Marathon (2005 film)

Marathon
Marathon
	Theatrical release poster
Hangul	말아톤
Revised Romanization	Maraton
McCune–Reischauer	Marat'on
Directed by	Jeong Yoon-cheol
Written by	Yoon Jin-ho ; Song Ye-jin ; Jeong Yoon-cheol
Produced by	Seok Myeong-hong ; Lee Seung-yeop ; Shin Chang-hwan
Starring	Cho Seung-woo; Kim Mi-sook
Cinematography	Kwon Hyeok-jun
Edited by	Hahm Sung-won ; Nam In-ju
Music by	Kim Jun-seong
Distributed by	Showbox
Release date	January 27, 2005;
Running time	117 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Box office	US$33.3 million

Marathon (Korean: 말아톤) is a 2005 South Korean drama film directed by Jeong Yoon-cheol, and starring Cho Seung-woo and Kim Mi-sook.^[2]^[3] It received 5,148,022 admissions, making it the 4th most attended Korean film of 2005.^[4]^[5]

Based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, an autistic marathon runner,^[6]^[7] the film popularized the South Korean term for autism (Korean: 자폐증; RR: japyejeung) which can be translated as "self-closed syndrome."^[8]^[9]

Plot

A young man with autism, named Cho-won, finds release only in running. As a child, Cho-won regularly had meltdowns, bit himself, and struggled to communicate with others—finding solace only in zebras and the Korean snack, choco pie. His mother never gave up on him and was determined to prove to the world that her child can achieve. As Cho-won gets older, he begins to find a passion for running and his mother is there to encourage and support him. Even though their family suffers from financial difficulties, they find a former marathon champion, Jung-wook — now a lethargic older man with an alcohol problem.

Jung-wook, who is serving community service hours as a physical education teacher for a DUI, grudgingly accepts the offer to train Cho-won in marathon running, but eventually becomes lazy with him. The coach often takes Cho-won's snack, and takes Cho-won to a jjimjilbang to relax. Even though Jung-wook slacks off most of the time, Cho-won's determination for running is firm (he accidentally runs 100 laps around a soccer field when the coach told him to without literally meaning it).

He takes third place in a 10 km running race, which causes his mother to set another goal for her son: to run a full marathon under three hours. This is not an easy task, however, as Cho-won wants to win but doesn’t know how to pace himself. Therefore, his mother pleads the coach to run with Cho-won in order to teach him how to pace his running. The movie shows the emotional struggles of a mother who is not sure if she is forcing her son to run or if it truly is his passion. The movie further explores and shows deep love and genuine purity through Cho-won.

Cast

Cho Seung-woo as Cho-won
Kim Mi-sook as Kyeong-sook, Cho-won's mother
Lee Ki-young as Jung-wook
Baek Sung-hyun as Yun Jung-won
Ahn Nae-sang as Hee-geun, Cho-won's father
Jeon Su-ji as Se-yoon

Remake

A Japanese drama remake of the same title (マラソン) aired on TBS on September 20, 2007. It starred Ninomiya Kazunari in the lead role.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipients	Result	Ref.
2005	41st Baeksang Arts Awards	Grand Prize (Daesang)	Marathon	Won
		Best Film	Marathon	Nominated
		Best Actor	Cho Seung-woo	Won
		Best Screenplay	Jeong Yoon-cheol	Won
		Best New Director		Nominated
	13th Chunsa Film Art Awards	Best New Director		Won
		Best Actor	Cho Seung-woo	Nominated
		Best Actress	Kim Mi-sook	Nominated
	6th Busan Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	Cho Seung-woo	Won
	42nd Grand Bell Awards	Best Film	Marathon	Won	^[10]
		Best Actor	Cho Seung-woo	Won
		Popularity Award	Cho Seung-woo	Won
		Best Actress	Kim Mi-sook	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Lee Ki-young	Nominated
		Best New Director	Jeong Yoon-cheol	Won
		Best Screenplay	Jeong Yoon-cheol	Won
		Best Planning	Seok Myeong-hong	Won
		Best Music	Kim Jun-seong	Won
	26th Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Film	Marathon	Nominated	^[11]
		Best Leading Actor	Cho Seung-woo	Nominated
		Popular Star Award	Cho Seung-woo	Won
		Best New Director	Jeong Yoon-cheol	Won
		Best Screenplay	Jeong Yoon-cheol	Nominated
		Best Music	Kim Jun-seong	Won
	4th Korean Film Awards	Best Film	Marathon	Nominated
		Best Actor	Cho Seung-woo	Nominated
		Best Actress	Kim Mi-sook	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Lee Ki-young	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Jeong Yoon-cheol	Nominated
		Best New Director		Nominated
	8th Director's Cut Awards	Best New Director		Won
	1st Premiere Rising Star Awards	Best Actor	Cho Seung-woo	Won
	14th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival	Best Actor in a Foreign Film	Cho Seung-woo	Won	^[12]

References

^ "Marathon". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-12-17.
^ Yang, Sung-jin (19 January 2005). "Cho Seung-woo shines in Running Boy". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
^ Lee, Seung-jae (26 January 2005). "Marathon or Mal-ah-ton". The Dong-a Ilbo. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
^ "The Best Selling Films of 2005". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
^ "Running Boy This Holiday's Runaway Box Office Hit". The Chosun Ilbo. 13 February 2005. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
^ Shin, Ye-ri (19 January 2005). "A film spotlights an autistic runner". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
^ "Real life hero of the Korean movie Marathon, Bae Hyeong-jin". KBS World. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 2012-12-17.
^ Park, Soo-mee (24 February 2005). "A boy in the crowd who stands alone". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
^ Soh, Joon (28 January 2005). "Well-Paced Marathon Is Heartwarming Race". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
^ "Marathon - Awards". Cinemasie. Retrieved 2012-12-17.
^ ""Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" wins Best Picture Award". Hancinema. 30 November 2005.
^ "Cho Seung-woo Wins Best Actor Award at Film Festival in China". Hancinema. November 15, 2005.

