''Bandhobi'' () is a 2009 South Korean independent film directed by Shin Dong-il, about a frustrated and rebellious high school student who ends up becoming a friend of a
migrant worker
A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers who work outsi ...
from
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
who is desperate to receive his unpaid wages back. The title means "female friend" in
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
.
Lead actor Mahbub Alam is a longtime resident of South Korea who entered the country as a migrant worker. He has since appeared in small film roles and become involved in various activist projects, including the launch of the Migrant Worker Film Festival, for which he serves as festival director.
Plot
Karim ( Mahbub Alam) is a 27-year-old Bangladeshi working in an industrial laundry. An intellectual whose academic degree was not recognized in South Korea, Karim's work permit is about to expire and he's still owed a year's pay by a previous employer, Shin (Jung Dong-gyu), who's not taking his calls; meanwhile, his wife back home is giving him a hard time about money problems.
Seventeen-year-old high schooler Min-seo ( Baek Jin-hee) is a social loner at odds with her mother, Eun-joo (
Lee Il-hwa
Lee Il-hwa (born February 24, 1971) is a South Korean actress. She made her acting debut in 1991, and has since appeared in numerous television drama
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fict ...
), who has a jobless, live-in lover, Ki-hong (
Park Hyuk-kwon
Park Hyuk-kwon (born July 11, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Park began his acting career in 1993 as a member of the theater troupe Sanulrim. He later became a well-regarded supporting actor in films such as '' Chaw'' (2009) and ''Secret Reunion ...
), whom she's planning to marry. Minseo's friends all take after-school classes at study institutes, but her single mother can't afford to pay for them. She eventually gets an under the table job at a massage parlor in order to pay for English classes.
On the first day of summer vacation, Min-seo is riding the bus when Karim drops his wallet. He exits the bus, and Min-seo takes the wallet for herself. However, Karim soon realizes what happens and manages to chase Min-seo down in a side street. "Let's go to the police station," he says in excellent Korean, but Min-seo tries to dissuade Karim from reporting her to the police by offering to grant him a favor, and reluctantly agrees to help track down his former boss. As the unlikely pair pose as loan sharks, they find themselves transforming each other's worlds in unexpected ways. They slowly form a mutual understanding, with the girl asking indiscreet questions and the gentleman preaching about problems in South Korean society. For Min-seo, Karim is initially a convenient badge she can wear in a society she sees herself at war with. But as she lowers her defenses, the relationship touchingly turns into a friendship between two lonely souls. But Karim's visa will not last forever.
Lee Il-hwa
Lee Il-hwa (born February 24, 1971) is a South Korean actress. She made her acting debut in 1991, and has since appeared in numerous television drama
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fict ...
- Eun-joo
*
Park Hyuk-kwon
Park Hyuk-kwon (born July 11, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Park began his acting career in 1993 as a member of the theater troupe Sanulrim. He later became a well-regarded supporting actor in films such as '' Chaw'' (2009) and ''Secret Reunion ...
- Ki-hong
*Jung Dong-gyu - Representative Shin
*Kim Jae-rok - Homeroom teacher
*Kwon Hyuk-poong - Drunkard
*Hyun Won-hee - Ji-yeong
*Kim Mi-hee - Min-seo's friend
*Park Yeong - Gas station owner
*Choi In-sook - Representative Shin's wife
*Seo Wang-seok - Immigration control worker
*Jang Sebastian - Heinz
*Noh Jin-woo - Factory department manager
*Jung Sung-hoon - Factory worker
*Lee Dong-gyu - Convenience store worker/part-timer
*Yang Hae-hoon - Son at gas station
*Oh Chang-kyung - Detective Oh
*Jang Dae-yoon - Detective Jang
*Jo Eun-kyung - Massage section chief
*Shin Yi-soo - Massage guest
*Baek Geon-yeong - Businessman
*Bang Yeong-seon - Convenience store guest
*Kim Sun, Kim Dong-myeong - Jogging couple
*Kang Bo-mi - Academy student
*Sonia - Trisha
*Yoon Sung-ho - Passerby
* Jung Byung-gil - Passerby
Awards
*2010 23rd Castellinaria International Youth Film Festival: Utopia Prize
*2009 31st
Festival of the Three Continents
The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Tanabe Benkei Film Festival: Jury's Special Award, Cinematic Jury's Award
*2009 11th
Seoul International Youth Film Festival
The Seoul International Youth Film Festival (SIYFF) is the biggest youth film festival in Korea and has provided a venue for youths to share their culture via films and media education since 1999. It aims to promote broader international exchang ...
: Audience Award - Discovery of Korea Coming-of-Age Film
*2009
10th
10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The re ...
Jeonju International Film Festival
Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF, Korean: 전주국제영화제, Hanja: 全州國際映畵祭) is an Asian film festival. It was launched in 2000 as a non-competitive film festival with partial competition. It introduces independent a ...
: Audience Critics' Award,
CJ CGV
CJ CGV ( Hangeul: CJ CGV (씨제이 씨지브이)㈜) is the largest multiplex cinema chain in South Korea and also has branches in China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Turkey, Vietnam, and the United States. The fifth largest multiplex theater company in ...