''Life Is Cool'' ( ko, 그녀는 예뻤다; rr: ''Geunyeoneun Yeppeotda''; lit. "She Was Beautiful") is a 2008 South Korean

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

, and is the first

rotoscoped Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ov ...

film from that country.Lee Hyo-won.
Rotoscoped Film Shows Life in '4D'
. ''

The Korea Times ''The Korea Times'' is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language daily; both are owned by Dongwha Enterprise, a wood-based manufacturer ...

'', 5 June 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2008. This film's visual style was influenced from

Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies '' ...

's two films, ''

Waking Life ''Waking Life'' is a 2001 American experimental adult animated film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, the ...

'' (2001) and ''

A Scanner Darkly ''A Scanner Darkly'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, published in 1977. The semi-autobiographical story is set in a dystopian Orange County, California, in the then-future of June 1994, and includes an extensive ...

'' (2006).

Plot

Three tricenarian best friends — a heart-broken Romeo, a hopeless romantic, and a goofy playboy — meet for the first time in ten years. However, things get complicated when they all fall for the same woman.

Cast

Kim Su-ro Kim Soo-ro (born Kim Sang-joong on May 7, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Career Early career Kim Soo-ro studied Theater at the Seoul Institute of the Arts and Dongguk University, then joined the Mokwha Repertory Company. In 1993, he made hi ...

... Baek Il-kwon *

Kang Sung-jin Kang Sung-jin (born January 13, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Kang acted in the lead role in ''The Humanist'' (2001), ''APT'' (2006), ''Mission Possible: Kidnapping Granny K'' (2007) and '' Life Is Cool'' (2008). Personal His niece is actress ...

... Kim Tae-yeong * Kim Jin-soo ... Seong-hoon *

Park Ye-jin Park Ye-jin (born April 1, 1981) is a South Korean actress. Career Park Ye-jin made her acting debut in the 1999 horror film ''Memento Mori'', then appeared in leading and supporting roles in several TV series and films, notably '' What Happe ...

... Kang Yeon-woo *

Kim Roi-ha Kim Roi-ha (born November 15, 1965) is a South Korean actor. Notable roles include a detective in ''Memories of Murder'' (2003), and a gangster in ''A Bittersweet Life'' (2005). Kim won Best Actor at the 2001 Dong-A Theatre Awards for his portr ...

... Basketball manager * Lee Won ... Samsung scouter * David Joseph Anselmo ... Foreign professor * Goo Bon-im ... Barbershop woman * Kim Choon-gi ... University adulterer * Kim Ju-hyeon ... High school girl *

Yoon Joo-hee Yoon Joo-hee (born February 21, 1985) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for starring in the multi-season medical/ crime procedural cable TV series ''Quiz of God ''Quiz of God'' () is a South Korean television series broadcast on c ...

... Joo-hee * Jo Young-gyu ... Policeman * Park Jin-taek ... Naked man * Park Yoo-mil ... Pregnant woman * Lee Sang-hong ... Tango gangster

Production

''Life Is Cool'' was one of four films produced by

CJ Entertainment CJ Entertainment (Hangul: CJ 엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean film production and distribution company under CJ ENM. The company operates as a film production company, film publishing house, investment and exhibition. History During early 1 ...

to receive investment from Keyeast, a media contents company co-established by actor Bae Yong-joon.Top star invests in domestic films
. '' Hancinema'', 25 May 2006 (originally published by ''

The Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' is a leading English-language daily newspaper founded in 1953 and published in Seoul, South Korea. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from int ...

''). Retrieved 29 June 2008. Although actual shooting only lasted for one month, it then took almost two years and 140 artists to complete the

rotoscoping Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ov ...

, a technique in which animators traced over live action footage frame by frame. Visual effects were created by local production company DNA, who had previously worked on ''

The Animatrix is a 2003 adult animated science-fiction anthology film produced by the Wachowskis. The film details through nine animated short films the backstory of ''The Matrix'' film series, including the original war between humanity and machines which l ...

''. Director Choi Equan has said that he was inspired by the

's film ''

'', and that the film's plot was based on a real-life story of one of his friends.

Release

''Life Is Cool'' was released in South Korea on 12 June 2008. The film accumulated a total of 3,951 admissions at the domestic box office, and grossed

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

28,100.South Korea Yearly Box Office 2008, #201–300
. ''

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray began ...

''. Retrieved 28 May 2009.

References

External links

''Life Is Cool''
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 ...

* *
''Life Is Cool''
at AnimationInsider.net * {{DEFAULTSORT:Life Is Cool South Korean animated films 2000s romance films South Korean independent films Films set in Seoul Rotoscoped films 2000s Korean-language films 2000s South Korean films