Director : : Song
Il-gon('Flower Island', 'The Picnic')
Cast : Kam Woo-sung ('Marriage
is a Crazy Thing ') Suh Jung ('The Isle')
Genre :Thriller
Release (Estimation) : 2004-09-03
Production budget (Estimation)
: 1.2million USD
P&A budget(Estimation) :
1million USD
I"I have to go. To the Spider Forest.
Two people died there"
KANG Min regains his consciousness 14 days after brain surgery
following a mysterious accident he had in the forest. Shockingly
enough, the first thing he says is that two people died in
Spider Forest. Detective CHOI, KANG Min's friend, finds a
couple brutally murdered at a cottage in the forest, just
like KANG Min described. As the couple found dead at the cottage
are identified as CHOI Jong-phil, his senior from work, and
HWANG Soo-young, his girlfriend, KANG Min becomes both a witness
and key suspect in the investigation.
"Can you trust me for what I'm about
to say?"
Mending his memory, KANG Min tells his friend, Detective
CHOI, what happened. Having suffered from a loss of his beloved
wife, KANG Min, a producer at a TV station, is ready to start
a new life as he falls in love with HAWNG Soo-young. For his
last task on the job at the station, he visits Spider Forest
to make a documentary on its legend. In the forest, he runs
into MIN Soo-in, who looks so much like his dead wife. She
tips him off on the murder case, and he sees a phantom of
a girl known to be the victim. After getting an anonymous
call, he goes back to the forest and finds his girlfriend
in bed with CHOI Jong-phil at the cottage in the middle of
the forest. Then, he realizes there is someone else watching
him. He runs around the forest looking for that someone and
ends up confronting a stranger.
"Go back to the forest. You'll find the
truth there."
Detective CHOI goes to MIN Soo-in who has the key to solve
the case. Still shattered, KANG Min sneaks out of the hospital
and begins his own pursuit to find the truth, putting back
together his lost memory. As he steps closer to the truth,
a brutal past beyond anybody's comprehension reveals itself.
What is it that happened in that forest?
Kam
Woo-sung charisma vs A burning bonfire deep in his heart
For a year after his first film, he pondered upon his
next project. Reading the script for Spider Forest, he
decided to star in it on the spot. He says, "KANG
Min is a character of complicated feelings that every
actor wants to play." For thee months during the
production, he immerged himself in the character. He adds,
"I really felt like I was trapped in Spider Forest."
'Marriage is a Crazy Thing' (2002)
Suh
Jung Provocative passion vs A peaceful mind
SUH Eun-ah is KANG Min's lovely wife, and MIN Soo-in
is a mysterious woman from the forest. SUH Jung plays
these two completely different characters. Her passion
and dedication for films are unbeatable in the business.
To deliver SUH Eun-ah's character that is a dancer in
the film, she went through fierce lessons to make herself
look like one before the production began. To play a
mysterious woman of the forest, she meditated in the
forest when she wasn't shooting. Her passion and effort
for her roles are well witnessed in the film.
'The Isle' (1999)
'Peppermint Candy' (1999)
Jang
Hyun-sung Free-spirited man vs Charismatic actor
He's a well-known theatre actor. Expanding his domain
to the big screen, he's shown impressive performance
in various films. He says, "I'd like to be an actor
who can be remember after the film is over." Taking
one step at a time, he broadens his territories in the
business, adding, "I'd like to remain the same
actor I was when I first started acting."
'Rewind' (2003)
'Spring Breeze' (2003)
'Breakout' (2002)
'The Butterfly' (2001)
Kang
Gyung-hyun A new face vs A competitor with a never-dying passion
She was cast only a month before the production began.
When the crew was having trouble finding an actress
for the role of HWANG Soo-young, she appeared out of
nowhere and charmed the crew. She was very confident
with a positive attitude, which fit the character of
an anchorwoman well. In a word, she was the good-luck
charm for Spider Forest. She successfully pulled off
two love scenes and a scene where she is brutally murdered.
Staring as a TV actress, she's ready to conquer the
big screen.
SONG Il-gon
"Everything happened in the forest.
It was always dark, crowded with tall pine trees, mysterious,
and very wet.
My father told me that people would easily get lost in that
forest
because it was a holy place where the spirits took a break.
Those spirits roamed around the forest for a while and disappeared
into the sky, dragged by spiders.
People called it Spider Forest.
My memory begins from that forest.
Spider Forest is a place where the deceased stay.
There, forgotten spirits are trapped in the spider webs.
If someone that we care for so much dies, we become sad and
look back on his or her life.
Death is for the living, because we desire to remember the
deceased.
However, God lets us forget the deceased eventually.
After death, from our names to faces, everything about us
is forgotten.
Therefore, the lost time, the memories of the past, and the
lives that we've lived are sad.
This film is a man's journey regarding his memories of love."
'Flower Island' (2001, Director/Writer, 35mm,
Color, 120min., Drama)
Premio Cinemavvenire Migliore Opera Prima (Best First Film),
The 58th Venice Film Festival in Competition 2001
New Currents Award, FIPRESCI Award, Audience Award,
Pusan International Film Festival 2001
Grand Prix, Tokyo FilmX Festival 2001
Jury's Special Mention, FIPRESCI Award,
Fribourg International Film Festival 2002
'The Picnic' (1999, Director/Writer/Editor,
35mm, color, 18min., Drama)
'The Grand Jury Prize', Short Film Competition, The 52nd Cannes
International Film Festival
