Jang Hoon (Korean장훈; born May 4, 1975) is a South Korean film director. He directed the films Rough Cut (2008), Secret Reunion (2010), The Front Line (2011), and A Taxi Driver (2017).

Jang Hoon
Born (1975-05-04) May 4, 1975 (age 49)
EducationB.Des. (Visual design)
Alma materSeoul National University
Occupation(s)Film director, writer, editor
Years active2005 – present
Korean name
Hangul
장훈
Hanja
張薰
Revised RomanizationJang Hun
McCune–ReischauerChang Hun

Career

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Jang Hoon (along with Jang Cheol-soo and Juhn Jai-hong) honed his directorial skills as an assistant director under Kim Ki-duk. His debut film Rough Cut (2008), about a gangster who wants to become an actor and an actor who thinks he is as tough as a gangster, was written and produced by Kim. Rough Cut was much more commercially oriented than Kim's own movies, and the star power of its two leading actors So Ji-sub and Kang Ji-hwan propelled the indie to more than one million admissions, resulting in a profit 10 times its low budget.[1][2]

Jang's second feature, Secret Reunion (2010), benefited even more from the director's populist sensibility.[3] A story about two intelligence agents, one from South Korea and the other from the North (played by Song Kang-ho and Kang Dong-won, respectively), who approach each other in acts of espionage only to develop an unlikely friendship, the film sold 5.5 million tickets, making it the second highest grossing Korean film of that year.[2]

His third film, The Front Line, was a large-scale war movie that came out during the 2011 summer blockbuster season.[4][5] Starring Go Soo and Shin Ha-kyun, the film was the most well-received among the ample number of Korean War-themed films and TV dramas commemorating the 60th anniversary of the war. Through the guise of a mystery narrative, the film revolved around the story of South and North Korean soldiers carrying out meaningless sacrifices trying to capture a nameless hill.[6][7][8][2] It was selected as South Korea's submission to the 84th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film,[9] but did not make the final shortlist.[10]

Jang became the subject of controversy when former mentor Kim Ki-duk's documentary-style self-portrait Arirang was released. In the Cannes award-winning film, the elder cineaste explicitly criticized him as "a betrayer" after Jang signed with the film production company Showbox/Mediaplex.[11] Regarding the matter, Jang said, "I hope director Kim can find consolation through Arirang. He is a great teacher and I still respect him very much. I feel very sorry as a pupil of his."[4]

In 2012 Jang, Kang Hyeong-cheol and E J-yong made short films for Samsung Galaxy Note's ambitious PPL-film project Cine Note starring Ha Jung-woo.[12]

Filmography

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  • A Taxi Driver 택시 운전사 (director, 2017)
  • Cine Note 시네 노트 "Lost Number" (short film, director, 2012)
  • The Front Line 고지전 (director, 2011)
  • Secret Reunion 의형제 (director, script editor, 2010)
  • Rough Cut 영화는 영화다 (director, script editor, 2008)
  • Time 시간 (assistant director, assistant editor, 2006)
  • The Bow 활 (assistant director, 2005)
  • 3-Iron 빈집 (assistant director, 2004)
  • Love, So Divine 신부수업 (assistant director, 2004)
  • Samaritan Girl 사마리아 (assistant director, 2004)
  • Hera Purple 헤라 퍼플 (assistant director, 2001)

Recurring collaborators

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Actor Ko Chang-seok has appeared in all four of Jang's feature films in supporting roles.

Accolades

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Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2011 20th Buil Film Awards Best Film The Front Line Won
48th Grand Bell Awards Best Film Won
Best Director Nominated
31st Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Best Film Won
Best Director Won
32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Film Nominated
2012
14th Udine Far East Film Festival
Audience Award Won
2017 26th Buil Film Awards Best Film A Taxi Driver Won [13]
Buil Readers' Jury Award Won
2017 54th Grand Bell Awards Best Film Won [14]
Best Director Nominated
Technical Award Nominated
Best Planning Won
37th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Top 10 Films Won [15]
2017 1st The Seoul Awards Grand Prize (Film) Nominated [16][17]
2017 3rd Asian World Film Festival Best Film Won [18][19][20]
Humanitarian Award Won
2017 38th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Film Won [21]
Best Director Nominated
Audience Choice Award for Most Popular Film Won
2017 17th Director's Cut Awards Special Mentions Won [22]
25th Korea Culture & Entertainment Awards Best Film Won
Best Director (Film) Won
2017 17th Korea World Youth Film Festival Favorite Director Won
2018 54th Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize (Film) Nominated [23]
Best Film Nominated [24]
Best Director (Film) Nominated
2017 23rd Chunsa Film Art Awards Best Director Nominated [25]

