''Innocent Steps'' (; lit. "Dancer’s Purity") is a 2005 South Korean film directed by Park Young-hoon. Another English title for the movie is "Dancing princess". There's a director's cut version of the movie featuring additional 17 minutes of footage and alternative cut of the dance scene at competition.

Plot

Former acclaimed dancer Na Young-sae ( Park Gun-hyung) attempts to make a comeback after his opponent, Hyun-soo ( Yoon Chan), purposely injures him at a dance competition. At the suggestion of dance studio manager Ma Sang-doo (

Park Won-sang Park Won-sang (born January 20, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television Theater Ambassadorship *Ambassador for 1st Democratization Movement Memorial Park Joint Memorial Cultural Festival (2022) References External ...

), Young-sae then brings to Korea Jang Chae-ryn (

Moon Geun-young Moon Geun-young (; born May 6, 1987) is a South Korean actress. Affectionately called the " Nation's Little Sister," Moon began modeling at the age of 10, then made her acting debut in 1999 as a child actress. She first rose to stardom through h ...

), an ethnic Korean from China whom he presumes is a renowned, talented dancer. To his surprise, Young-sae learns Chae-ryn knows nothing about dancing and her soon-to-be married, older sister, Jang Chae-min, is the talented dancer. With only three months until the national dance championship, Young-sae trains Chae-ryn, vowing to turn her into a world-class dancer.

Cast

as Jang Chae-min * Park Gun-hyung as Na Young-sae *

as Ma Sang-doo * Yoon Chan as Jung Hyun-soo

Awards and nominations

;

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...

* Nomination – Best Actress – Moon Geun-young * Nomination – Best New Actor – Park Gun-hyung * Nomination – Best Costume Design – Lee Ji-young ;

Blue Dragon Film Awards The Blue Dragon Film Awards () is an annual awards ceremony that is presented by '' Sports Chosun'' (a sister brand of the ''Chosun Ilbo'') for excellence in film in South Korea. The Blue Dragon Film Awards considers only blockbusters and popul ...

* Nomination – Best New Actor – Park Gun-hyung ;2005

Korean Film Awards The Korean Film Awards was a South Korean film awards ceremony hosted by the broadcasting network MBC from 2002 to 2010. History Originally named the MBC Film Awards, the ceremony was first established in 2002. It was renamed the Korean Film Aw ...

* Best New Actor – Park Gun-hyung

Critical reception

The film received mixed to negative reviews. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' reviewer,

Derek Elley Derek Elley (born c. 1955) is an American film and music critic and author, best known as the resident film critic for '' Variety'' until his departure in March 2010. With over 1200 reviews to his credit as of December 2014 on ''Rotten Tomatoes'', ...

favorably compared the film to '' Dance with the Wind'', citing Moon Geun-young and Park Gun-hyung's performances, but wrote "the plot holds no water." ''Koreanfilm.org'' critic Tom Giammarco called the film "disappointing and cliche," and

Darcy Paquet Darcy Paquet (born 1972) is an American film critic, university lecturer, author and actor. In 2010, Paquet was awarded the Korea Film Reporters Association Award at the 15th Busan International Film Festival for his contributions in introducing ...

credited the film's box office success to Moon's celebrity status and noted that the ending was disappointing: "We never even really get to see the knock-em-dead dance sequence that you'd expect."

Remake

In 2015, Culture Cap Korea announced that it will co-produce a Chinese

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sa ...

, which will cast a Chinese actor and a Korean actress. 60% of filming will take place in China, and 40% in

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea ...

References

External links

* * * {{hancinema film, Innocent_Steps, Innocent Steps 2005 romantic comedy films 2005 films 2000s Korean-language films 2000s Mandarin-language films 2000s dance films South Korean romantic comedy films Ballroom dancing films 2005 multilingual films South Korean multilingual films 2000s South Korean films