Director: Woo Min-Ho
Cast: Lee Byung-Hun, Lee Sung-Min, ak Do-Won, Lee Hee-Joon, Kim So-Jin, Seo Hyun-Woo, Ji Hyun-Joon, Park Sung-Geun, Park Ji-Il, Lee Tae-Hyeong, Kim Seung-Hoon
Running Time: 114 min.
By Paul Bramhall
South Korea has had a tumultuous history since its creation after the division of the peninsula in 1954, shortly after the Korean War ended, up to it achieving democracy in 1987. While it spent most of the 33 years under some form of authoritarian regime or another, the era which still causes controversy to this day is the time spent under the rule of Park Chung-hee, who came to power in 1962 following a military coup the year prior. As president Chung-hee kept himself in power up until his assassination in October 1979, and while he’s largely credited for the rapid modernisation of Korea, it’s a legacy which is stained by his autocratic style of ruling. The many restrictions on things like freedom of speech and the press, and the fact that his opponents frequently found themselves held without trial and subject to torture, gradually saw the tide of public opinion begin to turn against him by the late 70’s.
The subject of Chung-hee’s assassination has been covered before in the Korean film industry, notably in Im Sang-soo’s 2005 dark comedy The President’s Last Bang, which covered the 3 hours leading up to the assassination along with the immediate aftermath. 15 years later, the subject is back on the screen with director Woo Min-ho’s latest, The Man Standing Next. Decidedly different in both tone and scope than Sang-soo’s take on the subject, Min-ho has created a poker-faced Continue reading
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