''The Russian Novel'' () is a 2012 South Korean film written and directed by
Shin Yeon-shick
Shin Yeon-shick (born 1976) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He directed ''The Fair Love'' (2010), ''The Russian Novel'' (2013), and ''Rough Play'' (2013).
Career
Born in Seoul in 1976, Shin Yeon-shick dropped out of his Spanis ...
about an aspiring author who wakes up from a 27-year coma as one of his country's finest authors, credited for a book he didn't write.
It made its world premiere in 2012 at the
17th Busan International Film Festival
The 17th Busan International Film Festival was held from October 4 to October 13, 2012 at the Busan Cinema Center and was hosted by Ahn Sung-ki and Chinese actress Tang Wei, who is the first foreign celebrity to host the event.
In this year's fes ...
where Shin won Best Director from the Director's Guild of Korea.
Plot
Shin-hyo is a frustrated writer who dreams of becoming a great author, but being uneducated and lacking in skill, he finds it difficult to succeed. His inspiration comes from the writer, Kim Ki-jin, who he soon learns is the father of one of his friends, Sung-hwan. Shin-hyo manages to convince Sung-hwan and a talented young writer named Kyung-mi to help him arrange a meeting with Kim Ki-jin to show him his work. He falls into a depression when Kim calls his work "trash" which leads to him throwing his manuscripts into the river. They are rescued by the preacher's daughter, Jae-hye. Jae-hye, who is in love with Shin-hyo, re-types the novels as a form of encouragement. Because of a drug overdose, he ends up in a
coma
A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
. Twenty-seven years later, Shin-hyo wakes from a
vegetative state and learns that he has become a literary sensation and is now a well-respected author in South Korea. The book, ''The Russian Novel'', allowed him to achieve his status in the literary world, however, he realizes that it is not his work. Someone has taken his manuscripts, which have been revised, and delivered them to Sung-hwan who got them published. He tries to find out who the culprit is and who wrote the book, especially the famous last words of the story which he didn't write.
Cast
*
Kang Shin-hyo
Kang Shin-Hyo (born August 13, 1989) is a South Korean actor. Kang was studying acting in classes run by director Shin Yeon-Shik, when Shin cast him in the leading role of his independent film, '' The Russian Novel'' (2013).
Filmography
F ...
as Shin-hyo
* Kyung Sung-hwan as Sung-hwan
* Lee Jae-hye as Jae-hye
* Lee Kyung-mi as Kyung-mi
* Kim Jung-suk as Jung-suk
*
Lee Bit-na as Ga-rim
* Choi Jong-ryul as Father's younger brother
*
Park Min-jung as Ji-ae
*
Lee Yoo-mi as Yoo-mi
* Gil Chang-gyu as middle-aged Seong-gyu
* Yang Seong-gyu as young Seong-gyu
* Lee Hyeon-ho as Soo-young
* Park Sang-ah as Radio announcer
* Kim Sang-mi as young Ji-hyun
* Noh Soo-kyung as Soo-kyung
* Seo Jung-sik as Jung-sik
* Choi Myeong-hyo as Kim Ki-jin
* Jeong Hoon-hee as middle-aged Ji-hyun
Reception
Elizabeth Kerr of ''
The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote, "There's an interesting film about art and fame buried deep beneath an unwieldy one about an irritating writer." ''Koreanfilm.org'' called it "a near-miss" that "could have been a much more powerful cinematic experience." Pierce Conran of ''Modern Korean Cinema'' praised it as "one of the 2012's most unique and lush Korean films."
Awards and nominations
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Russian Novel, The
2012 films
Films directed by Shin Yeon-shick
South Korean drama films
2010s South Korean films