Punch (Korean Movie)

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Movie: Punch (International English title)
Revised romanization: Won-Deuk Yi
Hangul: 완득이
Director: Lee Han
Writer: Kim Ryeo-Ryeong (novel), Kim Dong-Woo
Producer: Kim Dong-Woo, Ham Jung-Yub, Kim Jae-Joong
Cinematographer: Jo Yong-Kyu
World Premiere: October, 2011 (Busan International Film Festival)
Release Date: October 20, 2011
Runtime: 110 min.
Distributor: CJ E&M
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot

17-year-old Won-Deuk (Yoo Ah-In) is a sophomore in high school with a miserable outlook on life. He doesn't have much interest in school, his diminutive size father has a hunchback and Won-Deuk doesn't know anything about his mother. The one thing that Won-Deuk excels at is fighting. Although he isn't aggressive by nature, If anybody makes a snide comment about his father then Won-Deuk has no problems beating the crap out of them. Making Won-Deuk's life that much more miserable is his homeroom teacher Dong-Joo (Kim Yun-Seok) who seems to frequently pick on him in class. This bothers Won-Deuk enough that he often prays in church for Dong-Joo's sudden death. If Won-Deuk doesn't get enough of his homeroom teacher at school then he often sees him at home. Dong-Joo lives in a rooftop apartment directly adjacent to Won-Deuk's rooftop apartment.

One day, his homeroom teacher unveils a bombshell on Won-Deuk. He tells him that his mother is still alive. In fact, his mother is a Filipino woman who immigrated to Korea and lives not very far from him. Furthermore, Dong-Joo tells him that his mother would like to meet him. Won-Deuk is stunned and confused.

A few days later, Dong-Joo discovers the car belonging to Won-Deuk's father has been vandalized. Dong-Joo knows immediately that the man that lives in the apartment directly in front of the parked car did it. Dong-Joo yells at the man from the street to come out and then demands an apology. Instead of apologizing the neighbor curses at Won-Deuk's father. Before anybody can do anything, Won-Deuk punches the neighbor in the face. They all go to the police station.

At the police station, Dong-Joo stands up for Won-Deuk and attempts to shield him for any type of punishment. The neighbor is still persistant in getting charges filed, but his sister Ho-Jung (Park Hyo-Joo) apologizes for her brother's behavior and brings the matter to a close. Meanwhile, homeroom teacher Dong-Joo becomes attracted to his neighbor's sister. Won-Deuk also begins to view his homeroom teacher in a different light.

Notes

Based on the novel "Won-Deuk Yi" by Kim Ryeo-Ryeong (published March 17, 2008).
Filming took place February 27-May 17, 2011.
"Punch" sold 5.3 million tickets in South Korea during its box office run. The movie ranks #3 for Korean film ticket sales in 2011 and #4 for ticket sales for all films released in South Korea in 2011.[1]
"Punch" received a limited release in the United States. Movie premiered November 18, 2011 in Los Angeles and then opened in San Jose, Seattle, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver and Honolulu on December 2, 2011.[2]
Jasmine Lee who plays main character Won-Deuk's Filipino mother was elected by the Grand National Party for a proportional representation seat during South Korea's April 11 elections.

Cast



Yoo Ah-In	Kim Yun-Seok	Jasmine Lee	Park Hyo-Joo	Kang Byul
Doh Won-Deuk	Lee Dong-Joo	Won-Deuk's mother	Ho-Jung	Yoon-Ha



Kim Sang-Ho	Park Soo-Young	Kim Young-Jae	Ahn Kil-Kang	Sudip Banerjee
next door neighbor	Won-Deuk's father	uncle Min-Goo	coach	Hassam

Additional Cast Members:

Kim Dong-Young - Hyeok-Ju
Jo Duk-Je - director of students
Lee Jae-Gu - cabaret strongman
Han Eun-Sun - cabaret female employee
Lee Sol-Gu - street market man 2
Sung Yoo-Bin - Won-Deuk (child)

Trailers

Image Gallery

Film Festivals

2011 (16th) Busan International Film Festival - October 6-14, 2011 - Open Cinema *World Premiere
2012 (62nd) Berlin International Film Festival - February 9-19, 2012 - Generation 14plus *European Premiere
2012 (14th) Udine Far East Film - April 20-April 28, 2012 *Italian Premiere

Awards

* 2011 (3rd) Film of the Year Awards - January 31, 2012
- Best Actor (Kim Yun-Seok)
- Discovery Award (Yoo Ah-In)
- Public Relation Award

Q&A with director Lee Han

Q&A for "Punch" took place after a screening of the movie at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival on October 10, 2011. Appearing as speaker is the movie's director Lee Han. AsianWiki editor Ki Mun was there and transcribed/translated the session.

