date |
|
Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Box office | US$$3.7 million[2] |
Plot
Yeon-joo, a depressed widow, lives with her bad-tempered daughter, Seong-ah, who's an ex-child model but is now being bullied in school. Things become worse when she starts to experience financial problems. Now deep in debt, Yeon-joo decides to rent out a room in her house to a mysterious man named Chang-in who introduces himself as a novelist. Unbeknownst to her, Chang-in is a thief who's trying to get his hands on a set of Ming Dynasty tea utensils that her deceased husband stole.
Cast
- Han Suk-kyu as Chang-in
- Kim Hye-soo as Ham Yeon-joo
- Ji Woo as Ham Seong-ah
- Kim Ki-cheon as Seong-sik
- Lee Yong-nyeo as Next door neighbor
- Lee Jang-woo as Constable Oh
- Oh Jae-gyun as Section chief Song
- Um Ki-joon as Representative Ha
- Shin Dongho as Hyun-chul
- Park Won-sang as Ham Ki-soo
- Park Hyuk-kwon as Manager Jo
- Yoon Hee-seok as Doctor Nam
- Bae Jang-soo as Owner of real estate agency
Production
In 2009, the film was given the Lotte Award and received US$8,550 in funding at the Asian Project Market (then-called Pusan Promotion Plan) of the 14th Busan International Film Festival.[5][6]
Reception
Russell Edwards of Variety called it "amusing if overlong."[1] James Mudge of Beyond Hollywood described it as "a breath of fresh air" that "[refuses] to comply with the usual tired genre clichés."[7] Pierce Conran of Modern Korean Cinema wrote that it "transcends genre."[8] Kyu Hyun Kim of Koreanfilm.org wrote that it is "a superbly intelligent and supremely witty piece of entertainment."[9]
Kim Hye-soo received Best Actress nominations at the 48th Grand Bell Awards and the 32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards in 2011. She also won a Popular Star Award at the latter.
Awards and nominations
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48th Grand Bell Awards | Best Actress | Kim Hye-soo | Nominated |
| 32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards | Nominated | ||
| Popular Star Award | Won | ||