Ryu Seung-ryong headlines disaster movie Seoul Station

17 March 6, 2014March 6, 2014

Ryu Seung-ryong headlines disaster movie Seoul Station

by javabeans

Casting on a new disaster movie has been announced all at once, so we have the news that Seoul Station will boast a star-packed cast in Ryu Seung-ryong (Miracle in Cell No. 7), Shim Eun-kyung (Miss Granny), Moon Sori (The Spy), and Lee Joon (IRIS 2).

Not bad, eh? But before you get too excited, it’s an animated feature, as were director Yeon Sang-ho’s previous films The Fake (2013), The Window (2012), and The King of Pigs (2011). I know, I should probably have led with that, but the the stories buried that tidbit way in the middle and I got all excited-disappointed too. Share in my pain.

The plot of Seoul Station unfolds as peculiar situation arises at the station involving a homeless person, and quickly spreads to surrounding areas until the whole of the city is engulfed in pandemonium. Shim Eun-kyung will play (voice-act) the role of the daughter, while Ryu Seung-ryong plays Dad, who frantically scours the station to find her. Lee Joon plays the role of the boyfriend who joins in the hunt to track down the missing girl.

Ryu explained taking the role because “I felt that there was something powerful about this film. I was impressed with its engrossing story that conveys a message, and the characters that are well-balanced.” Well, if Ryu Seung-ryong says something is powerful and engrossing, I’m certainly not going to argue with him, the master of putting out powerful and engrossing performances that rip my heart out and/or creep me out and/or make me bust a gut laughing.

Seoul Station is aiming for a 2015 release, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for it.

Via Mk.co.kr

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1 Lorena

March 6, 2014 at 3:39 PM

I WAS SO HAPPY AND THEN

PAIIIINNNNNNNN

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mary

March 6, 2014 at 9:49 PM

Love is pain.

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2 RockPaperScissors

March 6, 2014 at 3:56 PM

"Share my pain" ... And I do.

This guy can make slurping ramyun noodles looks sexy. And all we get is his voice?

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Haru

March 6, 2014 at 5:47 PM

Its a sexy voice though ;(

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3 zakin89

March 6, 2014 at 3:56 PM

Oh how I love the MBLAQ Fanbase. Thanks to them I already knew that this would 'just' be an animated movie but I was still confused with the news reports those past few days^^ They weren't really clear about the "what type of movie" thing^^

That said.. I am totally looking forward to the movie despite it being an animated one. The story sounds interesting and I am curious on how this will work out in an animated world.
Also RSR has such a great voice as does Joon so yeah count me in :D

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4 eunchans

March 6, 2014 at 4:21 PM

Yeon Sang-ho's glorious films + this voice cast = I'm in.

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5 alua

March 6, 2014 at 4:39 PM

I'm going to respectfully disagree with "share my pain".

Animations are films in their own right and deserve to be appreciated for that. They are a different way of storytelling, with different possibilities, but that can be just as, if not more, powerful – Roger Ebert didn't write for nothing that Grave of the Fireflies is "one greatest war films ever made" (animated or otherwise).

Korean animation has a long way to go of course (especially compared to Japanese), but Yeon Sang-ho is one of those few directors that is paving the way – even more so because he sticks to topics that certainly in the West would never come in animated form, in the East do more so (although you don't usually see a director so completely dedicated to dark topics either).

This isn't a film to watch for the star-packed cast, it's film to watch for itself. Indeed, if I'm honest, I would rather do without the famous names (their casting is about marketing) and have professional voice actors instead – nothing against these actors specifically, but acting and voice acting are two different things, and not all actors can deliver.

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pogo - sailing HMS Queen of Tears and HMS Sailboat Lovely Runner🍉

March 7, 2014 at 7:49 AM

Grave of the Fireflies is “one greatest war films ever made”

It really is. I think traditional 2D animation can and has been used to tell some truly amazing stories, and to tell them in a style that can be groundbreaking in the right hands - I have nothing but respect for Studio Ghibli, Production IG and the like.

3D animation, though, while the stories can be great, I'm often disappointed in many of them visually - somehow their look is rarely as beautifully done as the 2D ones (of course, some films get it right - Kung Fu Panda was one, Brave was another - but I'm tired of looking at so many 3D films where humans just look interchangeable and can only be distinguished by hair colour, eye colour etc.)

/off topic

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Gabby

March 7, 2014 at 10:12 AM

"but acting and voice acting are two different things, and not all actors can deliver."

That is so freaking true, and that's why I am so critical of U.S. animation studios' predominant strategy of casting celebrities for their name value, and generally structuring and writing characters around the celebrity's real-life persona rather than selecting VAs based on their suitability for the character.

Disney has done the best at realizing and maintaining the difference (by that I mean subordinating the celebrity to the character), although it can be argued they really started the shift in the first place with Robin Williams as the Genie, and you notice that disheartening Disney-spurred movement throughout the 90s away from professional VAs to celebrity casting (I was just rewatching Hunchback of Notre Dame a few months ago, and Demi Moore's lackluster performance stood out like a sore thumb). Also Disney proper has sort of gone the way of the other animation houses in its reliance on run-of-the-mill celebrity (or Broadway, as with Frozen) talent, so it seems like only Pixar really thinks outside the box when it comes to voice casting anymore - i.e. Patton Oswalt and Edward Asner aren't conventional, audience-drawing choices - even if they don't use professional VAs either.

::sigh::

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Jam

March 7, 2014 at 1:01 PM

Wow yeah thanks for the insight! Def changed my perspective.

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6 ananke

March 6, 2014 at 4:50 PM

Excited-disappointed experienced.

Well executed javabeans, well executed.

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7 Waiting

March 6, 2014 at 5:26 PM

I really like this actor, but the first thing that comes to mind when I think of him is fish casanova. That will only make sense to you if you saw his movie, All About My Wife. LOL