Waikiki Brothers (와이키키 브라더스)
About the event
Park Hae-il’s big-screen debut is Yim Soon-rye’s second feature, which received critical praise upon its 2001 release, establishing Yim as one of Korea’s most significant directors. Seong-woo, lead singer and guitarist of Waikiki Brothers—a band formed with his friends back in high school—returns to his hometown with his bandmates in hopes of repairing their fragile relationship. But the band stagnates, and Seong-woo is torn between a dream that’s out of reach and his thin grasp on reality. Park, who portrays the teen version of Seong-woo, generates youthful energy, evoking the purity that Seong-woo and his bandmates once carried and now long for. Yim’s insightful and humane perception of the cruel split between dreams and reality in modern Korea permeates this portrayal of her sympathetic and intricate characters.
