[discussion]The Crucible

ketibachan wrote: just seen this uploaded on DramaCrazy, gonna watch it asap when i have time for it ((o (^___^) o)))

Is it really!? Ive been waiting for this movie for AGES.
I wanna watch it so badly!!

eye opener...exactly.

it's such a shame it's not part of any festivals, like Cannes or Berlin...

I recommended it to the Amnesty International club on campus. A Little bit about the event that was not in the film (I have done lots of searches on this event but have been limited by my English). The teacher accepted the bribe that he refused in the movie. I can't blame him for it as he really was in bad straights in his home life. The teachers went back to teaching at the school. Kids from this case were in the movie as extras.

Ok, here are some articles, each one is going to have it's own post as I am also posting exerpts:

wrote: The book is based on a real-life rape case that occurred at a Gwangju school for the deaf, albeit reworked into a fictionalized retelling. The story centers around a teacher at the school and a human rights activist; the plot unfolds after an assault occurs in secret at the school, and follows the process as the tragedy is uncovered and becomes known to the outside world. Gong Yoo will play the teacher who is helped by Jung Yumi’s activist character, the latter of whom possesses a strong sense of justice and is an administrator at a human rights activism organization.

The novel was published in 2009 and was a best-seller that drew much attention toward the real incident and led to the formation of an investigative committee a year later.

--- http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/01/jung-yumi-and-gong-yoo-team-up-in-crucible/

wrote: The movie is reportedly dark, chilling, and terrifying. Gong Yoo read the novel during his days in the military and was shocked and horrified. He decided that if the novel was ever made into a movie, he would become a part of the project. Then his personal magic genie (a.k.a talent agency) went on to buy the rights to the film, and a movie was in the making.

wrote: Even though this project is of a dark and disturbing subject, it is the first project you ran to. Is it because you were trying to shine a light on this dark story to bring to others’ attention, or did you just find yourself going along for the ride?

I lost my sense of individuality in the military. When I thought of getting involved in the movie, I didn’t think about how difficult it would be. All I knew was that I wanted to do the project with every breath I took, and every move I made. It is true that I had concerns of how to tackle the project when the filming started. But I knew that this was a story I wanted to tell no matter how long it took to tell it.

Did you feel a sense of duty to tell the story?

It wasn’t because I felt the need or sense of duty as an actor to tell the story. It also wasn’t because of the attention this character may bring me. All I felt was this surge of compassion for those students in the story. It was the images of those students who couldn’t do anything for themselves in those terrifyingly darkened alleys. Even the people around me were wondering why I would want to do such an ominous project. [...and I guess that’s why those people aren’t Gong Yoo.]

After your discharge, you went back to the safety net of films such as Finding Mr. Destiny, but you shocked us by following that up with The Crucible.

Finding Mr. Destiny wasn’t really a safety net either. I’m not one to keep going for safe and easy projects. People tend to think romantic comedies are simple and easy projects. All I thought was that I wanted to make a really good quality romantic comedy. That’s what made me go for Finding Mr. Destiny. It wasn’t because the movie was a feel-good fluff film which I thought I’d be good at.
The Crucible is an adventure for the actors, writers, and the investors alike. Like the movie Voice, movies based on true stories have a weighted ambiance that is felt by the audience.

I told myself the same story before the filming started, as well as after it wrapped. If this movie ends up doing well, then of course it is a good thing. However, if I go into this project just hoping for a box office success, then I probably shouldn’t do it. We all made this movie with the same thoughts and hearts. I’m just so thankful to have been a part of it.

The image you’ve had as the gentle ladies’ man must come with a certain preconceived notion. You must have some interest in knowing how that image may have changed.

If I were to say I didn’t feel a certain amount of apprehension regarding how my image perception may have changed, I would be lying. However, since returning from the military service, I have become more accepting and comfortable about how others may view me. I have never had the thought to pick a project just because it was a the type of project I was used to and comfortable with. I never had those thoughts from the beginning. If you were to take a look at my list of projects in the past, you may think there’s quite a bit of contradiction in that. I even had disagreements with my managers because of this and there was even an instance when I ran away because I didn’t want to do a project.

In saying so, I hope that the first thing people talk about regarding the movie isn’t about Gong Yoo. If the movie becomes about how Gong Yoo came to do this movie, or how Gong Yoo told the story in the movie, that really won’t do. I worry that such talk would interfere with what The Crucible really is meant to portray. How I have transformed for the movie isn’t what’s really important here.

As you’ve mentioned, you’re not someone who easily shows your emotions. This couldn’t have been an easy role for you to play.

Because of that reason, I had a lot of concerns. Even working to the point of exhaustion, I still felt the pull of the character. Even when the director told me it was fine, I couldn’t shake it off… Therefore, it was really difficult.

Continued

Another article but it just talks about the movie, not the incident.

http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/05/gong-yoo-jung-yumis-crucible-wraps-filming/

Also, and article not entirely relevant but worth a read as it talks about the effects of the movie:

http://www.hancinema.net/harsher-punishment-urged-for-pedophiles-38024.html

This is just a general synopsis:

http://www.hancinema.net/with-strong-acting--crucible-delivers-powerful-real-life-story-33989.html

wrote: "The Crucible" drew 4 million viewers, and under mounting social pressure police re-investigated the case and indicted more people involved in the abuse.

--- http://www.hancinema.net/low-budget-film-unbowed-sweeps-box-office-38140.html

wrote: The film Dogani, also known as "The Crucible", is based on actual events that took place at a Gwangju school for the hearing-impaired, where young students were the victims of repeated sexual assaults by faculty members over a period of five years. Depicting both the crimes and the court proceedings that let the teachers off with minimal punishment, the film sparked public outrage upon its September release, which eventually resulted in a reopening of the investigations into the incidents. With over 4 million people in Korea having watched the film, the demand for legislative reform reached all the way to the National Assembly, where a revised bill, dubbed the "The Crucible" Bill, was passed in late October to abolish the statute of limitations for sex crimes against minors and the disabled.

After "The Crucible"'s release, the bestselling book of the same name by author Gong Ji-young, which first recounted the crimes and provided the bulk of the film's content, topped national bestseller lists for the first time in two years. The film also played in 15 theatres in the United States under a new English title, Silenced. Conversations about the film and its impact reemerged when the Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) released its annual survey of the year's top ten consumer favorites on December 7. Based on a poll of market analysts and nearly 8,000 consumers, SERI's "Korea's Top Ten Hits of 2011" ranked "The Crucible" among the year's top events.

--- http://www.hancinema.net/a-look-back-at-the-year-s-breakout-films--36356.html


---http://www.hancinema.net/-dogani-author-berates-korean-court-system-35803.html