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KOREA JOONGANG DAILY

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

CULTURE

MOVIE

Face Reader a smart,

gorgeous tale of destiny
BY CARLA SUNWOO

Monsters University tells the story

of Mike and Sullys college days before
they joined the scaring business.
Provided by Walt Disney Company Korea

MONSTERS CREATORS COME TO KOREA

BY CARLA SUNWOO

Twelve years after the world fell in

love with the adorable monsters Sully
and Mike, Pixar has finally delivered
a second installment.
Rather than continuing their stories, however, Monsters University
is a prequel, showing how Mike and
Sully met at Monsters University, of
course. Just like the original (and all
Pixar films), the animation in Monsters University is a feast for the eyes,
while the story is full of laughs and a
few tugs on the heartstrings. Who
knew that life for a cute freshman
monster would be so hard?
To promote the film, director Dan
Scanlon and producer Kori Rae paid a
visit to Seoul last week, explaining
why it took so long to bring about a
prequel.
We always wait for a good idea,
said Rae, stating that the company
wasnt interested in churning out one
sequel after another just because it
could.
As soon as we wanted to come
back to the monster world, we really
wanted to explore the relationship
[between the two characters] more. We
wanted to revisit that and explore it a
little further.
The heart of Pixars 14th release
lay in getting the setting right: Mon-

sters University.
Because its been a while since
we graduated from a university, we
had to do thorough research, said
Scanlon.
Rae said they toured universities
around the country, mostly on the East
Coast, as well as some in California
where Pixar is. Story artists, production designers, director, producer, and
key crew members all went on tour to
get a look and feel for the sake of authenticity, said Rae.
After grasping just how classrooms, buildings and messy dorm
rooms look and feel, Scanlon said the
ultimate challenge was the process
called monsterizing.
Its something we did first. Making buildings and sets bigger and
stronger to accommodate monsters of
all shapes and sizes, he said.

There were also many minor

touches to complete the process, such
as adding fans, horns and claws to
doors, buildings and windows.
If possible, we added faces to
buildings to make it look scarier,
Scanlon said. Even trees have scales,
if you look closely.
Then there were the students to
create jock monsters, nerd monsters,
goth monsters and all the other student
types.
The end result: We came up with
over 300 background monsters,
boasted Scanlon.
The heros of Monsters University are a bit different from the first goaround, too.
Mike is slimmer, brighter, eye a
little bigger and wears a retainer, explained Rae. Sully is not as big,
shoulders not so broad and not yet

Producer Kori Rae, left, and director Dan Scanlon, in Seoul last week.

bulked up to be the superstar scarer.

With the setting and characters
complete, then came the fun part
storyboarding.
We drew every frame of the movie, so we can place these sideboards
side by side to see how it unfolds,
Scanlon said.
It was no quick job, as there were
227,000 storyboards created, the most
ever at Pixar, according to Scanlon.
As the story progressed, it changed
focus slightly from Sully to Mike.
Initially, we tried to make it about
Sully, but we realized that this story
was Mikes, said Rae.
Although there was some pressure
and doubts about how the prequel
would stack up against the original,
the duo said that they put their focus
on telling a story.
Prequels are tricky, trying to tell a
story that is its own film is a challenge, said Scanlon, while Rae added
that thats why they worked hard to
dig deep, to uncover stuff about the
characters you never knew.
Ahead of the Korea release yesterday, the film already broke the $700
million mark worldwide last month,
becoming the fourth-biggest film this
year and the fourth-biggest Pixar movie ever, following Toy Story 3,
Finding Nemo and Up.
carlasunwoo@joongang.co.kr

With an all-star cast of Song Kang-ho,

Lee Jung-jae, Baek Yoon-shik and Kim
Hye-soo, you might think Face Reader has the makings of a hit and
youd be right.
Released on Wednesday, Face
Reader is already dominating the box
office, earning 2.5 billion won ($2.30
million) on Wednesday alone and accounting for 78 percent of the days
ticket sales.
Set in the Joseon Dynasty (13921897), Face Reader is a tragic yet
moving story about a group of people
whose destinies are intertwined
around a man with a nearly magical
ability to read faces.
The face reader in question, Naekyung (Song), has been living a humble life in the mountains with his son
(Lee Jong-suk) and brother-in-law
Paeng-heon (Jo Jung-suk), when
Yeon-hong (Kim), madame of a wellknown brothel in the capital city Hanyang, comes offering a business proposal.
Tempted by the possibility of turning things around for himself and his
son and brother-in-law, Nae-kyung
sets out for the capital.
Once there, its not long until Naekyungs knack for reading faces and
the future is discovered by members of
the royal court. After a few twists and
turns, Nae-kyung is brought to the
court to advise the king and highranking officials.
The first half of the movie is full of
laughs, in particular Paeng-heon as a
fish-out-of-water in the big city.
But all good things must come to
an end, as troubles close to the king
begin to loom over Nae-kyung, too.
Before long, Nae-kyung finds himself
in the middle of a power struggle between Grand Prince Soo-yang (Lee
Jung-jae) and the faithful scholar Kim
Jong-seo (Baek).
Although the plot is somewhat
predictable, the storytelling is done
with style and all the actors bring
much nuance and depth to their roles.

