May 18 off to a Promising Start

May 18 opened strong, taking in US$ 10.1 million in its first weekend. The CJ Entertainment title took the top spot at the box office with over 2 million viewers in its first week. May 18 also broke another deadlock by becoming the first Korean film to lead the pre-sales in thirteen weeks. In its first few days – ahead of the opening weekend – the film attracted already 126,000 viewers. All these factors together cause hopefuls to speculate about whether May 18 may achieve the most successful opening week for a Korean film. Over the weekend the number of screens was raised from 490 to 520.

Reports show that the film about the Gwangju massacre moves the audiences emotionally, a change of pace from the special effects laden films and horror titles crowding the cinemas during summer. Another aspect going for May 18 is its subject matter; films dealing with modern Korean history have often proved to find an audience in Korea, including Silmido and Tae-guk-gi.

The film also boosts a strong cast with AHN Sung-ki (Silmido), KIM Sang-kyung (Memories of Murder), LEE Yo-won (Take Care of My Cat) and LEE Jun-ki (King and the Clown) who engage the audience on a personal level in a film depicting highly political and societal issues.

Director KIM Ji-hoon chose to focus on the emotions of the people involved rather than to visually impress with camera trickery; this also contributes to setting the film apart from the other films which rely heavily on spectacular scenes. KIM previously directed the acclaimed Mokpo, Gangster¡¯s Paradise.

Yi Ch¡¯ang-ho (KOFIC)