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Chong (film)

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Chong
DVD cover
Directed byLee Sang-il
Starring
  • Yang Tesong
  • Cho Hyun
CinematographyShin Hayasaka
Release date
  • April 21, 2000 (2000-04-21)
Running time
54 min
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Chong is a 2000 Japanese medium-length film (54 min)[1] directed by Lee Sang-il. It premiered in 2000 at the Pia Festival in Tokyo, but was only released on April 21, 2001 for Pia production. A comedy drama, it depicts the life of a high school student attending a Korean school in Japan,[2] especially focusing on the school baseball team.[3]

It was produced in 1999[4] as a graduation piece at the Japan Film School[5][6] and won four awards including the Grand Prix at the Pia Film Festival (PFF) 2000. It is Lee Sang-il's directorial debut, before his first feature film two years later. It is also the debut work of cinematographer Shin Hayasaka.[7][8]

Cast

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  • Yang Tesong - Masato Hidekazu
  • Cho Hyun-Ki - Ryuji Yamamoto
  • Nami Yuna - Shiho Takemoto
  • Li Qingfu- Naohiro Ariyama
  • Tesong's father - Tsutomu Yuzawa
  • Tesongi's mother - Kintohime
  • Tesong's older sister - Yuka Shimizu
  • Suzuki - Hiroshi Nishikawa
  • Principal - Reiichi Ogiso
  • Baseball club manager - Takaya Fujiwara
  • Female teacher - Wu Xing-hime
  • Male teacher - Ike Yoshihide
  • Convenience store clerk - Kazuhiko Koshikawa
  • Ms. Saito - Asami Saito
  • Omiya Ana - Ikuyo Kimura
  • Pupil in the class - Kazuaki Kubo
  • Pupil in the class - Koji Moyama
  • Pupil in the class - Naomichi Koike
  • Delinquent of the underpass - Ryota Tokunaga
  • Delinquent in the underpass - Sadaharu Yashiro

Title

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The title character, 青, means blue in Japanese (read "ao"), and reads "chong" (which also means blue) in Korean. The sign was chosen as the title because, in Japan, the word Chong is a derogatory term for Koreans in the country. The film is therefore sometimes referred to as Ao - Chong or Blue - Chong.[9][10]

Awards

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Screenings

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DVD

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A DVD version was released by Geneon on April 7, 2006.[4][15]

Reception

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The film "skillfully manages to approach the difficult subject of the Korean minority in Japan through a charming and very involving story about a man between two nationalities", according to Nippon Connection.[1]

Chong was also said to be a "groundbreaking (production) in the way (it) expressed (its) the self-approach of Korean-Japanese or zainichi Koreans with rich humour. This subject matter, which in the past could only be expressed in a dark and serious way, was here skillfully expressed in a light-hearted and funny way".[16][17]

The film alludes to elements in the life of the director.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Nippon Connection". nipponconnection.com. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  2. ^ Palmer, Stephen (2014-02-27). "Lee Sang-il interview - director of Unforgiven, Hula Girls, Villain | easternkicks.com". www.easternkicks.com. Archived from the original on 2024-07-10. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  3. ^ 日外アソシエーツ (2009). 映画基本書目大正・昭和・平成 (in Japanese). 日外アソシエーツ. ISBN 978-4-8169-2194-0. Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  4. ^ a b ぴあシネマクラブ: 日本映画編 (in Japanese). ぴあ株式会社. 2004. ISBN 978-4-8356-0617-0.
  5. ^ "Midnight Eye interview: Lee Sang-il". www.midnighteye.com. Archived from the original on 2024-07-10. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  6. ^ "Sang-il Lee". D'A. Archived from the original on 2024-07-10. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  7. ^ Ko, Mika (2013-05-13). Japanese Cinema and Otherness: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and the Problem of Japaneseness. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-23886-5. Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  8. ^ "Wandering director Lee Sang-il's movies ranked, from good to great". South China Morning Post. 2022-10-06. Archived from the original on 2024-07-09. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  9. ^ Sharp, Jasper (2011-10-13). Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7541-8. Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  10. ^ Ko, Mika (2013-05-13). Japanese Cinema and Otherness: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and the Problem of Japaneseness. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-23886-5. Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  11. ^ Novielli, Maria Roberta (2022-11-04). Storia del cinema giapponese nel nuovo millennio (in Italian). Marsilio Editori spa. ISBN 978-88-297-1790-3. Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  12. ^ 新訂現代日本人名錄 2002 (in Japanese). 日外アソシエーツ. 2002. Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  13. ^ 佐藤忠男 (2007). 日本の映画人: 日本映画の創造者たち (in Japanese). 日外アソシエーツ. ISBN 978-4-8169-2035-6.
  14. ^ "Blue Chong". IFFR EN. Archived from the original on 2024-07-10. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  15. ^ キネマ旬報 (in Japanese). 日本映畫出版會社. 2007. p. 282.
  16. ^ キネマ旬報 (in Japanese). Vol. 1537. 日本映畫出版會社. 2007. p. 73.
  17. ^ 平野共余子 (2006-11-10). マンハッタンのKUROSAWA: 英語の字幕版はありますか? (in Japanese). 清流出版. ISBN 978-4-86029-183-9. Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  18. ^ 佐藤忠男 (2002). 映画に魅せられて (in Japanese). 現代書館. ISBN 978-4-7684-7684-0. Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
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