The Fate

Director

Kim Hae-gon(김해곤)

Cast

Song Seung-heon

kwon Sang-woo

Kim In-kwon

Park Han-byeol

Ahn Nae-sang

Kim Min-joo

Jeong Woo

Choi Jae-hwan

Yoon Won-seok

Park Hye-sook

Lee Myeong-ho

Min Eung Sik

Seong Min Seo

Ha Jin Soo

Choi Tae Woong

Kim Tae Hee

Lee Min Ah

Jeong Gi Seob

Kang Jun Seong

No Won Seok

A Whole New ‘Destiny’ for Song Seung-hun

Song Seung-hun used to play sweet, gentle parts, mainly in sad melodramas that squeezed copious tears from his women fans. But in his first work after being discharged from the military, Song is reborn as an explosive, wild and tough guy. He stars in the gangster movie "Destiny" with Kwon Sang-woo and Ji Sung. The movie was sold to Japan for US$2 million last year, even before production had been completed. And more than 30 percent of tickets for the movie are booked even before its release, such is the curiosity about the film. Song plays Woomin, a gangster who enjoys the trust of his boss and colleagues. "I thought hard about my first work after the discharge. I chose ‘Destiny’ in the end because I wanted to change my gentle image. My family and friends were against my decision, but I wanted a completely new, wild and masculine image, because I’m returning after a long break. So while I was thinking about my new image, I read the ‘Destiny’ screenplay and heard that director Kim Hae-gon would make the movie." "Woomin is rough and tough. But he is human. I liked his character and sentiments and decided to play the part. I hope people will say, 'Song Seung-hun is not what he used be. He is a real wild, tough guy.'" The most difficult thing was repressing his emotions while playing Woomin, Song says. “At first, I thought I understood Woomin best and had some different views from the director. But later I came to understand why he asked me to restrain my emotions." He added, "I watched the completed movie for the first time today. I am satisfied."

New Attitude for Actor Kwon Sang-woo

March is usually a downtime for movies, but not this year. Hallyu's well-known Song Seung-heon and Kwon Sang-woo star in "Fate," and it's gaining attention from Korean fans as well as those abroad. Fans should be prepared for Kwon's transformation in character. He curses, he's vile and he's vicious. He doesn't even blink an eye when he stabs another character in the hand with a broken beer bottle. "At first, I was very worried about all the swearing, especially because my mother and her friends were coming to the premiere. But after she watched the movie, she told me my character didn't seem like a bad guy because I was playing him! Actually, many people said that so I guess I'm okay... 'Chul-joong' isn't completely bad." Kwon is already 32 years old. He has become more of a society figure than one of celebrity status. The actor is a veteran in his own right and he spoke today with easy candor. "I shot the movie at a hard time in my life. When I got really stressed, I would scream and curse on-set. It was great stress release!" Kwon also admitted, "Now that I'm older, I don't really need anything else. I just want people to see me as 'Actor Kwon Sang-woo'... It's most important that you enjoy what you do and that means acting for me. I guess I'm finally beginning to grow up!"

`Fate,’ When Pretty Boys Go Bad

In the star-studded gangster film ``The Fate,'' friends become foes and ``pretty'' actors get rough. Actor-turned-director Kim Hae-gon casts hallyu TV stars Kwon Sang-woo (``Stairway to Heaven'') and Song Seung-heon (``Autumn Fairytale'') and other familiar faces to play unfamiliar roles. ``The Fate'' is a quintessential commercial flick that feeds on star power, provocative action and melodrama. While weak storytelling and exhausting running time wane the fun, the actors' engaging performances fill in the missing links. In the dark criminal world of Seoul, U-min (Song), Cheol-jung (Kwon), Do-wan (Kim In-kwon) and Yeong-hwan (Ji Sung) are close friends in a gang. One day, with the help of an older member Gang-seop (Ahn Nae-seong), U-min, Cheol-jung and Do-wan attack the gang's casino so they can start new lives. But their plan goes awry when Cheol-jung betrays them, and U-min goes to prison. He becomes the scapegoat to save his friends' lives. After serving his time, U-min wants to stay out of trouble but is drawn back into the underworld when he sees what has become of his friends: money and power-hungry Cheol-jung continues to betray others as he climbs up the gang ladder; Do-wan is a drug user; Gang-seop is missing; and his girlfriend Eun-yeong (Park Han-byul) has left him to run a bar as the boss' mistress. As U-min tries to solve the situation, however, unfortunate twists of fate set off one misunderstanding after another. To make matters worse, the mob boss and right-hand man Yoeng-hwan get them involved in a huge drug deal. Once again thrown into a game with high stakes and big cash, the once best friends must fight one another for their lives. Most of the drama centers around the ``star-crossed friends,'' U-min and Cheol-jung. The unfortunate timing of certain events suggests that the friends are doomed to double, triple, quadruple-cross one another. It's all about lustful people destroying themselves because of dirty money. Different sides are armed with a small army of mobsters, with a simple argument leading to full-fledged war. But as action sequences, emotional breakdowns and other climactic moments unravel one after another, the viewer must try to make sense of the confusion. There are snippets showing the good old days when everyone was happy (like a friendly football match where, as a service to fans, the pretty boys appear topless), as well as occasional narrations by the main protagonist U-min. But it's all rather awkwardly weaved and a bit far fetched. It's larger than life movie, where ``beautiful'' gangsters sporting sleek suits and an occasional scar win fights with odds of 30:1. Kwon is delightful in his role as a villain. Even though 99 percent of his lines are profanities, it's hard not to warm up to his rather comic character. Song, on the other hand, is a more moody, romantic kind of gangster. While wearing ugly clothes, he still manages to break women's hearts with his soulful eyes. Kim In-kwon (``My Father'') deserves applause as a harrowing drug addict obsessing over his ex-girlfriend. The sole heroine, Park Han-byul, while also showing the hardships of life, adds little to the plotline. She's just another damsel in distress. The director tries to make a film a la Kwak Gyeong-taek, breaking down handsome actors' chiseled, Greek god image by making them swear and do some high kicks. Following in the footsteps of heartthrobs Jang Dong-kun (``Friend'') and Joo Jin-mo (``A Love''), Song and Kwon do prove they can do more than just smile and cause ladies to swoon.

