Cart (film)

Cart
Directed by Boo Ji-young
Produced by Jamie Shim[1]
Written by Kim Kyung-chan
Starring Yum Jung-ah
Moon Jung-hee
Cinematography Kim Woo-hyung
Edited by Kim Sang-bum
Kim Jae-bum
Production
company
Distributed by Little Big Pictures
Release dates
Running time
 110 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean

Cart (Hangul: 카트; RR: Kateu) is a 2014 South Korean film directed by Boo Ji-young.[2][3][4] About employees of a retail supermarket who band together when the contract workers are laid off, it is both an ensemble drama and a social critique.[5][6]

It made its world premiere in the City to City: Seoul sidebar of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[7][8][9][10] Cart will also screen at the 19th Busan International Film Festival and the 34th Hawaii International Film Festival.[11]

Plot

Sun-hee, a veteran cashier and mother of two, works at a large retail supermarket alongside Hye-mi, a single mother. Both are friendly with Soon-rye, a cleaning lady nearing retirement age, and all of them are temporary workers. Sun-hee is a model employee who works diligently in the belief that once she gets promoted as a regular worker, she'll be able to provide more for her children. However, their corporate employer abruptly notifies them that all the temporary workers will be laid off. Faced with these wrongful dismissals, Sun-hee, Hye-mi, Soon-rye, and fellow female employees such as naive ajumma Ok-soon and twenty-something Mi-jin, resolve to go on strike. They stage a series of increasingly impassioned protests against the company's exploitative practices, which gains more strength when junior manager Dong-joon, the only male representative of the store's labor union, joins in. The shy and passive Sun-hee, who finds herself thrust to the demonstrations' front lines, discovers within herself untapped resources of determination and resilience, which has an unexpected effect on her relationship with her estranged high school-age son, Tae-young. But as the women realize the power they can wield by taking a mutual stand, the company plays the workers against each other and Hyemi, the leader of the strike, caves to the company's pressure and gives up.

Cast

Background

The film is largely inspired by a 2007 incident in which Homever, a supermarket chain owned by E-Land Group, dismissed temporary workers, mostly women, and replaced them with outsourced employees to bypass a new law requiring that employees be given regular-worker status after a certain period. Dismissed employees and labor unions went on strike in front of the supermarket for 512 days until the matter was settled, with some employees reinstated.[14][15][16][17] Director Boo Ji-young also studied the plight of irregular cleaning staff at major universities in Korea, including Hongik and Yonsei.[3][18][19]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2014 15th Women in Film Korea Awards Woman of the Year in Film Yum Jung-ah Won
2015 10th Max Movie Awards Best New Actor Do Kyung-soo Nominated
20th Chunsa Film Art Awards[20] Best Actress Yum Jung-ah Nominated
Best Screenplay Kim Kyung-chan Nominated
9th Asian Film Awards[21] Best Newcomer Do Kyung-soo Nominated
51st Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actress Yum Jung-ah Pending
Best Supporting Actress Moon Jung-hee Pending
Best Screenplay Kim Kyung-chan Pending

References

  1. ↑ Song, Soon-jin (28 January 2014). "Myung Films' Jamie SHIM: "Forging the New Within Commercial Cinema"". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  2. ↑ Kim, Su-yeon (17 October 2014). "Cart Director Boo Ji-young: "Especially interested in the weak in society"". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 2014-10-30.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ahn, Sung-mi (6 November 2014). "Herald Interview: Director tackles temp-worker issues". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  4. ↑ Jin, Eun-soo (7 November 2014). "Cart publicizes plight of temporary workers". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
  5. ↑ Song, Soon-jin (10 December 2013). "Completed Casting for THE CART about Discount Store Workers". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  6. ↑ Mattson, Kelcie (18 September 2014). "TIFF Women Directors: Meet Boo Ji-Young - Cart". Indiewire. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  7. ↑ Bailey, Cameron. "Cart". TIFF.net. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  8. ↑ Conran, Pierce (12 August 2014). "TIFF Reveals City to City: Seoul Lineup". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  9. ↑ Ahn, Sung-mi (25 August 2014). "Toronto film fest taps Korea for spotlight". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  10. ↑ Bechervaise, Jason (17 September 2014). "Toronto continues to spotlight Asian film industry". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  11. ↑ Kim, June (2 October 2014). "South Korean Films Fly to Hawaii International Film Festival". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2014-10-09.
  12. ↑ "Yum Jung-ah Breaks New Ground in Film About Social Issues". The Chosun Ilbo. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-25.
  13. ↑ Lee, So-dam (24 October 2014). "Interview: Yeom Jeong Ah says EXO's D.O Broke the Stereotypes of Idol Actors". enewsWorld. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
  14. ↑ "E-land labor dispute expected to continue". The Hankyoreh. 12 July 2007. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  15. ↑ Park, Chung-a (20 July 2007). "Police End E-land Strike". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  16. ↑ "E-Land labor union marks 300th day of strike". The Hankyoreh. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  17. ↑ "Lessons Learned From a 434-Day Strike". The Chosun Ilbo. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  18. ↑ Baek, Byung-yeul (30 October 2014). "Films based on true story continue to become dominating". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2014-11-21.
  19. ↑ Lee, Ji-young (10 November 2014). "In Focus: Cart". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 2014-11-27.
  20. ↑ Ma, Kevin (9 March 2015). "Hard Day leads Chunsa Film Art nominations". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
  21. ↑ Yoon, Ina (4 March 2015). "Korean Films and Artists Nominated for the Asian Film Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2015-03-19.

External links