200 Pounds Beauty
200 Pounds Beauty (Korean: 미녀는 괴로워; RR: Minyeoneun Goerowo; “Beauty is pain”) is a 2006 South Korean musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Kim Yong-hwa.[2] It is based on the Japanese manga Kanna's Big Success! (カンナさん大成功です!, Kanna-san Daiseikou Desu!) by Yumiko Suzuki about an overweight ghost singer who undergoes intensive plastic surgery to become a pop sensation.[3]
| 200 Pounds Beauty | |
|---|---|
 200 Pounds Beauty movie poster | |
| Hangul | 미녀는 괴로워 |
| Hanja | 美女는 괴로워 |
| Revised Romanization | Minyeoneun Goerowo |
| McCune–Reischauer | Minyŏ-nŭn kwerowŏ |
| Directed by | Kim Yong-hwa |
| Produced by | Park Mu-seung Won Dong-yeon Bang Chu-sung |
| Written by | Kim Yong-hwa |
| Based on | Kanna-san, Daiseikou Desu! by Yumiko Suzuki |
| Starring | Kim Ah-joong Joo Jin-mo |
| Music by | Lee Jae-hak |
| Cinematography | Park Hyun-cheol |
| Edited by | Park Gok-ji Jeong Jin-hee |
Production company | REALies Pictures KM Culture |
| Distributed by | Showbox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Budget | US$4 million |
| Box office | US$42 million[1] |
The film was a critical and commercial success.[4] It was the third best-selling domestic film of 2006 with 6,619,498 admissions nationwide, grossing US$42,013,016.[5][6] 200 Pounds Beauty also received several awards and nominations, including Best Actress for Kim Ah-joong at the 2007 Grand Bell Awards.[7]
Plot
Hanna Kang is an overweight phone sex part-timer and a ghost singer for Ammy, a famous pop singer who actually lip syncs her songs instead of singing live. Hanna has a crush on Sang-jun, a director whose arrogant father owns the record company Ammy is signed to. One day, Hanna receives an outfit from Sang-jun with a note to wear it to his birthday party. However, it actually came from Ammy, who wears the same outfit just to humiliate Hanna. While crying in the restroom, Hanna overhears Sang-jun telling Ammy that even though they are just using Hanna for her voice, they must be kind to her so she will not abandon them. Heartbroken, Hanna attempts suicide but is interrupted by a phone call from one of her phone sex regulars, a top plastic surgeon, and persuades him to perform head-to-toe plastic surgery on her.
After a year of seclusion while recovering from the surgery and weight loss, Hanna is so incredibly beautiful and slender that even her best friend Jung-min cannot recognize her at first. With Jung-min's help, Hanna creates a new identity for herself as a Korean-American from California named Jenny. After re-auditioning to be Ammy's secret vocalist, she earns her own recording contract instead. Meanwhile, Ammy fears her own secret in being unable to sing will be exposed if the release of her second album is delayed. She desperately tries to find Hanna by spending time with Hanna's father who is in hospital due to Alzheimer's, but Sang-jun orders her to give up her search, threatening to terminate her contract if she does not stop. After many encounters with Jenny, they both realize that Jenny is actually Hanna.
Jenny's debut single "Maria" becomes a hit and in the party to celebrate it, Ammy brings Hanna's father in an attempt to blow her cover. Desperate to keep her true identity a secret, Hanna ignores her father. Jung-min becomes furious at her indifferent behavior. After the party, Sang-jun tells Hanna he knows her true identity. He cannot forgive her for lying to him but says he will conduct her concert scheduled the next day. Hanna confesses her love for him and reveals she got plastic surgery in order to make him love her back. After realizing how worthless she was to him even as Jenny, Hanna tearfully refuses to have anything to do with him.
Before the concert, Ammy threatens to reveal Hanna's deception unless Sang-jun cancels the concert. Though his father agrees, Sang-jun stands up to them and refuses, and encourages a distraught Hanna to do this concert, not for her fans or the record company but for herself. Before performing, Hanna apologizes to Jung-min for her earlier behavior. She coldly rejects her apology, rebuking Hanna for the way she treated her own father. At the concert, Hanna tearfully confesses to the large crowd her story of being a ghost singer to an ungrateful Ammy while she was overweight, going into a year of seclusion to heal from the changes from the surgery and abandoning everything that is dear to her, including her best friend and father, for her career. Sang-jun plays a tape of the old, obese Hanna, singing. Hanna remarks that the person on the video is the real her. The crowd are moved by her sincere confession and praise her for showing her true identity. Hanna reconciles with her father and Jung-min. She drops the stage-name Jenny and re-releases a CD with her own name, Hanna, and becomes a highly successful music artist. Sang-jun realizes the very thing about her that had always drawn him to her was Hanna's innocence, and continues to promote her in hopes of pursuing a relationship with her.
