The turning point behind Jo Jung Suk's successful comedy

Jo Jung Suk's movie "The Female Pilot" created a fever at the Korean summer box office this year. Photo: Lotte

The comedy “Pilot” officially premiered on July 31 in Korea and has now surpassed 4 million viewers, becoming the highest-grossing Korean film of the summer and the third highest in 2024.

According to Hankook Ilbo, the film surpassed its break-even point of 2.2 million viewers. Its success was due to a combination of Jo Jung Suk's witty performance as a man disguised as a woman and Kim Han Gyeol's skillful direction.

“The Pilot” is the third successful film this year directed by a woman, following “My Teacher is Number One” (directed by Park Young Joo) and “Stalker: Perfect Crime” (directed by Kim Se Hwi).

Korean newspapers commented that in an industry where commercial films directed by women are still rare, this is an extremely outstanding achievement, promising to open a new turning point, erasing doubts about female directors.

Director Kim Han Gyeol. Photo: Lotte

As shared by Kim Sun Ah - President of Women in Film Korea: "Female directors can develop new stories through female characters, different from male-dominated commercial films, which will have a positive impact on the film industry".

Shim Jae Myung, CEO of Myung Films, said: “The three films above bring a fresh perspective on the genres that Korean cinema has exploited, contributing to changing the perception of female directors.”

However, there is still an “invisible barrier” for female directors, especially when directing large-scale productions.

As with “The Point Man” (2023), which is the first and only film directed by a woman with a production budget exceeding 10 billion won ($7.5 million/VND186.4 billion).

Meanwhile, "The Female Pilot", "My Teacher is Number 1", "Stalker: Perfect Crime" all had production budgets under 10 billion won.

“The glass ceiling will truly disappear when female directors regularly take on large-scale production projects. It is also important to create an environment where female filmmakers can assert themselves on set, including taking practical measures to prevent sexual harassment,” Kim Sun Ah emphasized.

Source: https://laodong.vn/van-hoa-giai-tri/buoc-ngoat-dang-sau-phim-hai-thanh-cong-cua-jo-jung-suk-1382891.ldo