External links

Official website (in Korean)
Marathon at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
Marathon at IMDb
Marathon at HanCinema

[1] "Marathon". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-12-17.

[2] Yang, Sung-jin (19 January 2005). "Cho Seung-woo shines in Running Boy". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2013-08-25.

[3] Lee, Seung-jae (26 January 2005). "Marathon or Mal-ah-ton". The Dong-a Ilbo. Retrieved 2013-08-25.

[kfilm-4] "The Best Selling Films of 2005". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2012-12-07.

[5] "Running Boy This Holiday's Runaway Box Office Hit". The Chosun Ilbo. 13 February 2005. Retrieved 2013-08-25.

[6] Shin, Ye-ri (19 January 2005). "A film spotlights an autistic runner". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-08-25.

[7] "Real life hero of the Korean movie Marathon, Bae Hyeong-jin". KBS World. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 2012-12-17.

[8] Park, Soo-mee (24 February 2005). "A boy in the crowd who stands alone". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-08-25.

[9] Soh, Joon (28 January 2005). "Well-Paced Marathon Is Heartwarming Race". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2013-08-25.

[10] "Marathon - Awards". Cinemasie. Retrieved 2012-12-17.

[11] ""Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" wins Best Picture Award". Hancinema. 30 November 2005.

[12] "Cho Seung-woo Wins Best Actor Award at Film Festival in China". Hancinema. November 15, 2005.

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v t e Grand Bell Award for Best Film
1960s	Prince Yeonsan (1962) The Memorial Gate for Virtuous Women (1963) Bloodline (1964) Deaf Sam-yong (1965) The Sea Village (1966) Coming Back (1967) Prince Daewon (1968)
1970s	Patriotic Martyr An Jung-gun (1972) The General in Red Robes (1973) The Land (1974) Flame (1975) Mother (1976) Diary of Korean-Japanese War (1977) Police Story (1978) The Hidden Hero (1979)
1980s	Son of Man (1980) Invited People (1981) Come Unto Down (1982) Mulleya Mulleya (1983) Adultery Tree (1984) Mother (1985) Pillar of Mist (1986) Diary of King Yeonsan (1987) Come Come Come Upward (1989)
1990s	All That Falls Has Wings (1990) Passion Portrait (1991) Fly High Run Far (1992) Seopyeonje (1993) The Story of Two Women (1994) The Eternal Empire (1995) Henequen (1996) The Contact (1997) Spring in My Hometown (1999)
2000s	Peppermint Candy (2000) Joint Security Area (2001) The Way Home (2002) Memories of Murder (2003) Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2004) Marathon (2005) The King and the Clown (2006) Family Ties (2007) The Chaser (2008) The Divine Weapon (2009)
2010s	Poetry (2010) The Front Line (2011) Masquerade (2012) The Face Reader (2013) The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014) Ode to My Father (2015) Inside Men (2016) A Taxi Driver (2017) Burning (2018) Parasite (2019)
2020s	N/A (2020) N/A (2021) Decision to Leave (2022) Concrete Utopia (2023)

v t e Baeksang Arts Award Grand Prize – Film
1960s	Kim Jin-kyu (Deaf Sam-yong) (1965) - (1966)^* Late Autumn (1967) Choi Nam-hyun (Legend of Ssarigol) (1968) - (1969)^*
1970s	- (1970)^* - (1971)^* - (1972)^* Gate of Women (1973) - (1974)^* - (1975)^* - (1976)^* Concentration Of Attention (1977) A Splendid Outing (1978) The Last Words from a Comrade in Arms (1979)
1980s	Man-suk, Run! (1980) A Fine, Windy Day (1981) - (1982)^** Village of Haze (1983) Whale Hunting (1984) Deep Blue Night (1985) Gilsoddeum (1986) Moonlight Hunter (1987) Adada (1988) Seoul Rainbow (1989)
1990s	The Lovers of Woomook-baemi (1990) - (1991)^** Stairways of Heaven (1992) Our Twisted Hero (1993) Ahn Sung-ki (Two Cops) (1994) Life and Death of the Hollywood Kid (1995) Park Chul-soo (Farewell my darling) (1996) - (1997)^ - (1998)^ Kang Je-gyu (Shiri) (1999)
2000s	Chunhyang (2000) Libera Me (2001) Sol Kyung-gu (Public Enemy) (2002) The Way Home (2003) Kang Woo-suk (Silmido) (2004) Marathon (2005) King and the Clown (2006) Tazza: The High Rollers (2007) The Chaser (2008) Kang Woo-suk(Public Enemy Returns) (2009)
2010s	Yoon Je-kyoon (Tidal Wave) (2010) Lee Byung-hun (I Saw the Devil) (2011) Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time (2012) Ryu Seung-ryong (Miracle in Cell No. 7) (2013) Song Kang-ho (The Attorney) (2014) Choi Min-sik (The Admiral: Roaring Currents) (2015) Lee Joon-ik (The Throne and Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet) (2016) Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden) (2017) 1987: When the Day Comes (2018) Jung Woo-sung (Innocent Witness) (2019)
2020s	Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) (2020) Lee Joon-ik (The Book of Fish) (2021) Ryoo Seung-wan (Escape from Mogadishu) (2022) Decision to Leave (2023) Kim Sung-su (12.12: The Day) (2024)
^* awarded to theatrical play; ^** no winner