Lee Han - Hello, I am Lee Han, the director of "Punch." Nice to meet you. Now, I am more nervous than the movie's preview screening. People who attend film festivals tend to be more ardent fans of movies than general movie audience goers. I hope you have had a good time watching my film.

Moderator - This is your fourth feature film. "Punch" is based on a very famous novel. I think you might have felt a lot of pressure because of this and how to bring such a good novel into movie form. Could you briefly explain to us the process from planning to filming to it's release?

Lee Han - "Punch" is based on the novel "Won-Deuk Yi" by Kim Ryeo-Ryung. One of the main strengths of the novel is its depiction of dark characters and depressing setting in a bright manner. I was attracted to that. I did feel burdened in making a movie version of this novel. When we were writing the adaptation we tried adding a lot of things to the screenplay, but it didn't come out better than the novel. We ended up adhering more faithfully to the novel and just adding cinematic touches.

Moderator - How long did filming take?

Lee Han - Filming began February, 2011 and finished in May. About 2 and a half months. Is that right? No, it took about 3 months.

Audience Question - I read the novel "Won-Deuk Yi." In the movie there is Ho-Jung who lived with her brother and was the love interest of Dong Joo. She wasn't in the original novel. What made you add her character into the movie? Also, in the end credits I saw "the late" added in front of film crew member Kim Yong-Sam. Could you explain what happened to him?

Lee Han - Ho-Jung is the only character that was not from the original novel. I agonized a bit on finding a way in which the audience would feel closer to high school teacher Dong-Joo. I then thought of love. The most universal thing is love. I felt people would feel closer to him if he falls in love. After that, we wrote the character Ho-Jung into the movie. About the late Kim Yong-Sam. After we finished filming, Kim Yong-Sam went back to his regular job. He got into an accident and died. It was so sad.

Audience Question - After I read that Kim Yun-Seok and Yoo Ah-In were cast for the movie, I read the novel "Won-Deuk Yi." I think Kim Yun-Seok and Yoo Ah-In are perfect for their characters. How did you cast these two actors?

Lee Han - In the case of Kim Yun-Seok, when we were in the process of writing the movie adaptation, he became our first choice for Dong-Joon. The writers and all the staff members wanted Kim Yun-Seok. We gave Kim Yun-Seok the screenplay and, fortunately for us, he said yes. In the case of Yoo Ah-In, we conducted many auditions involving actors his age and younger. We came to the conclusion that Yoo Ah-In was the most suited to play Won-Deuk.

Moderator - You have worked with some of the most popular and talented actors and actresses in your previous films. In fact, it is quite difficult to cast first choice actors for a particular role. What attractions do you think your movies hold?

Lee Han - I don't know. Maybe I look nice? I respect the opinions of actors and actress a lot. There might be some differences of opinion between what I think and what the actor thinks, but as long their feelings are not that different from the main direction of the movie, I accept their opinions. I think I am just lucky.

Audience Question - There are problems occurring overseas in multicultural countries. What message do you want to deliver on this topic?

Lee Han - In fact, reporters say "Punch" is a movie about multiculturalism. I feel burdened a bit with that, because I didn't deal with that issue deeply. Just, while reading the novel and shooting the movie, I hoped people would feel some of the viewpoints of immigrants intimately. I feel those people are separated from us. I think the important things are hanging around, getting intimate, seeing each other and talking to each other, rather than being separated from immigrants.

Audience Question - In the movie, were those actors really immigrants or just actors?

Lee Han - Jasmine Lee, who played Won-Deuk's mother, came from the Philippines. She also has a son Won-Deuk's age. The person who played Hassan married a Korean woman and works at LG Electronics.

Audience Question - What made you decide to make the novel into a movie?

