Can’t Give Her up, Even If I Get Ruined

Would there be another actor, who runs as much through two extremes in broadcasting and movies as `Honest man` Cha In-Pyo (35) does? Although he even received MBC Performance Award, Cha’s previous movies like `Zzang` and `Dr. K` failed one after another.

Movie `Mr. Iron Palm`, which is to be released on the 19th, is expected to be the `turning point` in Cha’s movie career. His role in the movie totally ruined his previous images, making a complete reversal in character.

The character `Iron Palm`, which Cha acted as, is briefly like this. Iron Palm crosses the Pacific to look for his lover Jinnie (Kim Yoon-Jin), who left to Los Angeles 5 years ago to open her own Soju cocktail bar. Whenever he is reminded of his lover, he finds comfort in putting his hand in an electric rice cooker- iron palm. However, when he finally finds Jinnie after searching through virtually all Soju bars in the U.S., Jinnie is already in love with an American citizen-businessman, Admiral. Iron falls in despair, but `dashes` into Jinnie once again.

So far, `Iron Palm` seems to be a comical story about an innocent man looking for his lover in a distant land. However, `Iron Palm` puts out pathos in the framework of a battle between an American citizen and a pure Korean man in the process of attempting to win a woman’s love. “Korea and Korean name went down the toilet on the flight to America,” says Iron Palm. However, his courtship is still very Korean, and although he hates the American citizen, he tries to gain residential permit at the same time.

The fact that the movie was shot near the Korean Town in Lost Angeles, where there are more Korean signboards than English ones, more directly emphasizes on the antinomic triangular relationship. “The concept will not work anywhere else,”explained Cha, who had been staying in Los Angeles since the end of last year for the movie.

Above all, though, `Iron Palm` is more persuasive since it is similar with Cha’s real life story. Whether it is for Cha, who left 5 years of studying in the U.S. and work in New York to return in Korea, and even to serve the army, looking for his `talent`, or for Iron Palm, who studied English for 5 years putting his hands in a rice cooker to find his lover… Determination for made-up minds is the same inside and outside the screen.

Park Kwang-Jung, in the character of Dongsuk who is Cha’s partner, added fun in the movie with his `Konglish`. The movie is director Yook Sang-Ho’s debut production after the scenarios for `Rosy Life` (1993) and `Festival` (1996). Rating: Above 15. Release Date: 19th

Seung-Heon Lee ddr@donga.com