Castaway on the Moon

2009 South Korean film

Castaway on the Moon

Directed by| Lee Hae-jun
Written by| Lee Hae-jun
Produced by| Kim Moo-ryoung
Kang Woo-suk
Starring| Jung Jae-young
Jung Ryeo-won
Cinematography| Kim Byeong-seo
Edited by| Nam Na-yeong
Music by| Kim Hong-jib

Production
companies

banzakbanzak Film Production
Cinema Service

Distributed by| CJ Entertainment

Release date

* May 14, 2009 (2009-5-14)

Running time

| 116 minutes
Country| South Korea
Language| Korean
Budget| US$5 million
Box office| US$3,725,352[1]

Castaway on the Moon (Korean: 김씨 표류기; RR: Gimssi Pyoryugi; lit. Kim's drifting experience:[a] 표류: drifting; hanja: 金氏漂流記) is a 2009 South Korean romantic comedy film written and directed by Lee Hae-jun.[2] It is a love story between a suicidal man turned castaway on Bamseom in the Han River and a Hikikomori woman who is addicted to Cyworld.[3][4][5]

## Title selection

[edit]

Actor Jung Jae-young suggested the director, Lee Hae-Jun, to change the name of the film to "the drifting experience of the Jungs" (정씨표류기) to reference the fact that the actor and actress playing the lead roles are part of the Jung family, but the director insisted on keeping the name since he deliberately chose the family name Kim to suggest the universal nature of the characters.[6][b]

## Plot development

[edit]

The two Kims in the film communicate with English since the director wanted to reflect that they are different from the mainstream society that they are part of which use Korean and the isolates would have their own symbols rather than language.[7]

## Casting and filming

[edit]

Actress Jung Ryeo-won said the favorite parts of the scenario were her character's scar on her forehead since she thought she would never do such makeup ever again on her career and the theme of hope. She also addressed the challenges while playing her character in the film because she felt lonely while filming most of her scenes alone.[8] Actor Jung Jae-young had to lose 7 kg for three months and did not trim his fingernails and toe nails and cut his hair to portray the look of a person who drifted to an uninhabited island.[9] They could only film the beach scenes in Bamseom since it was a nature reserve, so the forest scenes were filmed in Chungju and Changwon.[10] The film was the first to film in Bamseom and the filming was specially authorized by the Seoul authorities.[11]

## Props

[edit]

The character Kim Seong-geun was originally going to wear a triangle underwear but was changed to square underwear because Jung Jae-young resisted to wear it.[9]

## Marketing

[edit]

Jung Jae-young had a jajangmyeon party with movie audiences on May 27, 2009 at the 63 Building.[12]

## Plot

[edit]

Kim Seong-geun (Jung Jae-young) is deep in debt and his life seems completely hopeless. He jumps off a bridge into the Han River and washes up on the shore of Bamseom, which lies directly below the bridge. After searching the island he finds it is filled mostly with vegetation and surrounded by the city, but too far to shout and he can't swim. He finds a duck-shaped paddle boat and begins to like living on the island—free of his debt and worries of city life—though it is not easy.

As he learns to survive on the island, his cry for help scrawled in the sand is seen by Kim Jung-yeon (Jung Ryeo-won), a hikikomori who spots him while engaging in her nightly habit of photographing the moon. They soon begin exchanging messages, with Jung-yeon venturing out of her house at night to throw bottled messages onto the island, and Seong-geun writing his replies in the sand. Seong-geun also manages to cultivate crops to prepare noodles for an instant noodles packet of jajangmyeon.

A torrential storm arrives, destroying Seong-geun's farm and sweeping away the possessions he has collected. He is found by a group of workers sent to clean up litter on the island and forced off. Seong-geun boards a bus in the city to jump off the 63 Building. After overcoming her anxiety and desperately running across the bridge to find Seong-geun, Jung-yeon manages to catch up to his bus after the civil defense drill stalls it. She boards and introduces herself to him.

