The Fiery Priest
The Fiery Priest (Korean: 열혈사제; RR: Yeolhyeolsaje; lit. Hot Blooded Priest) is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Kim Nam-gil, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Hanee, Go Joon and Keum Sae-rok. It was the first drama to air on SBS's Fridays and Saturdays, airing from February 15 to April 20, 2019.[2][3]
| The Fiery Priest | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Hangul | 열혈사제 |
| Genre | |
| Written by | Park Jae-bum |
| Directed by | Myoungwoo Lee |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 20(1 hour )/40(30 minutes) [lower-alpha 1] |
| Production | |
| Producers |
|
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 35 minutes[lower-alpha 1] |
| Production company | Samhwa Networks |
| Distributor | SBS |
| Release | |
| Original network | SBS TV |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital |
| Original release | February 15 – April 20, 2019 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Fiery Priest is the highest rated miniseries drama that aired in 2019 on public broadcast according to Nielsen korea.[4] The drama was a huge success and was one of the most popular dramas aired in 2019. Kim Nam-gil won numerous accolades for his portrayal of a priest with anger management issues. The action comedy drama also featured parodies from other movies and dramas, notably from Mr. Sunshine, Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time, The Matrix, Reply 1988,Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, The Scream painting etc.
Synopsis
Following the mysterious death of an elderly priest, an EX NIS agent turned priest (Kim Nam-gil) attempts to bring the culprits involved before law.The hilarious journey in taking down the gangsters and corrupt officials in the city is what follows .The journey is not so smooth when the corrupt prosecuter of the city (Lee Ha-nee) refuses to cooperate.
Cast
Main
- Kim Nam-gil as Kim Hae-il / Michael Kim
- Moon Woo-jin as young Hae-il
An ex-NIS agent who retired after an accident that happened during his last mission. He met Priest Lee and eventually decided to take the path as a priest and hoped for his sins to be forgiven. In contrary of a priest, he is a short-tempered person who would throw a fit each minute.
- Kim Sung-kyun as Goo Dae-young
A clumsy detective who was a pushover and always manipulated by his superintendent and seniors. Once a dedicated police, his life changed after the death of his former partner.
- Lee Hanee as Park Kyung-sun
A corrupt prosecutor who covered up the crimes of Gudam's administrators including the police chief and head borough. She likes Hae-il for his good-looking face but constantly bickers with him.
- Go Jun as Hwang Cheol-bum
A corrupt businessman who is the step-brother of Gudam's Head of Borough. He runs Daebum Trading and trade illegal things within. Once ranked as number two gangster in Yeosu, he often uses violence to achieve his goal.
- Keum Sae-rok as Seo Seung-ah
A rookie detective at Gudam Police Station who is dedicated in helping Hae-il to reveal the truth behind Priest Lee's death.
Local cartel
- Jeong Young-ju as Jung Dong-ja
Gudam's Head of Borough and Hwang Cheol-bum step-sister.
- Kim Hyung-mook as Kang Seok-tae
Chief prosecutor of Gudam and boss of Park Kyung-sun.
- Jung In-gi as Nam Suk-goo
Gudam Police Station's corrupt superitendant and leader of Rising Sun, a nightclub with connections to the cartel.
- Han Gi-jung as Park Won-moo
A corrupt Congressman of Gudam.
- Lee Moon-sik as Ki Yong-moon
A con-artist and the leader of a religious cult Maegak.
- Kim Won-hae as Vladimir Gojayev
Leader of the Russian gang
People at the Cathedral and believers
- Jung Dong-hwan as Priest Lee Young-joon
He is looked up as a father figure by Kim Hae-il and is a wise, soft-spoken man. He was murdered but was touted as a suicide.
- Jeon Sung-woo as Han Sung-kyu
A gentle young priest at Gudam's Church. He trained to replace Priest Lee's position after his death. His real name is Han Woo-ram, a famous child actor who starred in an old, popular drama prior to becoming a priest.
- Baek Ji-won as Kim In-kyung
Head nun at Gudam's church who constantly worry about Hae-il boldness in finding the truth. She is revealed to be a former well-known gambler nicknamed Ten-Tailed Fox who blamed herself for her brother's death.
- Ahn Chang-hwan as Song Sac
A young man from Thailand who came to Gudam and work as a delivery boy to support his family. He was often bullied by Jang-ryeong for being a foreigner and best-friend with Oh Yo-han.
- Go Kyu-pil as Oh Yo-han
A cheerful yet chubby part-timer who majored in astronomic but struggle to make a living. He did many part-time work and is best friend with Song Sac.
- Yoon Joo-hee as Bae Hee-jung
A psychiatrist.
People at the Police Station
- Shin Dam-soo as Lee Myung-soo
- Jeon Jeong-gwan as Heo Lig-gu
- Ji Chan as Na Dae-gil
- Kim Kwan-mo as Kim Kyung-ryul
Others
- Kim Min-jae as Lee Jung-gwon
Former NIS agent and Hae-il's team leader
- Lee Je-yeon as Kim Hoon-suk
- Eum Moon-suk as Jang-ryong
- Kim Joon-ha as altar boy
- Lim Seung-min as altar boy
- Ok Ye-rin as Lim Ji-eun
- Young Ye-na as Hyun-joo
- Jo Ah-in as Eun-ji
- Choi Kwang-je as Anton
- Jung Jae-kwang as Kim Keon-yong
- Jeon Eun-mi as Wangmat Foods staff
- Heo Jae-ho as Gi Hong-chan
The CEO of Great Taste Foods and Yong-moon's cousin.
- Kang Un as Wangmat Foods manager
- Lee Gyu-ho as Choco
A large chef who works at Great Taste Foods and acts as the muscle. Despite his towering size, he is easily knocked out by Hae-il but reemerges as backup later on.
- Cha Chung-haw as Ahn Dul-ja
- Yoo Kyung-ah as nursery nun
- Song Young-hak as former detective
Special appearances
- Lee Young-bum as Father Kang "Matthew" (Ep. 1–2)
- Lee Ki-young as Oh Jung-kook (Ep. 6, 33–34)
- Hwang Bum-shik as Kyung-sun’s father (Ep. 16)
- Jung Shi-ah as Maegakkyo believer (Ep. 19)
- Kim Jong-goo as Kim Jong-chul
- Yoo Seung-mok as Oh Kwang-du (Ep. 30–31)
- Jang Ye-won as news announcer
- Kwon Hyeok-soo as President of the Republic of Korea[5]
- Kim Hong-fa as Lee Seok-yoon (Ep. 40)
- Byun Joo-eun as Kim Geom-sa
- Park Eun-kyung as announcer
- Kim Won-gi as prosecutor
- Bang Jun-ho as planning manager
Production
The first script reading took place on October 26, 2018 at the SBS Ilsan Production Center in Tanhyun, South Korea.[6]
The Fiery Priest was first scheduled to air as a Monday-Tuesday drama following My Strange Hero, but due to SBS deciding to cancel the weekend special drama time slot (Saturday nights at 21:05 KST) after Fates & Furies, it became the network's first Friday-Saturday night drama. Haechi was then chosen to follow My Strange Hero.[7]
This series marks Myoungwoo Lee's last project for SBS, after 12 years of partnership. In October 2019, he moved to Taewon Entertainment.[8]
Original soundtrack
| The Fiery Priest OST | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Recorded | 2019 |
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Language | |
| Label |
|
Part 1
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Our Neighbourhood HERO" (우리동네 HERO) |
|
| Norazo | 3:11 |
| 2. | "Our Neighbourhood HERO" (Inst.) |
| 3:11 | ||
| Total length: | 6:22 | ||||
Part 2
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Breeze" | HaNa | ZigZag Note | Punch (feat. Gree) | 3:53 |
| 2. | "Breeze" (Inst.) | ZigZag Note | 3:53 | ||
| Total length: | 7:46 | ||||
Part 3
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fighter" |
| Gaemi | Jung Dong-ha (feat. La.Q) | 2:56 |
| 2. | "Fighter" (Inst.) | Gaemi | 2:56 | ||
| Total length: | 5:52 | ||||
Part 4
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Paradise" |
|
| Chin Chilla (feat. Ga Eun) | 2:52 |
| 2. | "Paradise" (Inst.) |
| 2:52 | ||
| Total length: | 5:44 | ||||
Part 5
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Joy" | Andy Platts | Andy Platts | Andy Platts | 3:54 |
| 2. | "Joy" (Inst.) | Andy Platts | 3:54 | ||
| Total length: | 7:48 | ||||
Part 6
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Victory" | Ra.L |
| Kim Yeon-ji | 2:54 |
| 2. | "Victory" (Inst.) |
| 2:54 | ||
| Total length: | 5:48 | ||||
Viewership
| Episodes | Episode number | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| Ep.1–10 | 1.852 | 2.354 | 1.649 | 2.170 | 2.296 | 2.776 | 2.397 | 2.921 | 2.522 | 3.194 | |
| Ep.11–20 | 2.557 | 3.193 | 2.571 | 2.990 | 2.508 | 3.304 | 2.687 | 3.260 | 2.707 | 3.610 | |
