We recently caught up with the prince of K-Pop, who stars as a happy lunatic in his cinematic debut
Kong Rithdee
Yes, he is tall. Yes, in person he is charming, more charming than on TV. Yes, in close-up his teeth are bright and his eyes twinkle. Yes, he speaks staccato English, though he prefers using a Korean translator. And yes, he can leave the first four buttons of his shirt unfastened, cover it with a suede jacket, and still look good, and tall, and charming, and bright, and twinkling.
These are the testimonies this reporter has been repeating to a number of dreamy-eyed females (aged 12 to 42) who heard that I'd met Rain. Judging from the screams of fans and his up-up-up rocketship of a career, this guy is not just a shower but a typhoon, a cyclone, a scintillating moonsoon that has swept across Asia and is now aiming to drench the world.
The prince of K-Pop appeared for a brief interview in Hong Kong last week, so brief that hardly any Asian press present could form a worthwhile opinion about him, only that he seemed like a nice person. Rain, or Jung Ji-hoon, was there to promote his first movie role in I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, for which he was also nominated for the best actor prize at the inaugural Asian Film Awards, tipped as the Oscars of Asia.
Park Chan-wook, one of the most well-known Korean filmmakers, who directed Rain, accompanied his actor at the interview and ended up doing most of the talking. Rain's co-star, actress Lim Su-jeong, was also present, hiding half of her doll-like face in her hair and her hat, saying exactly three sentences during the 20 minute press rendezvous.
Thai fans have thronged Bangkok theatres for I'm a Cyborg _ an appetiser before Rain's concerts here in July. Though it's apparent that this film was engineered to be Rain's vehicle _ and to cement the ever-growing might of Korea's exportable pop culture _ even the most anti-pop observers must be half-blind not to realise that this 25-year-old lad is a genuine talent. He's made his way to the status of Asia's popster du jour by dancing back-up for other Korean singers in 2000, before releasing his first album in 2002. His robust jumps, supple-boned leaps and lithe footwork have earned comparisons with Justin Timberlake, even Gene Kelly. For Thai audiences Rain, who uses his real name Jung Ji-hoon when acting, the fever was brewed with the TV series Full House in 2005, a sensational hit in all East Asian nations from China to Vietnam, from Thailand to Hong Kong, from Japan to Singapore, from Malaysia to Indonesia and the Philippines.
Kong Rithdee
Yes, he is tall. Yes, in person he is charming, more charming than on TV. Yes, in close-up his teeth are bright and his eyes twinkle. Yes, he speaks staccato English, though he prefers using a Korean translator. And yes, he can leave the first four buttons of his shirt unfastened, cover it with a suede jacket, and still look good, and tall, and charming, and bright, and twinkling.These are the testimonies this reporter has been repeating to a number of dreamy-eyed females (aged 12 to 42) who heard that I'd met Rain. Judging from the screams of fans and his up-up-up rocketship of a career, this guy is not just a shower but a typhoon, a cyclone, a scintillating moonsoon that has swept across Asia and is now aiming to drench the world.
The prince of K-Pop appeared for a brief interview in Hong Kong last week, so brief that hardly any Asian press present could form a worthwhile opinion about him, only that he seemed like a nice person. Rain, or Jung Ji-hoon, was there to promote his first movie role in I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, for which he was also nominated for the best actor prize at the inaugural Asian Film Awards, tipped as the Oscars of Asia.
Park Chan-wook, one of the most well-known Korean filmmakers, who directed Rain, accompanied his actor at the interview and ended up doing most of the talking. Rain's co-star, actress Lim Su-jeong, was also present, hiding half of her doll-like face in her hair and her hat, saying exactly three sentences during the 20 minute press rendezvous.
Thai fans have thronged Bangkok theatres for I'm a Cyborg _ an appetiser before Rain's concerts here in July. Though it's apparent that this film was engineered to be Rain's vehicle _ and to cement the ever-growing might of Korea's exportable pop culture _ even the most anti-pop observers must be half-blind not to realise that this 25-year-old lad is a genuine talent. He's made his way to the status of Asia's popster du jour by dancing back-up for other Korean singers in 2000, before releasing his first album in 2002. His robust jumps, supple-boned leaps and lithe footwork have earned comparisons with Justin Timberlake, even Gene Kelly. For Thai audiences Rain, who uses his real name Jung Ji-hoon when acting, the fever was brewed with the TV series Full House in 2005, a sensational hit in all East Asian nations from China to Vietnam, from Thailand to Hong Kong, from Japan to Singapore, from Malaysia to Indonesia and the Philippines.
