My Scary Girl (Korean달콤, 살벌한 연인; lit. "Sweet, Bloodthirsty Lover") is a 2006 South Korean black/romantic comedy film written and directed by Son Jae-gon.[2][3]

My Scary Girl
Korean name
Hangul
달콤, 살벌한 연인
Hanja
달콤, 殺伐한 戀人
Revised RomanizationDalkom, Salbeolhan Yeonin
McCune–ReischauerTalk'om, Salbŏrhan Yŏnin
Directed bySon Jae-gon
Written bySon Jae-gon
Produced byKim Kwon-tae
Kim Jeong-ho
Kim Nam-won
StarringPark Yong-woo
Choi Kang-hee
CinematographyHa Jae-young
Edited byShin Min-kyung
Music byNa Ha-na
Production
companies
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release date
  • April 6, 2006 (2006-04-06)
Running time
110 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
BudgetUS$800,000
Box officeUS$13,500,403[1]

With a relatively low budget and lead actors who were not particularly famous at the time, My Scary Girl became a sleeper hit and the tenth top-selling domestic film of the year with 2,286,745 tickets sold.[4][5][6]

Plot

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29-year-old Hwang Dae-woo (Park Yong-woo) is a successful university lecturer of English, yet due to his awkward and shy nature around women, has yet to engage in any romantic relationship. When art major student Lee Mi-na (Choi Kang-hee) suddenly moves into his apartment complex, Dae-woo asks her out, and finds himself in an almost-too-good-to-be-true relationship. Yet, Mi-na seems to be hiding something sinister, and Dae-woo encounters a rather interesting twist to his fairy-tale-like first love.[7][8][9][10]

Cast

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  • Park Yong-woo as Hwang Dae-woo
  • Choi Kang-hee as Lee Mi-na
  • Jo Eun-ji as Baek Jang-mi
  • Jeong Kyeong-ho as Kye-dong
  • Jo Young-gyu as Sung-shik
  • Lee Hee-do as Attorney Min
  • Sunwoo Sun as Jung-hwa
  • Jeon Se-hong as female employee's friend
  • Kwak Min-seok as psychiatrist
  • Kim Ki-cheon as truck driver
  • Jo Seok-hyeon as neighborhood scamp
  • Oh Yoo-jin as secretary

Awards and nominations

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2006 Busan Film Critics Awards

  • Best Screenplay: Son Jae-gon

2006 Blue Dragon Film Awards

  • Nomination - Best Actress: Choi Kang-hee
  • Nomination - Best Screenplay: Son Jae-gon
  • Nomination - Best New Director: Son Jae-gon

2006 Korean Film Awards

  • Best Screenplay: Son Jae-gon

2006 Director's Cut Awards[11]

  • Best New Director: Son Jae-gon

2007 Asian Film Awards

  • Nomination - Best Screenwriter: Son Jae-gon

2007 Baeksang Arts Awards

  • Nomination - Best Screenplay: Son Jae-gon
  • Nomination - Best New Director: Son Jae-gon

Musical theatre adaptation

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A musical based on My Scary Girl was selected for the second Daegu International Music Festival.[12] Its book and lyrics were written by Kang Kyoung-ae, and music composed by Will Aronson. The show received funding for further development and was performed publicly at the Daegu Bongsan Culture Center from July 5 to 6, 2008.[13] A full production ran in Seoul in 2009, starring Shin Sung-rok.[14] The show was designated Best Original Musical in the small theater category at the 2009 Korea Musical Awards.

An American version of the musical was selected by the Barrington Stage Company for the 2008 Musical Theater Lab. This workshop production was performed from July 10 to 26, 2008. This version had a book written by Kang Kyoung-ae and Mark St. Germain, music composed by Will Aronson, lyrics written by Kang Kyoung-ae, and additional lyrics contributed by William Finn.[15]

As part of an international exchange program with the Daegu International Musical Festival, the New York Musical Theatre Festival presented the Korean version of My Scary Girl on October 1 to 4, 2009 at the Acorn Theater in New York City.[16][17] My Scary Girl was selected as the Outstanding New Musical in the festival.[18][19] In addition, Bang Jin-ui won an award for Outstanding Individual Performance,[20] and Honorable Mention citations were earned by Will Aronson for Excellence in Writing: Music, Kang Kyoung-ae for Excellence in Writing: Book, Byun Jung-joo for Excellence in Direction, and the cast for Outstanding Ensemble Performance.

References

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  1. ^ "Dalkom Salbeolhan Yeon-in (My Scary Girl)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  2. ^ "Son Jae-Gon Talks 달콤, 살벌한 연인 (My Scary Girl)". Twitch Film. 16 April 2006. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  3. ^ "Herald Interview: Actor on a roll but still hungry". The Korea Herald via Hancinema. 5 April 2006. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
  4. ^ "Korean Box Office Report - April 7/9". Twitch Film. 10 April 2006. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
  5. ^ "Movie Sweet, Scary Lover tops box office for three weeks". KBS Global. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
  6. ^ "The Best Selling Films of 2006". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
  7. ^ Paquet, Darcy. "My Scary Girl". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  8. ^ Kim, Tae-jong (6 April 2006). "Scary Turns Love Comedy on Its Head". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
  9. ^ Lee, Min-a (28 March 2006). "Black comedy slides into the grey zone". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
  10. ^ Park, Soo-mee (29 August 2006). "Sweet, pretty and slightly murderous". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  11. ^ Yi, Chang-ho (28 December 2006). "Director's Cut Awards Diversity of Films". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
  12. ^ Chung, Ah-young (17 June 2008). "Daegu Intl Musical Festival Kicks Off". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  13. ^ "Korean Musical My Scary Girl Debuts". KBS World. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  14. ^ Chung, Ah-young (23 March 2009). "Shin Flies High in My Scary Girl". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  15. ^ Chung, Ah-young (9 April 2008). "My Scary Girl, Musical to Debut in United States". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  16. ^ Chung, Ah-young (24 June 2009). "Musical My Scary Girl to Hit Stage in New York". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  17. ^ Chung, Ah-young (27 September 2009). "Musical My Scary Girl Goes to Broadway". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  18. ^ Chung, Ah-young (2 November 2009). "My Scary Girl Wins Two Awards at NYMF". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  19. ^ Kim, Lynn (2 November 2009). "My Scary Girl wins two awards at musical festival". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  20. ^ "Bang Jin-ui Wins New York Musical Award". The Chosun Ilbo. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
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