## Cast

[edit]

* Jung Jae-young as Kim Seong-geun
* Jung Ryeo-won as Kim Jung-yeon
* Park Young-seo as delivery man
* Yang Mi-kyung as Jung-yeon's mother
* Koo Kyo-hwan as utilities man #1
* Lee Sang-il as utilities man #2
* Min Kyeong-jin as apartment security guard
* Jang Nam-yeol as bus driver
* Lee Sang-hun as Seong-geun's father
* Jang So-yeon as Seong-geun's girlfriend

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Year  | Award  | Category  | Recipient  | Result

|
|
|
|

2009  | 29th Hawaii International Film Festival[13] | NETPAC Award | Castaway on the Moon | Won
46th Grand Bell Awards | Best Screenplay  | Lee Hae-jun | Nominated
Best Planning  | Kim Moo-ryoung  | Nominated
32nd Golden Cinematography Awards  | Best Actor  | Jung Jae-young | Won
30th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Screenplay  | Lee Hae-jun | Nominated
2010  | 46th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor  | Jung Jae-young | Nominated
Best Screenplay  | Lee Hae-jun | Nominated
12th Udine Far East Film Festival[14] | Black Dragon Audience Award  | Castaway on the Moon | Won
9th New York Asian Film Festival[15] | Audience Award  | Won
14th Fantasia International Film Festival[16] | Special Jury Prize  | Won
Audience Award - Best Asian Film, Bronze  | Won

## Remake

[edit]

In 2011, CJ Entertainment announced an American remake, with Mark Waters attached as director and Michael Goldbach as screenwriter.[17]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The korean title is actually gender neutral. So it can also suggest the other kim in the film who is drifting away from society living a hikikomori life.
2. ^ The decision is influenced by the fact that the Kim family is the most common family name in korea.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Kimci Pyoryugi (Castaway on the Moon) (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
2. ^ Yi, Chang-ho (11 September 2008). "LEE Hae-jun films JUNG Jae-young's adventures". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
3. ^ Yi, Chang-ho (30 May 2008). "LEE Hae-jun casts JUNG Jae-young". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
4. ^ "K-FILM REVIEWS: 김씨 표류기 (Castaway on the Moon)". Twitch Film. 21 August 2009. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
5. ^ Yang, Sung-jin (9 April 2009). "A castaway on the Han River". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
6. ^ "김씨 정재영, " 정씨표류기하자고 우긴 적 있다"". No Cut News.
7. ^ 김씨 표류기' 주인공, 왜 영어로만 대화할까?1mm를 찾아라 -언어 아닌 기호로 소통하는 느낌 주력. sportshankook. 2009-05-04.
8. ^ '김씨표류기' 정려원 "홀로 연기, 외로웠다". asiae. 2009-04-28.
9. ^ a b 석 달간 7kg 빼며 '김씨표류기' 찍은 정재영. JoongAng Ilbo. 2009-05-19.
10. ^ ""'김씨 표류기' 자장라면은 PPL 아닙니다"". sbs news. 2009-05-10.
11. ^ '김씨표류기'韓영화사상 최초 밤섬 촬영 성공기 공개(동영상). natestar. 2009-04-26.
12. ^ 정재영, '김씨표류기' 관객과 자장면 파티. inews24. 2009-05-20.
13. ^ Noh, Jean (22 October 2009). "Empire Of Silver, Petition take top awards at Hawaii fest". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
14. ^ "Castaway wins Udine vote". Film Business Asia. 3 May 2010. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
15. ^ Frater, Patrick (11 July 2010). "Gallants and Castaway take popular vote at NYAFF". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
16. ^ Vlessing, Etan (2 August 2010). "Fantasia fest fetes Japan's Sawako Decides". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
17. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (18 February 2011). "CJ Entertainment Remakes Castaway On The Moon For Mark Waters To Direct". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2014-10-12.

## External links

[edit]

* South Korea portal
* Film portal

* Castaway on the Moon at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
* Castaway on the Moon at IMDb
* Castaway on the Moon at HanCinema

* v
* t
* e

Lee Hae-jun

Films directed|

* Like a Virgin (2006)
* Castaway on the Moon (2009)
* My Dictator (2014)
* Ashfall (2019)

Films written|

* Coming Out (2000)
* Conduct Zero (2002)
* Au Revoir, UFO (2004)
* Antarctic Journal (2005)
* Golden Slumber (2017)

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