Long Live the King (2019 film)

Long Live the King (Korean: 롱 리브 더 킹: 목포 영웅; RR: Long Live The King: Mokpo Yeongwoong) is a 2019 South Korean action comedy film directed by Kang Yoon-sung and starring Kim Rae-won and Won Jin-ah. The screenplay is based on Beodeunamusup's webtoon of the same name, using story elements from the first season.[1]

Long Live the King
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKang Yoon-sung
Screenplay byBeodeunamusup and Kang Yoon-sung
Produced byYoo Young-Chae
Starring
Production
company
B.A. Entertainment
Distributed byMegabox Plus M/Contents Nandakinda
Release date
  • 9 June 2019 (2019-06-09)
Running time
118 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean

The film earned director Kang Yoon-sung the Director of the Year Award and Kim Rae-won the Actor of the Year Award at the 2019 Chungju International Film Festival.[2]

Filming began on October 9, 2018. One of the plot elements involves a bus accident at a bridge in Mokpo; it took the crew three months to make arrangements to film on the bridge, with filming at the location taking place for about twelve hours. Shooting for the scene was also done at the studio and other locations, and took about a week to finish.[1][2]

Plot

edit

Kkangpae boss Jang Se-chool meets lawyer Kang So-hyun at an anti-construction protest and quickly falls in love, but she thinks of him as a thug. She repeatedly rejects him while telling him to live a decent life. So-hyun eventually tries to get rid of Se-chool by saying that she can never accept him because her life goal is to become a first lady. Meanwhile, one of Se-chool's friends is on death row, and the only way to save him is through a presidential pardon. When Se-chool ends up rescuing passengers after a bus accident at Mokpo Bridge, he is praised as a hero; he decides to use his newfound fame to run for public office, believing that success will lead him to win So-hyun's heart and save his friend.[3][4][5]

Cast

edit

Release and reception

edit

Long Live the King was released on June 19, 2019, and grossed $3.5 million on its opening weekend, ultimately grossing $8 million at the South Korea box office.[6] The Korea Herald described the plot as “clunky” and Kim Rae-won's performance as “one of his finest works.”[7]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Lee, Seon-pil (22 June 2019). "Secrets of 'Long Live the King,' Kim Rae-won sings Kim Dong-hyun song". OhMyNews.
  2. ^ a b "Long Live the King: Mokpo Hero". Daum Movies. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  3. ^ "VETERAN ACTOR KIM RAE WON ATTEMPTS THE IMPOSSIBLE IN HIS BIG SCREEN COMEBACK 'LONG LIVE THE KING'". HelloKPop. 3 May 2019.
  4. ^ "'The Outlaws' Kang Yoon-sung's film 'Long Live the King: Mokpo Hero'". SisunNews. 5 June 2019.
  5. ^ Ko, Eun-seon (25 January 2020). "The movie 'Long Live the King: Mokpo Hero'". Tax Finance Newspaper.
  6. ^ "Long Live the King". KoBiz. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  7. ^ Yoon, Min-sik (9 June 2019). "'Long Live the King' settles for cookie-cutter fun". The Korea Herald.
edit