Archive

Closing Film

The Phone

Ahn Byung-gi

Korea2002 104min 35mm Color World Premiere

Synopsis

The mobile phone has become a necessity for modern man. The phone besides its use for text messages and even spam emails, becomes an instrument of evil. Ji-won is a magazine writer who has just done an expose piece on compensation dating, is tortured by threatening phone calls. She tries to change her number but the only choice she's given is 011-9998-6644. She takes the number but the harassing calls continue. After her best friend Ho-jung's daughter Young-joo accidentally answers her phone, she begins to act strangely. The peaceful family of Ho-jung, Chang-hoon and Young-joo begins to be disturbed by bizarre events. Ji-won traces the previous owners of the phone number and learns that the two people who had the phone number before her died mysterious deaths. And the first owner of the number, a young teenage girl, is missing. She begins to investigate the disappearance of the girl. The ending of this film seems at first to be predictable but there is a surprise at every turn. The film overturns the notion of the perfect and happy family. An impressive performance by Seo-woo Eun who plays little Young-joo. (Ellen Kim)

Diretor

Ahn Byung-gi

Born in 1967, Ahn Byung-gi studied at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. He worked as an assistant director for director Jung Ji-young on films such as < The White Badge >. His feature debut < A Nightmare > was the closing film for PiFan2000. In 2001, he established Toilet Pictures, a production company dedicated to the production of genre films.