The first Taegeuk mark after liberation… The touching true story of ‘1947 Boston’ recreated by Ha Jung-woo and Im Si-wan [Comprehensive]

[Ten Asia = Reporter Ha-neul Lee]

We often get answers for the future through a scene in history. This is because we can hear stories and move forward through ‘those’ who have walked the same path in the past, albeit in different forms. ‘1947 Boston’ is a film about the process of real-life marathoner Son Ki-jeong becoming a mentor to Seo Yun-bok as he prepares for and participates in the 1947 Boston Marathon. On September 27th, will it be able to captivate the audience with a different charm from ‘Dr.

On the 11th, a press conference for the movie ‘1947 Boston’ (directed by Kang Je-gyu) was held at the Lotte Cinema Konkuk University entrance in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Director Kang Je-gyu, actors Ha Jung-woo, Im Si-wan, and Kim Sang-ho attended the event.

‘1947 Boston’ is a film that depicts the challenges and thrilling journey of marathon runners to participate in international competitions wearing the Taegeuk symbol for the first time after liberation in 1947.

Director Kang Je-gyu, who achieved both box office success and artistic value with films such as ‘Ginkgo Bed’ (1996), ‘Shiri’ (1999), and ‘Taegeukgi’ (2004), took charge of directing.

Regarding the reason for casting Im Si-wan as the real-life Seo Yun-bok, director Jeong Kang-gyu said, “Because it is a true story, the most important part was ‘how to match that person to a high degree.’ I thought they should resemble him in many ways externally as well. It’s small and compact. “Despite his size, Seo Yun-bok has a long lower body. His muscles feel like those of a marathon runner, like the muscles of a horse,” he said.

In the play, Son Ki-jeong (Ha Jung-woo), Nam Seung-ryong (Bae Seong-woo), and Seo Yun-bok (Im Si-wan) have different temperatures for each character, which doubles the fun. Director Kang Je-gyu said, “I built the character based on a real person, but the Son Ki-jeong I created had a macho and stubborn face. From Seo Yun-bok’s perspective, I tried to emphasize the feeling of a father who is strict and has strong standards. Like Nam Seung-ryong. “As a senior, I wanted to give Son Ki-jeong the feeling of solving difficult problems and supporting him like his mother. Through the combination of the three characters, I wanted to show him running toward one goal without being biased to one side,”he said.

Regarding what attracted him to the character of athlete Seo Yun-bok, “He overcame difficulties and ran toward his goal. There was a sense of pride in running under the Taegeukgi after liberation, but I think the human victory of one person realizing his precious dream stood out. “He explained.

In the play, Son Ki-jeong is shown cheering from the side while riding a bicycle during Seo Yun-bok’s marathon. Director Kang Je-gyu said, “I had a lot of concerns from the scenario stage about whether to show it in a dramatic and dramatic way. One of the reasons it was fun was that actor Ha Jung-woo, who plays Son Ki-jeong, talked a lot about his role and function in the scenario while filming. In the original scenario, Dali “There was a part, but not this much. I gave him the idea before filming the marathon section,” he said about the behind-the-scenes story.

Director Kang Je-gyu, who has dealt with Korea’s past and historical facts in his previous works, explained why he is so interested in stories of the past. Director Kang Je-gyu said, “I was preparing a science fiction film after ‘Taegukgi’, but it fell through. I was thinking about ‘what does it mean to express the future?’ and thought, ‘It is a good way to look into our past.’ Since college, I have been thinking about injustice. I fell in love with the film after watching it. I thought I should make a running movie someday. The charm of a marathon is that the mind and emotions of a marathoner running toward a long tunnel without any equipment or tools challenges the limits of human beings. “I think it’s the most appropriate sport in terms of passion,” he said.

He continued, “There are so many precious stories in history. I think it would be good to check for myself whether we are living on the right path. We may be indifferent or uninterested, but for young audiences, looking back on the past can sometimes be powerful and courageous. “I hope you think it’s okay,” he added.

Actor Ha Jung-woo played the role of Son Ki-jeong, the Korean marathon legend who led the Boston Miracle in 1947.

Ha Jung-woo, who plays marathoner Son Ki-jeong, a real-life character, said, “When I take on a character, I start from the soul and heart. I didn’t know much about the role of athlete Son Ki-jeong, so I talked a lot with the director. My acting started with teacher Son Ki-jeong. What was his heart? “I went into each take with that kind of thought in mind about what kind of emotions I would have. Those feelings built up one by one, so I couldn’t easily lose my footing in the Berlin Olympics podium scene in the prologue scene. It felt like I was filming in real life, not a movie set. I felt a lot of solemnity,”he answered honestly..

