As actor Song Joong-ki walks the red carpet for the first time in his life, attention is focused on whether he will be accompanied by his wife, Katie Louise Saunders.
With the 76th Cannes International Film Festival taking place from the 16th to the 27th, our film unfortunately failed to advance to the competition section. The film 'Cobweb' (directed by Kim Ji-woon) in the non-competitive category, the film 'Sleep' (directed by Yoo Jae-seon) in the Critics' Week, which showcases the works of new directors, and 'Hwaran' in 'Un Certain Regard', a category that discovers and introduces talented young directors. (Director Kim Chang-hoon) was invited. 'Escape: PROJECT SILENCE' (directed by Kim Tae-gon) will be included in the Midnight Screening category, and 'Our Day' (directed by Hong Sang-soo) will be included in the closing film of Directors' Week.
'Cobweb' is even more meaningful in that it is director Kim Ji-woon's third film, Song Kang-ho's eighth film, and the second film together to be invited to Cannes. Here, Lim Soo-jeong, who was invited to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time, Oh Jeong-se, Jeon Yeo-bin, Jeong Su-jeong, Jang Young-nam, and Park Jeong-su. The main characters of 'Cobweb' have a variety of schedules, including the official event of the Cannes International Film Festival.
'Cobweb' is set in the 1970s, and director Kim believes that if he just re-films the ending of the movie 'Cobweb', it will become a masterpiece, and he pushes for filming under adverse conditions that are on the verge of going crazy, including censorship and actors and producers who do not understand the changed content. It's a movie that depicts events.
'Dwarf's Song Joong-ki was also invited to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time in his life. 'Hwaran', Song Joong-ki's first film to enter Cannes, is a low-budget noir film in which Song Joong-ki appeared as a no-carrantee. The story unfolds as a boy Yeon-gyu (played by Hong Sa-bin), who wants to escape from the hellish reality, meets the organization's mid-level boss Chi-geon (played by Song Joong-ki) and joins him in a dangerous world.
Song Joong-ki is said to be currently staying in Naples, Italy. His wife, Katie, a former British actor, is pregnant and is accompanying Song Joong-ki on every trip following his filming schedule in Hungary. With Song Joong-ki confirming his attendance at the Cannes Film Festival with 'The Hwaran', whether Katie will accompany him or not is of great interest. According to what multiple entertainment insiders have said, positive signals are captured in Katie's attendance at the Cannes Film Festival, but there is a possibility that we may not be able to see him since she is pregnant.
'Sleep', starring Lee Sun-kyun and Jung Yu-mi, is a story about a happy newlywed couple, Hyun-soo (played by Lee Sun-kyun) and Su-jin (played by Jeong Yu-mi), who struggle to unravel the mystery of husband Hyun-soo's strange behavior while sleeping, which haunts him like a nightmare, and the secret of the terrible fear that begins the moment he falls asleep. This movie depicts a story, and the chemistry between the two actors as a couple attracts attention.
'Our Day' is director Hong Sang-soo's 30th film and his 12th film to enter Cannes. Kim Min-hee played the lead role. Other actors such as Ki Joo-bong, Song Seon-mi, Park Mi-so, Ha Seong-guk, and Kim Seung-yoon appeared. The industry predicts that this couple, who has been a household name in Korea due to director Hong's affair issue, will also attend this year's Cannes Film Festival as they are showing no hesitation at overseas film festivals.
'Escape: PROJECT SILENCE', which was invited to the midnight screening section, is a work starring Lee Sun-kyun, Ju Ji-hoon, Kim Hee-won, Moon Seong-geun, Yeo So-jeong, and Kim Tae-woo, and is about people stranded on the airport bridge on the verge of collapse in a thick fog that makes it impossible to tell what's ahead. This is a story about struggling to survive from an unexpected threat lurking within.
The opening film of this year's Cannes Film Festival is 'Jeanne du Barry' (directed by Maiwen), and the closing film is 'Elemental' (directed by Peter Son).
Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr