''The President's Barber'' () is a 2004

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

n comedy drama film directed by Im Chan-sang. It follows a barber, his wife, and their only son through four decades of tumultuous Korean history. Much as in '' Forrest Gump'', we see important moments in South Korean history through the eyes of the titular barber, who is drafted to be the official barber of President Park Chung-hee. The role of the barber is played by

Song Kang-ho Song Kang-ho (born January 17, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Song made his film debut in '' The Day a Pig Fell into the Well'' (1996), and came to national prominence with a series of critically acclaimed performances, including ''No. 3'' (1997 ...

and

Moon So-ri Moon So-ri (born July 2, 1974) is a South Korean actress, film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her acclaimed leading roles in '' Oasis'' (2002) and '' A Good Lawyer's Wife'' (2003). Career After graduating with a degree in Ed ...

plays his wife.

Story

Seong Han-mo (

) is a barber and owns a shop in the president's neighborhood, the

Blue House Cheong Wa Dae ( ko, 청와대; Hanja: ; ), also known as the Blue House, is a public park that formerly served as the executive office and official residence of the president of South Korea from 1948 to 2022. It is located in the Jongno distr ...

. Politically not very well-versed he always joins his acquaintances' opinions and at first also isn't aware what consequences result from president Rhee's resignation in 1960 after several student demonstrations. Rhee leaves a power vacuum that is soon filled by a military regime led by General Park Chung-hee (Jo Yeong-jin) who puts himself at the top of the government in 1963. Han-mo, however, has different concerns as his wife Min-ja (

) brings a son into this world of politically turbulent times. Fortunately, Han-mo's barber shop is running well and he has no need to concern himself about how to feed his family anymore when KCIA-Chef Jang (

Son Byong-ho Son Byong-ho (born August 25, 1962) is a South Korean actor. Son is known for his role in action films, notably, ''R-Point'' (2004), '' Running Wild'' (2006), ''The Good, the Bad, the Weird ''The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' () is a 2008 South Ko ...

) enters his shop and orders him to the president. From that day on simple-minded Han-mo is the president's barber and at least for his neighbors one of the most important people in the country.

References

*http://asianmovieweb.com/en/reviews/the_presidents_barber.htm

External links

* * 2004 films 2000s Korean-language films Showbox films South Korean comedy-drama films Films about coups d'état 2000s South Korean films {{SouthKorea-film-stub