In particular, Kim and Lee (Jung-jae)

are riveting as ambitious, calculating
and charismatic characters, both bringing unique forms of charisma.
Song, as always, has a strong presence on screen, displaying an array of
emotions and behaviors, sometimes
lazy, others drunk, but more importantly a father who is willing to put his
life on the line for the sake of his only
son. Paeng-heon, Nae-kyungs brother-in-law and sidekick, brings humor,
while bad boy Prince Soo-yang is a
forceful villain, as fascinating as he is
cruel and scary. Newbie Lee Jong-suk
also proves his worth as a rising Hallyu star.
In addition to the superb casting of
some of Koreas finest actors, the cinematography, costumes and set designs are truly delightful. The pace of
the story galloping toward doom
is fast enough to keep the viewers
attuned.
However, it does not take a magical
face reader to guess how this tale will
unfold, and most viewers will be able
to guess the ending.
Although the movie kicks off with
laughs, its not long before jokes give
way to a more sinister, action-packed
sequence of events. But unlike the
non-stop frenzy of summer blockbusters, there is thoughtfulness and nuance in Face Reader that lurks behind each pull of the bow and swipe
of the sword.
The movie transcends just the subject of reading character and faces,
touching on the value and significance
of family. The irony of subscribing to a
world belief system based on destiny
is questioned and the ending leaves
viewers wondering about whether the
story was really fate or a series of selffulfilling prophecies. Or, as Nae-kyung
puts so eloquently, knowing how
high the waves will be dont stop them
from crashing down.
Face Reader is a superb tale that
asks big questions about life but also
highlights the mundane, precious moments that inevitably lead to death.
carlasunwoo@joongang.co.kr

Song Kang-ho stars in Face Reader as Nae-kyung, a man with a special gift for
Provided by Showbox
knowing people just by examining their faces.

NOW PLAYING
The Wind Rises (All)
Animation, Drama / 126 / Japanese

Reportedly the last film by famed

animator Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind
Rises is based on the true story of Jiro
Horikoshi, the aeronautics engineer who
designed the famed Japanese plane
Mitsubishi A6M Zero.
Yet The Wind Rises is more than just
about the history of a famous plane; it
is also a love story between Jiro and
Naoko, a delicate girl who Jiro meets on
a train one day and falls in love with.
Of course, being a Miyazaki film, this
movie is also full of spectacular animation and flights of fancy, including
dream sequences of Jiro flying with
fantastic flying machines.
All the while, the Japanese war machine
continues to be built. Unfortunately,
Miyazaki never really confronts this part
of Japanese history; but for his fans,
The Wind Rises is a splendid example
of the masters craft.

Fu-shing.
One night, a Hong Kong police van carrying the forces most advanced equipment and five highly trained officers is
hijacked and disappears. The hijackers
leave an anonymous call implying that
they have inside knowledge about the
police force, quickly drawing the attention of the polices top brass.
But with the police commissioner
(Michael Wong in a cameo) out of town,
deputy commissioner of police operations M.B. Lee (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) is in
charge, and Lee, as the father of one of
the missing cops, is emotionally compromised. An attempted rescue mission
soon leads to a huge leadership crisis,
as Lee and other top police struggle for
control of the force.
The action-packed crime drama triumphed at the Hong Kong Film Awards
in April, winning in nine categories,
including best film, best director and
best actor.

Killing Season (19 )

Action / 91 / English

Cold War (15 )

Action, Crime / 102 / Chinese
Writer-directors Longman Leung and
Sunny Luk have created an upscale
police thriller starring award-winning actor Tony Leung Ka-fai and popular Hong
Kong singer and film actor Aaron Kwok

Two veterans of the Bosnian War, one

American and one Serbian, clash in the
Appalachian Mountains. A former American soldier, Benjamin Ford (played by
Robert De Niro) escaped into the woods

because of guilt from the war. There, he

bumps into Emil Kovac (played by John
Travolta), a former Serbian soldier who
is posing as a tourist, but who is really
seeking revenge against Ford.
The film depicts the psychological
wounds caused by war and the contrast
between guilt and anger.
Despite the star power brought by De
Niro and Travolta, Killing Season
tanked in the United States and earned
generally poor reviews. But who knows?
Perhaps it can find new life in international markets like Korea.

