MY WEDDING CAMPAIGN

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MY WEDDING CAMPAIGN

Apr 17, 2018

Writer by Pierce Conran
View1565

2005｜123 MIN | Drama

DIRECTOR HWANG Byeong-gug

CAST JUNG Jae-young, Su Ae, YU Jun-sang

RELEASE DATE November 23, 2005

CONTACT Mirovision

Tel : +82-2-3443-2569

Fax : +82-2-3443-4842

Email : jason@mirovision.com

The closing film of the Busan International Film Festival in 2005, My Wedding Campaign (2005) is a romantic drama featuring star turns from JUNG Jae-young and Su Ae in a unique setting. A light countryside tale quickly becomes a fish-out-of-water comedy in Central Asia, while deeper issues gradually add layers to this surprising directing debut from frequent character actor HWANG Byeong-gug.

HONG Man-taek is a 38-year-old farmer living as a bachelor in the countryside. Feeling pressure to find a bride, the chronically timid Man-taek eventually has his arm twisted to take a trip to Uzbekistan with his taxi driver Hee-chul, with the promise that a matchmaking program will connect them with available Uzbek-Korean women looking to settle down. In Central Asia, the pair meet two other unlucky-in-love Korean men and Man-taek beings to engage in several rounds of speed-dating with the help of the Korean-Uzbek translator Lala, who soon realizes the enormity of the task ahead of her.

My Wedding Campaign was the feature-length directing debut of HWANG Byeong-gug, who is a frequent bit-part player in major Korean films, including recent titles Inside Men (2015), Tunnel (2016) and The Battleship Island (2017). He has since helmed the crime thriller S.I.U. (2011).

With his debut, HWANG taps into social pressures that eat away at the heart of Korea, encapsulated by the ever-saturnine JUNG Jae-young as a middle-aged man is often unable to express himself and even less capable of acting on his own desires. While the tale seems to poke fun at his hapless actions in a light-hearted way, as with his frequent slides into inebriation, the comedy of his mishaps is undercut by the pain of his inability of expression.

Man-taek’s case is not unique in Korea, and one way that bachelors in the countryside have sought to upgrade their marital status is to wed foreign women eager to relocate to an affluent country such as Korea. While My Wedding Campaign makes no attempt to address the harsh realities faced by these newlywed couples (particularly the brides) upon their return to the homeland, such as was seen in the 2014 indie film Thuy, the film does explore Korea’s complicated diaspora in Central Asia, which rarely figures in Korea’s filmed media, save for a few documentaries.

Released in quick succession after his acclaimed titles Someone Special (2004), Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005) and Murder, Take One (2005), My Wedding Campaign sees JUNG Jae-young once again in top form as he balances comedy and melancholy with his deadpan expressions and stumbling physicality. Su Ae, in her second feature role, brings a dose of strength to her translator character, which contrasts nicely with JUNG. Meanwhile, YU Jun-sang offers great comic relief as the larger-than-life and wiry-haired cabbie friend.

Benefitting from extensive location photography in Uzbekistan, My Wedding Campaign sets itself apart from the usual light dramas that the Korean industry was churning out by the dozens in the mid-teens.

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