During the post-credits, Jung-min also asks to get head-to-toe plastic surgery from the surgeon.
Cast
- Kim Ah-joong as Kang Han-na / Jenny
- Joo Jin-mo as Han Sang-jun
- Sung Dong-il as Record company executive
- Kim Hyun-sook as Park Jung-min
- Im Hyun-sik as Han-na's father
- Lee Han-wi as Plastic surgeon Lee Kong-hak
- Ji Seo-yun as Ammy
- Park No-shik 박노식 as Jenny's fan
- Lee Beom-soo as Taxi driver (cameo)
- Kim Yong-gun as Record company CEO (cameo)
- Lee Won-jong as Fortune teller (cameo)
- Ryu Seung-soo as Traffic officer (cameo)
Awards and nominations
- Best Actress - Kim Ah-joong
- Best Cinematography - Park Hyun-cheol
- Best Editing - Park Gok-ji
- Technical Award - Lee Seung-chul (Sound)
- Best Actress - Kim Ah-joong
- Best Cinematography - Park Hyun-cheol
- Best Music - Lee Jae-hak
- Nomination - Best Film
- Nomination - Best Director - Kim Yong-hwa
- Nomination - Best Editing - Park Gok-ji
- Nomination - Best Art Direction - Jang Geun-young
- Nomination - Best Costume Design - Jo Sang-gyeong
- Nomination - Best Visual Effects - Jeong Seong-jin
- Nomination - Best Sound - Jeon Sang-jun, Lee Seung-chul
- 2007 Korea Movie Star Awards
- Best New Actress - Kim Ah-joong
- Best Couple Award - Kim Ah-joong and Joo Jin-mo
- Best Special Appearance - Lee Beom-soo
- Nomination - Best Film
- Nomination - Best Director - Kim Yong-hwa
- Nomination - Best Actress - Kim Ah-joong
- Nomination - Best Screenplay - Kim Yong-hwa
- Nomination - Best Music - Lee Jae-hak
- 2007 Korean Film Awards
- Nomination - Best Actress - Kim Ah-joong
- Nomination - Best Supporting Actress - Kim Hyun-sook
- Nomination - Best Editing - Park Gok-ji
- Nomination - Best Music - Lee Jae-hak
- Nomination - Best Visual Effects - Jeong Seong-jin
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album was released by KM Culture and SBS Contents Hub on December 13, 2006.
The title track is a cover of the Blondie song "Maria," sung in Korean by the film's star, Kim Ah-joong.[4]
Director Kim Yong-hwa has been friends with music director Lee Jae-hak since their college days.[2] Lee is a member of the modern rock band Loveholic, which is also featured in the soundtrack.
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Beautiful Girl" | Kim Ah-joong | 1:49 |
| 2. | "별" (Star) | Youme | 5:02 |
| 3. | "Maria" | Kim Ah-joong | 3:07 |
| 4. | "Dance with My Daddy" | Alex Chu | 3:00 |
| 5. | "You Don't Know I Love You" | U | 4:08 |
| 6. | "슈퍼스타" (Superstar) | Loveholic | 3:19 |
| 7. | "튜울립" (Tulip) | Venny (Sangsang Band) feat. Jong-hwi | 3:19 |
| 8. | "Miss You Much" | Youme | 3:26 |
| 9. | "Beautiful Girl (teaser edit)" | Kim Ah-joong feat. Alex Chu | 1:29 |
| 10. | "바보처럼" (Like a Fool) | Kim Hyung-joong | 4:01 |
| 11. | "별 (original dialog ver.)" (Star (original dialog ver.)) | Kim Ah-joong | 2:04 |
References
- "Mi-nyeo-neun Gwae-ro-wo (200 Pounds Beauty) (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- Yang, Seong-hee (25 January 2007). "On the big screen, being thin still rules". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- Park, Soo-mee (25 April 2007). "DVD Review: The heavy price of feminine beauty". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- D'Sa, Nigel (6 February 2007). "200 Pounds Beauty Weighs in at the Box Office". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- "Commercial Releases in 2006: Box-Office Admission Results". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- Paquet, Darcy. "200 Pounds Beauty". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- "200 Pounds Beauty - Awards". Cinemasie. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
External links
- Official website (in Korean)
- 200 Pounds Beauty at the Korean Movie Database
- 200 Pounds Beauty at IMDb
- 200 Pounds Beauty at HanCinema