| Ep.21–30 | 2.688 | 3.127 | 2.805 | 3.467 | 2.838 | 3.414 | 2.984 | 3.512 | 2.797 | 3.639 | |
| Ep.31–40 | 3.344 | 3.766 | 3.017 | 3.863 | 3.578 | 4.076 | 3.146 | 4.001 | 3.693 | 4.325 | |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Title | Average audience share | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGB Nielsen[10] | TNmS | ||||
| Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | |||
| 1 | February 15, 2019 | A Priest in Trouble | 10.4% (9th) | 11.6% (7th) | 9.3% |
| 2 | Hae Il Moves to Gudam | 13.8% (4th) | 15.6% (3rd) | 11.9% | |
| 3 | February 16, 2019 | Hae Il Meets Cheol Bum | 8.6% (14th) | 9.5% (12th) | 7.4% |
| 4 | Father Lee's Death | 11.2% (9th) | 12.6% (9th) | 9.1% | |
| 5 | February 22, 2019 | Hae Il Investigates the Death of Father Lee | 12.8% (5th) | 14.7% (3rd) | 11.0% |
| 6 | The Case Gets Closed | 16.2% (2nd) | 18.5% (1st) | 13.3% | |
| 7 | February 23, 2019 | The Church Gets Desolate | 13.0% (4th) | 14.8% (4th) | 11.1% |
| 8 | A Cooperative Investigation | 15.7% (3rd) | 18.0% (3rd) | 13.4% | |
| 9 | March 1, 2019 | Cooperative Investigation Begins | 14.0% (4th) | 15.9% (3rd) | 11.9% |
| 10 | Hae Il Investigates On His Own | 17.2% (2nd) | 19.5% (1st) | 14.3% | |
| 11 | March 2, 2019 | Hae Il And Seung Ah Find The Witnesses | 13.1% (4th) | 15.0% (4th) | 10.4% |
| 12 | Dae Young's Old Partner | 16.0% (3rd) | 18.2% (3rd) | 12.8% | |
| 13 | March 8, 2019 | Kyeong Seon Meets Dong Ja | 15.3% (4th) | 17.1% (3rd) | 11.9% |
| 14 | The Corrupt Food Service Company | 17.7% (2nd) | 19.7% (1st) | 14.2% | |
| 15 | March 9, 2019 | To Tame A Fighting Dog | 12.5% (5th) | 14.6% (4th) | 10.8% |
| 16 | Raid Wangmat Foods | 16.1% (3rd) | 18.3% (3rd) | 13.7% | |
| 17 | March 15, 2019 | Hae Il Reports The Bribery Case | 15.4% (4th) | 17.4% (3rd) | 11.5% |
| 18 | Kyeong Seon Is Back | 17.5% (2nd) | 19.5% (2nd) | 13.7% | |
| 19 | March 16, 2019 | A New Lead Comes Up | 14.2% (4th) | 15.7% (4th) | 12.0% |
| 20 | A Covert Infiltration | 18.1% (3rd) | 20.3% (3rd) | 14.3% | |
| 21 | March 22, 2019 | Escape from the Villa | 14.6% (3rd) | 16.5% (3rd) | 12.3% |
| 22 | Save Him | 17.2% (2nd) | 19.0% (1st) | 14.9% | |
| 23 | March 23, 2019 | Hae Il's Past Is Revealed | 14.8% (4th) | 16.7% (4th) | 12.6% |
| 24 | Hae Il Saves Kyeong Seon | 17.9% (3rd) | 19.6% (3rd) | 15.5% | |
| 25 | March 29, 2019 | Break-In to Kyeong Seon's House | 15.3% (3rd) | 17.4% (3rd) | 11.9% |
| 26 | Kyeong Seon Cooperating with Hae Il | 18.5% (2nd) | 20.9% (1st) | 14.6% | |
| 27 | March 30, 2019 | Hae Il and Kyeong Seon Devising a Scheme | 15.6% (4th) | 17.4% (4th) | 14.0% |
| 28 | Kyeong Seon and Seung Ah Entering the Lair of Anton | 18.2% (3rd) | 19.8% (3rd) | 16.1% | |
| 29 | April 5, 2019 | Scheme to Find out the Owner of Rising Moon | 15.5% (3rd) | 17.7% (3rd) | 13.0% |
| 30 | The Secret of Sister Kim | 19.8% (2nd) | 22.2% (1st) | 16.9% | |
| 31 | April 6, 2019 | Let Me Teach You A Lesson | 17.7% (4th) | 19.9% (4th) | 15.7% |
| 32 | Father Kim, Go to Argentina | 19.4% (3rd) | 21.6% (2nd) | 17.3% | |
| 33 | April 12, 2019 | Scheme to Sneak in the Safe | 16.2% (3rd) | 18.6% (3rd) | N/A |
| 34 | The Safe and People Locked in There | 20.3% (1st) | 22.8% (1st) | ||
| 35 | April 13, 2019 | Cheol Bum Suggests To Hae Il For A Cooperation | 17.2% (4th) | 18.9% (4th) | |
| 36 | Father Han Trying To Persuade Dong Ja | 20.0% (3rd) | 22.1% (2nd) | ||
| 37 | April 19, 2019 | Father Han Falling into a Critical Condition | 16.7% (3rd) | 18.4% (2nd) | 14.6% |
| 38 | The Truth of Father Lee's Death | 20.3% (1st) | 22.2% (1st) | 18.1% | |
| 39 | April 20, 2019 | Showdown | 18.6% (4th) | 21.1% (4th) | 15.9% |
| 40 | Unexpected Visit | 22.0% (3rd) | 24.7% (1st) | 18.5% | |
