Girl Scouts

Director

Kim Sang Man(김상만)

Cast

Kim Seon-ah

Nah Mun-hee

Lee Kyoung Sil

Go Jun Hee

Park Won-sang

Lim Ji-eun

Park Hyuk-kwon

Kim Hyeong-ki

Yang Gi Won

No pain, no gain for the streetwise ajumma squad

Life is tough for four ajumma, or housewives, in “Girl Scouts,” an action comedy directed by Kim Sang-man. The film was released last Thursday. It is the only Korean film that was included among the top five ranking, as of Monday. The film takes place in Bongcheon-3 dong, a deprived area in Seoul where this aggressive middle-aged squad lives. The squad members are I-man (Na Moon-hee), a woman in her 60s working at a supermarket to look after her unemployed son; Bong-soon (Lee Kyung-sil), a widow who lives with an ill child; Mi-kyung (Kim Sun-ah), a divorcee; and Eun-ji (Ko Jun-hee), a caddie. The four women are determined to raise the money to open up a store in their neighborhood. It is their sole hope and dream. Though they try their best, they are hit by a piece of news that comes at them like a bolt from the blue. Hye-ran (Lim Ji-eun), who used to be one of the squad members and who is in charge of their collective savings, runs away. The four ajumma, ranging from their 20s to 60s, chase down Hye-ran. Mi-kyung, in her 20s, is the main character in the film. She aggressively drives a yellow van, and in one scene she makes a dramatic 360-degree turn in the road while giving chase. Her scenes, though, are more serious than comic. “I made an agreement with the director that the character shouldn’t be funny,” Kim said. “Mi-kyung is a divorcee with a child to look after. Her life is tense.” If Mi-kyung made people laugh, the story wouldn’t be realistic or deep, according to the actress. Instead, Mi-kyung responds to other comic plays. It was challenging for the unmarried Kim to be an ajumma. During the pre-production meetings, the crew and the director wondered if Mi-kyung should be married with or without kids or just remain single. “The life of a married mother with kids is more complicated,” the director told Kim after the meeting. And the actress agreed. “Mothers who look after children tend to be stronger,” Kim says. “Despite life’s up and downs, they [single mothers] have a reason to live ? their kids.” The actress explained that Mi-kyung becomes more resistant and mentally much tougher when Hye-ran kidnaps her daughter. Kim believes the film’s emotions are based on similar events that have taken place in real life. “In most films and dramas, ajumma appear with tight perms and loose pants,” Kim says. But she questions whether housewives really dress like this these days. “No matter how poor their living conditions, middle-aged women rarely wear loose pants,” Kim says, according to her observations. Instead of baggy pantaloons, Kim shot her scenes wearing three T-shirts, two pants and one pair of sneakers. That’s all she needed, though later on, one shoe wore through. “It’s probably because I had so many action scenes,” she said. In fact, Kim’s experience on the set proved to be a physical one. She showed her swollen anklebones and legs due to the shoot. And that’s not all. While shooting, “Yesterday” (2002), she hurt her pelvis ? there were many kicking scenes. “I can still feel the pain,” she says. While filming “She’s On Duty” (2005), Kim’s legs were always swollen, she said, because she had to run so much. “I always had to wear my ankle brace and a slip-on compression wristband,” Kim said. To Kim, however, the level of scars or aches are in proportion to how earnest or eager she was in the film. As they say, no pain, no gain. “I’m most happy when I’m asked if making the film was a painful experience,” she said. “The aches I receive reflect the amount of effort I put into the film.”

