''Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater'' ( ko, 삼거리 극장; lit. ''Three-way Intersection Theater''; aka ''The Ghost Theater'') is a 2006

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 ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

written and directed by

Jeon Kye-soo Jeon may refer to: * Jeon (Korean surname) * Jeon (food), a Korean pancake * Jeon or chŏn, a subunit of various currencies of the Korean peninsula, including: ** North Korean won ** South Korean won (1945–1953) ** The former Korean won ** The for ...

Plot

The plot follows a young girl, Seong So-dan as she searches for her grandmother, who disappears at the beginning of the film after announcing that she wanted to go and see "her film". So-dan goes to the movie theatre to look for her and stops the suicidal manager from hanging himself, he gives her a job working in the box office so she can wait and see if her grandmother will show up. One night, while she is working late at the theater, four ghosts appear to her; Wanda, a bulimic ex-

kisaeng Kisaeng (Hangul: 기생, Hanja: 妓生, RR: ''Gisaeng''), also called ginyeo (Hangul: 기녀, Hanja: 妓女), were women from outcast or slave families who were trained to be courtesans, providing artistic entertainment and conversation to men ...

who obsessively counts her own hair; Elisa, a

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 ...

princess; Ijawa Hiroshi, a Japanese soldier stationed in Korea and Mosquito. Each of the ghosts is identical to a member of the theater staff working during the day. So-dan overcomes her fear of the ghosts and joins them as they perform in the theatre at night. She eventually discovers that they were part of an acting troupe, which also included her grandmother and the manager. The four of them were killed at the premier of their debut film "Minosoo: The Bull-headed Man" and have decided to haunt the theatre until the film is shown again.

Cast

Kim Kkot-bi Kim Kkobbi ( ko, 김꽃비; born November 24, 1985) is a South Korean actress. The syllables of her given name literally mean "flower" () and "rain" (). Career Kim Kkobbi was working as an extra on the 2001 film '' My Boss, My Hero'' when a sta ...

as Seong So-dan * Chun Ho-jin as Woo Ki-nam * Park Joon-myeon as Elisa *

Jo Hee-bong Jo Hee-bong (born August 23, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Hee-bong began his acting career in 1997 as part of the theatre troupe Bipa (비파). He later became known as a supporting actor onscreen, in films such as '' Blind'' (2011) and ''Inc ...

as Hiroshi * Park Yeong-soo as Mosquito * Han Ae-ri as Wanda

Reception

Although the film performed only moderately at the box office and had only a limited DVD release, it is gaining reputation as a cult film and has been compared to the work of

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...

and to ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien, who is also ...

'' thanks to its surreal edge.
''Review of "Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater"''. Retrieved on July 13, 2010.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Midnight Ballad For Ghost Theater 2006 horror films 2006 fantasy films 2000s comedy horror films South Korean independent films South Korean musical films Musical fantasy films 2000s musical comedy films South Korean fantasy comedy films Dark fantasy films South Korean ghost films Films about theatre Films directed by Jeon Kye-soo 2000s Korean-language films 2006 films 2006 comedy films 2000s South Korean films