''Gabi'' () is a 2012

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n film starring

Kim So-yeon Kim So-yeon (born November 2, 1980) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for starring in a number of well-known television dramas, notably ''All About Eve'' (2000), '' Iris'' (2009), ''Prosecutor Princess'' (2010), '' Happy Home'' ( ...

Joo Jin-mo Joo Jin-mo (born Park Jin-tae on 26 September 1974), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the films '' Happy End'' (1999) in which he won Grand Bell Awards for Best Supporting Actor, ''200 Pounds Beauty'' (2006), ...

and

Park Hee-soon Park Hee-soon (; born February 13, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He graduated with a Theater degree from Seoul Institute of the Arts, and was a member of the Mokwha Repertory Company from 1990 to 2001. He became active in film beginning 2002, a ...

. It follows an ostensible assassination plot of King Gojong (1852-1919), using coffee brewed by royal barista Tanya. The plan is masterminded by Sadako, a

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

woman with adopted Japanese nationality, and aided by Ilyich, Tanya's lover. Inspired by

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

about Gojong and the king's well-known love of coffee, the movie's title ''Gabi'' is a turn-of-the-century Chinese-character

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

of "coffee." The film is based on author

Kim Tak-hwan Kim Takhwan (born October 27, 1968) is a South Korean novelist and literary critic. He left the security of a tenure (academic), tenured professorship to focus on his writing career. Work Almost all of Kim's novels take place in the mid to lat ...

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

novel ''Noseoa Gabi'' ("Russian Coffee").

Plot

After his wife

Empress Myeongseong Empress Myeongseong or Empress Myungsung (명성황후 민씨; 17 November 1851 – 8 October 1895In lunar calendar, the Empress was born on 25 September 1851 and died on 20 August 1895), informally known as Empress Min, was the official wife ...

is assassinated by the Japanese army and under threat of coup d'etat, Gojong the 26th king of Korea's

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

(

) briefly seeks refuge at the Russian consulate in 1896. While he is there, he tastes and falls in love with a bittersweet drink that had yet to gain popularity in his homeland:

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

. Upon returning to the throne, King Gojong hires the beautiful and cosmopolitan Tanya (

) as his personal

barista A barista (; ; from the Italian/Spanish for "bartender") is a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks. Etymology and inflection The word ''barista'' comes from Italian where it means a male ...

. Tanya becomes involved in a dangerous social circle that involves not only the Russian

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

Ilyich (

) but also the mysterious socialite known as both Bae Jeong-ja and Sadako (

Yoo Sun Wang Yoo-sun (born February 11, 1976), known professionally as Yoo Sun, is a South Korean actress. She is best known for the popular family drama ''My Too Perfect Sons'', as well as the films '' Black House'', ''Moss'', ''GLove'', and ''Don't Cr ...

). With the Russian army hot on their trail, Tanya and her lover Ilyich eventually become ensnared in a plot to assassinate King Gojong that is orchestrated by Sadako, a Korean-Japanese collaborator. Ilyich becomes a spy to protect Tanya, who has begun to fall for Gojong while she makes his coffee every day. With her intimate connection to the King, making a drink that could easily conceal poison, Tanya must decide if she will become a pawn in the political battlefield of late 19th century Korea.

Cast

as Tanya *

as Ilyich *

as King Gojong *

as Sadako *Jo Deok-hyeon as Seok-joo *Jo Kyeong-hun as underling *Kim Hyun-ah as court lady *Kim Ga-eun as Geum-hee *

Kim Eung-soo Kim Eung-soo (; born February 12, 1961) is a South Korean actor. Kim lived in Japan for seven years, where he studied filmmaking at the Japan Institute of the Moving Image The , formerly known as the Yokohama Broadcasting Technical School, is a ...

as Miura *Jo Seung-yeon as

Min Young-hwan Min Yeong-hwan (민영환, 閔泳煥; 7 August 1861 - 30 November 1905) was a politician, diplomat, and general of the Korean Empire and known as a conservative proponent for reform. He was born in Seoul into the powerful Yeoheung Min clan whi ...

*Jo Duk-je as spy *Kim Min-hyuk as Takeda *Hong Young-geun as Ryosuke *

Um Hyo-sup Um Hyo-sup (born October 24, 1966) is a South Korean actor. Um mostly plays supporting roles in films and television dramas Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed i ...

as Tanya's father

Historical basis

Born into a lowly background, Kim Hong-ryuk rose up in the ranks to be appointed as an interpreter for King Gojong in the latter's dealings with the Russian minister

Karl Ivanovich Weber Karl Ivanovich Weber (also Carl von Waeber; russian: Карл Иванович Вебер, – 8 January 1910) was a diplomat of the Russian Empire and a personal friend to King Gojong of Korea's Joseon Dynasty. He is best known for his 1885–1 ...

. Eventually his political ambition proved his undoing, and he was executed for allegedly trying to poison Gojong by spiking a cup of coffee with

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

Casting change

Lee Da-hae Lee Da-hae, or Lee Da-hey (born Byun Da-hye on April 19, 1984) is a Korean Australian actress. She is best known for her roles in Korean dramas such as ''Heaven's Fate'' (2004), '' My Girl'' (2005), ''Green Rose'' (2005), ''The Slave Hunters'' ...

was originally cast in the lead role of Tanya via verbal agreement, but when she dropped out of the project ten days before filming began, production company Ocean Film sued her for

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party ...

. In September 2012, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, ordering Lee to pay () in damages, or 40% liability.

Awards

*2012 Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards: Excellence Award, Actress in a Film -

*2014 Golden Cinema Festival: Gold Medal in Cinematography - Oh Hyun-je

References

External links

* *
''Gabi''
at

Naver Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to in ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabi (Film) 2012 films South Korean mystery films South Korean historical films South Korean spy films Films about politicians Films set in 1896 Films set in the Joseon dynasty Films set in Seoul Films based on South Korean novels Films based on thriller novels Films directed by Chang Yoon-hyun Cinema Service films 2010s Korean-language films 2010s South Korean films