Kwak Jae-young’s 2001 Korean romantic comedy, one of the first international breakthroughs of the Korean Wave, will be released in North American theaters in a new 4K restoration following its acquisition by Film Movement Classics.
The deal was announced by Film Movement President Michael Rosenberg and Hive Film Works CEO Paul Kim.
The restored print, which Kwak himself supervised, will be shown for the first time in North America at the New York Asian Film Festival in July of this year. A limited theatrical run will follow, after which the film will move to VOD, digital and streaming platforms, and home entertainment.
“Mysterious Girlfriend,” starring Cha Tae-hyun and Jeon Ji-hyun, is the story of a college student who finds himself drawn into an increasingly inevitable love affair with a stubborn and capricious young woman he meets on the subway. The script was based on Kim Ho-sik’s autobiographical posts about his real-life love life.
The film was released in South Korea in 2001 and became a commercial sensation, grossing $26 million locally, making it among the five highest-grossing films in South Korean history at the time and the highest-grossing film in Korean comedy history. Box office receipts across East Asia exceeded $32 million.
“Mysterious Girlfriend” also swept the awards upon its release, winning the Grand Bell Award for Best Screenplay and Popularity Award at Korea’s top industry award ceremony, and was also nominated for Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Cinematography. Internationally, the film won the Best Asian Film Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards, the Most Popular Film Award at the Fantasia Film Festival, the Audience Award at the New York Asian Film Festival (the same event where the long-awaited North American theatrical premiere will take place), and was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards in Japan.
The film’s influence extended far beyond its initial screening, inspiring American remakes, sequels, and television adaptations in South Korea, Japan, Thailand, India, and China.
“‘The Fiend’ is one of those rare films that has captured the hearts of an entire continent,” Rosenberg said. “This film helped introduce the world to the extraordinary energy of Korean cinema, and to see it restored to its full glory and theatrically shown to North American audiences for the first time is something we’ve wanted to do for years. We couldn’t be more excited to premiere this film at the very festival that first captivated New York audiences more than 20 years ago.”
The acquisition is part of an aggressive restoration drive by Film Movement Classics, which has also recently secured new 4K prints of Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern and Living, Hou Xiaoxian’s The City of Sorrow, Shunji Iwai’s Love Letter, and Katsuto Ishii’s A Taste of Tea.