Lee Han - The novel is fun. While reading the novel I laughed and became touched. I couldn't feel anything for a while after finishing the novel. About 30 minutes or an hour later I could understand little-by-little what the writer wanted to say. A long time ago, I used to live in an area like Won-Deuk's neighborhood. The novel reminded me of the people from that time. This isn't just a light novel, so I wanted to make the novel into a movie.

Audience Question - Tell us which scene you like most and some memorable episodes while shooting the film.

Lee Han - The scene that I like the most is the one of Won-Deuk eating bread, while sitting outside of his rooftop apartment and looking over his neighborhood. At first, I wanted that scene in the beginning of the movie, but other staff members stopped me from doing this, because they told me the movie would be gloomy. I think that scene shows everything about Won-Deuk. Memorable episodes .... it's hard to say. Aha, I was surprised by Yoo Ah-In's poor athletic abilities. He was good with running, throwing a ball, but not kicking. At first, I was really worried about this, but Yoo Ah-In worked very hard. His sleeping pattern used to be staying up until dawn and then sleeping through the afternoon. Yoo Ah-In completely changed that. He woke up early in the morning and received training. Later, a martial arts director told me that Yoo Ah-In was very determined. Later, I was surprised by Yoo Ah-In. He received training for about 2 or 3 months. I would like to say thanks to Yoo Ah-In. While he was training I was unable to go and see him. He got a little huffy over that.

Audience Question - Won-Deuk's neighborhood is located in a high area. I would think for the film crew it would be difficult to carry all their heavy equipment and also for the actors and actresses. How did you deal with that?

Lee Han - Fortunately, behind the shooting site there is an elementary school. We could get to the elementary school by car. It was harder than other shooting sites. The area didn't have big restaurants to accommodate all of us. When we wanted to eat, we had to walk down. It took time to go from and get to the shooting site. Even though we ate, we got hungry soon after from walking so much.

Audience Question - Many immigrants are shown in the movie. Tell us about them or any memorable incidents involving those actors. Also, Yoo Ah-In mentioned on a program that he got mad because nobody seemed to care about him while he received kickboxing training by himself. How did you soothe him?

Audience Question - Jasmine Lee, who played Won-Deuk's mother, has a sad story. Her husband died to save their daughter's life. Afterwards, Jasmine Lee had to raise her children by herself. She is very firm and brave. About Yoo Ah-In, I was very busy at the time, so I couldn't go see him. I think he understood that.

Audience Question - I read the novel "Won-Deuk Yi" after hearing it would be turned in a movie. There's lots of comic books and novels that are adapted into movies. Fans of the original work can be quite demanding. In my case, I enjoyed this movie. I think you as the director might feel pressure from this?

Lee Han - In fact, before shooting, I agonized a lot of over this. Once we began filming, I didn't have time to worry about it as much. I was too busy filming the movie. Before shooting and until writing the final scenario, everyone involved in making the movie agonized a lot over this.

Comments

Comment #12
saileen12 Says:
Apr 01 2012 8:32 am

what's the title of the song playing in the last part of the trailer?
Comment #11
ben Says:
Mar 11 2012 3:59 am

Perfect. An amazing dram. Highly recomended.
Comment #10
prepre Says:
Mar 03 2012 11:54 am

can anyone tell where can i watch this movie online???

plz??? tnx. (i want to watch this!
Comment #9
Jennie Kim Says:
Dec 09 2011 12:50 am

When I saw the trailer I was already hooked to this movie, then I found out they were playing this in my city so a friend and I decided to watch it today.

Let me tell you, this movie did not disappoint me whatsoever! The production crew cast some really great actors and each of them fulfilled their roles quite well! I would love to pick a favorite character but each one of them had their own special charm which added to the film.

If I do had to pick something out though which I didn't enjoy, it might have just been the way they styled Kang Byul who played Yoon-Ha. I don't know, for some reason the hairstyle and her clothing to me aged her a bit and it looked like a noona-dongsaeng relationship instead of a couple who were the same age and same year in high school.

