In this article, Channel-Korea will give you a rundown of everything about Uhm Ji-won’s top movies and dramas. So, stay tuned!
Uhm Ji-won’s Top Movies
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is a 2004 South Korean erotic thriller movie. The movie is based on a novel by novelist Kim Young-ha, namely a collection of short stories titled A Meditation On Mirror and Photo Shop Murder. The film is directed by Byun Hyuk and starring Han Suk-kyu, Lee Eun-joo, Sung Hyun-ah, and Uhm Ji-won. The film debuted as the closing film of the Pusan International Film Festival in 2004. Uhm Ji-won played the role of Han Soo-hyun, a classical cellist who is submissive and seemingly perfect. Han Soo-hyun is the wife of Lee Ki-hoon, an alpha male homicide detective, intelligent and with animal instincts. The story is about Lee Ki-hoon (Han Suk-kyu) who is an alpha male homicide detective; intelligent and with animal instincts. His wife, classical cellist Han Soo-hyun (Uhm Ji-won), is submissive and seemingly perfect. Meanwhile, he is carrying on a passionate affair with his mistress Choi Ga-hee (Lee Eun-joo), a sultry jazz singer at a nightclub. Ki-hoon lives a double life by moving back and forth between these two women, who also happen to be schoolmates from high school. One day, Ki-hoon goes to a murder scene and there he meets Ji Kyung-hee (Sung Hyun-ah), a woman accused of murdering her husband. At the film’s premiere in Japan, veteran actress Kumiko Akiyoshi praised the lead performances and likened the film to a landmark in erotic thrillers after Basic Instinct (1992) and Fatal Attraction (1987).
Traces of Love
Traces of Love is a 2006 South Korean movie directed by Kim Dae-seung and starring Yoo Ji-tae, Kim Ji-soo, and Uhm Ji-won. The film is based on the Sampoong Department Store collapse, which took place in 1995. Uhm Ji-won played the role of Yoon Se-jin, one of the survivors of the 1995 Sampoong Department Store collapse who still suffers from psychological trauma years later. The story is about law student Choi Hyun-woo (Yoo Ji-tae) and television director Seo Min-joo (Kim Ji-soo) who are a young couple in love and engaged to be married. Tragedy strikes, however, and Min-joo is killed in the Sampoong Department Store collapse. Several years later, Hyun-woo is given a journal that was written by his former fiancée, which details the journey they would have taken on their honeymoon. Hyun-woo sets out to visit the various places described in the journal, but on his travels, he meets another woman, Yoon Se-jin (Uhm Ji-won), and discovers that their meeting is more than just coincidence. Uhm Ji-won won an award in the category for Best Supporting Actress for her role at the 2007 Chunsa Film Art Awards. Beijing Hairun Pictures set out to make a Chinese remake in 2016, co-produced with Korean company Dhuta Co. Ltd.
Hope
Hope is a 2013 South Korean film directed by Lee Joon-ik, starring Sol Kyung-gu, Uhm Ji-won, and Lee Re. The film is based on a true story, the infamous Nayoung Case in 2008, in which an 8-year-old girl, named “Na-young” in the Korean press, was raped and beaten by a drunk 57-year-old man in a public toilet. The court sentenced the man to only 12 years in prison, which caused outrage in the country due to the brutality of the crime and the man’s history of physical and sexual violence. Uhm Ji-won played the role of Kim Mi-hee, So-won’s mother. So-won is sexually assaulted by a male stranger and she later exhibits symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Mi-hee and her husband try hard to help their daughter resume her normal life. The story is about So-won and her family. On a rainy morning, little So-won (Lee Re) leaves for school, which is not very far from her home. Her father works at a local factory and her mother runs a modest neighborhood stationery shop below their home. So-won is supposed to walk to school with her friend, but her friend ditches her for his group of guy friends. So-won does not make it to school. Hours later, So-won’s father Dong-hoon (Sol Kyung-gu) receives a gut-wrenching phone call from the police. So-won is now hospitalized after being brutally sexually assaulted. Can their family put back the pieces of their once happy home? The film won an award in the category for Best Film at the 34th Blue Dragon Film Awards. It also took Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Ra Mi-ran. Uhm Ji-won won the Best Actress Award at the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards. Hope was sold to five Asian countries—Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia at the Asian Film Market during the 18th Busan International Film Festival.
The Silenced
The Silenced is a 2015 South Korean mystery-thriller film written and directed by Lee Hae-young, starring Park Bo-young and Uhm Ji-won. The film set in Gyeongseong in 1938 during the Japanese occupation. Uhm Ji-won plays the role of the headmistress of a girls’ boarding school. The story is about Cha Ju-ran (Park Bo-young), a sickly young girl who gets transferred to a sanatorium/girls’ boarding school to recover her health. Her physical condition improves thanks to her new friend Yeon-deok, and the headmistress’ special treatment program. But she soon notices that students are disappearing one by one and that her own body is undergoing abnormal changes. Determined to uncover the truth, Ju-ran starts to investigate the mysterious happenings and the school’s possible role in them. The Silenced was released on June 18th, 2015. It opened at third place, grossing ₩2.02 billion (US$1.83 million) from 258,000 admissions in its first four days. Park Bo-young won the Favorite Actress Award at the 15th Korea World Youth Film Festival and the Popularity Star Award at the 36th Blue Dragon Film Awards. Uhm Ji-won won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 21st Chunsa Film Art Awards.
