More Than Blue

More Than Blue
Theatrical poster
Hangul	슬픔보다 더 슬픈 이야기
RR	Seulpeumboda Deo Seulpeun Iyagi
Directed by	Won Tae-yeon
Produced by	Kim Jho Kwang-soo
Written by	Won Tae-yeon
Starring	Kwon Sang-woo Lee Bo-young Lee Beom-soo
Editing by	Moon In-dae
Studio	M-Net Media
Distributed by	Showbox
Release date(s)	11 March 2009
Running time	105 min.
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Budget	US$2 million (approx.)
Admissions	724,206
Gross revenue	US$3,577,302

More Than Blue (Hangul: 슬픔보다 더 슬픈 이야기; RR: Seulpeumboda Deo Seulpeun Iyagi) is a 2009 South Korean film. The directorial debut of poet Won Tae-yeon, it stars Kwon Sang-woo, Lee Bo-young and Lee Beom-soo in the lead roles. The film's Korean title translates as "A Story Sadder Than Sadness".^[1]

Plot

K and Cream first meet each other in high school & both are orphans; K was abandoned by his mother after his father died of cancer who nevertheless left him a sizable sum of money, while Cream lost her entire family in a traffic accident. The two become soulmates and come to share a home, though Kay watches Cream switch from boyfriend to boyfriend as he keeps his own feelings for her to himself. Knowing that Cream's biggest fear is to be left alone, Kay keeps the fact that he has terminal cancer a secret, and instead he urges her to marry a kind and healthy man. When Cream announces that she is in love with affluent doctor Joo-hwan, Kay is left heartbroken, but is satisfied that she has met her ideal partner. The audience later learns that Cream accidentally learns about K's illness when she takes what she thought were K's vitamins but in fact turned our to be pain medication for terminal cancer patients. It was shown earlier in the movie that Cream has asked K what his wish was; Cream finding a good and healthy man to spend her life with was what K wished for. Wanting to fulfill K's wish, Cream fakes falling in love with Joo-hwan. This part of the movie is shown at the end from Cream's perspective. Believing Cream has really found someone she loves, K asked Joo-hwan's fiance to break up with him. Joo-hwan's fiance agrees under the condition that K lets her take photographs of him. The night before Joo-hwan and Cream's wedding, K found the courage to tell Cream that he loves her while Cream replies "me, too." In the end, Cream believe that they are married because they walked down the aisle together when Kay is handing Cream off to Joo-hwan at their wedding. At the very end we see Joo-hwan at a burial site where he is visiting the grave of Cream and there he leaves a photograph of K and Cream as well as Cream's recorder. On it is a recording Cream made for K right before her suicide telling him to wait for her on the other side so that they can be together with "no more tears"

Cast

• Kwon Sang-woo ... Kay
• Lee Bo-young ... Cream
• Lee Beom-soo ... Cha Joo-hwan
• Jeong Ae-yeon ... Jenna
• Lee Han-wi ... President Kim
• Sin Hyeon-tak ... Min-cheol
• Kim Jeong-seok ... Organization chief
• Seon Ho-jin ... Sa-pa-mi DJ
• Park Yeong-jin ... Handsome guy at guardhouse
• Ji Dae-han ... Singer A's engineer
• Jung Joon-ho ... President Im
• Lee Seung-cheol ... Singer A
• Nam Gyu-ri ... Catgirl
• Kim Heung-gook ... Traffic broadcast DJ

Production

More Than Blue marked the directorial debut of poet Won Tae-yeon, who also wrote the script.^[2] The film was made on a budget of just under US$2 million,^[3] with all three of the main cast members investing a portion of their salaries into the production. Lead actor Kwon Sang-woo drew inspiration from his own then-recent marriage, saying, "I think being married enables me to think more deeply about playing melodramatic parts... Kay braves his circumstances for love, and I thought I might have done the same if I were in his shoes".^[2]

Release

More Than Blue was released in South Korea on 11 March 2009, and topped the domestic box office on its opening weekend with 256,809 admissions.^[4] As of 19 April the film had accumulated a total of 724,206 admissions,^[5] and as of 12 April had grossed a total of US$3,577,302.^[6]

Critical response

Lee Hyo-won of The Korea Times commented that despite its familiar premise, More Than Blue "feels more classic than cliched and the undying fidelity of the love-struck characters nostalgically evokes old romances. The talented actors also bring freshness to their parts, making them very believable and worthy of every ounce of one's empathy." Kwon Sang-woo in particular was singled out for his performance, with Lee commenting, "Kwon wins the audience's heart by bringing a certain tenderness to his character, suggesting a maturation in his acting, a palpable break away from his previous roles as a romantic tough guy."^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Lee Hyo-won. "`More Than Blue' Is Poetic, Luminous". The Korea Times, 5 March 2009. Retrieved on 4 May 2009.
2. ^ ^{a b} Lee Hyo-won. "Kwon Sang-woo Resumes Romantic Role". The Korea Times, 13 January 2009. Retrieved on 4 May 2009.
3. ^ Choi You-sun. "Korean Filmmakers Slashing Production Costs". Arirang, 27 March 2009. Retrieved on 4 May 2009.
4. ^ "Korean Box Office Week-end 2009.03.13 ~ 2009.03.15". HanCinema. Retrieved on 4 May 2009.
5. ^ "Korean Box Office Week-end 2009.04.17 ~ 2009.04.19". HanCinema. Retrieved on 4 May 2009.
6. ^ "South Korea Box Office April 10–12, 2009". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 4 May 2009.

External links

• Official website (Korean)
• More Than Blue at the Korean Movie Database
• More Than Blue at HanCinema