Dad
was an ordinary barber, but what he did wasn's so ordinary.
Because dad was...
He was a barber in the President's neighborhood.
Han-mo is a barber.
He is just a small guy whose interest is only in his family
– a somewhat temperamental but lovely wife Min-ja and
a 9 year old son Nahk-ahn.
One day, a high government official visits Han-mo’s barbershop
and orders him to be the President’s barber only because
he lives near the Blue House. That was the time when South Korea
was about to go through political ups and downs, very meaningful
and shocking historical events and a coup d'état of military
regime – 1960th. Being the President’s barber, regardless
of his will, Han-mo finds himself stands at the center of political
turmoil before he knows and he helplessly watches his family
suffers from it.
Humorous and touching story of an ordinary family who never
interested in politics and idealisms but still has to be painfully
affected by them.
Song
Gang-ho
The President¡¯s timid barber,
Sung Han-mo(Song Gang-ho / ¡®Memories of Murder¡¯,
¡®Sympathy with Mr. Vengeance¡¯, ¡®JSA¡¯, ¡®Shiri¡¯,
¡®Foul King¡¯)
¡±I parted the President¡¯s hair at 2:8 ratio to the right,
but it¡¯s to the left in this picture.
This is wrong. This shouldn¡¯t happen to the President.¡±
Sung Han-mo is a timid barber living in the President¡¯s
neighborhood. One day, he becomes the President¡¯s barber
by mistake and the locals envy him. But he¡¯s always
busy checking out how the President, the Secret Service
Director, and the CIA Director feel day by day. He¡¯s
continuously caught in the middle of the two directors¡¯
struggle for power and this makes his life the more
complicated.
Moon
So-ri
The timid barber¡¯s tough wife,
Kim Min-Ja(Moon So-ri / ¡®A Good Lawyer¡¯s Wife¡¯,
¡®Oasis', ¡®Peppermint Candy¡¯)
¡±It was a mistake meeting you... You¡¯re my enemy! I¡¯m
gonna kill you once this baby comes out!¡±
Kim Min-ja is a tough woman who speaks with a strong country
accent and barks at his husband Han-mo all the time. She
first worked as a shaver at Han-mo¡¯s barbershop. But after
she got pregnant by Han-mo, she eventually has his baby
and reluctantly becomes his wife. Her husband is the President¡¯s
barber, but all she does is nag at him.
The
first movie to capture Korea¡¯s oppressive times
The sixties and seventies are commonly known as the ¡°oppressive
era¡± in Korea.
President Rhee Seung-man¡¯s long rule over South Korea reached
its climax on March 15, 1960, when he was made president again
through a dirty election. This ignited a fury among the citizens.
The people revolted through the so-called April 19 Revolution
and forced Rhee Seung-man to step down as president. But the
revolutionary fever was short-lived after General Park Chung-hee
led a military coup to take over the government on May 16, 1961.
After Park Chung-hee was inaugurated as president on December
17, 1963, Korean¡¯s third republic became remembered as an ¡°oppressive
era.¡± President Park¡¯s ¡°politics of oppression¡± made through
military rule and radical reform was carried out for twenty
years until October 26, 1979 when his CIA Director Kim Jae-gyu
assassinated him.
In ¡°The President¡¯s Barber,¡± the wild political events
rampant during the sixties and seventies are told through the
eyes of an ordinary and timid barber who cuts the president¡¯s
hair. Films that capture the political circumstances of the
sixties and seventies were rare. Until now, movies set in these
times generally borrowed the conventions and lifestyles of those
days and then exaggerated them to mostly create old-fashioned
movies or cliche melodramas.
However, ¡°The President¡¯s Barber¡± is the very first Korean
movie to genuinely capture the major events of Korea¡¯s turbulent
times. Told through the eyes of an ordinary citizen, ¡°The President¡¯s
Barber¡± not only features subject matter new to the silver screen,
but it cleverly shows these themes in a unique and stylish way,
becoming a priceless jem in Korean cinema.
Korea¡¯s
leading actor and actress, Song Kang-ho & Moon So-ree
Song Gang-ho¡¯s comic acting which overflows with pathos has
attracted all moviegoers and critics alike. He is the most
commercial and most talented actor in Korea. He appeared in
such movies as The Foul King, Shiri, Joint
Security Area JSA, and Memories of Murder. As his
filmography is a testimony to his great acting, every one
of these films broke box office records and seized a significant
place in Korean film history. And this fact reveals how dominating
his position is in Korean films.
Meanwhile, Moon So-ree became the heroine of the critically-acclaimed
film ¡°Peppermint Candy¡± without any experience in theaters
or movies beforehand. Continuing on with her career, she made
a deep impression on the audience in ¡°Oasis¡± and ¡°The
Good Lawyer¡¯s Wife.¡± Moon So-ree won the prize for best
new actress at Venice International Film Festival in 2002,
and the following year she was invited to Venice again with
¡°The Good Lawyer¡¯s Wife.¡± The audience now trusts her
to be a wonderful actress.
Both Song Kang-ho and Moon So-ree have proved their acting
abilities and won the hearts of many moviegoers both at home
and abroad. The Song Gang-ho and Moon Soh-ree combination
in ¡°The President¡¯s Barber¡± will no doubt leave another
lasting impression.
Written
and Directed by Lim Chan-sang
I was reminded of the fathers who were not educated and
had lived through the turbulent times of the 60s and 70s.
Sung Han-mo is one of those fathers. He is just an ordinary
barber who has lived at one place for a long time. Even
when history passes before his eyes, he doesn¡¯t catch
on to it and just lives a plain life as barber day by
day.
One day, he becomes the President¡¯s barber by chance.
He is at a loss by such a big event, which he has never
experienced before, and just fulfills his task the best
he can. This film shows Korea¡¯s modern history through
the eyes of this one man. His perspective is not that
of a disillusioned man, but that of an uneducated and
ignorant man like our fathers.
However, he comes to recognize what¡¯s going on in the
world little by little. He never intended on knowing something,
but it naturally comes to him, like when bruises disappear
with new flesh rising. This is because a fountain of love
for his son endlessly flows underneath.
Such a person represents our very own fathers, the ignorant
and foolish grown men of Korea. I hope this appearance
of our fathers and the 20 years of Korean¡¯s oppressive
history will be expressed well in this film.