Korean movies leap into box-office fray

In late April, Iron Man arrived in the Korean cinema, smashing the box office into very profitable pieces. In mid-May, Prince Caspian took the baton and kept up the pressure on Korean competitors. Last weekend, whip-wielding Indy joined the Hollywood-only party, roped in plenty of movie tickets sales. The bombardment of Hollywood films dragged down the share of Korean films to a record low. But the bleak development was widely predicted since only a couple of new Korean releases were made. June might be slightly different, as eight Korean movies are set for release. "Girl Scout", directed by Kim Sang-man, will hit theaters on June 5, featuring well-known actors such as Kim Seon-ah, Nah Moon-hee, Lee Kyeong-sil. The film will test whether the audiences still have an appetite for a chase-the-money drama with fewer funny moments than publicized. Waiting in line for the June 12 release are four Korean films: "Life is Cool", "Beyond All Magic", "Spare" and "Like Father, Like Son". "Life is Cool", directed by Choi Ik-hwan, will introduce a love story where three men fall in love with the same woman. The film uses "anigraphics", putting together conventional shooting of real actors and animation. Kim Soo-ro, Kang Seong-jin, Kim Jin-soo play three close friends competing for the affection of a woman played by Park Ye-jin. While "Life is Cool" is about three men, "Beyond All Magic" (Heuksim-monyeo) is about three women falling for the same good-looking guy (played by Lee Sang-woo). Directed by Jo Nam-ho, this comic fantasy relies on the reputations of veteran actors, such as Shim Hye-jin and Kim Soo-mi. "Spare", first introduced at the Pusan International Film Festival last year, will feature well-organized action performances from the Korean and Japanese cast. Director Lee Seong-han, who started to work on the film in 2006, finally brings his debut feature to theaters, but the competition will be tough. "Like Father, Like Son", director Lee Moo-yeong's third film, portrays a rock musician who reunites with his son after a 15-year separation. A real drama begins to unfold when the two characters have to live together with a woman named 'Marie'. The film stars Kim Sang-joong as the father and Kim Heung-soo as his son, and Yoo In-yeong plays Marie. A bigger Korean film project will come out on June 19. "Public Enemy Returns", the third installment of the police action series helmed by director Kang Woo-seok, will bring back the foul-mouthed yet justice-obsessed police detective Gang Cheol-jung played by Seol Kyeong-gu. The original "Public Enemy" was a commercial hit in 2002, and the sequel "Another Public Enemy" ("Public Enemy 2" in 2005 fared relatively well. Expectations for the third one are building, not least because it has a solid supporting cast, including Jeong Jae-yeong, Lee Moon-sik and Yoo Hae-jin, and the screenplay is written by Jang Jin, a popular filmmaker. "Crossing", to be released on June 26, is one of the most notable Korean films this summer, largely due to its realistic depiction of North Korean defectors. Directed by Kim Tae-gyoon, the film stars Cha In-pyo as a North Korean who crosses the Chinese border to get food and medicine for his ailing wife, only to find himself on the run. His 11-year-old son (Sin Myeong-cheol) also risks his life to trace his father in China. Shot in Korea, Mongolia and China between July and September last year, "Crossing" portrays the plight of North Koreans desperate to survive in a way that raises the awareness about this serious issue. Set for release on the same day as "Crossing" but with a far brighter tone is "My Mighty Princess". Directed by kwak Jae-Yong, this romantic comedy stars Sin Min-ah as a female college student armed with unexpectedly good skills in martial arts, and the storyline revolves around her topsy-turvy quest for her Mr. Right. The eight Korean films will surely make some headway in their concerted efforts to fight off the attacks from their Hollywood counterparts, but the fight will be nothing if not tantalizing and cutthroat. The tantalizing aspect will come from "Sex and the City: The Movie", which makes its debut June 5. The big-screen adaptation of the hit HBO series will reunite Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, and given that Korea has a solid female fan base for the four fashionable New Yorkers, the R-rated film is expected to sashay the box-office runway with some confidence. The cutthroat front has two muscular players: "Kung Fu Panda" and "The Incredible Hulk". The most feared adversary of the two is a pot-bellied panda named Po. The podgy panda turns into an unlikely kung fu hero in a clever animated marital arts adventure by the DreamWorks Animation team known for its "Shrek" franchise. The beautifully rendered graphics and intricately organized animated sequences give the film enhanced dramatic effect, and it will strongly appeal to audiences of all age groups when it opens on June 5. "The Incredible Hulk", based on the classic Marvel Comics superhero, depicts Bruce Banner (Edward Norton), a mild-mannered scientist who has been traveling the world to find an antidote that will allow him to break free from his primal alter ego. For better or worse, Panda and the Hulk will not pay much attention to the eight Korean films opening in June. Their focus will be on Iron Man, Prince Caspian and Indy. The three movies took a combined 81 percent share of ticket sales last weekend, according to the Korean Film Council.

