Friend (2001 movie)

2001 film by Kwak Kyung-taek

Friend is a South Korean movie released on March 31, 2001. It was made by director Kwak Kyung-taek. Jang Dong-gun and Yu Oh-seong played the lead roles in the movie. The movie is about 4 friends. It covers from their childhood to their adulthood in which they come into a conflict. The movie was almost filmed in Busan and Busan dialect became very sensational after this movie. A lot of actors and actresses in the movie are really from Busan so they have no difficulty in using Busan dialect. Even the director Kwak Kyung-taek is from Busan.

Background

change

This movie was made motivated by the real experience of the director Kwak Kyung-taek and the real event. 'Sang-taek'(Seo Tae-hwa) is a character that reflects the director Kwak Kyung-taek. This movie is motivated by a real murder case that happened in Busan in 1993. 'June-seok' (Yu Oh-seong) is similar to the real friend of the director Kwak Kyung-taek, a member of a gang. 'Dong-su' (Jang Dong-gun) is similar to the boss of another gang, who is real friend of the director Kwak Kyung-taek.

In 1976, age thirteen, 'June-seok' (Yu Oh-seong), 'Dong-su' (Jang Dong-gun), 'Sang-taek' (Seo Tae-hwa), and 'Jung-Ho' (Jeong Woon-Taek) are always together and they are best friends. They have nothing to be afraid of when they are together. However, as they grow up, there comes a conflict among them. 'Dong-su' has an inferiority complex to 'june-seok' and their relationship becomes distant. When they become twenty, their lives become very different. 'Jung-Ho' and 'sang-taek' go to university. June-seok becomes a boss of a gang group after his father died, who was a boss of the group. However, 'Dong-su' becomes the member of a gang that is against to the 'June-seok's group. 'June-seok' and 'Dong-su' becomes more distant. After a few years, 'Sang-Taek' is planning to go to America to go to the graduate school. He wants to meet their friends before he leaves but nobody appears in the airport when he leaves. He has an unlucky premonition as he leaves Korea. Finally, there comes a serious conflict between 'Dong-su' and 'June-seok' after that.

References

change