''Waikiki Brothers'' is a 2001

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 ...

n film, set in the 1980s, about a group of high school friends who form a band. It was the opening film of the 2001

Jeonju International Film Festival Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF, Korean: 전주국제영화제, Hanja: 全州國際映畵祭) is an Asian film festival. It was launched in 2000 as a non-competitive film festival with partial competition. It introduces independent a ...

Plot

Waikiki Brothers is a band going nowhere. After another depressing gig, the saxophonist quits, leaving the three remaining members - lead singer and guitarist Sung-woo (Lee Eol), keyboardist Jung-seok (

Park Won-sang Park Won-sang (born January 20, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television Theater Ambassadorship *Ambassador for 1st Democratization Movement Memorial Park Joint Memorial Cultural Festival (2022) References External ...

), and drummer Kang-soo (

Hwang Jung-min Hwang Jung-min (born September 1, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He is one of the highest-grossing actors in South Korea, and has starred in several box office hits such as ''Ode to My Father'' (2014), ''Veteran'' (2015), ''The Himalayas'' (2015 ...

), to continue on the road. The band ends up at Sung-woo's hometown, Suanbo, which was a popular hot spring resort in the '80s. The main resort now is the Waikiki Hotel, and their gig at the hotel nightclub starts well, until Jung-seok and Kang-soo start to play out their worst vices. For Sung-woo, the calm center of the band, the return home is filled with reservations of disappointments and a lost love. He reunites with his old high school friends, the original Waikiki Brothers, and finds them far from happy. He runs into In-hee (Oh Ji-hye), his unrequited first love. Now widowed, she seems desperate to try their relationship again. Sung-woo also runs into his old music teacher, Byung-joo, and tries to help him get work. But the band is fired from the nightclub and Sung-woo is forced to perform in karaoke bars. And, then, tragedy strikes when his high school classmate Soo-chul dies in an accident.

Cast

* Lee Eol - Sung-woo *

- Jung-seok *

- Kang-soo *

Oh Kwang-rok Oh Kwang-rok (born August 28, 1962) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Theater References External links Oh Kwang-rokat SidusHQ iHQ Inc., doing business as SidusHQ () is one of the leading talen ...

- Hyun-gu * Oh Ji-hye - In-hee *

Ryoo Seung-bum Ryoo Seung-bum (born August 9, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He made a name for himself in his older brother director Ryoo Seung-wan's eclectic films, notably ''Die Bad'' (his acting debut in 2000), ''Arahan'' (2004), ''Crying Fist'' (2005), ''T ...

- Gi-tae *

Park Hae-il Park Hae-il (born 26 January 1977) is a South Korean actor. He began his acting career in theater, but soon gained the film industry's attention in 2003 with ''Jealousy Is My Middle Name'' and ''Memories of Murder''. Park's film career took off, ...

- young Sung-woo * Kim Jong-eon - young Soo-chul * Jung Dae-yong - Min-soo * Moon Hye-won - young In-hee *

Joo Jin-mo Joo Jin-mo (born Park Jin-tae on 26 September 1974), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the films '' Happy End'' (1999) in which he won Grand Bell Awards for Best Supporting Actor, ''200 Pounds Beauty'' (2006), ...

- man selling items at rest area * Lee Dong-yong - Busan bum 1 *

Lee Tae-ri Lee Tae-ri () (born Lee Min-ho; June 28, 1993) is a South Korean actor. He is well-known for his role as young Yang Myung in ''Moon Embracing the Sun'' (2012), Song Man-bo in ''Rooftop Prince'' (2012), Jung Joo-hwan in '' The Beauty Inside'' (20 ...

- young In-ki - (credit as Lee Min-ho) * Lee Bong-kyu - manager * Han Ki-joong - Min-soo

Critical reception

''Cine21'' film critic Shim Young-seop said, "You can see how much (director) Im feels attached to the world. Though the characters are deceived by reality, they cannot hate the world; they still love it. Small-budgeted but artistic films such as ''Waikiki Brothers'', films that depict modern ordinary Koreans as they truly are, those are the best movies and the most authentically Korean."

Adaptation

In 2004, it inspired a musical titled ''Go! Waikiki Brothers'' starring

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n defector Kim Young-un, which also performed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 2006.

References

External links

* * * {{Paeksang Arts Award Best Film 2001 films 2000s musical drama films South Korean musical drama films South Korean rock music films Films directed by Yim Soon-rye Myung Films films CJ Entertainment films 2000s Korean-language films 2001 drama films 2000s South Korean films