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A Werewolf Boy

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A Werewolf Boy
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJo Sung-hee
Written byJo Sung-hee
Produced byKim Su-jin
Yu in-beom
Jeong Tae-seong
Starring
CinematographyChoi Sang-muk
Edited byNam Na-yeong
Music byShim Hyun-jung
Production
company
Bidangil Pictures
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release dates
  • September 11, 2012 (2012-09-11) (TIFF)
  • October 31, 2012 (2012-10-31) (South Korea)
Running time
122 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box officeUS$41.5 million[1]

A Werewolf Boy (Korean: 늑대소년; RR: Neukdae Sonyeon; lit. "Wolf Boy") is a 2012 South Korean fantasy romance film in which a beautiful teenage girl (Park Bo-young) is sent to a country house for her health, where she befriends and attempts to civilize a feral boy (Song Joong-ki) she discovers on the grounds—but the beast inside him is constantly waiting to burst out.[2][3][4]

Director Jo Sung-hee first wrote the script while studying at the Korean Academy of Film Arts and the script went through several rewrites before it was finalized in its current form. This is Jo's commercial debut; he previously directed the arthouse flick End of Animal and the short film Don't Step Out of the House.[5][6]

A Werewolf Boy had its world premiere in the "Contemporary World Cinema" section of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival,[7][8][9][10] then screened at the 17th Busan International Film Festival before its theatrical release on October 31, 2012.[11][12] It quickly rose up the box office charts to become the most successful Korean melodrama of all time.[13]

Plot

Kim Sun-yi, an elderly woman in her sixties living in the US, receives a phone call about the sale of her old family home back in South Korea.

Returning to her homeland, she's met by granddaughter Eun-joo, and they drive back to the house in the country. Sun-yi recalls how 47 years ago, when she was a 17-year-old girl in 1965, she moved from Seoul along with her widowed mother and sister Sun-ja to a remote valley to undergo a period of convalescence after suffering problems with her lungs.

The Kims lived in genteel poverty at the mercy of their arrogant landlord, Ji-tae, son of the business partner of Sun-yi's late father. Because of her delicate health, the beautiful yet introverted Sun-yi lives an isolated life without any friends.

One day, Sun-yi discovers a feral boy of about 19 in their yard. His blood type is unidentifiable, and he can neither read nor speak. Even though he behaves like a wild beast, Sun-yi's kindhearted mother adopts him and names him Chul-soo, assuming he's one of more than 60,000 children orphaned in the Korean War.

At first, Sun-yi considers him a nuisance, but eventually has fun taming him according to a dog-training manual. She teaches him how to wait patiently before a meal, how to wear clothes, speak, write, and other human behavior so that he could one day live like a normal man. Chul-soo demonstrates unswerving loyalty and superhuman brawn, inspiring the envy of Ji-tae, who lusts after Sun-yi.

The two eventually become close; as Sun-yi opens her heart to Chul-soo, he in turn falls in love with her, the only person to ever show him affection. But their relationship is fraught with difficulties as Ji-tae begins to cause trouble. Feeling threatened, Chul-soo lets loose his bestial instincts and in their fear, the town villagers turn on him. In order to save the boy who risked his life to be with her, Sun-yi leaves him with a promise: "Wait for me. I'll come back for you."[14][15][16][17]

In present day, Sun-yi walks into the shed to find Chul-soo sitting there, still as young as he was 47 years ago. He hands her the note that she wrote. She realizes that he's been waiting all along. He reads her a book she had asked him to read all those years ago, as she falls asleep. The next day, she wakes up with Chul-soo nowhere in sight, and leaves with her granddaughter. They receive a call from the county asking about the property. Sun-yi tells him that she's not selling the place. Chul-soo stares from afar as the car drives away.

A sequence in the ending credits shows Chul-soo building a snowman.

Cast

Song Joong-ki plays the main protagonist Chul-soo.