'Girl Scouts' Showcases 'Ajumma' Power

``Ajumma.'' The word can be roughly translated as ``auntie,'' normally referring to married women or those past the rosy bloom of their youth. In certain contexts it can be derogatory or even sexist, but it's also a fond term for all the mothers of the world. Director Kim Sang-man celebrate ajumma power in his directorial debut, ``Girl Scouts.'' But there are, of course, no girls to be found here. Think of a pitifully amateur Charlie's Angels with four generations of women, from a 20-year-old to a grandma in her 60s, joining forces to get their money back from a swindler. Our main ajumma is played by Kim Sun-a, the lovable heroine of ``My Lovely Samsoon.'' Mi-kyeong is a 30-something-year-old divorcee trying to make ends meet for her young daughter. Veteran actress Na Moon-hee plays imo (auntie), a forgivable kleptomaniac grandma who works at a supermarket to feed her grouchy, unemployed son, and occasionally offers herself ``bonuses'' with ``free'' snacks from the warehouse. Lee Kyoung-shil, one of the nation's foremost comediennes, makes her big screen debut as Bong-sun, the quintessential middle-aged Korean mom who's always yelling at her sons. A widow, she's the breadwinner and sews eyes onto stuffed animals to save up for her ill child's surgery. The three ajummas had entrusted their hard-earned money with a neighbor, Hye-ran (Im Ji-eun), who gave false promises about some lucrative interest. But one day, Hye-ran runs off with their money plus the 2.2 billion won she convinced her boyfriend, Hong-gi, to swindle from the debenture he works for. But she double-crosses him too, eager to claim the spoils for her own. Yet these are women who don't give up on their cash so easily. With almost the heroism of the protagonist in ``The Chaser,'' Mi-kyeong, imo and Bong-sun dismiss the useless police and set off on their own to track down Hye-ran. Eun-ji (Ko Jun-heui), a perky 20-year-old, decides to tag-along. While Eunji wasn't conned by Hye-ran, she's got money problems of her own. This ``honorary'' ajumma had to give up professional golfing to pay off her late father's business debts. She's constantly threatened by Jong-dae (played by Ryu Tae-joon, the handsome Byuk Kye-soo in the hit drama ``Hwang Jin-I''), a suave and merciless debt collector working for a loan shark. This is the very loan shark Hye-ran and her boyfriend conned, so things get complicated as Jong-dae must deal with the pack of women who keep getting in his way of catching Hye-ran. A rare on-the-road and action-packed film starring women, the film takes you by surprise as it unfolds in the tradition of crisscrossed crime movies like Guy Ritchie's ``Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' ― minus the Tarantino-type blood-gushing and gun trotting. The lethal weapon of choice for the ajumma clan is some relentless ― and really scary ― hair pulling. Their vehicle is not a sexy sports car but a cute yellow minivan Mi-kyeong drives for a children's art academy. To tip off the lighthearted comedy, touching drama pervades ― motherly instincts, sisterly bonds and the test of the heart in front of large sums of money. The tactful casting of actresses representing their respective generations, makes it magic. Mayhem ensues but with tasteful moderation and delightful detail, like freeze framing one of the stuffed animals Bong-sun was patching bouncing out of the minivan. Kim creates a fine mise-en-scene with the finesse of a veteran waiter who can deliver a tray balancing a pyramid of champagne glasses through a crowded dance hall. Be ready for a wild ride in a yellow minivan!