Choi Dong-hoon
Choi Dong-hoon | |
---|---|
Born |
1971 (age 44–45) Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, South Korea |
Education |
Sogang University - B.A. in Korean Language and Literature Korean Academy of Film Arts - Filmmaking |
Occupation | Film director, screenwriter |
Years active | 1998-present |
Spouse(s) | Ahn Soo-hyun (film producer) |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 최동훈 |
Revised Romanization | Choi Dong-hun |
McCune–Reischauer | Ch‘oe Tong-hun |
Choi Dong-hoon (Hangul: 최동훈; born 1971) is a South Korean film director. He ranks as one of the most consistently successful directors working in contemporary Korean cinema, with all five of his films becoming commercial hits -- The Big Swindle attracted 2.12 million viewers, Tazza: The High Rollers at 5.68 million, Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard at 6.13 million, The Thieves at 12.9 million, and Assassination at 11.79 million.[1]
Career
After graduating from the prestigious Korean Academy of Film Arts, Choi Dong-hoon first worked as an assistant director on Im Sang-soo's Tears (he subsequently appeared in acting cameos in several of Im's films).[2]
After working on the screenplay for two years, Choi made his feature film directorial debut in 2004 with The Big Swindle and single-handedly re-imagined the heist and crime thriller genre into something uniquely Korean. His follow-up Tazza: The High Rollers, a gambling flick adapted from Huh Young-man and Kim Se-yeong's manhwa, was the third highest grossing Korean film of 2006, and producer/Sidus FNH CEO Cha Seung-jae praised Choi as "a genius storyteller for his spectacular ability to develop elaborate stories." 2009's Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard was lauded as the first Korean fantasy/superhero blockbuster movie, earning Choi a reputation as an artistically innovative and commercially successful writer-director.[3]
He returned to the heist genre in 2012 with the star-studded crime caper The Thieves,[4] which attracted almost 13 million viewers in 70 days to become the second all-time highest grossing movie in Korean film history.[5][6][7][8] In 2015, Choi made his first period film with Assassination, about freedom fighters during Japan's colonial rule, and it was once again a box office hit, crossing the 10 million admissions milestone on the 70th anniversary of South Korean independence.[9][10]
Tazza and Thieves leading lady Kim Hye-soo described him as "a genius who also works extremely hard. I think he knows who he is, the exact kind of films that he wants to make, and how to make them."[2]
Filmography
- Assassination (director, screenwriter, producer; 2015)
- The Thieves (director, screenwriter; 2012)
- Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard (director, screenwriter; 2009)
- Tazza: The High Rollers (director, screenwriter; 2006)
- The President's Last Bang (cameo; 2005)
- Boy Goes to Heaven (screenwriter; 2005)
- The Big Swindle (director, screenwriter; 2004)
- A Good Lawyer's Wife (cameo; 2003)
- Tears (assistant director, cameo; 2000)
- A Short Trip (short film, director; 2000)
Awards
- 2007 6th Korean Film Awards: Best Screenplay (Tazza: The High Rollers)
- 2007 8th Busan Film Critics Awards: Best Screenplay (Tazza: The High Rollers)
- 2007 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards: Best Director (Tazza: The High Rollers)
- 2005 SBS Gayo Daejeon: Music Video of the Year
- 2004 3rd Korean Film Awards: Best Screenplay (The Big Swindle)
- 2004 3rd Korean Film Awards: Best New Director (The Big Swindle)
- 2004 25th Blue Dragon Film Awards: Best Screenplay (The Big Swindle)
- 2004 25th Blue Dragon Film Awards: Best New Director (The Big Swindle)
- 2004 7th Director's Cut Awards: Best New Director (The Big Swindle)
- 2004 24th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards: Best New Director (The Big Swindle)
- 2004 41st Grand Bell Awards: Best Screenplay (The Big Swindle)
- 2004 41st Grand Bell Awards: Best New Director (The Big Swindle)
See also
References
- ↑ "Film auteur Choi sets milestones with well-crafted plots, dialogues". The Korea Herald. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
- 1 2 Lee, Claire (21 August 2012). "Newsmaker: Director Choi Dong-hun steals show with The Thieves". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
- ↑ "CHOI Dong-hoon". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
- ↑ "The Caper Film King Is Back with The Thieves - CHOI DONG-HOON". Korean Cinema Today. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
- ↑ "The Thieves Takes Box Office by Storm with Nearly 10 Million Viewers". The Chosun Ilbo. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
- ↑ Kwaak, Je-yup (23 July 2012). "'Actor and director are like husband and wife'". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
- ↑ Cho, Jae-eun (13 June 2012). "The Thieves all-star cast set to steal show". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
- ↑ "The Thieves now 2nd top-selling Korean film". The Korea Herald. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
- ↑ Baek, Byung-yeul (23 June 2015). "Thieves director returns with thriller". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2015-08-02. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
- ↑ Lee, Hyo-won (18 August 2015). "South Korea Box Office: Local Action Movie Assassination On Top, Becomes Biggest Film of 2015". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
External links
- Choi Dong-hoon at the Internet Movie Database
- Choi Dong-hoon at the Korean Movie Database
- Choi Dong-hoon at HanCinema