[Movie Review]'Fate' a tale of two gangsters

"Fate (Sukmyeong)" packs plenty of heart-pumping action sequences on the strength of high-profile Korean Wave stars but its heavy reliance on stylized images without offering background details stops short of expectations. In the movie, we see the downfall of a handsome and kind-hearted gangster Woo-min (Song Seung-heon) who attempts to hit it big by attacking a casino along with his close friends including Cheol-jung (Kwon Sang-woo). Somehow, they manage to escape with bags of cash, but it turns out that Cheol-jung, a short-tempered, foul-mouthed money-will-solve-everything villain, has sold them out for a reward in a secret contract that he hopes will land him a comfortable life. After all, Cheol-jung's unwavering belief about life is that money talks the loudest and nothing else, even lifetime friendship, counts. Playing a scapegoat, Woo-min serves a two-year prison term, showcasing his willingness to sacrifice for his friends. Once out of prison, however, he realizes that something is amiss. His closet buddy Do-wan (Kim In-kwon) has become a drug addict, his girlfriend is stuck in a shady trap, and his friend-turned-enemy Cheol-jung is cruising at high speed as a ringleader who commands numerous thugs and juggles up cash to get a construction project done. (In Korean cinema, gangsters are often depicted to have been involved with construction projects in addition to their time-honored sources of cash such as adult clubs, bars and prostitution.) Woo-min and Cheol-jung stand at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. Woo-main remains calm throughout the film, rarely revealing his real emotions. In contrast, Cheol-jung keeps talking and shouting, almost a broken radio whose sound is almost always four-letter words. Like many Korean gangster flicks, "Fate" zooms in on the action scenes where main characters led by Woo-min square off against countless and nameless thugs brandishing iron sticks and Japanese knives. Amid a series of fighting scenes, director Kim Hae-gon intermittently sheds some hints about the past relationships involving Woo-min, Cheol-jung and Do-wan. But their shared past remains largely sealed, and it's up to the audience to keep their imagination wheeling as to how they bonded with each other in the first place. Until the final big-stakes drug deal gets started, the camera lingers around Woo-min and Cheol-jung at a pace that may test the patience of even the good-hearted audiences. Even if such takes are designed to highlight the personal charms of Song Seung-heon, who makes a high-profile comeback after his military service, and a transformative image of Kwon Sang-woo, who takes up a baddie's role for the first time in his career, the running time devoted to capturing their cool images seems overdone. "Fate" has been made with a careful consideration for the strengths of two main characters. But the portraits of Woo-min and Cheol-jung never go beyond admiration of their contrasting styles and panache for violence, and one comes away with such sour questions as "Why are Korean filmmakers so obsessed with a gangster genre for depicting friendship?" Despite the longer-than-necessary running time of 123 minutes, Song Seung-heon seems at ease with himself, showcasing his "telling eyes" that express various emotions with subtlety and maturity. But true show-stealing gigs come from Kwon Sang-woo who seems in perfect sync with his own character. All the low-life slang spitting out from Cheol-jung sound natural and even ironically insightful. Kwon, from now on, should consider taking the role of a hot-tempered villain because, at least in "Fate," he seems more realistic and believable than ever. "Fate," shot in Busan and on Jeju Island, is an MKDK Pictures production and will be released nationwide on March 20. By Yang Sung-jin

Actors Kwon, Song Get Rough in ‘Fate’