Listicles

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Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement
Publisher Year Listicle Placement Ref.
Sisa Journal 2017 Next Generation Leader—Culture, Arts, Sports 10th[note 1] [26]

Notes

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  1. ^ Tied with Song Kang-ho

References

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  1. ^ "The Rising Power of Chungmuro - Rookie Directors". KBS World. 22 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2013-05-24.
  2. ^ a b c "CHANG Hun". Korean Film Council. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  3. ^ Lee, Ji-hye (16 March 2010). "Director Jang Hun's Movie Picks". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  4. ^ a b Park, Sung-hee (16 June 2011). "The Front Line spotlights the Forgotten War". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  5. ^ Ki, Sun-min (22 July 2011). "Battlefield film begins at war's end". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 2012-12-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ "Director Jang Hun - The Front Line". Asiance Magazine. 21 January 2012. Archived from the original on 5 May 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  7. ^ Heskins, Andrew (15 March 2012). "On The Front Line: an interview with Jang Hun". Eastern Kicks. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  8. ^ Conran, Pierce. "Interview: 'The Front Line' Director Jang Hoon". Modern Korean Cinema. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  9. ^ Noh, Jean (2011-08-24). "South Korea submits The Front Line for Oscar race". Screen International. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  10. ^ "9 Foreign Language Films Vie for Oscar". Oscars.org. Archived from the original on 2012-05-18. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
  11. ^ Lee, Hyo-won (22 May 2011). "Cannes hears out filmmakers angst". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  12. ^ Lee, Claire (20 January 2012). "Smartphones help directors look at films from new angles". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2012-12-18.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "A TAXI DRIVER Tops Buil Film Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. October 17, 2017. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  14. ^ "54th Daejong Film Awards (Grand Bell Awards) 2017". HanCinema. 2017-09-29. Archived from the original on 2017-10-01. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  15. ^ "THE FORTRESS Dominates 37th Korean Film Critics Association Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. October 30, 2017.
  16. ^ '제1회 더 서울어워즈' 노미네이트 공개, 이보영 지성 김희선 조승우 등 화려한 라인업 공개. Naver. 2017-09-28. Archived from the original on 2017-10-18. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  17. ^ '서울어워즈' 송강호·나문희·지성·박보영 주연상…·'박열'·'비숲' 대상[종합]. TV Report (in Korean). October 27, 2017. Archived from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  18. ^ '택시운전사', 美 AWFF 3관왕 '쾌거'…아카데미 주목할까 (in Korean). News1. 2017-11-06. Archived from the original on 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  19. ^ "2017 Awff Winners". Archived from the original on 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  20. ^ Jon Maala (2017-11-07). "'A Taxi Driver' bags best film plum at Asian World Film Festival". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  21. ^ [공식입장] '제38회 청룡영화상' 후보 공개, '불한당'vs'택시' 대격돌 (in Korean). Sports Chosun. 2017-11-06. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  22. ^ [공식]봉준호·설경구·나문희, 디렉터스컷 어워즈 선정 '올해의 감독·배우상'. Chosun (in Korean). 20 July 2020. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  23. ^ 54회 백상 심사 채점 결과 공개, 어떻게 뽑았나(May 8, 2018). Archived from the original on May 8, 2018. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  24. ^ 제54회 백상예술대상, TV·영화 각 부문별 수상 후보자 공개. JTBC (in Korean). April 6, 2018. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  25. ^ 제23회 춘사영화제 5월18일 개최..홍상수·김민희 참석하나. Newsen (in Korean). May 3, 2018. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  26. ^ "[2017 차세대 리더-문화·예술·스포츠①] 세계적 스포츠 행정가 꿈 키우는 김연아와 박지성" [[2017 Next Generation Leaders-Culture, Arts, Sports①] Kim Yuna and Park Ji-sung dream of becoming world-class sports administrators]. Sisa Journal (in Korean). 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
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