The Bling Ring (19 )

Drama / 95 / English
Living in suburbia can get boring.
The same mundane routine where
everything is just above average is
almost maddening until you add a
bit of crime into the mix. Based on true
events (loosely based, of course), The
Bling Ring follows several party-going
teenagers as they rummage and raid
the houses of Hollywoods best-known
celebrities like Orlando Bloom and
Lindsay Lohan.
In one of the most famous cases depicted in the film, the teens sneak into Paris
Hiltons mansion while the heiress is
hosting a party in Las Vegas and proceed
to shower themselves with her clothes,
jewelry and cash. The Tinseltown thieves
Rebecca (Katie Chang), Marc (Israel
Broussard), Nicki (Emma Watson) and
Chloe (Claire Julien) are not exactly
burglary masterminds. Through a few
clicks around the Internet, the teens
quickly discover when the celebrities are
away and where they live.
Director Sofia Coppola, famed for her

films The Virgin Suicides (1999) and

Lost in Translation (2003), depicts the
vanity and audacity of the less-thanremorseful teenage gang. Not only do
they want what they cant have, but
also they cant seem to understand
why.

Now You See Me (12 )

Thriller, Action / 115 / English
Directed by Louis Leterrier of Clash
of the Titans (2010) fame, this sleightof-hand thriller boasts an impressive
ensemble cast, including Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Jesse
Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.
Now You See Me is the story about
four talented magicians (played by Harrelson, Fisher, Franco and Eisenberg)
who are mysteriously invited to an
apartment in New York City, where they
find a strange message in the form of a
fantastic hologram.
A year later, the magicians have become
one of the most popular acts in Las Vegas, calling themselves the Four Horsemen. But at one show, their magic
trick apparently involves an amazing,
international bank heist, stealing money
from a Paris bank and then showering
the Vegas audience with the cash.
At this point, FBI agent Dylan Rhodes
(Ruffalo) gets involved, teaming up with
Interpol agent Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent) to stop the unusual thieves.
But more than just thieves, the Four
Horsemen and their benefactor have
reasons for their very unusual magic act.

Spy (15)
Comedy, Action / 121 / Korean

In a Korean take on the Hollywood film

True Lies (which in turn was a remake
from a French movie), Sol Kyung-gu
plays a deadly agent, Chul-su, who has
kept his dangerous job a secret from his
flight attendant wife, Young-hee (Moon
So-ri), for years.
But when Chul-su suddenly takes off on
a secret mission to Thailand at the same
time Young-hee had scheduled a visit to
the fertility clinic, his wife erupts in anger. Coincidentally, however, Young-hee
also chooses Thailand as her destination
to let off a little steam.
While enjoying a few days in Bangkok,
Young-hee meets a mysterious stranger,
played by Daniel Henney, who takes a
serious interest in her. Chul-su sees this
happening, but he cannot reveal himself
because of his job and is forced to watch
the handsome man flirting with his wife.
But as the stranger keeps bumping into
Young-hee, Chul-su begins to realize
there is more going on than meets the
eye. As Chul-su tries to discover the
truth without being identified, the farcical comedy quickly ratchets up.

Elysium (19 )
Action / 109 / English
The second feature film from Neill
Blomkamp, the man who brought us the

politically charged sci-fi hit District 9,

this movie was tipped to be one of the
biggest hits of summer.
The film portrays a grim future, where
the rich have deserted the planet, starting afresh on the massive orbiting satellite the Elysium, a habitat just a shuttle
ride away from Earth. It is the plight of
those left behind to slave away, loot and
eventually die from illness while those
orbiting above live the high life.
Matt Damon plays Max, one of the lowly
have-nots stuck on Earth. But after he
comes down with a terminal case of
cancer, Max is determined to make it to
Elysium, where they have the technology to cure him. The film also stars
Jodie Foster playing a cold-hearted
government official, very similar to the
eccentric villain played by Tilda Swinton
in the Korean hit film Snowpiercer.
The two films, both released over the
summer, drew a lot of comparisons
from critics as they both grapple with
the notion of class in a futuristic world.

More information is available on the

Web sites listed below
Arthouse Momo
CJ CGV
Daehan Cinema
Hypertheque Nada
Land Cinema
Lotte Cinema
Megabox
MMC
Primus Cinema
Sangsang Madang
Seoul Cinema
Sponge House

www.cineart.co.kr
www.cgv.co.kr
www.daehancinema.co.kr
www.dsartcenter.co.kr
www.landcinema.co.kr
www.lottecinema.co.kr
www.megabox.co.kr
www.mmc24.co.kr
www.primuscinema.com
www.sangsangmadang.
com/cinema
www.seoulcinema.com
cafe.naver.com/
spongehouse.cafe

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