''The Mayor'' (, lit. "Special Citizen") is a 2017 South Korean

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film written and directed by Park In-je. It stars

Choi Min-sik Choi Min-sik (born April 27, 1962) is a South Korean actor. He received critical acclaim for his roles in '' Oldboy'' (2003), ''I Saw the Devil'' (2010) and '' The Admiral: Roaring Currents'' (2014). For his role in ''Oldboy'', he won the Best ...

Kwak Do-won Kwak Do-won (born Kwak Byung-kyu on May 17, 1973) is a South Korean actor. Career Kwak is known for his roles in the films '' The Yellow Sea'' (2010), '' Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time'' (2012), ''The Attorney ''The Attorney'' () is a 20 ...

, Shim Eun-kyung,

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 ...

Ra Mi-ran Ra Mi-ran (born March 6, 1975) is a South Korean actress and television personality. Career Before making her film debut in '' Lady Vengeance'' (2005), Ra Mi-ran spent years acting in theatre. Afterwards, she appeared in more than 40 films but d ...

Ryu Hye-young Ryu Hye-young (born March 28, 1991) is a South Korean actress and model. She is best known for her role in the hit drama series ''Reply 1988'' (2015-2016) and ''Law School A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an in ...

, and

Ki Hong Lee Ki Hong Lee (born September 30, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Minho in the Maze Runner (film series), ''Maze Runner'' film series and Dong Nguyen in the Netflix sitcom ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt''. Early life an ...

. The film was released in South Korea on April 26, 2017 and in the US and Canada on April 28.

Premise

Byeon Jong-gu, the incumbent mayor of Seoul, seeks a third term which will set him up for a run at the presidency. As the election campaign gets underway, Byeon employs all ways and means to keep his darkest secrets hidden from his adoring public. Wiretapping, corruption, murder—everything is on the table and no one is safe.

Cast

Main

as Byeon Jong-gu, two-term incumbent Seoul mayor *

as Shim Hyeok-soo, Byeon's campaign manager * Shim Eun-kyung as Park Kyeong, advertisement specialist

Supporting

as Jung Jae-yi, political journalist *

as Yang Jin-joo, Byeon's election opponent *

as Im Min-seon, Yang's aide *

Jin Seon-kyu Jin Seon-kyu (born September 13, 1977) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles on the big screen, such as '' The Outlaws'' (2017) and ''Extreme Job'' (2019). He won Best Supporting Actor award at the 38th Blue Dragon Film Awards ...

as Chauffeur *

Seo Yi-sook Seo Yi-sook (; born 6 December 1966) is a South Korean theatre, television and movie actress. As supporting actress, Seo is known for her supporting role in drama ''Empress Ki'' (2013–2014), '' The Rebel'' (2017), '' Hotel del Luna'' (2019), ' ...

as Byeon Jong-gu's wife *

Park Byung-eun Park Byung-eun (born 14 July 1977) is a South Korean actor. Personal life Park majored in drama at Chung-Ang University. Park was set to debut with 90s South Korean boy group Taesaja in 1997, but gave up due to him feeling that he cannot sing ...

as Byeon Jong-gu's staff * Kim Hong-fa as Kim Nak-hyun *

Park Hyuk-kwon Park Hyuk-kwon (born July 11, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Park began his acting career in 1993 as a member of the theater troupe Sanulrim. He later became a well-regarded supporting actor in films such as '' Chaw'' (2009) and ''Secret Reunion ...

as Gye Bong-sik * Kim Su-an as Yoon-hak * Lee Soo-kyung as Byun A-reum *

Park Bo-kyung Park Bo-kyung is a South Korean actress. She is known for her roles in dramas such as ''Now, We Are Breaking Up'', '' Beyond Evil'', '' Link: Eat, Love, Kill'', and '' Little Women''. She also appeared in movies '' Hello, Schoolgirl'', '' Mr. XX ...

as Gil-soo's wife * Han Da-sol as Yang Camp Media Team member * Jo Han-chul as Yang Jin-Joo's campaign manager * Kim Hye-eun as Seoul debate moderator

Special appearance

as Steve, Yang Jin-joo's son *

Lee Geung-young Lee Geung-young (born December 12, 1960) is a South Korean actor. He graduated from the Department of Drama in Seoul. He debuted in 1977 and after completing his mandatory military service, he debuted in 1982 as the 10th public relations actor fo ...

as Jeong Chi-in *

Ma Dong-seok Ma Dong-seok (born Lee Dong-seok on March 1, 1971), also known as Don Lee, is a South Korean–American actor. With his breakout performance in '' Train to Busan'' and subsequent leading roles, he has become one of South Korea's most successful ...

as Priest

Production

Filming commenced on April 28, 2016 and wrapped four months later. Writer-director Park In-je began working on the script in 2014. Park said the film was not made to focus on the dark side of political elections, but as a means to shed light on human's "unremitting desire for power". The film also marks star Choi Min-sik's second time ever to portray a politician after 1995's MBC TV series ''The Fourth Republic'', in which he played late President

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democracy and human ...

. Unlike ''The Fourth Republic'', the character of Byeon in ''The Mayor'' was not modeled after a particular politician. Choi said: "I embodied the character by synthesizing all the images that I had about politicians… Up until hooting the film I had never been directly engaged in politics or met closely with politicians… After trying to think of the image of politicians, I concluded that speech is the most important skill for them. Politicians rise and fall from the words they used. So I decided to focus on having a good command of language when playing Byeon Jong-gu".

Release

'' The Mayor'' was released on 1,152 screens in South Korea on April 26, 2017. It topped the box office on its opening day, with 185,776 tickets sold. During its opening weekend, it earned $6.1 million from 904,000 admissions over five days ranking first at the box office. The film was released in the US and Canada on April 28, 2017 and was distributed by

Well Go USA A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
The Mayor
' at Naver Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayor 2017 films 2010s Korean-language films South Korean political drama films Films about elections 2010s political drama films Showbox films 2017 drama films 2010s South Korean films