Jung Yu-mi and Gong Yoo’s movie, Kim Ji-young: Born in 1982, which is based on a cultural phenomenon bestseller of the same name that helped usher in a feminist movement in Korea (yeah, so no pressure, movie), finally has a premier date.
This move has been in production for a minute, so it is nice to get some kind of word on the release date, which will be sometime in October of this year. The actual date-date is not released as of yet, but at least we know that it will come out next month!
This is a movie that I most likely won’t try to see because the book sounds all kinds of depressing on a literary level. the book also has the amazing distinction to be one of the biggest best sellers in Korea as well as one of the most criticized. Yeah, it is that kind of book.
In the novel, Kim Ji-young is just an ordinary young woman caught up in a capitalistic contemporary society that kowtows to men. Her name is Kim Ji-young and she was born in 1982, just as the title says. The author picked that name because it was the most common name of babies born in 1982. In the novel, you king of just live Kim Ji-young’s life as she recounts, through visual examples, all the times society has made her feel “less than” or “other” as a woman, all the way from pre-school age into adulthood.
But then things start to get weird as it appears that society is starting to drive her mad. She starts to take on the personality of others as if she has completely lost her own identity and self worth. If you want to read a thorough write up of the novel then check out DramaROK’s in depth take on it. The author of the book also gave an interview (the article is in English) on the success of the book.
Kim Ji-young: Born in 1982 is a highly anticipated novel adaptation that will come out in October of this year. It marks Gong Yoo’s return to acting in anything, so that is reason enough to see it. Let us know if you check it out!