Ha Jung-woo, who said it was his first time playing the role of a mentor leading someone, said, “I think this is my first time playing a role like this. When I was caught on screen with actor Im Si-wan, I thought, ‘I’m old enough.’ In fact, Son Ki-jeong led the team and participated in the Boston tournament. “He went on a journey. I think it was a sense of responsibility. I thought about not being able to wear the Taegeukgi during the Berlin Olympics, and as an actor, I thought about Son Ki-jeong’s feelings,”he said.

Regarding his impressions of working with Im Si-wan, who plays the role of Seo Yun-bok, for the first time through ‘1947 Boston’, he said, “Si-wan put in a lot of effort and felt like an athlete. I watched the time he spent preparing to play the role of teacher Seo Yun-bok. When filming the competition scenes, “I was truly emotional. We filmed the scene in Melbourne. I saw the finished product for the first time, and I think Seo Yun-bok will like it because actor Im Si-wan did such a great job.”

Ha Jung-woo, who returned with ‘1947 Boston’ following Big 4’s ‘Unofficial Operation’, is having a truly marathon year. In response, Ha Jung-woo said, “I cannot be involved in the release date. It seems that it will be released in a short period of time during this summer and Chuseok. This is not the first time I have encountered a situation while filming and releasing a movie. I have experienced this kind of situation before, so I handled it calmly. I just want to do it. The absolute number of audiences has not returned to what it used to be. I just hope that everyone can join forces and create good synergy. I hope that our film will have good synergy and that the culture and events that bring audiences to the theater like before will be a help or cause. “It’s just that,” he said. He also added, “I hope that both ‘Dr. Chun’ and ‘The Spider’s Nest’ do well and that good times await us.”

Actor Im Si-wan plays the role of ‘Seo Yun-bok’, an indomitable marathoner who dreams of becoming the next ‘Son Ki-jeong’.

Im Si-wan, who played Seo Yun-bok, a real-life person, said, “I thought that the very fact that there were real people was a job that should never be offended by them. I approached the work with a sense of responsibility. Seo Yun-bok is the first athlete to compete in an international competition wearing the Taegeuk symbol. “I guess I was playing a certain character, but I went into filming with the idea of ​​representing the country wearing the Taegeuk symbol,” he said.

As there were many running scenes throughout the movie, the physical burden was also great. Im Si-wan said, “Because it was a running role, I received professional training 2-3 months in advance. I learned and trained from the coach in my spare time until the work was completed.”

Im Si-wan, who said he became fascinated with running after filming, explained how he prepared physically for filming. Im Si-wan said, “To take on the role of Seo Yun-bok, the thing I spent the most time on was, of course, diet and exercise. From the time I prepared for filming until the end, I always ate chicken breast and salad. I also had to exercise every day. My muscles needed to be strengthened.””I didn’t want to lose my toned appearance, so I worked out between cuts. Although it wasn’t my goal, I tried to resemble Seo Yun-bok’s appearance while working out. When I measured my InBody test, it came out at 6%. I was surprised because it was the first number in my life.”I answered.

Regarding his impressions of meeting Ha Jung-woo, who plays Son Ki-jeong, for the first time in ‘1947 Boston’, he said, “This is my first time working with actor Ha Jung-woo. I felt like I met a reliable older brother while working on this project. I relied on him a lot while filming, and he actually served as my coach. “But, more than that, he was a close, dependable older brother. He is someone who knows a lot about the world and filmmaking in many ways. I remember a lot of filming while anticipating what unexpected laugh point would come out at every moment,”he explained honestly.

Regarding how he felt when he crossed the finish line, he said, “I thought, ‘This moment will never come back.’ I exercise while setting small goals, and when I reach the end of my goal, I am dominated by the simple and clear thought that I have to finish the race. “I think I filmed the finish line scene following that thought,” he said about the behind-the-scenes story.

Actor Kim Sang-ho appears as Baek Nam-hyeon, a strong supporter of the national team.

Kim Sang-ho, who took on the role of Baek Nam-yong, a real-life character, but did not have much material, said, “There was no material. An actor’s job is to imagine something, so it was actually a good thing that there was no material. The good thing about receiving the script was that he didn’t blindly help. “It was good. It made me think about what it must have been like for an individual who lived in that era. I may feel sorry for expressing it, but I did it freely without it,” he said.

Regarding the charm of ‘1947 Boston’, Sang-ho Kim said, “After watching this movie, I think the population of marathoners will increase explosively. Marathoners all live long lives. I think everyone will run for two or three hours.”

The movie ‘1947 Boston’ will be released on September 27th.

Ten Asia Reporter Lee Ha-neul greenworld@tenasia.co.kr