A Hard Day
| A Hard Day | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Kim Seong-hun |
| Written by | Kim Seong-hun |
| Produced by | Cha Ji-hyeon Jang Won-seok |
| Starring | Lee Sun-kyun Cho Jin-woong |
| Cinematography | Kim Tae-seong |
| Edited by | Kim Chang-ju |
| Music by | Mok Young-jin |
Production companies | AD406 Dasepo Club |
| Distributed by | Showbox/Mediaplex |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
A Hard Day (Korean: 끝까지 간다; RR: Kkeutkkaji Ganda; lit. "Take It to the End") is a 2014 South Korean crime action thriller film directed by Kim Seong-hun, and starring Lee Sun-kyun and Cho Jin-woong.[1][2][3] It was selected to compete in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.[4][5][6][7]
Plot
Homicide detective Ko Gun-su is having a hard day. His mother passes away, then he and his colleagues are being investigated by the internal affairs over bribery charges. Then on his way to his mother's funeral, he drives recklessly and commits a fatal hit and run. He tries to cover-up the accident by hiding the man's corpse in his deceased mother's coffin. But someone has been watching all along, and Gun-su gets a mysterious call from a person claiming that he was the sole witness to the crime, who now begins to blackmail him.
Cast
- Lee Sun-kyun as Detective Ko Gun-su
- Cho Jin-woong as Lieutenant Park Chang-min
- Shin Jung-geun as Chief
- Jung Man-sik as Detective Choi Sang-ho
- Shin Dong-mi as Gun-su's younger sister
- Kim Dong-young as Detective Do Hee-chul
- Joo Seok-tae as Detective Nam
- Heo Jung-eun as Mina
- Park Bo-gum as Officer Lee Jin-ho
- Lee Jae-won as Jo Neung-hyun
- Jo Ha-seok as Lee Gwang-min
- Yoo Soon-woong as Funeral home director
- Lee Jang-yoo as Coffin rites instructor
- Jung Woo-hyuk as Funeral home security guard
- Byun Jung-hye as Funeral home female employee
- Jang In-sub as Officer Lee Dong-yun
- Bae Yoo-ram as Officer Shin Hyun-jin
- Kim Kyung-beom as Senior officer at DUI checkpoint
- Kim Seung-hoon as Taxi driver
- Kim Kang-hyun as Young-chul
- Song Young-gyu as Team leader of internal affairs
- Lee Ji-hoon as Officer in charge of police armory
- Nam Kyeong-eup as High ranking police official
- Kim Hae-gon as Piggybank owner
- Baek Jong-hwan as Piggybank employee
Reception
The film debuted to stellar reviews at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival in the Director's Fortnight sidebar, where it was praised by critics as a well-made thriller with unrelenting suspense and flashes of humor. Upon its release in South Korea on May 29, 2014, at first it didn't attract much attention or hype, with a lackluster 80,000 ticket sales on its opening day.[8] But through strong word of mouth from viewers, A Hard Day began an unexpectedly popular run at the box office, placing second place for four weeks behind Hollywood blockbusters X-Men: Days of Future Past and Edge of Tomorrow. It also outperformed other local noir thrillers with bigger stars, such as Man on High Heels and No Tears for the Dead. A Hard Day quickly reached its break-even point, garnering 1.6 million admissions 11 days after its release, and by its sixth week has drawn 3.08 million admissions, grossing US$26.1 million.[9][10][11][12][13]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Best Actor | Lee Sun-kyun | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Cho Jin-woong | Nominated | ||
| Best New Director | Kim Seong-hun | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Kim Seong-hun | Nominated | ||
| Critics' Top 10 | A Hard Day | Won | ||
| Best Film | A Hard Day | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Kim Seong-hun | Won | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Cho Jin-woong | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Kim Seong-hun | Nominated | ||
| Best Cinematography | Kim Tae-seong | Won | ||
| Best Editing | Kim Chang-ju | Nominated | ||
| Best Lighting | Kim Gyeong-seok | Won | ||
| Best Screenplay | Kim Seong-hun | Won | ||
| Technical Award | Oh So-ra (sound designer) |
Won | ||
| Best Film | A Hard Day | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Kim Seong-hun | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor | Lee Sun-kyun | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Cho Jin-woong | Won | ||
| Best Screenplay | Kim Seong-hun | Won | ||
| Best Cinematography | Kim Tae-seong | Nominated | ||
| Best Editing | Kim Chang-ju | Won | ||
| Best Lighting | Kim Gyeong-seok | Nominated | ||
| 2015 | Best Director | Kim Seong-hun | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Cho Jin-woong | Won | ||
| Best Director (Grand Prix) | Kim Seong-hun | Won | ||
| Best Actor | Lee Sun-kyun | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay | Kim Seong-hun | Nominated | ||
| Technical Award | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Cho Jin-woong | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenwriter | Kim Seong-hun | Nominated | ||
| Best Editor | Kim Chang-ju | Nominated | ||
| Best Film | A Hard Day | Pending | ||
| Best Director | Kim Seong-hun | Pending | ||
| Best Actor | Lee Sun-kyun | Pending | ||
| Cho Jin-woong | Pending | |||
| Best Screenplay | Kim Seong-hun | Pending |
References
- ^ "Second Time Lucky for Obscure Korean Film Director". The Chosun Ilbo. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^ Im, Ju-ri (7 June 2014). "A Hard Day director's last chance for success". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
- ^ Kim, Hee-eun (18 April 2014). "Two hot actors to star in new thriller". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ Chang, Justin (22 April 2014). "Cannes: Whiplash, Cold in July Set to Screen at Directors' Fortnight". Variety. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ Cremin, Stephen (22 April 2014). "Directors' Fortnight adds two Asian features". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ Conran, Pierce (23 April 2014). "Director's Fortnight to Have A HARD DAY". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ Tae, Sang-joon (10 June 2014). "A HARD DAY Sells to 30+ Countries". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
- ^ "Hard Day Steadily Draws Viewers". The Chosun Ilbo. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
- ^ Ha, Sung-tae (16 June 2014). "Box Office: May 29 - June 11, 2014". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
- ^ Baek, Byung-yeul (22 June 2014). "A Hard Day defies predictions at the box office". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
- ^ Conran, Pierce (30 June 2014). "Box Office: June 12 – 25, 2014". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
- ^ "A Hard Day racks up ticket sales, Lee Seon-kyun reflects on its success". Dramabeans. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (7 July 2014). "Transformers 4 Holds on to Korean Box Office Lead". Variety. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
- ^ Kim, June (6 October 2014). "SHIM Eun-kyung, SONG Kang-ho, HONG Sangsoo and ROARING CURRENTS Win at 23rd Buil Film Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-10-09.
- ^ Kim, June (12 November 2014). "The 51st Daejong Film Awards Nominations Announced". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-11-12.
- ^ Conran, Pierce (24 November 2014). "ROARING CURRENTS Tops 51st Daejong Film Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-11-25.
- ^ Kim, June (18 December 2014). "35th Blue Dragon Awards Names THE ATTORNEY Best Film". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
- ^ Ma, Kevin (18 December 2014). "Attorney wins four at Blue Dragon Awards". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
- ^ "Han Gong-ju picked as best film of 2014 by Korean film reporters". The Korea Herald. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
- ^ Ma, Kevin (9 March 2015). "Hard Day leads Chunsa Film Art nominations". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
- ^ Yoon, Ina (4 March 2015). "Korean Films and Artists Nominated for the Asian Film Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
External links
- Official website Template:Ko icon
- A Hard Day at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
- A Hard Day at IMDb
- A Hard Day at HanCinema
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