‘1947 Boston’ Ha Jung-woo

ize Reporter Kim Na-ra

The movie ‘1947 Boston’, based on a true story, is expected to leave a deep impression on Chuseok theaters with the passionate performances of Ha Jung-woo and Im Si-wan with a strong sense of duty.

On the afternoon of the 11th, a press screening of the movie ‘1947 Boston’ was held at the Lotte Cinema Konkuk University entrance in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Director Kang Je-gyu and actors Ha Jung-woo, Im Si-wan, and Kim Sang-ho attended and talked.

‘1947 Boston’ is based on the true story of Seo Yun-bok and coach Son Ki-jeong, who participated and won the Boston International Marathon in 1947, and Nam Seung-ryong, who finished 12th as coach and athlete. Director Ki-Jeong Son was a gold medalist at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and is a legendary figure in the Korean marathon.

The movie depicts the challenges and thrilling journey of marathon runners to compete in international competitions wearing the Taegeuk symbol for the first time since liberation in 1947. We shed light on marathon runner heroes who struggled to make our name known. Based on historical research, we not only realized Seoul and Boston in the 1940s, but also completed a realistic marathon course in an Australian location. In addition, ‘1947 Boston’ further enhanced the realism of the race scenes by receiving advice from national marathoner Lee Bong-ju, the late Ham Ki-yong, winner of the 1950 Boston Marathon, and Kwon Eun-ju, who set a new Korean women’s marathon record.

In addition, director Kang Je-gyu, who directed ‘Shiri’ (1999) and ‘Taegeukgi’, the second movie with 10 million won in history, is taking the lead for the first time in a long time and is drawing more attention. This is a comeback after 8 years since ‘Jangsu Store’ (2015).

On this day, director Kang Je-gyu once again answered the question of why he returned to historical works. Director Kang said, “If you look at my previous works, there are many movies that deal with the past. In fact, after ‘Taegukgi’, I wanted to do a science fiction film so much that I prepared to do it. In the end, it failed and I ended up doing another movie. The future is too much in Hollywood. Didn’t you take a picture? I was wondering what it means to express the future, and in the end, I thought that taking a good look at the past we lived in was like predicting the future. As a result, I came to value and became interested in the traces of the past. “He said.

He continued, “Talking about the past seems old-fashioned and uninteresting. It’s hard for us to live today and we have a lot to talk about, so there may be some people who think there’s a need to delve into the past. However, there are so many precious stories and great people contained in history.”I think that through the lives of people, we can check for ourselves whether we are really living well and whether we are going on the right path, and we can certainly gain a lot from history. ‘1947 Boston’ tells young audiences that looking back on the past is a good way to think, ‘Sometimes I live my life.’ “I hope I can help you feel like you have courage, strength, and help,” he said.

Ha Jung-woo gave a passionate performance as coach Son Ki-jeong, a gold medalist at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and a trainee of juniors. He opened his mouth with his unique wit, saying, “This is my first time playing the role of a director or a senior. The first thought I had while watching the movie was when Im Si-wan appeared, ‘I guess I’m a bit older.’”

Soon, Ha Jung-woo spoke seriously about his thoughts on playing the character of Son Ki-jeong. He said, “Usually, when I take on a character, it starts from my heart and soul, but in the case of ‘1947 Boston’, I really discussed and discussed a lot with the director about who Mr. Son Ki-jeong is. The beginning of acting, the beginning of action, and the beginning of words.”The person who caught the start was Teacher Son Ki-jeong. I wondered what the teacher would have felt in this situation and what kind of emotions he had in mind for each take. As a senior who could not wear the Taegeukgi in Berlin, the teacher took responsibility and made sure to wear the Taegeukgi this time. “I think I must participate,” he said.

Im Si-wan, who played Seo Yun-bok and portrayed a real person, also showed a special sense of responsibility. Im Si-wan said, “I thought that the fact that there were real people was a task that no one should be responsible for. So, I thought that I should approach it with a certain sense of responsibility, and the doubt about responsibility was that Seo Yun-bok was the first player to compete in an international competition wearing the Taegeuk symbol. “Of course, I was playing a character, but while filming ‘1947 Boston,’ I worked from the beginning of preparation to the end of filming with the determination to wear the Taegeuk symbol and represent the country,” he said.

In particular, Im Si-wan put all his effort into ‘1947 Boston’ to the point where his body fat percentage was 6%. He said, “Because it was a running role, I had to look professional. I received training two to three months before starting the work. In between filming, I learned and received training from my coach. In addition to exercising, I always had chicken breast and salad until the end of filming.””I lived. While I was trying to make my appearance as similar as possible, I took an InBody measurement and found that my body fat percentage was 6%. I didn’t aim for that number, but it was amazing to see the 6% number for the first time in my life,”he said, surprising him.

Im Si-wan showed off his passion, saying, “No matter what project I’m working on, I always think about it over and over again so as not to waste every moment. Likewise with ‘1947 Boston,’ I worked as hard as I could with the mindset that I would never return after this moment.”

In response, Ha Jung-woo did not hold back in his praise for Im Si-wan. He said, “Im Si-wan felt like a real athlete. I watched all the time he spent preparing for this role, so I naturally got emotional when filming the competition scenes. He really supported me sincerely. “I felt like I wanted to do it, so I went into the scene with a lot of emotion. I saw the finished version for the first time today, and Im Si-wan acted and expressed it so well, so I think Seo Yun-bok would probably like it if he saw it,”he praised.

Regarding his first acting collaboration with his senior Ha Jung-woo, Im Si-wan said, “I felt like I had met a very dependable older brother. I relied on him a lot while filming, and in the drama, we had a mentor-mentee relationship, but in reality, I felt a little closer than that. About the world, this He expressed his affection by saying, “He knows a lot more about filmmaking than me in many aspects, and what he says is really fun. Thanks to that, I remember filming with the expectation of unexpected points of laughter.”

‘1947 Boston’, which will bring great excitement to the upcoming Golden Holidays, will be released on the 27th.