Overall a great movie! If you folks get a chance to see it don't pass this up! It won't disappoint you one bit!
Comment #8
Lisa Says:
Nov 13 2011 10:52 pm

@ Katie the song/OST that plays during the trailer is "Break The Silence" by West One Music
Comment #7
Katie Says:
Nov 06 2011 8:08 pm

Anyone know the song that plays during the trailer?
Comment #6
Ki Says:
Oct 29 2011 2:08 am

Really enjoyed PUNCH - the movie leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling & the film also packs a surprising amount of humor. I think the English title PUNCH is slightly misleading. Although there is a kickboxing angle to the movie, that part really plays a secondary (or even tertiary) role in the grand scheme of the film.

At the movie's heart PUNCH is a human drama dealing with a group of residents living in a low income area of Seoul. Main character Won-Deuk has no interest in school, but he can literally kick anybody's ass. Yet, he's generally a nice guy and usually becomes violent when it comes to protecting those around him. His father is a diminutive guy with a noticeable hunchback. His father works as a cabaret performer when he can and other times as a street performer. Won-Deuk has never met his mother, until he learns from his dreaded high school teacher (played by Kim Yun-Seok) that his mother is Filipino, lives not far from him and wants to meet him. Won-Deuk is shocked to say the least and, at first, does not want anything to do with the woman who (may) have abandoned him. This is the crux of the film.

The actor that clearly stands out is Kim Yun-Seok (the pimp from "The Chaser"). His performance was just so ultra smooth and frequently brought out loud laughter from myself and the audience with his foul-mouth, but good-natured temperament. Yoo Ah-In was also pretty good, balancing well comedic parts, melodramatic moments and the kickboxing action scenes. Believe me when I say there's very few people that will not like PUNCH. It's a feel good, coming-of-age film with a lot of heart, laughs & even some action. One small complaint with the film is that you do get the sense that the movie didn't aim as high as it could possibly have. There's enough potential in the film to make you believe that this could have been one of those truly memorable films, but instead you get a pretty good film that just about everybody will like.

@TOK - yes and no. I think there has been some great Korean films this year but they have been indie films - "The Journals of Musan," "Bleak Night," "Pong Ddol," & "Dangerously Excited." All 4 of those made me go "wow!" Check those out if you get the chance. For commercial films most are pretty good, not that many turds and not that many films that blows your mind. I think "War of the Arrows," "Sunny," "The Front Line," "The Client," "Quick," "Silenced," "Detective K," all have their charms. Lastly there's the tweeners that's not quite commercial or indie but really interesting - "Late Autumn," "Poongsan," and " The King of Pigs." Cheers ...
Comment #5
moo Says:
Oct 17 2011 10:14 pm

Yeah it's Art of Fighting (Jae Hee, Baek Yun shik) on the gritty side. I never noticed Kim Yunseok blinks so much:D
Comment #4
TOK Says:
Oct 10 2011 4:11 pm

This is not a martial art movie at all...it's just a slice of life movie with few school fighting scene and humour....you know..kind of high school kid coming of age movie........but we have...Kim Yun Seok...one of the best Korean actor.....so this must be good...I like how his role changed from villain to comedic role.........

And to the 'Ki' who makes reviews about the latest korean movies......the reviews you gave on recent korean movies...it seems like most of the Korean movies these days...are like....1st half is Great but 2nd half lacking something......yeah..this year..Korean Cinema hasn't made any Great movies so far......last year was Great!...but 2012 would be all about korean movies (The war against crime, the Thieves, Miss Conspirator..etc).....just like Year 2003 (Memories of Murder, a tale of two sisters, old boy, classic).......anyway, hope this movie is good.
Comment #3
Michael Jones Says:
Oct 09 2011 4:48 am

Doesn't at all seem like a martial arts movie hopefully this movie will add to the trend of Asian cinema where great movies feature excellent martial art scenes but are not necessarily martial arts movies.
Comment #2
Noona_HongSik Says:
Oct 09 2011 4:27 am

Cant wait for watching this movie...Yoo Ah in Fighting...Wandeuki Fighting~
Comment #1
Riisa Says:
Oct 03 2011 6:36 pm

Is it or does Yoo Ah-in looks younger than EVER....wow...

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Punch (Korean Movie)

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Punch (Korean Movie)

Contents

User Rating

Profile

Plot

Notes

Cast

Trailers

Image Gallery

Film Festivals

Awards

Q&A with director Lee Han

Comments

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