| Average | 16.1% | 18.1% | —[lower-alpha 2] | ||
| |||||
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 55th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor | Kim Nam-gil | Nominated | [11] |
| Busan International Film Festival | Best Actor | Won | |||
| Korean Broadcasters Association Awards | Won | ||||
| 14th Seoul International Drama Awards | Excellent Korean Drama | The Fiery Priest | Won | [12] | |
| Best Actor | Kim Nam-gil | Won | |||
| 12th Korea Drama Awards | Best Drama | The Fiery Priest | Nominated | [13] | |
| Best Screenplay | Park Jae-bum | Nominated | |||
| Star of the Year Award | Go Jun | Won | |||
| Popular Character Award (Male) | Ahn Chang-hwan | Won | |||
| 32nd Grimae Awards | Best Actor | Kim Nam-gil | Won | [14] | |
| Best Picture (Drama) | Yoon Dae-young, Park Jong-ki | Won | |||
| SBS Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Kim Nam-gil | Won | [15] | |
| Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama | Nominated | ||||
| Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama | Lee Hanee | Won | |||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama | Kim Sung-kyun | Won | |||
| Best Supporting Team | The Fiery Priest | Won | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Go Jun | Won | |||
| Wayve Award | The Fiery Priest | Won | |||
| Producer's Award | Kim Nam-gil | Nominated | |||
| Best New Actor | Eum Mon-suk | Won | |||
| Best New Actress | Keum Sae-rok | Won |
Notes
- In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between the two.[1]
- Due to some ratings not recorded, the exact average rating is unknown.
References
- Park, Jin-hai (May 16, 2017). "Drama viewers angry over commercial breaks". The Korea Times. PressReader. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ‘열혈사제’ 김남길, 까칠함+깡으로 무장 ‘핫’한 카톨릭 사제. OSEN (in Korean). January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- "[단독] SBS '열혈사제', 금토 10시 편성 확정...'정법' 이동". Sports Donga (in Korean). Naver. January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- 최재경. "'열혈사제' 2019년 미니시리즈 단연 1위...기승전열혈사제". 서울경제 (in Korean). Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- "SBS '열혈사제'에 등장한 문재인 대통령 꼭 닮은 배우의 정체 (영상)". Fomos (in Korean). February 24, 2019.
- "[DAY컷] 김남길X김성균X이하늬 코믹 케미...'열혈사제' 대본리딩 공개". Sports Donga (in Korean). January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- "SBS 측 "'열혈사제' 첫 금토극 편성, '운명과 분노' 후속"(공식입장)". Newsen (in Korean). Naver. December 14, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- "[공식]'열혈사제' 이명우 PD, SBS퇴사→'편의점 샛별이' 연출". Sports Chosun (in Korean). Naver. October 15, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
- "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- "Nielsen Korea". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ""오늘을 살아가세요" 김혜자, 후배들 울린 눈부신 수상소감". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 2 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- "Seoul International Drama Awards 2019 Winners". seouldrama.org. August 29, 2019. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "'2019코리아드라마어워즈(KDA)' 연기대상 후보..김해숙·최수종·염정아·조정석 등". Sedaily (in Korean). September 27, 2019.
- Kim, Eun-gu (3 December 2019). 김남길·정유미 '2019 그리메상' 최우수 연기자 선정 [Namgil Kim and Yumi Jeong selected as the best performers of the '2019 Grime Awards']. E Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2019 – via Naver.
- Kim, Soo-hyung (January 1, 2020). "'열혈사제' 김남길, 대상으로 '8관왕' 기염‥'VIP' 장나라, 프로듀서상 (종합) [2019 SBS 연기대상]". Osen (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020 – via Naver.
External links
- Official website (in Korean)
- The Fiery Priest on IMDb
- The Fiery Priest at HanCinema