"The Man Standing Next" Recreates 1979 + Shot In Three Countries

Tags
"The Man Standing Next" Recreates 1979 + Shot In Three Countries
Still cut of 'The Man Standing Next' (Photo : News1)

The movie "The Man Standing Next" directed by Woo Min-ho recreated the landscape from 1979 by traveling between Korea, the United States, and France. The extraordinary location is expected to be one of the major highlights of the film.

"The Man Standing Next" is focised on the 40 days before the assassination of the president of the Republic of Korea (Lee Byung-hun), who was called the second power in 1979. Among the total 65 scenes, 51 were shot locally, 4 in US and 10 in France.

The film focuses on the activities of former central intelligence chief Park Yong-gak (Kwak Do-won) who became a whistleblower. Park Yong-gak, who fled to the United States, accused the dictatorship of the Republic of Korea in the House of Representatives Congress and Kim Kyu-pyeong (Lee Byung-hun), head of the Central Intelligence Agency, started to make their move to stop Park Yong-gak.

The scenes wherein Kim Kyu-pyeong and Park Yong-gak meet in the United States were actually shot in Washington. The conversation between the two characters in the background of Washington's landmarks, the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial Park, conveys an exotic texture that is rare in traditional Korean films.

In France, the film was taken mainly in Paris. The main scenes in the film were shot at Place Vendôme de Paris. Place Vendôme, a space contained in Midnight in Paris, is well-known for not permitting filming of domestic films.

The film was filmed with permission from the Place Vendôme in Paris, making "The Man Standing Next" the first Korean film shot in the place. The extraordinary reason for the shooting was that French officials were also interested in reproducing the incident.

"The Man Standing Next" traveled beyond Korea to the United States and France to capture the dramatic days of 1979. It is based on a nonfiction bestseller of the same name which sold at least 520,000 copies. The movie is scheduled to be released in January next year.

Join the Discussion

Latest Photo Slide Shows