The Vanished (Korean: 사라진 밤) is a 2018 South Korean psychological thriller film directed by Lee Chang-hee, starring Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Kang-woo and Kim Hee-ae. It is a remake of the 2012 Spanish film The Body, directed by Oriol Paulo.[2][3][4][5]
| The Vanished | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Hangul | 사라진 밤 |
| Literal meaning | Vanished Night |
| Revised Romanization | Sarajin Bam |
| Directed by | Lee Chang-hee |
| Screenplay by | Lee Hee-chan Lee Chang-hee |
| Based on | The Body, directed by Oriol Paulo |
| Produced by | Kim Young-min Kim You-kyung |
| Starring | Kim Sang-kyung Kim Kang-woo Kim Hee-ae |
| Cinematography | Lee Jong-yeol |
| Edited by | Kim Woo-il |
| Music by | Park Weil |
Production companies | Sidus Corporation MCMC Double & Joy Pictures |
| Distributed by | Kidari Ent |
Release date |
|
Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Box office | US$10 million[1] |
Plot edit
Yoon Seol-hee, a famous married chaebol, recently died. On the day of her funeral, her body was mysteriously stolen. Detective Jung-sik investigated the case and requested the presence of Seol-hee's husband, professor Park Jin-han. Before the meet up with Jin-han, it turned out that Jin-han had had a secret affair with a student, whom he rushed to right after the funeral to find comfort.
At the police station, a series of bizarre events led Jin-han to believe that his wife was still alive. It was revealed that Jin-han, a long time ago, had spent time to study a new form of drug, which later turned out to be toxic to the body. This drug could paralyse the nervous system and cause death leaving no evidence behind. Jin-han, discussed with his mistress Hye -jin, attempted to poison Seol-hee so they could be together. There was one small hole in his plot, to which Jin-han trusted that it led to the failure of the plan, was the effect of the toxic could be blocked by the use of illicit drugs.
Afraid that his might-still-be-alive wife could harm Hye-jin, Jin-han spit out the truth of his relationship with Hye-jin. However, more and more evidence shows the connection of Jin-han to his wife's death, which led detective Jung-sik to believe that Jin-han poisoned his wife and stole the body to interfere with the examination of the body. Despite the furious Chief, Jin-Han persisted to search for the missing body. More questions led back to the so-called lying Jin-han, as the police found the place which he claimed to be the house of his mistress Hye-jin and found nothing but an empty house. They assumed Jin-han was buying more time around so he could get rid of the body. Meanwhile, Jin-han got more nervous as he knew what his wife could do.
Jin-han kept getting messages from the number of dead Seol-hee, telling him to go to the place where they "had their secret" together. After being released from the police station, Jin-han rushed to an isolated house of his possess and made his way into the forest nearby. He then bumped into detective Jung-sik who had been following him. From this point, mysteries started to be unfolded.
Years ago, detective Jung-sik was soon to be a married man. However, his wife died in a car accident and her body had disappeared since. Her little sister remembered nothing but a logo from the car, which Jung-sik could use to trace back to the company which Jin-han and his wife owned. From there, Jung-sik began to plot his revenge with the help of Hye-jin, who turned out to be his girlfriend's sister. Jung-sik himself stole the body of Seol-hee and left hints behind to which Jin-han, out of guilt, imaginarily matched them with the doing of Seol-hee. At the end, Jung-sik achieved his purpose: Finding the body of his late girlfriend and successfully framed Jin-han into murdering and stealing Seol-hee's body. The film ended with Jung-sik and Hye- jin driving far away.
Cast edit
- Kim Sang-kyung as Woo Jung-sik
- Kim Kang-woo as Park Jin-han
- Kim Hee-ae as Yoon Seol-hee
- Han Ji-an as Hye-jin
- Lee Ji-hoon as Seok-won
- Seo Hyun-woo as Dong-gu
- Lee Min-ji as Sook-kyung
- Kwon Hae-hyo as Police chief (special appearance)
- Kim Ji-young as Doctor Cha (special appearance)
- Kyung Soo-jin as Ji-young (special appearance)
- Ryu Kyung-soo as Repair team 2
- Gong Min-jeung as Hee-yeon
Production edit
Principal photography began on June 12, 2017.[6]
Reception edit
Released on March 7, 2018, The Vanished opened in first place in South Korea, earning $411,278 from 696 screens.[7] Over the next four days, the film continued to top the local box office, where it made US$$5.09 million from 654,000 admissions in its first weekend.[8]
During the second weekend since the film was released, it attracted 251,824 moviegoers and was placed second at the weekend box office, accumulating the total audiences to 1.11 million.[9][10]
References edit
- ^ "The Vanished (2018)". Korean Film Biz Zone.
- ^ "사라진 밤 (가제)". Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- ^ "영화 [사라진 밤 (가제)] 상세정보". Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- ^ "In 'Vanished,' search for a corpse takes a turn". Korea JoongAng Daily.
- ^ Herald, The Korea (4 March 2018). "[Herald Review] Chasing phantoms of one's guilt". koreaherald.com.
- ^ "[인사이드] 이창희 감독 <사라진 밤>(가제), 6월 12일 크랭크인 外". 씨네21. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- ^ "[M+박스오피스] '사라진 밤', 개봉 첫날 1위…'궁합' 제쳤다". mk.co.kr (in Korean).
- ^ Kil, Sonia (12 March 2018). "Korea Box Office: 'Vanished' Beats 'Tomb Raider'". Variety.
- ^ Shim Sun-ah (March 19, 2018). "Domestic romantic drama leads box office in first weekend". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
- ^ Kim Mi-ji (March 20, 2018). "Domestic romantic drama leads box office in first weekend". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
