Coin Locker Girl

2015 South Korean film
Coin Locker Girl
Promotional poster
Hangul
차이나타운
Literal meaningChinatown
Revised RomanizationChainataun
Directed byHan Jun-hee
Written byHan Jun-hee
Produced byAhn Eun-mi
Cho Dong-ki
Starring
  • Kim Hye-soo
  • Kim Go-eun
CinematographyLee Chang-jae
Edited byShin Min-kyung
Music byJang Young-gyu
Kim Sun
Production
company
Pollux Pictures
Distributed byCGV Arthouse[1]
Release date
  • April 29, 2015 (2015-04-29)
Running time
110 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box officeUS$10.7 million[2]

Coin Locker Girl (Korean: 차이나타운; RR: Chainataun; lit. "Chinatown") is a 2015 South Korean crime thriller film written and directed by Han Jun-hee, starring Kim Hye-soo and Kim Go-eun.[3][4][5] It was selected to screen in the Critics' Week section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.[6][7]

Plot

A baby is found abandoned inside a coin locker at Western Seoul train station in 1996. A beggar takes her and names her Il-young (Kim Go-eun), then when she turns 10, she is taken by the corrupt detective who sells her off to a woman referred to simply as Mother (Kim Hye-soo) as part of his loan payment. Mother is the boss of a loan shark and organ trafficking crime ring in Chinatown, Incheon; she has held on to her position of power by being dispassionate and calculating, and by keeping by her side only those of use to her. Mother decides to raise the young child after she shows toughness and smarts, eventually grooming her for a position in her organization as her personal debt collector. One day, Il-young is given a task to collect debt from Suk-hyun (Park Bo-gum), the son of a debtor. Over the course of a few days, she is initially taken aback by the guy, who doesn't seem afraid of her and even shows her kindness and openness when talking about his own struggles, before starting to develop feelings for him. But when his father flees from the debt, Mother orders her to kill Suk-hyun, an order Il-young fails to follow. Regardless, Suk-hyun is killed and organ-harvested by Mother's other goons. Il-young is beaten down and readied to be shipped for Japanese flesh trade. The only family she has ever known comes crashing down. Il-young escapes and makes her way back to Mother, and kills her, only to find out that she is actually her birth mother and that her mother uses this opportunity to teach her a lesson and train and prepare her for taking over.

Cast

Main

Supporting

  • Uhm Tae-goo as Woo Gon
  • Park Bo-gum as Park Seok-hyun
  • Go Kyung-pyo as Chi-do
  • Lee Soo-kyung as Ssong
    • Park Ji-bo as young Ssong
  • Cho Hyun-chul as Hong-joo
    • So Sang-seop as young Hong-joo
  • Lee Dae-yeon as Dr. Ahn
  • Cho Soo-hyang as Leukemia child's mother
  • Jo Bok-rae as Detective Tak
  • Jung Suk-yong as Mr. Woo
  • Baek Soo-jang as Number 2
  • Lee Jang-won as Chubby
  • Oh Dae-hwan as Bruiser
  • Lee Sang-hee as Bruiser's wife
  • Ki Guk-seo as Man in uniform
  • Gi Ju-bong as Man in suit
  • Ahn Jae-hong as Police officer 2

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2015 68th Cannes Film Festival Caméra d'Or Han Jun-hee Nominated
19th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival Jury's Choice for Feature Film Coin Locker Girl Won [8]
[9]
[10]
45th Giffoni Film Festival Gryphon Award for Best Film (Generator 18+ section) Won
British Film Institute Certificate Won
35th Golden Cinema Festival Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Won
2nd Korean Film Producers Association Awards Won
24th Buil Film Awards Nominated
Kim Go-eun Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Uhm Tae-goo Nominated
Best New Director Han Jun-hee Nominated
35th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Won [11]
Best New Director Han Jun-hee Nominated
Top 10 Films of the Year Coin Locker Girl Won
52nd Grand Bell Awards Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Nominated
Best New Director Han Jun-hee Nominated
36th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Nominated
Best New Director Han Jun-hee Nominated
Best Art Direction Lee Mok-won Nominated
2016 11th Max Movie Awards Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Nominated
10th Asian Film Awards Best Actress Nominated
52nd Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actress Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Uhm Tae-goo Nominated
Best New Actor Go Kyung-pyo Nominated
Park Bo-gum Nominated
Best New Director Han Jun-hee Won
21st Chunsa Film Art Awards Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Won

References

  1. ^ Conran, Pierce (29 December 2014). "Genre Diversity from Major 3 in 2015". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  2. ^ Ma, Kevin (22 May 2015). "Evil dethrones Avengers in South Korea". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  3. ^ Na, Won-jung (20 May 2015). "Interview: Director HAN Jun-hee and Actress KIM Go-eun of COIN LOCKER GIRL". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  4. ^ Conran, Pierce (14 May 2014). "KIM Hye-soo and KIM Go-eun Team Up for COIN LOCKER GIRL". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Kim Hye-soo Undergoes Transformation for Her Upcoming Film". The Chosun Ilbo. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  6. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (20 April 2015). "Cannes: Critics' Week unveils 2015 line-up". Screen International. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Coin Locker Girl Achieves Better-Than-Expected Results at Box Office". The Chosun Ilbo. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Coin Locker Girl wins top movie awards". The Korea Times. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  9. ^ Lim, Jeong-yeo (29 July 2015). "Coin Locker Girl grabs international award". K-pop Herald. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  10. ^ Conran, Pierce (11 August 2015). "COIN LOCKER GIRL Picks Up Award in Giffoni". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  11. ^ Park, So-jung (28 October 2015). "The Throne rakes in three film critics' awards". Yonhap. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

External links