''Real'' () is a 2017 South Korean

neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...

action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Lee Sa-rang. It stars

Kim Soo-hyun Kim Soo-hyun (; born February 16, 1988) is a South Korean actor. He is the recipient of five Baeksang Arts Awards, two Grand Bell Awards and one Blue Dragon Film Award. Kim made his television debut in 2007 with the family sitcom ''Kimchi Che ...

Sung Dong-il Sung Dong-il (; born April 27, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Sung made his acting debut in theater in 1987, then was recruited at the 1991 Seoul Broadcasting System, SBS open talent auditions. He rose to fame as the comic, Jeolla dialect-speak ...

, Lee Sung-min,

Sulli Choi Jin-ri (; March 29, 1994 – October 13 or 14, 2019), known professionally as Sulli (), was a South Korean singer and actress. She first made her debut as a child actress, appearing as a supporting cast member on the Seoul Broadcasting Sy ...

, and Jo Woo-jin. The film was released on June 28, 2017, in South Korea.

Synopsis

In the underworld of a fictional city, Jang Tae-yeong is a successful crime syndicate boss and owner of a large casino set to open under the name Siesta. However, his world is shaken when Jo Won-geun, a powerful underworld kingpin, appears and claims ownership of the casino, putting Jang's empire at risk. To secure his future, Jang searches for an investor to solve his financial troubles. At the same time, Jang struggles with an entirely different personality lurking within himself, one that threatens his control over his own mind. Jang decides to seek the help of Dr. Choi Jin-ki, who comes up with an elaborate plan to rid him of this other self. But the treatment yields unexpected consequences—a mysterious investor, identical in both name and appearance, suddenly emerges. What then ensues is a battle between the real and fake Jang Tae-Yeong.

Cast

Production

*On October 12, 2015,

Alibaba Pictures Alibaba Pictures Group Limited is a Chinese film company under the Alibaba Group. The film company was formerly ChinaVision Media, of which Alibaba Group bought a majority stake in late 2014. It subsequently was renamed from ChinaVision to Alibaba ...

signed an agreement at the

20th Busan International Film Festival The 20th Busan International Film Festival was held from October 1 to October 10, 2015 at South Korea's Busan Cinema Center and was hosted by Song Kang-ho and Marina Golbahari. In this year's festival, a total of 302 films from 75 countries wa ...

to fund the film. Paradise Group also co-invested with additional . It also filmed in the corporation's resort, Paradise City. *Director Lee Jung-sub dropped out of the film and was replaced by Lee Sa-rang, first-time filmmaker, owner of the production company of Real. *Filming began on January 3, 2016, and ended on June 30, 2016, in Paradise City,

Yeongjongdo Yeongjong Island () is an island in Jung District, Incheon, South Korea. It contains Incheon International Airport as well as small villages, farms, and beaches. The previously separate Yongyu, Sammok, and Sinbul Islands have been joined to Ye ...

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

Release

The film was released cinematically on 28 June 2017, and later digitally in mid-July in South Korea. Taiwan became the first region outside of South Korea to have a cinematic release of the film, on 4 August 2017. It was released in Hong Kong on 16 November 2017 and in Japan on 14 April 2018.

Reception

''Real'' received mostly negative reviews. ''MaxMovie''s review stated that despite Kim Soo-hyun giving justice to his dual roles, the film's plot is non-existent, the editing and special effects are amateurish, in addition to its action scenes being boring. One critic felt the story was confusing and named the film "one of the most distastrous films ever made". One critic proclaims ''Real'' to be a "future camp cult classic" that "is the 'real' deal".

Sitges Film Festival SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia () is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain. It specializes in fantasy film, fantasy, Horror film, horror and Cult film, cult films. Established in 1968, the festiva ...

, one of the world's foremost international festivals specialising in fantasy and horror films, has included ''Real'' in its 2017 catalogue. The experimental adventure that is ''Real'' is in Kim Soo Hyun's words, not an endearing film that is easy for moviegoers to fall in love with. Yet, in the end, love it or hate it, there is no denying that ''Real'' is "one of the most singular Korean films to emerge in years". When ''Real'' was released for Digital Cable TV VOD and

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...

subscription in South Korea, it topped the charts at its initial release. In contrast to its box office response, the movie fared reasonably well on the VOD chart. While it is released via VOD platform only in mid July, the movie ranked quite high on the overall chart of July 2017. ''Real'' received positive reviews upon its opening in Taiwan in early August. Critics praised Kim Soo Hyun's acting, proclaiming that both main characters, despite looking identical, were easily distinguished through his use of body language, mannerisms, and voice acting. Expat Korean movie critic/blogger Pierce Conran included ''Real'' in his list of top 15 Korean movies of 2017 for its uniqueness and originality.

Box office

''Real'' grossed over $1M NTD (New Taiwan Dollar) in its first weekend of release in Taiwan. It was the highest initial week box office take for a Korean film at the time. The film grossed over $4.7M NTD in Taiwan.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 6904062
''Real'' on Naver

''Real'' on Daum

''Real'' on Sitges Film Festival
Films based on South Korean webtoons 2017 action films South Korean action films South Korean neo-noir films CJ Entertainment films 2017 films 2010s South Korean films