'Hanran' actress Kim Hyang-gi is leaving a heavy aftertaste in theaters with deep and solid acting.
The film 'Hanran' is set in Jeju in 1948 and depicts the strong survival journey of a mother and daughter who crossed mountains and sea to survive. Kim Hyang-gi plays A-jin, a mother who, after fleeing to Hallasan to escape the suppression forces, descends the mountain risking all dangers to find her daughter Hae-saeng (played by Kim Min-chae), who was left alone in the village, and has received praise for leading the drama with her characteristic sincere emotional line and delicate immersion.
Kim Hyang-gi is known to have devoted herself to character analysis starting three months before filming and carried out meticulous preparatory work to portray A-jin realistically. She personally surveyed the Jeju location with staff to closely experience the environment and sentiments of Jeju people at the time, and she paid particular attention to practicing the Jeju dialect, drawing praise from locals who said, "almost perfect."
This preparation was fully reflected in the film. In the extreme journey of crossing mountains and throwing herself into the cold sea, Kim Hyang-gi portrayed A-jin's life three-dimensionally with highly complete Jeju dialect expressions and detailed acting that accumulates emotions finely. Depending on the situation, restrained breathing, steady eyes, and emotions carried in the intonation of the Jeju dialect naturally aligned, leading to evaluations that she convincingly completed the portrayal of a person who lived through the tragedy of the era. Such acting has drawn solid trust and praise from audiences who say, "as expected, Kim Hyang-gi."
In particular, Kim Hyang-gi's A-jin adds significance in that it summons the real history of those who struggled to survive amid the tragedy of the Jeju 4·3 incident to the screen, beyond a character simply based on maternal love. Her acting naturally connects the individual's narrative and the tragedy of the era, playing an important role in making audiences look again at a history that had been fading from memory.
Having shown a distinctive presence in numerous notable works since her child acting days, Kim Hyang-gi once again proved her wide spectrum and growth as an actor through 'Hanran.' She firmly unraveled heavy themes of historical tragedy, maternal love and survival with her sensibility, leaving a strong aftereffect and deep resonance.
'Hanran,' which is delivering deep emotion to theaters this winter, is being recognized as a meaningful work that, along with Kim Hyang-gi's passionate performance, reawakens Korea's painful history to audiences. Moreover, the surprising emotional textures, matured expressiveness and broadened spectrum Kim Hyang-gi showed in this work further raise expectations about what characters and worlds she will present in the future.
Attention is focused on Kim Hyang-gi's future steps, which are expected to show another new leap based on the steadily accumulated depth of her craft.<
[Photo] Whenever Studio
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