Directed and starring Ha Jung-woo ‘Lobby’ Crank up… “Movie=Teamwork, a filming experience that made me feel it again”

[Edaily Starin Reporter Kim Bo-young] Director Ha Jung-woo’s third film ‘LOBBY’ was released on December 27th. ‘Lobby’ features director Ha Jung-woo, Kim Eui-seong, Park Byeong-eun, Park Hae-soo, Kang Mal-geum, Lee Dong-hwi, Kwak Sun-young, Hyun Bong-sik, Choi Si-won, Cha Joo-young, Kang Hae-rim, and Eom Ha-neul as actors. The movie ‘Lobby’ depicts the story surrounding the lobbying golf that Chang-wook (played by Ha Jung-woo), who is perfect in research, zero in business, and even less knowledgeable in golf, engages in lobbying golf to win a national smart road project.

Director Ha Jung-woo’s debut film ‘Roller Coaster’ made both the airplane and the theater, the stage of the film, into a roller coaster of laughter. Director Ha Jung-woo’s third film, ‘Lobby’, which presented a human drama with warm denial and a funny mix of eras in his second work, ‘Heo Sam-gwan’, finally successfully completed three months of filming on December 27th.

The detailed casting lineup for ‘Robby’, which became a hot topic with occasional casting news, is also interesting. ‘Chang-wook’ and ‘Gwang-woo’, one-time best friends and rivals who fight to win national project rights with a huge budget, were played by Ha Jung-woo and Park Byeong-eun, respectively. Ha Jung-woo’s ‘Chang-wook’ has only work and study in his life. Golf is something I have never even been interested in. The once-in-a-lifetime event that befell him was playing golf for the first time. The two axes of ‘A’, which has the authority to decide on bids, are Kim Eui-seong as ‘Director Choi’, a veteran civil servant in charge of practical work, and Kang Mal-geum as ‘Minister Jo’, who is not interested in practical work but has great ambitions. The only thing they have in common is that they both love golf so much that they are at odds with each other. The story of ‘lobbying’ unfolds in earnest as ‘Chang-wook’ and ‘Gwang-woo’ each select the two as lobbying targets. Kwak Seon-young plays the role of ‘Director Kim’, the right-hand man of ‘Chang-wook’ who recommends entertainment golf, and newcomer Eom Ha-neul plays the role of ‘Chang-wook’s’ cousin and soldier-in-arms ‘Ho-sik’. ‘Reporter Park’ who introduces ‘Chief Choi’ to ‘Chang-wook’ is Dong-hwi Lee, and Hae-soo Park is the ‘golf course representative’ of August CC, where the two teams play rounds at the same time on the same day. And ‘Chief Choi’s’ favorite golfer ‘Jin Pro’, whom ‘Changwook’ brings in as reinforcements for lobby golf, is a rookie Kang Hae-rim. Choi Si-won plays the former top star ‘Ma Tae-soo’, Minister Choi’s favorite and brought in by ‘Gwang-woo’. In addition, apart from this ‘lobbying’, Hyun Bong-sik plays the role of Father Garcini, who is hired by the ‘golf course representative’ with the aim of lifting the green belt, and Cha Joo-young plays the role of ‘Dami’, the school junior of ‘Minister Choi’ and the wife of the golf course representative. I am going to act on screen. As to what results each lobby will lead to, ‘Lobby’ already predicts an interesting ensemble of characters just by casting.

Director Ha Jung-woo said, “I would like to say that I am so grateful that I was able to make ‘Lobby’ during a difficult time for Korean films. There were a lot of lines and it was important to get them all together in advance, so we held readings 10 times since May, and I am grateful to the actors for being so cooperative. It was a filming experience that made me realize once again that making a movie is truly a team effort with all the staff and actors working together. I feel like I have received a tremendous gift and blessing. “I will do my best in post-production and come back with an interesting movie,” he said, expressing his gratitude for successfully completing filming.

Director Ha Jung-woo’s film ‘Lobby’, which is expected to be fun to show through the unpredictable development and chemistry of actors whose personalities, acting skills, and ensembles are all curious, is scheduled to reach audiences after going through post-production.

Kim Bo-young (kby5848@edaily.co.kr)