#bleak night

[j2micons]

이제훈

[old-dramas]

BLEAK NIGHT (2011) dir. Yoon Sung Hyun

[toastinthegrass]

If I weren't moving, I should care. But we don't have to see each other anymore. You still wanna see me? So why should I accept your apology?

[forleejehoon]

If you're a recent Lee Jehoon fan and feel like his acting is one of a kind, I urge you to watch his full-length movie debut in a piece called Bleak Night back from 2011 if you haven't already! I can assure, it will make you fall for his acting even more.

This movie is defined as a coming-of-age drama and has an overall indie feel to it. It's a story of a group of highschool friends – more precisely, the storyline follows along Gitae's (Lee Jehoon) dad who tries to understand why his son took his own life. Bit by bit, the events leading up to the incident are revealed to the viewers, too. It makes you constantly question "who's to blame?" and I feel like this question is the driving force of the story.

In general sense, this movie is about boyhood. Director Yoon Sunghyun, whose debut work was actually Bleak Night itself, expands on intricacies of relationships between guy friends and masterfully reveals the subtleties of boyhood as a stage of life using long shots, face close-ups and hand-held shaky camera work; it all feels very raw. It's strong, it's bitter, it hurts, yet it also leaves your heart open and warm for some unidentifiable reason.

Jehoon starred in Bleak Night together with Park Jeongmin (first from right in the picture; another genius actor, he does mostly movies though) and the piece is considered to have kicked off both of their acting careers since they showed truly captivating performances.

This movie is a masterpiece in the way it captures nuance and emotion, especially since it talks about feelings of young men who are just entering adulthood – a topic that's still considered rather taboo in this day and age. It's one of those movies you definitely have to watch at least once in a lifetime.

Bleak Night trailer with English subtitles

Fun fact: Jehoon happened to pass out from smoking too much while filming for this project. He said it was because before he didn't smoke at all but suddenly had to learn it for his character.

[where-starsland]

5 Lee Jehoon Movies To Watch

as a Hoonist, I want to share or recommend some Lee Jehoon projects that is totally worth your time!! the ones listed below are just some of my favorites but I do think that his whole filmography is worth watching so make sure to check the rest later.

first off...

1. Bleak Night (2011)

written and directed by Yoon Sunghyun is a critically acclaimed indie film he created for his graduation project. yes, a graduation project did that. 

In this film, a 27 year old Lee Jehoon played as Kitae, an aggressive and manipulative but ultimately broken high school student.

if you're a new fan or just a casual watcher this is definitely a must watch. This film was a major turning point in his career in which he earned several best new actor awards.

trigger warning: suicide

파수꾼 or bleak night tells the story between 3 friends: Kitae (Lee Jehoon), Becky (Park Jeongmin), Dongyoon (Seo Junyoung) and how everything fell apart.

In the present time, Kitae's father, still shocked of his son's death tries to look for answers by visiting Kitae's friends to shed some light on the tragedy. Through flashbacks, the film showed the events that drove Kitae to end his life.

2. Architecture 101 (2012)

Seungmin my cute little meow meow. I swear you'll love him in this film.

Directed by Lee Yongju is a story about what ifs and first love. The story provided a past and present look into the relationship of Seungmin (past: Lee Jehoon, present: Uhm Tae Woong) and Soyeon (past: Bae Suzy, present: Han Ga In).

After 15 years of no contact, Seungmin's first love, Soyeon walks into the architecture firm he works at and asks him to build her house. What happens next? watch the film!

3. Anarchist From Colony (2017)

if you're a fan of period dramas you should definitely give this one a try.

directed by Lee Joon-ik, Anarchist from Colony or Park Yeol (Korean title) is based on the true story of a Korean anarchist and independence activist named Park Yeol.

Park Yeol (Lee Jehoon) was arrested for high treason and sentenced to life in prison for plotting to attack the wedding of Crown Prince Hirohito to free Korea from the Japanese rule. The film also highlights his relationship with his lover Kaneko Fumiko (Choi Heeseo), a Japanese nihilist.

4. I Can Speak (2017)

directed by Kim Hyun-Seok

Ok-bun (Na Moonhee) asks Park Minjae (Lee Jehoon) to teach her English after hearing him speak fluent English. Minjae refused at first but later on agreed to after seeing her take care of his younger brother.

judging from the poster alone, you wouldn’t think deeply about the story behind the film but--

spoiler alert!

As the story progress, Minjae finds out that Ok-bun was a former comfort woman, a victim of the Japanese military during world war II and she's learning English to testify at the H.Res.121 public hearing on behalf of her friend.

H.Res.121 is a (very real) resolution urging the Japanese government to formally apologize, acknowledge, and accept historical responsibility that their armed forces coerced young women to sexual slavery throughout the duration of world war II.

5. Collectors (2020)

now if you want a more fun film from the actor then we have Collectors directed by Park Jungbae. Jehoon's Kang Donggu look is honestly a personal favorite of mine.

Collectors is a heist caper film with the grave robber Kang Donggu who can pinpoint a treasure's location by tasting soil and his crew of ingenious robbers including the self proclaimed Indiana Jones of Korea, Dr. Jones (Jo Woojin) and shoveling arts master, Shovel Leg (Im Wonhee).

Their goal is to steal ancient artifacts and sell them to antique collector, Sang Gil (Young Chang Song) with the help of antique art curator Yoon Sehee (Shin Hyesun) who helps him manage his collection.

And that was 5 Lee Jehoon movies on the top of my list. To know more about him you can check Company On website or his Instagram account.

[verysmallcheese]

jsa 엄청 좋아해서 다섯 번 정도 봤는데 인터넷에서 이병헌 키로 jsa 못 들어간다는 거 본 뒤로 이 영화 다시 못 볼 거 같음

[isawafilmtoday]

Bleak Night (2011) dir. Yoon Sung-Hyun

[refreshdaemon]

Opening shot and main title of 파수꾼 / Bleak Night (2011), written and directed by 윤성현 / Yoon Sung-hyun