Music

The film's music video featured John Park's single "철부지" ("Childlike").[30]

"My Prince," the song that Sun-yi sings in the film, was released as a digital single and included in the soundtrack. It was composed by music director Shim Hyun-jung with lyrics by director Jo Sung-hee.[31]

Soundtrack

  1. 나의 왕자님 ("My prince") – Park Bo-young
  2. Time she's forgotten
  3. 47 years ago
  4. A boy in the house
  5. Decision to train him
  6. Sun-yi's family
  7. Chul-soo in the bath
  8. First love
  9. Training
  10. Let's go to play
  11. Cosplay
  12. Where there's love
  13. Special power
  14. Turning to wolf
  15. Discover the secret
  16. She collapses
  17. Ji-tae's anger
  18. Chul-soo in chains
  19. Evil plan
  20. Searching for guitar
  21. Out of control
  22. To the forest
  23. Love unreached
  24. Don't leave me
  25. Walking away
  26. For a long time
  27. A werewolf boy

Reception

After premiering at number one in the South Korean box office with more than 100,000 admissions,[32][33] A Werewolf Boy broke the 1 million mark after five days,[34][35][36] 2 million after nine days,[37] and 3.6 million in twelve days.[38][39][40][41] Not only were these numbers remarkably high for November, considered a slow season for moviegoing in Korea, but it was also a rare feat for its melodrama genre.[42]

The film also has the distinction of setting a new box office record for "suneung day," the date on which high school seniors take their College Scholastic Ability Test. Each year large numbers of students book tickets for films in the evening after the exam has finished, but A Werewolf Boy's one-day score of 341,475 tickets on November 8 outpaced the totals of any film in previous years.[43][44]

On November 15, its 4.12 million admissions surpassed Architecture 101 to become the most successful Korean melodrama of all time.[13][45] Ticket sales reached 5 million on November 18,[46][47] 6 million on November 26,[48][49][50] then 7 million on December 16,[51][52] making it the third highest Korean top grosser of 2012, behind The Thieves and Masquerade, and also the fourth best selling film of the year overall.[53]

The film also became a sleeper hit when it was released in Taiwan on December 28, 2012, grossing NT$4 million (US$138,000) at the Taipei box office after 17 days on release.[54]

The film also made its premiere in the Philippines on September 18, 2013 as part of the Korean Movie Festival 2013.

Alternate ending

After director Jo Sung-hee revealed during one of the film's Q&A sessions that they had shot an alternate ending, due to popular demand, the movie was re-released on December 6, 2012 with that ending.[55][56] The alternate finale involves Park Bo-young's Sun-yi, and among the deleted scenes are moments from Ji-tae's (Yoo Yeon-seok) childhood as well as more focus on the neighborhood in which the plot unfolds.[57][58]

Book

A novelization was published on October 31, 2012, to coincide with the movie's opening day.[59]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2012
4th Pierson Movie Festival
 Best Actress Park Bo-young Won
20th Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards
 Best Supporting Actor Seo Dong-soo Won
2013
4th KOFRA Film Awards (Korea Film Reporters Association)
 Discovery Award Jo Sung-hee Won
7th Asian Film Awards[60]
Best Costume Design Kwak Jung-ae Nominated
6th Nickelodeon Korea Kids' Choice Awards
 Favorite Actor Song Joong-ki Won
49th Baeksang Arts Awards[61][62]
 Best Film A Werewolf Boy Nominated
Best New Director Jo Sung-hee Won
Best Actor (Film) Song Joong-ki Nominated
Best Screenplay Jo Sung-hee Nominated
Most Popular Actress (Film) Park Bo-young Nominated
5th Terracotta Far East Film Festival
 Current Asian Cinema Audience Award Jo Sung-hee Won
7th Mnet 20's Choice Awards
 20's Movie Star – Female Park Bo-young Won
20's Movie Star – Male Song Joong-ki Nominated
22nd Buil Film Awards
 Best Supporting Actress Jang Young-nam Won
Best Music Shim Hyun-jung Nominated
50th Grand Bell Awards
 Best Supporting Actress Jang Young-nam Won
Best New Director Jo Sung-hee Nominated
Popularity Award Song Joong-ki Nominated
Park Bo-young Nominated
34th Blue Dragon Film Awards
 Best New Director Jo Sung-hee Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Jang Young-nam Nominated

References

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  3. ^ Park, Eun-jee (26 October 2012). "Uncomplicated relationship central to A Werewolf Boy". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
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