Yim Pil-sung

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Yim Pil-sung
Yim in 2019
Born (1972-05-13) May 13, 1972 (age 52)
Occupation(s)Film director,
screenwriter,
actor
Years active1996–present
Korean name
Hangul
임필성
Revised RomanizationIm Pil-seong
McCune–ReischauerIm Pilsŏng

Yim Pil-sung (born May 13, 1972) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He wrote and directed Antarctic Journal (2005), Hansel and Gretel (2007), and Scarlet Innocence (2014).[1]

Career

Short films

Yim Pil-sung began directing short films in 1997, with Souvenir as his first. Brushing (1998), about an overweight teenage boy who is left home alone with his senile grandfather, was invited to the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.[2][3] Baby (1999) screened at the Venice Film Festival and Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[4] Mobile (starring Park Hae-il, Yoon Jin-seo, and Yoon Je-moon) was included in the 2003 omnibus Show Me.[5]

Antarctic Journal

In 2005, he made his feature film debut with Antarctic Journal, a tale of six South Korean explorers on an expedition to reach one of the remotest points in the South Pole, until mysterious deaths begin to occur as the human psyche preys on itself amidst the icy, barren landscape. The big-budget film starred Song Kang-ho and Yoo Ji-tae, and was shot in New Zealand.[3] It won the Best Feature Film award in the Orient Express-Casa Asia section of the 38th Sitges Film Festival.[6]

Yim then played a small

Bong Joon-ho's monster movie The Host (2006), as a white-collar worker who betrays his college friend. He had agreed to appear in the film in exchange for Bong co-writing the screenplay to Antarctic Journal.[7]

Hansel and Gretel

With his second directorial feature, Yim established himself as a

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2008 and won two awards at the 29th Fantasporto in 2009, the Special Jury Prize in the Fantasy competition and Best Film in the Orient Express sidebar.[11][12]

Despite praise for their striking visuals and surprising narrative twists, both of Yim's films were unsuccessful at the box office, which led to him having difficulty finding financing for his succeeding projects.

Doomsday Book

In 2007, Yim and

Fantasia Festival, the Cheval Noir Award for Best Film.[14]

Yim had next planned to direct a

drama about a married American expat who falls for a Korean femme fatale. Titled Flower of Evil, it entered pre-production in 2009 but was eventually shelved.[15][16] Weekend Prince, a comedy about three men in their thirties who get roaring drunk one weekend (which had Park Hae-il and Song Sae-byeok attached), similarly did not come to fruition.[17]

In 2010, twelve Korean directors and cinematographers shot short films using the iPhone 4 for the iPhone 4 Film Festival (later renamed the Olleh Smartphone Film Festival).[18][19] Yim's short Super Nerds: No Pain No Gain is a comedy about two die-hard iPhone fans and their journey to find someone who can attach a protective film to their newly purchased iPhones without causing air bubbles to form (in the Korean title Super Deokhu, "deokhu" originates from the Japanese word "otaku").[20]

Yim then starred in two

erotic-horror film in Bali who gets replaced when the film's producer is disappointed in the sex scenes.[22]

Scarlet Innocence

Seven years after Hansel and Gretel, Yim returned with his third feature in 2014. Scarlet Innocence is a modern-day retelling of the classic Korean folktale Simcheongga; in the original, a virtuous girl named Shim Chung sacrifices herself so that her father's sight may be restored. But in Yim's film noir, a university professor gradually succumbing to blindness moves to a rural town and begins an obsessive affair with a young woman 17 years his junior (played by Jung Woo-sung and Esom, respectively).[23] Scarlet Innocence made its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[24]

Filmography

Feature film

Feature film credits
Year Title Credited as Ref.
English Original Director Screenwriter
2005 Antarctic Journal 남극일기 Yes Yes [25]
2007 Hansel and Gretel 헨젤과 그레텔 Yes Yes [26]
2014 Scarlet Innocence 마담 뺑덕 Yes Yes [27][28][29][30][31]

Short film

Short film credits
Year Title Credited as Ref.
English Original Director Screenwriter Planner Editor Producer
1996 A Bit Bitter 생강 Yes
1997 Souvenir 기념품 Yes Yes
1998 Brushing 소년기 Yes Yes Yes Yes
1999 Baby 베이비 Yes Yes Yes
2003 Mobile 모빌 Yes Yes
2010 Super Nerds: No Pain No Gain 슈퍼 덕후 Yes Yes
2012 Doomsday Book – "A Brave New World" and "Happy Birthday" 인류멸망보고서 Yes Yes [32][33][34]
2019 Persona 페르소나 Yes Yes [35]

