Black Money (film)

Black Money (Korean: 블랙머니; RR: Beullaekmeoni) is a 2019 South Korean crime drama film directed by Jung Ji-young, starring Cho Jin-woong and Lee Hanee.[1][2] The film was loosely based on the sale of the Korean Exchange Bank to the American equity firm Lone Star Funds.[3]

Black Money
Theatrical release poster
Hangul
블랙머니
Revised RomanizationBeullaekmeoni
Directed byJung Ji-young
Screenplay byHan Hyun-geun
Produced byLee Jong-ho
Lee Tae-kwan
Starring
CinematographyKim Hyung-suk
Edited byKim Sang-Bum
Music byShin Min
Production
companies
Zealarabi-Pictures
Aura Pictures
Distributed byAcemaker Movieworks
Release date
  • November 13, 2019 (2019-11-13)
Running time
113 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box officeUS$16.2 million[1]

Synopsis

Yang Min-hyuk (Cho Jin-woong) works as a prosecutor for the Seoul District Prosecutor's Office. He deals with case involving Park Soo-kyung (Lee Eun-woo), an employee of Daehan Bank, who bumped into multiple cars on the freeway. Days later, Park Soo-kyung is found dead. Prior to her death, her last text message was sent to her younger sister. She claimed that she was sexually assaulted by Prosecutor Yang. Her death is then ruled a suicide, and Min-hyuk attempts to clear his name. With his investigation, he soon learns that Park Soo-kyung was murdered, and she was also a witness to the sale of Daehan Bank for an unusually low price. Min-hyuk also encounters Kim Na-ri (Lee Hanee). She works as an attorney for Daehan Bank. A massive financial corruption case stands in front of Min-hyuk.

Cast

Main

Supporting

Special appearance

Release

The film premiered in South Korean cinemas on November 13, 2019.[2] It was invited to open the 18th Florence Korea Film Fest in September 2020.[4]

Reception

Critical response

The film received mostly mixed reviews from critics. Praise was given to acting performances, while the plot felt a bit formulaic and shallow.

Yoon Min-sik from The Korea Herald wrote, "The film is justified in taking liberties and assuming all the allegations in the real-life case are true, given that it is, after all, a film. What I do have a problem with is how it tells the story. It uses a lot of cliches and a predictable plot to introduce very one-dimensional characters who are clearly meant to be just evil."[5]

William Schwartz from HanCinema wrote, "Both Cho Jin-woong and Lee Hanee manage to put in surprisingly convincing performances as they slowly come to realize there are much bigger ethical issues at play than the ones that caused them to get involved in the case. Unfortunately, the formulaic construction of the script becomes especially grating near the end, where epic musical cues punctuate a theatrical set piece wherein incriminating documents are disseminated to an angry mob."[3]

Box office

On its opening day, the film finished first place at the box office by attracting 111,661 moviegoers.[6] After five days of strong performance, the film surpassed 1 million admissions on November 17. During its opening weekend, the film topped box office with US$5.3 million gross from 627,000 attendance.[7] On November 28, 16 days after its release, the film surpassed 2 million admissions.[8]

As of June 20, 2022, the film attracted 2,480,257 moviegoers with US$16.2 million gross.[1]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2020 56th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Director Jung Ji-young Nominated [2]
25th Chunsa Film Art Awards Best Director Nominated
56th Grand Bell Awards Nominated
2021 40th Golden Cinema Film Festival Won
Best Actor Cho Jin-woong Won
Best Actress Lee Hanee Won

References
  1. "BLACK MONEY (2019)". Korean Film Council. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  2. "블랙머니" (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  3. William Schwartz (November 23, 2019). "[HanCinema's Film Review] "Black Money"". HanCinema. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  4. Pierce Conran (September 21, 2020). "18th Florence Korea Film Fest to Spotlight CHO Jin-woong". Korean Film Council. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  5. Yoon Min-sik (October 29, 2019). "[Herald Review] 'Black Money' tells a convincing tale in a questionable manner". The Korea Herald. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  6. Jo Hyun-joo (November 14, 2019). "'블랙머니', 개봉 첫날 박스오피스 1위로 출발...흥행 청신호" (in Korean). YTN. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  7. Lee Do-yeon (November 18, 2019). "[박스오피스] 100만 돌파 '블랙머니' 1위" (in Korean). Yonhap News. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  8. Choi Yoo-jin (November 29, 2019). "이하늬 "블랙머니 200만 돌파" 어머니와 관람 인증[SNS★컷]" (in Korean). Newsen. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
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