The Foul King
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Film description
Wrestling is a choreographed theater of primal aggression. For years, Dae-ho has been watching the clashes of wrestlers, pumped-up with testosterone. He knows all their signature punches and throws by heart. He can only dream about a career on the ring – he is a complete wimp, a slouch bank clerk whom his boss publicly uses to test his humiliating grips. Oh, and he lives with his dad.
Yet fate gives Dae-ho a chance to prove himself in professional wrestling. The owner of a rundown club offers him the role of a masked Foul King, fighting his opponents with dirty tricks and clever gadgets, to the delight of the crowds. Dae-ho enters the bizarre world of wrestlers and starts a series of intense trainings that are supposed to pave his way to the top. Will they boost his self-esteem enough to let him take revenge on his bullies and win the heart of his beloved?
"The Foul King" is the second film by Kim Jee-woon, an outstanding auteur of New Korean Cinema. The director talks about the brutal sport in a surprising, bitter-sweet, melancholic tone, creating a farce about the fight for one's dignity in an unjust world. The film owes much of its success to the nuanced, dramatic, yet highly comical acting of Song Kang-ho. This was the actor's first leading role on his way to stardom.
The soundtrack includes pieces by UhUhBoo, a band know for their collaboration with Park Chan-wook and Pina Bausch, which gave a live performance at the 7th Five Flavours.
text:
Marcin Krasnowolski
Jee-woon Kim
Born in 1964, the leading member of the New Korean Cinema, combining auteur successes with box office ambitions. He was first noticed for his pitch-black comedy "The Quiet Family." His subsequent films show his strong affiliation with genre cinema – "The Foul King" is a sports film, "A Tale of Two Sisters" is a horror, "A Bittersweet Life" is a gangster film, and "I Saw the Devil" is a revenge thriller. After his Hollywood debut ("The Last Stand"), he returned to Korea.
1998 Spokojna rodzinka / Choyonghan kajok / The Quiet Family
2000 Król fauli / Banchikwang / The Foul King
2003 Opowieść o dwóch siostrach / Janghwa, Hongryeon / A Tale of Two Sisters
2005 Słodko-gorzkie życie / Dalkomhan Insaeng / A Bittersweet Life
2008 Dobry, zły i zakręcony / Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom / The Good, the Bad and the Weird
2018 Illang: Wilcza brygada / In-lang / Illang: The Wolf Brigade
