Beasts Clawing at Straws

Beasts Clawing at Straws (Korean: 지푸라기라도 잡고 싶은 짐승들; RR: Jipuragirado Jabgo Sipeun Jibseungdeul, Japanese: 藁にもすがる獣たち Wara ni mo sugaru kemonotachi) is a 2020 South Korean crime thriller film written and directed by Kim Yong-hoon as his debut feature film.[2] Based on the 2011 Japanese novel of the same name by Keisuke Sone,[3] it stars Jeon Do-yeon, Jung Woo-sung, Youn Yuh-jung, Bae Seong-woo, Shin Hyun-bin, Jung Man-sik, Jin Kyung and Jung Ga-ram.[4] It was released on February 19, 2020.[5]

Beasts Clawing at Straws
Theatrical release poster
Hangul지푸라기라도 잡고 싶은 짐승들
Revised RomanizationJipuragirado Jabgo Sipeun Jibseungdeul
Directed byKim Yong-hoon
Produced byKim Jin-sun
Written byKim Yong-hoon
Based onBeasts Clawing at Straws
by Keisuke Sone
Starring
Music byNene Kang
CinematographyKim Tae-sung
Edited byHan Mi-yeon
Production
company
B.A. Entertainment
Distributed byMegabox Plus M
Release date
  • January 25, 2020 (2020-01-25) (IFFR)
  • February 19, 2020 (2020-02-19) (South Korea)
Running time
108 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box office$4,401,968[1]

The film had its world premiere at the 49th International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 25, 2020 in the Tiger Competition.[6][7]

Plot

Joong-man, stuck in a thankless job and forced to care for his ailing mother, finds a huge bag of money left in a sauna. Tae-young, a customs officer in debt to criminal Mr. Park, plots with one of Park's henchmen to run a lucrative scam on a "sucker" attempting to flee the country. Mi-ran, an escort with an abusive husband, finally sees a way out when one of her clients offers to murder him in exchange for a cut of his life insurance policy. The three characters all cross paths with dangerous people and get themselves into increasingly deeper trouble as they attempt to cheat their way towards the ultimate payout.

The film is separated into six chapters: Debt, Sucker, Food Chain, Shark, Lucky Strike and Money Bag.

Cast

Main

Supporting
  • Bae Jin-woong as Catfish
  • Heo Dong-won as Manager
  • Kim Jun-han as Jae-hoon
  • Park Ji-hwan as Carp

Special appearance

Production

Development

Japanese author Keisuke Sone, who wrote the novel on which the film is based, "is a fan of Korean films" and "was very welcoming" to the idea of a film adaptation according to director Kim Yong-hoon.[10]

Casting

Director Kim Yong-hoon first showed his script to actress Jeon Do-yeon who accepted the offer and convinced Youn Yuh-jung to join the cast.[10]

Filming

Principal photography began on August 30, 2018 and filming ended on November 30.[11]

Release

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was postponed by a week (being released on February 19, 2020 instead of February 12) but it did not have any impact as the situation did not improve by then.[12]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10.[13]

Jay Weissberg of Variety said that "Beasts Clawing at Straws could just as well be called "Beasts Toying with Clichés" if it weren't such an amusing, echt Korean romp."[14] For Neil Young of The Hollywood Reporter, "Beasts Clawing at Straws demands attention and patience, but thus happily ends up amply rewarding both."[15] Wendy Ide of Screen International describes the film as an "almost Coen-sian tale of ordinary folks undone by greed [which] is a lot smarter than its occasionally crude execution would have you believe."[16]

Accolades
Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2020 49th International Film Festival Rotterdam Tiger Competition – Special Jury Award Beasts Clawing at Straws Won [17][18]
22nd Far East Film Festival Special Honorable Mention - White Mulberry Award Won [19]
29th Buil Film Awards Best Actor Jung Woo-sung Nominated [20]
Best Actress Jeon Do-yeon Nominated
40th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Top 10 Films Beasts Clawing at Straws Won [21]
10th AACTA Awards Best Asian Film Nominated [22]
7th Korean Film Producers Association Awards Best Editing Han Mi-yeon Won [23]
Cine 21 Awards Best Producer Jang Won-seok Won [24]
2021 41st Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Leading Actress Jeon Do-yeon Pending [25]
Best New Actress Shin Hyun-bin Pending
Best Editing Han Mi-yeon Pending

See also

References
  1. "Beasts Clawing at Straws (2020)". Korean Film Council. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  2. Kwak, Yeon-soo (January 13, 2020). "'Beasts Clawing at Straws' is nail-biting crime film". The Korea Times. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  3. Choi, Ji-won (January 13, 2020). "'Beasts Clawing at Straws,' awakens characters' animal spirits". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  4. Lee, Jae-lim (January 13, 2020). "When money turns regular people into savages: 'Beasts Clawing at Straws' stars a veteran cast doing whatever it takes to win". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  5. Choi, Ji-won (February 21, 2020). "[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  6. Conran, Pierce (December 27, 2019). "Beasts Clawing at Straws Invited to IFFR Tiger Competition". Korean Film Council. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  7. Park, Yuna (December 19, 2019). "'Beasts Clawing at Straws' to get premiere at Film Festival Rotterdam". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  8. Lee, Jae-lim; Yoon, So-yeon (February 14, 2020). "Finding delight in playing evil: In 'Beasts Clawing at Straws,' Jeon Do-yeon's character can't be stopped". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  9. Kim, Boram (February 7, 2020). "Jung Woo-sung creates fresh character in latest crime thriller". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  10. Choi, Ji-won (February 20, 2020). "[Herald Interview] Salaryman-turned-director Kim Yong-hoon debuts big". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  11. Han, Hyun-jung (December 6, 2018). "전도연X정우성X배성우 '지푸라기' 크랭크업…초호화 스릴러". MK (in Korean). Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  12. Lee, Jae-lim (February 24, 2020). "[Korean Box Office] 'Beasts Clawing at Straws' tops a suffering weekend box office". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  13. "Beasts Clawing at Straws (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  14. Weissberg, Jay (February 19, 2020). "'Beasts Clawing at Straws': Film Review". Variety. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  15. Young, Neil (January 27, 2020). "'Beasts Clawing at Straws': Film Review / Rotterdam 2020". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  16. Ide, Wendy (February 3, 2020). "'Beasts Clawing At Straws': Rotterdam Review". Screen International. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  17. Rosser, Michael (January 31, 2020). "Rotterdam Film Festival 2020 winners revealed". Screen Daily. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  18. Choi, Ji-won (February 3, 2020). ""Beasts Clawing at Straws" wins jury award at Rotterdam". The Korea Herald. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  19. Choi, Ji-won (July 26, 2020). "'Beasts Clawing at Straws' grabs Special Mention at Far East Film Festival". The Korea Herald. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  20. "'House of Hummingbird' wins two prizes at 29th Buil Film Awards". The Korea Times. October 23, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  21. "영화 '윤희에게', 영화평론가협회상 감독상 등 3관왕". Seoul Daily (in Korean). 2020-10-26.
  22. "Aacta awards 2020: Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Ned Kelly gang vie for honours". the Guardian. 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  23. "조진웅X김희애, 제7회 한국영화제작가협회상 주연상...심사위원 극찬". Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  24. "[스페셜] '씨네21'이 선정한 올해의 영화인②". Cine 21 (in Korean). 31 December 2020.
  25. "[공식]제41회 청룡영화상 후보 발표…'남산의부장들' 10개 부문 최다 노미" (in Korean). November 11, 2020.
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