26 Years

Plot

The story deals with one of the most tragic and critical events in South Korean history. On May 18, 1980, in the city of Gwangju, state troops were ordered to open fire on civilians, killing and wounding thousands. Former president Chun Doo-hwan is believed to have given the order, and although he is not named explicitly in the film, the target of the assassination attempt is clearly meant to represent Chun, who was convicted in 1996 of crimes related to the Gwangju Massacre, but later pardoned by President Kim Dae-jung.

26 years later in 2006, five people who consider themselves as some of the biggest victims of the massacre, plot a top-secret project to exact revenge by assassinating the man responsible. Kwon Jung-hyuk is a newly recruited policeman who lost his family in the massacre; he is now responsible for the cars that have access to the target's house. Kwak Jin-bae is a young gangster from an organized crime group whose father was also killed. Olympic sharpshooter Shim Mi-jin, a CEO from a large company and the director of a private security firm are also involved. As a former president, "that man" lives under police protection in an affluent district of Seoul, but through a combination of ingenuity, skill, and well-placed money they are able to draw within shooting distance of their target.

Cast

• Jin Goo - Kwak Jin-bae (gangster)
• Han Hye-jin - Shim Mi-jin (shooter of national team)
• Lim Seul-ong - Kwon Jung-hyuk (policeman)
• Bae Soo-bin - Kim Joo-ahn (lobbyist)
• Lee Geung-young - Kim Gap-se (chairman of a company)
• Jang Gwang - "that man" (ex-president)
• Jo Deok-jae - Ma Sang-ryul
• Kim Eui-sung - Chief Choi
• Ahn Suk-hwan - Ahn Soo-ho
• Lee Mi-do - Kwak Jin-bae's mother
• Kim Min-jae
• Jung Hee-tae as Teo Mi-neol

Production

Kang Full's webtoon illustrated the brutal suppression by the dictatorial administration of the time, putting emphasis on the overcoming of interpersonal and societal barriers.

In 2008, the film was originally set to be directed by Lee Hae-young based on his own adapted screenplay titled 29 Years, with Ryoo Seung-bum, Kim Ah-joong, Jin Goo, Chun Ho-jin, and Byun Hee-bong cast in the lead roles. But the production came to a halt once investors pulled out from funding the film ten days before filming began because of its controversial politically sensitive content, and rumors were rife that the pressure had originated from the conservative government.

After nearly four years of languishing in pre-production limbo due to financial difficulties, online donations poured in from 15,000 individuals amounting to (US$646,000), with singer Lee Seung-hwan contributing another (US$923,000), toward the film's (US$4,246,000) production cost. Another investor was television personality Kim Je-dong. The crowdfunding enabled the production to finally begin filming Lee's script with a new cast and director on July 19, 2012. Filming wrapped on October 10, 2012. The film's ending credits roll for more than 10 minutes, as they include all 15,000 donors' names. Director Cho Geun-hyun said at the movie's press conference, "When one does something terribly wrong and hurts others, they should at least apologize. And even if he or she chooses not to, they should be punished for what they've done. This is common sense, not some political idea."

Box office

The film debuted at the top of the box office, selling 1,108,714 tickets in only a single week on release. It reached 2.5 million admissions in mid-December 2012, resulting in a total of nearly 3 million in January 2013.

Awards and nominations

2013 Baeksang Arts Awards

• Nomination - Best New Actor - Im Seulong
• Nomination - Best New Director - Cho Geun-hyun

2013 Buil Film Awards

• Nomination - Best Actor - Jin Goo
• Nomination - Best Supporting Actor - Jang Gwang
• Nomination - Best New Director - Cho Geun-hyun

2013 Blue Dragon Film Awards

• Nomination - Best New Actor - Im Seulong

2014 Golden Cinema Festival

• Special Jury Prize - Jin Goo

References

References

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2. Conran, Pierce. (23 January 2013). "CHOI Yong-bae Named Film Professional of the Year". [[Korean Film Council]].
3. "26 Years (2012)".
4. Lee, Claire. (23 November 2012). "Movies based on webtoons flourish". [[The Korea Herald]].
5. Paquet, Darcy. (30 November 2012). "In Focus: 26 YEARS". Korea Cinema Today.
6. (30 November 2012). "26 Years (2012)". [[The Chosun Ilbo]].
7. Lee, Jin-ho. (15 December 2012). "Interview: Han Hye Jin Says She Starred in ''26 Years'' to Act". enewsWorld.
8. (21 January 2013). "Han Hye Jin shows her mature lady aura for ''ALLURE''". Korea Star Daily via [[Yahoo!]].
9. Lee, Tae-ho. (23 November 2012). "2AM's Seulong Says "I Read Newspaper Everyday to Act Out Character"". 10Asia.
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11. Hong, Lucia. (2 July 2012). "Bae Soo-bin mulling over role in KangFull's political film". 10Asia.
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16. Lee, Hye-ji. (26 July 2012). "Han Hye-jin, Jin Goo's ''26 Years'' kickstarts with social funding". 10Asia.
17. Lee, In-kyung. (29 July 2012). "''26 Years'' Finally Starts Up with Help from Ordinary People". enewsworld.
18. Lee, Hye-ji. (12 October 2012). "Controversial Film ''26 Years'' to Open Next Month". 10Asia.
19. Lee, Claire. (28 November 2012). "The presidential politics of film". [[The Korea Herald]].
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21. Sunwoo, Carla. (3 December 2012). "''26 Years'' draws a crowd on first day". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
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