Lee Chan-sil and The Ghost of Hong Kong actor Leslie
Cheung that doesn't look like Leslie Cheung
Yes, a beautiful little indie film this was and met with
a lot of praise. The film by ex Hong Sang-soo producer Kim Cho-hee won
two
awards at the 2019 Busan International Film Festival and an Audience award
at the Seoul Independent Film Festival in December of
2019, and Kang (or Gang) Mal-geum has won two South Korean best actress
awards.
It did quite well when premiéring in South Korea 2020 but then
the covid virus struck.
Lucky Chan-sil is a life affirming and beautiful little
film, a drama comedy fantasy something about the 40 year old Lee Chan-sil
who
has worked her whole adult life as a producer for the artmovie auteur
director Ji. In the intro of the film we see him dying when his
film team is out drinking a whole lot (of Soju i guess) and the scene
looks like something from a Hong Sang-soo movie (where people
always drink and talk (and eat and have sex).
When he suddenly dies Lee find herself being without a job. She is lost
for a while and struggles with her situation. As she's to
connected to Ji's personal way of shooting films, she (Kang Mal-geum)
can't find a new job as a film producer.
So, as her friend the actress Sophie (Yoon Seung-ah) is
sloppy and needs a cleaning-lady Lee starts working part time at Sophie's
to earn some extra as the bills needs to be payed. Lee also moves into
her new home, high up on the hills of the city she's renting
a room at an old lady's house, the landlady played by the great veteran
actress Youn Yuh-jung (born 1947) who debuted in 1971 in
Kim Ki-young's 2nd part of his Housemaid series (Hwanyeo, Woman on Fire)
and she also was featured in Im Sang-soo's 2011
re-make of The Housemaid. Youn also played a rememberable small part in
the 2020 "Beasts Clawing at Straws".
Kim Young-min as the ghost of Leslie Cheung, Youn Yuh-jung
as Bok-sil, Kang Mal-geum as Lee Chan-sil, Yoon Seung-ah as
Sophie and Bae Yoo-ram as French teacher and shortmovie director Kim Young.
At Sophie's place she meets French speaker teacher Kim
Young. He's also working extra to earn some money for paying the bills
and he's a film connection too, he's a short-movie director. They start
to hang out and inevitably she falls in love with him, but
as she hasn't dated for many, many years she's a bit awkward and a bit
too eager. He says he sees her only as a sister, a friend.
But, even though she's feeling down a while she still has friends, her
buddy Sophie, her nice landlady (whom she helps learning
to read) and as a surprise also The Ghost of Hong Kong actor Leslie Cheung
that doesn't look like Leslie Cheung as he's been
re-incarnated into the ghost of a south korean dude named Jang Guk-young.
He's running around in his underwear and giving her helpful advice now
and then. And, maybe she will accept Kim Young as a
friend too. Let's not forget about her old film staff, they are friends
too so .... she's really The Lucky Chan-sil after all.
Leslie Cheung was a Canto pop singer star and a HUGE beloved
Hong Kong filmstar all over Asia and the world. He suffered
from depression and committed suicide April 1st 2003 and he was 46 years
old.
The South Korean DVD presents the film in anamorphic widescreen
with korean audio DD 5.1 and with english subtitles, region
3 and with some trailers and teasers as extra
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