Waikiki Brothers is a 2001 South Korean film, set in the 1980s, about a group of high school friends who form a band. It was the opening film of the 2001 Jeonju International Film Festival.[1]
| Waikiki Brothers | |
|---|---|
 Waikiki Brothers film poster | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 와이키키 브라더스 |
| Revised Romanization | Waikiki beuradeoseu |
| McCune–Reischauer | Waik'ik'i pŭradŏsŭ |
| Directed by | Yim Soon-rye |
| Written by | Yim Soon-rye |
| Produced by | Lee Eun Shin Jae-myung |
| Starring | Lee Eol Hwang Jung-min Park Won-sang |
| Cinematography | Choi Gi-yeol |
| Edited by | Kim Sang-bum |
| Music by | Choi Sun-sik |
Release date |
|
Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
Plot
editWaikiki Brothers is a band going nowhere. After another depressing gig, the saxophonist quits, leaving the three remaining members - lead singer and guitarist Sung-woo (Lee Eol), keyboardist Jung-seok (Park Won-sang), and drummer Kang-soo (Hwang Jung-min), to continue on the road. The band ends up at Sung-woo's hometown, Suanbo, which was a popular hot spring resort in the '80s. The main resort now is the Waikiki Hotel, and their gig at the hotel nightclub starts well, until Jung-seok and Kang-soo start to play out their worst vices. For Sung-woo, the calm center of the band, the return home is filled with reservations of disappointments and a lost love. He reunites with his old high school friends, the original Waikiki Brothers, and finds them far from happy. He runs into In-hee (Oh Ji-hye), his unrequited first love. Now widowed, she seems desperate to try their relationship again. Sung-woo also runs into his old music teacher, Byung-joo, and tries to help him get work. But the band is fired from the nightclub and Sung-woo is forced to perform in karaoke bars. And, then, tragedy strikes when his high school classmate Soo-chul dies in an accident.
Cast
edit- Lee Eol - Sung-woo
- Park Hae-il - young Sung-woo
- Hwang Jung-min - Kang-soo
- Park Won-sang - Jung-seok
- Oh Kwang-rok - Hyun-gu
- Oh Ji-hye - In-hee
- Moon Hye-won - young In-hee
- Ryoo Seung-bum - Gi-tae
- Kim Jong-eon - young Soo-chul
- Jung Dae-yong - Min-soo
- Joo Jin-mo - man selling items at rest area
- Lee Dong-yong - Busan bum 1
- Lee Tae-ri - young In-ki - (credit as Lee Min-ho)
- Lee Bong-kyu - manager
- Han Ki-joong - Min-soo
Critical reception
editCine21 film critic Shim Young-seop said, "You can see how much (director) Im feels attached to the world. Though the characters are deceived by reality, they cannot hate the world; they still love it. Small-budgeted but artistic films such as Waikiki Brothers, films that depict modern ordinary Koreans as they truly are, those are the best movies and the most authentically Korean."[2][3][4]
Adaptation
editIn 2004, it inspired a musical titled Go! Waikiki Brothers starring North Korean defector Kim Young-un,[5] which also performed in Los Angeles in 2006.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Jeonju to Host Offbeat Film Fest". The Chosun Ilbo. 22 April 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ Chun, Su-jin (30 November 2001). "Critically Speaking". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ Chun, Su-jin (20 January 2002). "Subtitles, anyone?". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ Chun, Su-jin (13 August 2002). "Elvis never knew a Hawaii this blue". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ "Unknown". Retrieved 2023-11-20.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Park, Sung-ha (12 February 2006). "What's the next step for musical producers? Unite". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
External links
edit- Waikiki Brothers at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
- Waikiki Brothers at IMDb
- Waikiki Brothers at HanCinema