The main cast of ‘The Fate’ by actor and director Kim Hae-gon appears before the press in a Seoul theater, Monday. From left, actors Kwon Sang-woo, Park Han-byul, Song Seung-heon and Kim In-kwon smile for the camera. / Yonhap ``The Fate'' is the talk of the town as actor-turned director Kim Hae-gon brings together not just one but four of the hottest Korean actors in his second feature film: hallyu stars Kwon Sang-woo (2003 SBS drama ``Stairway to Heaven'') and Seung-heon (``Autumn Fairytale'' 2000 KBS2), heartthrob Ji Sung (``All In,'' 2003 SBS) and bona-fide actor Kim In-kwon (``My Father,'' 2007). ``The Fate'' tells the story of a group of close friends who rule the underworld of Seoul. One day they scheme to steal casino money, so they leave their mob. They almost succeed ― until Cheol-jung (Kwon) betrays them. While Wu-min (Song) is forced to go to prison on behalf of the gang, everyone's lives are torn apart by lustful desires and other mishaps. After serving his two-year term, Wu-min tries to rectify things, including reclaiming his beautiful girlfriend (Park Han-byul). But unfortunate twists of fate set off one misunderstanding after another, and best friends become the worst of foes. Like his character, Wu-min, Song is making a comeback after a two-year hiatus. ``It took a lot of deliberation to choose between a TV drama or movie. Movies are risky and also require a long post-production process. People suggested that I reappear as another `good guy' in a TV series, which would also please (my fans),'' he told reporters following the film's press preview at a Seoul theater Monday. The large theater was heavily crowded to catch Song's first screen appearance after serving in the army. ``Many actually opposed my starring in `The Fate,''' he said. ``But I wanted to show a new, mature image, as well show a more masculine and tough side. I also decided to star in the film because of (the director). On the surface his work appears rough and brutal, but underneath it all a warm sense of humanity prevails,'' he said. While Song portrays a more romantic, ``good'' gangster, Kwon plays the bad one. But Kwon's character had a comic edge that kept reporters laughing throughout the screening. ``If it were a merciless villain, I wouldn't have played the part ― I have an image to maintain as an actor,'' Kwon said jokingly. ``But in the story, Cheol-jung provides comic relief to keep the drama afloat. Making audiences laugh is a great pleasure, and (comic elements) were intentional. I only hope the audience reacts the same way (reporters) did today. Like (Song) Seung-heon, I also wanted to show off a different shade of acting, which I hope will enable me to pursue more colorful roles in the future,'' he said. For Kim In-kwon, ``The Fate'' also marks a departure from the warm characters he played. For portraying a disturbed drug-addict, he said he was inspired by the movie ``Requiem,'' and modeled his emaciated look after that of Christian Bale in ``The Machinist.'' Song and Kwon are known to be longtime friends in real life. They appeared together as naughty high school boys in the slapstick comedy ``Make It Big.'' But Song said their friendship did not help their onscreen collaboration. ``While `Make It Big' was a fun, light piece, this was a serious project. Our amicable feelings were more of a hindrance,'' he said. ``As for feelings of rivalry, I'd be lying if I said they didn't exist, and in fact it's necessary for each of us to better concentrate on our roles. But for me, in terms of working out, we all know Kwon is Korea's `hot body star.' I would work out at the gym for two hours, but (Kwon) would come in an hour late and leave 30 minutes early. He really didn't work out, and it made me wonder what he eats,'' he said, drawing laughter from reporters. While Song sports a disheveled look from beginning to end, all the male leads retain grace in comparison to other stocky, tattooed gang members. To this, the director said, ``You can put scar on Kwon and Song's faces, but that won't take away their looks. I considered making them look messier but it's a futile effort. If I wanted ugly characters I wouldn't have cast them in the first place.'' Ji Sung, who made a special appearance in the film, did not appear at the press meeting. He played a sophisticated villain, which seems like a continuation of his role in ``All In.'' Starlet Park Han-byul stars as Song's love interest. Like Song and Kwon, Park showed a deviation from her conventional roles. While her part as a bar girl marked a rather provocative turn, she retained an innocent damsel image.

Actor Song Seung-heon Makes Comeback in 'Fate'

"I didn't want to make a safe comeback. I wanted to show my fans a different side of me." Actor Song Seung-heon expressed his satisfaction over his latest film role in 'Fate' and said he hopes the film does well at the box office. He added that he felt thankful that people are noticing the changes in him. 'Fate' co-star Kwon Sang-woo also said he wanted to portray a different side of himself in the film and said his latest role has helped him achieve that goal. 'Fate' revolves around four best friends who find themselves face-to-face with their unexpected destinies which involves betraying each other. At the premiere of the film, Korean fans as well as Japanese fans crowded around the theater to get a glimpse of the star actors. The premiere site was also filled with large wreaths sent by fans.