The Childe: Story of Kopino dealing a blow

Film director Park Hoon-jeong, known for his unique style in Korean action movies such as New World (2013) and The Witch (2018, 2022), has unveiled a new film titled ‘The Childe.’

The movie, which opens next Wednesday, starts off at a slum in the Philippines. Kopino (someone of mixed Korean and Filipino descent) Marco (played by Kang Tae-joo) makes a living as a boxer for illegal boxing stadiums in the Philippines and looks for his Korean father to raise money for his sick Filipino mother. One day an attorney hired by his father approaches Marco, saying that his father misses him very much and promises to take care of his mother’s medical costs if he goes with him to Korea.

Marco boards the plane to Korea with people he meets for the first time. A ‘childe’ (played by actor Kim Sun-ho) approaches Marco on his way to Korea, smiling as he introduces himself as a friend. He tells Marco that he is going to Korea to be killed and kidnaps him as soon as he arrives in Korea. Marco barely manages to escape, and he is chased by his Korean father’s son, Han (played by Kim Kang-woo), and a mysterious woman Yoon-joo (Go Ara), without even knowing why.

During the film's first half, the movie does not give any hints on why Marco is being chased, raising tensions. Marco is being chased down by running and driving cars. The movie reaches a peak reaching the bloody action scene between the ‘childe’ and Han. The film is R-rated, which is quite uncommon these days.

“I had very much wanted to tell stories from a Kopino perspective for quite a while. I thought of a story where those discriminated take revenge on those who discriminate against them,” said Park in a press conference on June 8.

Characters in the movie are unique in their own way. The childe chases Marco with a strange smile on his face and kills people with ferocity. “I had imagined the character as a psycho as a prepared for the role. I tried to show his pleasure chasing people down,” said Kim Sun-ho. When asked why “childe” was chosen for the movie title, Park said that he liked characters who appeared neat and tidy but crazy and bizarre.

New actor Kang Tae-joo was chosen for the Marco role, winning a fierce competition of 1,980:1 after three rounds of auditions. “I thought that the character needed to have an exotic yet familiar vibe and strong acting skills, so I invested a lot of time in the audition,” said Director Park.


Ji-Sun Choi aurinko@donga.com