''Hanji'' (; lit. "Scooping Up the Moonlight") is a 2011 South Korean
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
written and directed by
Im Kwon-taek
Im Kwon-taek (born December 8, 1934) is one of South Korea's most renowned film directors. In an active and prolific career, his films have won many domestic and international film festival awards as well as considerable box-office success, and h ...
. It is Im's 101st film and was inspired by a true story.
Plot
Pil-yong is a middling civil servant who is gripped by guilt every time he sees his wife Hyo-kyung, who is half-paralyzed from a stroke induced by his affair with another woman. But he finds newfound purpose in life when he is assigned to revive
Jeonju
Jeonju () is the 16th largest city in South Korea and the capital of North Jeolla Province. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many residents who work in Jeonju) ...
's
hanji industry. Hanji is Korean traditional paper made from
mulberry tree
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
s; it is known in Asia for its beauty, flexibility and high quality, can reportedly last a thousand years, and is used for writing and creating
2D images similar to painting as well as
3D objects such as chamber pots and tea service. What begins as a desperate attempt to be promoted at work turns into a consuming passion as Pil-yong discovers the beauty of the craft, and he joins other devotees (such as documentary filmmaker Ji-won) to reenact traditional methods of hanji-making under the moonlight.
Cast
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Park Joong-hoon
Park Joong-hoon (born March 22, 1966) is a South Korean actor.
Early life and family
Park was born and raised in Seoul. He was classmates with retired basketball legend Hur Jae at Yongsan High School and attended Chung-Ang University toget ...
as Pil-yong
*
Kang Soo-yeon
Kang Soo-yeon (; August 18, 1966 – May 7, 2022) was a South Korean actress. An internationally acclaimed star from the mid-1980s to the end of the 1990s, she is often honorifically nicknamed as Korea's "first world star".
Kang began her ac ...
as Ji-won
*
Ye Ji-won
Ye Ji-won (born February 1, 1973) is a South Korean actress.
Career
She is best known for her leading role in the hit sitcom ''Old Miss Diary'', and her more serious turns in Hong Sang-soo
Hong Sang-soo (홍상수, born 25 October 1960) is ...
as Hyo-kyung
*Ahn Byung-kyung as Deok-soon
*
Jang Hang-sun
Jang Hang-sun (born Kim Bong-soo on February 22, 1947) is a South Korean actor.
Filmography
Film
Television series
Awards and nominations
References
External links
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1947 births
Living people
20th-century S ...
as Monk Doam
*Jung Woo-hyuk as Section chief
*Im Seung-dae as Subsection chief
*Hwang Choon-ha as Clerk
*Min Do-young as Assistant clerk
*
Jin Kyung
Jin Kyung (born March 27, 1972) is a South Korean actress.
Career
Jin made her stage debut in 1998 and spent ten years in theater, before becoming active in film and television. She won Best Supporting Actress at the 50th Baeksang Arts Award ...
as Female section chief
*Han Soo-yeon as Jung Da-young
*
Kwon Hyun-sang
Im Dong-jae (born July 2, 1981), better known professionally as Kwon Hyun-sang, is a South Korean actor.
Career
Kwon Hyun-Sang made his acting debut in the 2008 horror movie ''Death Bell'', which was followed by supporting roles in several film ...
as Yong-gi
*Min Kyung-jin as Oh Kyung-min
*Kim Gi-cheon as Kim Choon-byung
*Kwon Tae-won as Boss Kwon
*Bang Eun-mi as Hwang Kyung-ja
*Kim Byung-choon as Chun Jang-in
*Park Min-hee as Boss Min
*Kim Dong-ho as Kim Joong-kwon (
cameo)
*Kim Young-bin as Pil-yong's older brother (cameo)
References
External links
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{{Im Kwon-taek
2011 films
South Korean mystery drama films
Films directed by Im Kwon-taek
2010s South Korean films