‘Killing Romance’ Lee Ha-nui and Lee Sun-kyun, is this happening?

The movie 'Killing Romance' (directed by Lee Won-seok), starring Lee Ha-nui and Lee Sun-kyun, has started going viral. It is evaluated that the appeal of the so-called

The response to ‘Killing Romance’, which was unveiled on April 14, was polarizing. It either fits well with director Lee Won-seok’s code or it doesn’t. The majority of people who enjoyed 'Men's Manual' 10 years ago responded that they liked 'Killing Romance', and if they didn't see it or didn't like it, they disliked it. The cumulative number of viewers proved this. As of the 21st, ‘Killing Romance’ barely exceeded 100,000 viewers.

'Killing Romance' tells the story of top star Yeorae (played by Lee Ha-nui), who suddenly announces her retirement after falling in love with island tycoon Jonathan (played by Lee Seon-gyun). Tathagata meets Beom-woo (played by Gong Myeong), a student from the 3rd fan club, and plots an extraordinary comeback plan.

‘Killing Romance’ recorded 61% on the CGV Golden Egg Index on the day of its release. The Golden Egg Index is a movie rating service operated by CGV. This means that the audience who actually watched the movie leaves a review by choosing between ‘like’ or ‘dislike’. If it is less than 70%, the Golden Egg Index is said to be broken. ‘Killing Romance’ broke the Golden Egg Index from the first day of its release.

As it entered its second week of release, reactions to ‘Killing Romance’ changed. Word of mouth began as memes (pictures) of Lee Ha-nui, Lee Sun-gyun, and Gong Myung circulated on social media and online communities. As a result, on the 6th day of release, the Golden Egg Index of 'Killing Romance' rose by a whopping 9% to 70%. It is making a comeback not only at CGV but also at multiplexes such as Lotte Cinema and Megabox and portal sites such as Naver. According to an official at distributor Lotte Entertainment, such a reverse phenomenon is unusual.

In addition, an anecdote left by director Lee Won-seok, who has an extraordinary sense of tension, on social media is also gathering attention. Director Lee Won-seok said in the past, "Friends, juniors, I'm so happy that Director Bong Joon-ho won the award, but please stop sending texts saying, 'You can do it too! You're next. You can do it! I'm getting annoyed. Your friend is waiting for the subway at Chungmuro Station. He left a message saying, “I’m on the way. I’m on the train X so it’s not coming.” The article was belatedly posted to the community and is causing laughter.

Director Lee Won-seok also predicted likes and dislikes as soon as he received the scenario. Lee Ha-nui and Lee Sun-gyun decided to appear as if they had received confirmation from each other. The two said they were curious about what kind of picture the scenario they enjoyed would turn out to be. Lee Ha-nui and Lee Sun-gyun were initially negative about ‘Killing Romance’, but put emphasis on ‘diversity’. Lee Ha-nui said that the taste of Korean movies is diversity, and described them as movies like mint chocolate. ‘Killing Romance’ meant that even if it felt like shit, it had meaning.

Before the movie's release, Lee Ha-nui said, "I was thrilled. There were twists and turns before it came out, but I thought that it was meaningful and good to see something big come out in the world. As theaters have become difficult, I think about big movies and movies that have to be seen in movie theaters, and I think about the Korean culture. “I feel like the diversity of taste is fading away,” he said honestly.

Director Lee Won-seok said he thought it was different from his previous work, ‘Men’s Manual.’ He said, "I thought it was a commercial choice. I thought many audiences would sympathize with it. In fact, there are many scenes that were edited out of our movie. Assuming that an easy comedy that everyone can laugh at is 1, 'Men's Manual' is about 3 to 4. On the other hand, I think ‘Killing Romance’ is 5 to 7.”

In 'Killing Romance', Lee Ha-nui, Lee Sun-kyun, and Gong Myung each do good acting. Director Lee Won-seok also incorporated his unique tension into the film. The biggest reason why ‘Killing Romance’ is on the rise is because of the song that keeps lingering in my mouth and ears. In the play, Lee Ha-nui passionately sings 'Tathoraism', a rewritten version of Rain's 'Rainism', and Wild Chrysanthemum's 'Please'. Sunkyun Lee sings HOT’s ‘Happiness’. This song has a story and meaning for each character.

When you watch Lee Ha-nui and Lee Seon-gyun sing on the big screen, you may find yourself humming the lyrics without even realizing it. That's how addictive it is. According to a Lotte Entertainment official, they are considering screening the 'Killing Romance' sing-along. Honey Lee personally planned and produced the music video for ‘Tathagataism’. Lee Seon-gyun also said that he wanted to make a music video for ‘Happiness’ while keeping ‘Tathagataism’ in check.

In addition, the 'pumped article' that director Lee Won-seok received from his father-in-law was also directly inserted. The 'Killing Romance' team will hold a stage greeting this coming weekend. At the CGV Stage Greetings Theater, we hope that the Golden Egg Index will not break down any further and will be giving away hard elvan eggs through a drawing to the audience.

Of course, it is difficult to expect ‘great success’ just because of a rebound. However, just giving a signal that an entertaining Korean film can attract people to the movie theater can be a source of hope for the Korean film industry.

Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr