Directing elegant romantic comedies has always been the strong suit of KIM Hyun-suk. Born in 1972, he wrote his first screenplay while he was studying business administration, a romantic story that would later be filmed by KWON Chil-in under the title <A Good Day To Fall In Love> (1995). After he won Best New Screenwriter Award at the Grand Bell Awards in 1995 for his scenario <Agency>, which he had written during his mandatory military service, he joined Myung Fi...More

Directing elegant romantic comedies has always been the strong suit of KIM Hyun-suk. Born in 1972, he wrote his first screenplay while he was studying business administration, a romantic story that would later be filmed by KWON Chil-in under the title <A Good Day To Fall In Love> (1995). After he won Best New Screenwriter Award at the Grand Bell Awards in 1995 for his scenario <Agency>, which he had written during his mandatory military service, he joined Myung Films, the famous production company ran by SHIM Jae-myung. A talented screenplay writer whose notable credits include a collaboration with PARK Chan-wook on <Joint Security Area/JSA> (2000), KIM showed much interest in baseball as a movie subject, especially in his early works. His first contribution to Myung Film was the script for <If the Sun Rises in the West> (1998), a romantic comedy about an aspiring baseball umpire and a rookie actress, on which he also served as assistant director. His directorial debut <Y.M.C.A. Baseball Team> (2003), which he made soon after graduating from the Advanced Imaging Science School of Chung-Ang University, depicted people from all walks of life taking refuge in the newly introduced Western sport of baseball as they witness the ever-growing authority of the Japanese over the Joseon Dynasty in early 19th century. <Scout> (2007) was another outstanding attempt at intertwining a baseball narrative with the larger history, in this case the dark page of the Gwangju Uprising of 1980. KIM then returned to his old romantic comedy script <Agency> and reworked it entirely, infusing the story with a more mature view on love in the process. Taking a hint from the classic French play “Cyrano de Bergerac”, <Cyrano Agency> (2010) followed a theatre troupe that helps people win the hearts of their beloved by staging ideal first meetings. Making smart use of tropes from the genre, the film showcased the director’s talent in portraying romance from a male perspective and became a surprising box office hit for a romantic comedy in a market bombarded with thriller movies. KIM tackled a new genre in 2013, when he released the time travel picture <AM 11:00> (2013). Starring JUNG Jae-young, the film was a chamber piece that was part sci-fi and part psychological thriller. Following the film’s less than positive reception, KIM opted to follow up with a project more akin to his previous outings, which led him to make the music biopic <C’est Si Bon> (2014), picking up on the retro trend that had taken over the entertainment industry in the early 2010s. Featuring KIM Yun-seok and KIM Hee-ae as the former members of the titular music group, based on the real-life music duo Twin Folio, the film was met with lukewarm reviews and failed to live up to box office expectations. KIM was more successful with his latest outing <I Can Speak> (2017) and its 3.2 million admissions. Notable for daring to tackle a historical injustice under the disguise of comedy, the film earned him Best Director at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. Less