Waikiki Brothers

Plot

Waikiki 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

• 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

Cine21 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."

In 2025, the film was selected by South Korean film director Kim Cho-hee for the section 'Our Little History, Please Take Care of Our Future!' at the 30th Busan International Film Festival, recognized as a work that had a profound influence on her creative journey.

Adaptation

In 2004, it inspired a musical titled Go! Waikiki Brothers starring North Korean defector Kim Young-un, which also performed in Los Angeles in 2006.

References

References

1. (22 April 2001). "Jeonju to Host Offbeat Film Fest". [[The Chosun Ilbo]].
2. Chun, Su-jin. (30 November 2001). "Critically Speaking". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
3. Chun, Su-jin. (20 January 2002). "Subtitles, anyone?". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
4. Chun, Su-jin. (13 August 2002). "Elvis never knew a Hawaii this blue". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
5. Park Sung-jae. (August 7, 2025). "부산국제영화제, 신인 여성 감독이 추천한 한국영화 특별기획전". Naver.
6. "Unknown".
7. Park, Sung-ha. (12 February 2006). "What's the next step for musical producers? Unite". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].