''When I first started acting [in 2002], I decided to use my real name because I didn't want the name 'Rain' to overshadow me,'' he said. ''People knew me as a singer called 'Rain', but I considered myself a newcomer in acting, and I wanted to start afresh. I want people to see me as an actor and see me for what I do.''
After "I'm a Cyborg" which wasn't a big success in Korea though it was selected for the main competition at the recent Berlin International Film Festival _ Rain said he's been approached to star in many movies. ''I'm serious about acting,'' he said. ''I love doing it, and I'm considering a number of scenarios though I've not yet decided.''
He should: Rain's turn as an endearing nutcase in I'm a Cyborg shows he has a future in the movies if he so decides. Playing a jolly lunatic, he manages to smuggle in his natural charm while unconsciously immersing into the role of a madman who fears that his entire existence will soon be reduced into a tiny dot. In a madhouse that's more merry than distressing, Rain's character befriends another patient, a woman who believes she's a robot and refuses to eat anything lest her circuits go haywire.
On the night of the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, a glitzy procession that combined the Oscar-like fiesta with red-and-gold Asian quirks resembling a Chinese New Year celebration, Rain was paired with Hong Kong star Maggie Q to present an award, and his supporters at the back of the 3,000-strong hall nearly brought the house down with their screams. ''Surprise, surprise: none of that was for me,'' joked Maggie. This despite the fact that she wore a much sexier wardrobe.
He didn't win best actor, though. Rain was grateful enough that he was nominated by the committee, who favoured arthouse movies, and the trophy went to Song Kang-ho, his fellow Korean from the smart monster flick The Host.
''I'm Cyborg has a scene in which I draw a door on the back of Lee [his co-star] with a pen, though she believes that I was actually cutting her open with a knife [to fix her engine],'' said Rain.
''That was a very touching scene for me, because that door is supposed to open to the world of fantasy, and that's what the film is all about: the fantasy that happens around these crazy characters.''
Director Park Chan-wook's previous three movies were bile-churning bloodfests with a nod to Greek tragedy, especially Oldboy, a gory revenge epic which enjoyed a theatrical run in Bangkok after winning a Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004. In his latest film, however, Park switches from cruelty to cuteness, daubing his mental hospital with cheerful colours while his headcases are more eccentric than suicidal. In short, it's an insane house in which the sane would want to spend time. This, the director said, has nothing to do with the fact that no audiences would want to see Rain playing a wrist-slashing, possibly frothing maniac stuck in a dreary mental asylum.
''I want to make a leap [by doing a romantic comedy,'' says Park. ''And I want to keep experimenting, and that's why I changed the style so radically.
''In movies, a mental hospital is always depicted as a place that tortures and vegetates the patients, who're dying to get out. But modern institutions aren't like that. My concept is to make a mental hospital that looks and feels like a big kindergarten and the patients are the kids playing inside. So I made everything bright and sweet. We shot the movie with a high-definition digital camera, and the image came out clear and luminous.''
Luminous the visuals may be, but I'm a Cyborg has had a lukewarm reception from the critics, and box-office figures in most Asian territories aren't as sensational as early predictions. The film is neither commercial nor edgy enough, and it didn't succeed in pulling in audiences who're not fans of the actor. Only Rain seems to have passed the test: He's proved that his acting is as decent as his singing and footwork. His next stop is the US, where he hopes to break into the ranks of global superstars by working with hip-hop artists.
That's a line of questioning worth pursuing, but the publicists, politely, were quick to cut us short and shepherded Rain, Park and Lim away. That's the protocol of international superstars who're in big demand. Isn't it important for us to know whether they are courteous or intelligent, aloof or dim? For publicists, it only matters that we know that they're tall, charming, cute and nice. Rain is an exceptional talent, and he should be allowed to show more of that in person, in close-up, and off-screen.
No comments:
Post a Comment