''Marathon'' () is a 2005 South Korean film directed by

Jeong Yoon-cheol Jeong Yoon-cheol (born May 14, 1971) is a South Korean film director. Career Jeong graduated from School of Film and Theater at Hanyang University. After his successful directorial debut with short film ''Memorial Picture'', he was selected ...

, and starring

Cho Seung-woo Cho Seung-woo (born March 28, 1980) is a South Korean actor and singer. He is best known for his leading roles in the films '' The Classic'' (2003), '' Marathon'' (2005), '' Tazza: The High Rollers'' (2006), and ''Inside Men'' (2015), as well as ...

and Kim Mi-sook. It received 5,148,022 admissions, making it the 4th most attended Korean film of 2005."The Best Selling Films of 2005"
''Koreanfilm.org''. Retrieved 2012-12-07. Based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, an autistic marathon runner, the film popularized the South Korean term for autism () which can be translated as "self-closed syndrome."

Plot

A young man with autism, named Cho-won, finds release only in running. As a child, Cho-won regularly had meltdowns, bit himself, and struggled to communicate with others—finding solace only in

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

s and the Korean snack,

choco pie A choco pie is a snack cake consisting of two small round layers of cake with marshmallow filling and a chocolate covering. The term originated in America but is now also used widely in South Korea, Japan, and its exports, and many other countr ...

. His mother never gave up on him and was determined to prove to the world that her child can achieve. As Cho-won gets older, he begins to find a passion for running and his mother is there to encourage and support him. Even though their family suffers from financial difficulties, they find a former marathon champion, Jung-wook — now a lethargic older man with an alcohol problem. Jung-wook, who is serving community service hours as a physical education teacher for a DUI, grudgingly accepts the offer to train Cho-won in marathon running, but eventually becomes lazy with him. The coach often takes Cho-won's snack, and takes Cho-won to a

jjimjilbang A jjimjilbang (; ) is a large, sex-segregated public bathhouse in South Korea, furnished with hot tubs, showers, Korean traditional kiln saunas and massage tables. ''Jjimjil'' is derived from the words meaning ''heating''. In other areas of ...

to relax. Even though Jung-wook slacks off most of the time, Cho-won's determination for running is firm (he accidentally runs 100 laps around a soccer field when the coach told him to without literally meaning it). He takes third place in a 10 km running race, which causes his mother to set another goal for her son: to run a full marathon under three hours. This is not an easy task, however, as Cho-won wants to win but doesn’t know how to pace himself. Therefore, his mother pleads the coach to run with Cho-won in order to teach him how to pace his running. The movie shows the emotional struggles of a mother who is not sure if she is forcing her son to run or if it truly is his passion. The movie further explores and shows deep love and genuine purity through Cho-won.

Cast

as Cho-won * Kim Mi-sook as Kyeong-sook, Cho-won's mother * Lee Ki-young as Jung-wook *

Baek Sung-hyun Baek Sung-hyun (; born January 30, 1989) is a South Korean actor. Career Baek Sung-hyun made his acting debut in the 1994 film ''I Wish for What Is Forbidden to Me'' when he was five years old. The child actor practically grew up onscreen, pla ...

as Yun Jung-won *

Ahn Nae-sang Ahn Nae-sang (born December 25, 1964) is a South Korean actor. He began his career on the stage, and in 1994 made his film debut in the Bong Joon-ho short film ''Baeksekin'' ("White Man" or "White-collar worker"), followed by Jang Sun-woo's ''B ...

as Cho-won's father * Jeon Su-ji as Se-yoon

Remake

A Japanese drama remake of the same title ( マラソン) aired on TBS on September 20, 2007. It starred Ninomiya Kazunari in the lead role.

Awards and nominations

References

External links