Art performance

Directing credit in art performance
Year Title Role Ref.
English Korean
2015 The Red Dance 적 (赤) Director [36][37]

As Actor

References

  1. ^ "YIM Pil-sung". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  2. ^ "Brushing". Busan International Short Film Festival. Retrieved 2014-09-12.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^
    Twitch Film. 15 August 2005. Archived from the original
    on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  4. ^ "Doomsday Book". Korean Cinema Today. 6 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  5. ^ 모빌 [Mobile]. IndieStory (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  6. Hancinema
    . 19 October 2005. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  7. Twitch Film. 26 July 2006. Archived
    from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  8. ^ D'Sa, Nigel (26 December 2007). "Hansel and Gretel: YIM's Dark Fantasy Opens". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  9. ^ Yi, Chang-ho (4 January 2008). "Hansel and Gretel ends the year on a high". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 2021-08-31. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  10. Twitch Film. 6 August 2008. Archived from the original
    on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  11. ^ Dale, Martin (2 March 2009). "Idiots and Angels tops Fantasporto". Variety. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  12. ^ Yi, Chang-ho (6 March 2009). "Hansel and Gretel wins twice at Fantasporto". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  13. ^ "Korea's M-Line opens Doomsday Book". Screen International. 11 February 2012. Archived from the original on 2015-02-14. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  14. ^ "Doomsday Book scoops up top prize at Fantasia International Film Festival in Canada". 10Asia. 13 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  15. ^ D'Sa, Nigel (10 February 2009). "YIM Pil-Sung's Flower of Evil Project". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  16. Twitch Film. 21 September 2009. Archived from the original
    on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  17. ^ "Park Hae-il to star in comedy flick with Song Sae-byeok". 10Asia. 24 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  18. ^ Lee, Hyo-won (28 September 2010). "Lights! iPhone! Action!". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  19. ^ Lee, Hyo-won (21 December 2011). "Smartphone film fest accepting submissions". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  20. ^ Sung, So-young (22 October 2010). "Festival of big films made on a small gadget". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  21. ^ Huh, Nam-woong (26 February 2013). "Frustrated Actors at Work: Behind the Camera". Korean Cinema Today. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  22. ^ Jeong, Ji-won (23 September 2013). "Playboy Bong all about arousal". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  23. ^ Conran, Pierce (11 December 2013). "JUNG Woo-sung Eyes New YIM Pil-sung Film". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  24. ^ Ahn, Sung-mi (25 August 2014). "Toronto film fest taps Korea for spotlight". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  25. ^ Elley, Derek (16 June 2005). "Antarctic Journal". Variety.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  26. Twitch Film. 26 August 2008. Archived from the original
    on 5 February 2011.
  27. ^ Chung, Joo-won (20 August 2014). "Jung Woo-sung's sensual film poster hails autumn romance". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  28. ^ Conran, Pierce (11 December 2013). "JUNG Woo-sung Eyes New YIM Pil-sung Film". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  29. ^ Kim, Hee-eun (13 March 2014). "Jung Woo-sung takes on classic folk tale". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  30. ^ Jones, Julie (12 March 2014). "Jung Woo Sung Stars In A Modern Fairy Tale". KDramaStars. Archived from the original on 2021-11-08. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  31. ^ Conran, Pierce (12 August 2014). "TIFF Reveals City to City: Seoul Lineup". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  32. ^ "Doomsday Book" Archived October 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. M-Line Distribution. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
  33. ^ "Human Extinction Report suspenseful trailer released". StarN News. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-18.[permanent dead link]
  34. ^ Choi, Eun-hwa (5 April 2012). "Preview: The End of Mankind is Near in Doomsday Book". enewsWorld. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  35. ^ Dela Paz, Maggie (March 13, 2019). "K-Pop Star IU to Lead Netflix's Korean Anthology Film Series Persona". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  36. ^ "[우리문화신문] 붉은 춤, 인간의 욕망을 파고들다". www.koya-culture.com (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2024-09-15. Retrieved 2024-09-15.
  37. ^ "국립무용단, 신작 '적(赤)' 11~13일 공연". 뉴스1 (in Korean). 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2024-09-19.