Romantic Heaven (Korean: 로맨틱 헤븐; RR: Romaentik Hebeun) is a 2011 South Korean melodrama about fate, love, loss, and redemption.[2][3]
| Romantic Heaven | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jang Jin |
| Written by | Jang Jin |
| Produced by | Kang Woo-suk |
| Starring | Kim Su-ro Kim Dong-wook Kim Ji-won |
| Cinematography | Kim Jun-young |
| Music by | Lee Byung-woo |
| Distributed by | Cinema Service |
Release date |
|
Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Box office | US$488,024[1] |
Though the premise is sentimental, dealing with a variety of characters and their relationships in both life and the afterlife, it is very much in line with writer-director Jang Jin's previous works, combining elements of several different genres, including romance, comedy, drama, ghost and even police thriller into an eccentric, playful and imaginative film.[4][5]
Plot
editThree seemingly disconnected people cross paths at a hospital: Part one, "Mom," focuses on the character of Mimi, whose mother is battling cancer, and needs a bone marrow transplant if she is to have any hope of surviving. With great difficulty, doctors identify a potential donor, but then the man goes into flight after being accused of murder. Hoping to find him, Mimi becomes acquainted with the police detectives assigned to his case. Part two, "Wife," concerns a lawyer named Min-gyu who has recently lost his spouse. Amidst his grief, he is distracted by the fact that he can't find a bag that she had brought with her to the hospital, and which contained her personal diary. In the meantime, he is visited by an ex-convict who has a score to settle. Part three, "Girl," focuses on Ji-wook, a taxi driver whose grandfather is on the verge of death. One day his grandmother tells him that for all of his life, her husband has been unable to forget a young woman he met in his youth. It is in part four, "Romantic Heaven," that the various threads are brought together and ultimately resolved. As fate would have it, their counterparts are gazing down upon their loved ones from heaven, dealing with their own version of remorse and regret.[4][6][7]
Cast
edit- Kim Su-ro as Song Min-gyu
- Kim Dong-wook as Dong Ji-wook
- Kim Ji-won as Choi Mimi
- Lee Soon-jae as old man (God)
- Shim Eun-kyung as Kim Boon as a girl
- Im Won-hee as Detective Kim
- Kim Won-hae as Detective Park
- Lee Han-wi as Peter, the secretary
- Jeon Yang-ja as grandma
- Kim Dong-joo as Mimi's mother
- Lee Moon-soo as Ha-yeon's father
- Kim Byung-ok as manhole man
- Kim Jun-bae as Jang Heo-soo
- Lee Yong-yi as Kim Boon as an old woman
- Kim Jae-gun as old man
- Lee Chul-min as Eung-shik
- Lee Na-ra as Yoon-joo
- Jung Gyu-soo as Ji-wook's doctor
- Lee Jae-yong as Mimi's doctor
- Kim Il-woong as Lee Kang-shik
- Seo Joo-ae as Park Joon-hee
- Lee Sang-hoon as deputy director of taxi company
- Kim Do-yeon as Person from heaven
- Kong Ho-seok as judge
- Yoo Sun as Yeom Kyeong-ja (cameo)
- Han Jae-suk as stalker (cameo)
- Kim Mu-yeol as Dong Chi-sung (cameo)
Awards
edit| Award | Year | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30th Fajr International Film Festival International Cinema Competition (Eastern Vista, Asian Cinema) | 2012 | Crystal Simorgh for Best Screenplay | Romantic Heaven | Won | [8][9] |
References
edit- ^ "Romantic Heaven (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
- ^ Kim, No-ah (24 March 2011). "This Week's Cultural News". Arirang News. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ "Director Jang Jin, "Kim Soo-ro was different than usual"". Hancinema. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ a b Mudge, James (16 August 2011). "Romantic Heaven (2011) Movie Review". Beyond Hollywood. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Lee, Ga-on (30 March 2011). "Film director Jang Jin's Song Picks". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ Paquet, Darcy. "Romantic Heaven". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
- ^ Kerr, Elizabeth (21 March 2011). "Romantic Heaven: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ "The Winners of International Cinema Competition of 30th FIFF Announced". Fajr International Film Festival. 6 February 2012. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ "Drama on racism in France crowned best film at Iranian festival". Tehran Times. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014.
External links
edit- Official website (in Korean)
- Romantic Heaven at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
- Romantic Heaven at IMDb
- Romantic Heaven at HanCinema