Trio (1997 film)

1997 South Korean film

Trio

Hangul	3인조
Revised Romanization	Saminjo

Directed by	Park Chan-wook
Written by	Park Chan-wook
Produced by	Lee Choon-yun
Starring	Lee Geung-young Kim Min-jong Jeong Seon-kyeong
Edited by	Park Gok-ji
Distributed by	Cine-2000
Release date	May 24, 1997 (1997-05-24)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean

Trio (Korean: 3인조) is the second feature film by South Korean film director Park Chan-wook, released in 1997. Similarly to his debut film, The Moon Is... the Sun's Dream, it has been seen by relatively few people outside of Korea.^[1]^[2]

Plot

Three outsiders are united by a common cause. A suicidal saxophonist named Ahn is pushed over the edge after he discovers his wife’s infidelity, and decides to rob a bank, aided by a violent man (Moon), and a young woman (Maria), who is looking for her missing child.

Cast

Lee Geung-young as Ahn
Jeong Seon-kyeong as Maria
Kim Min-jong as Moon
Kim Bu-seon as Ahn's wife
Jang Yong as Captain Choi

Production

Park was asked by film producer Dong-gyu Ahn to make a film similar in tone to Léon, a French film written and directed by Luc Besson. Park had never seen the film, but had previously wanted to make a film about a series of armed robberies committed from 1972 to 1974 in South Korea, and chose to use that as a basis. Park was also initially influenced by the works of Abel Ferrara.

However, as time passed, the production company for the film changed, and the film lost its wild and violent conception, becoming closer to a mainstream film. Park took blame for the film's perceived failure, saying, "I regret Trio much more than my first movie."^[3]

References

^ "Trio - Films from the South". Retrieved 10 December 2022.
^ Doherty, Rory (October 13, 2022). "Every Park Chan-Wook Movie, Ranked". Paste Magazine. Paste Media Group. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
^ ""Hitchcock changed my life", Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize Park Chan-wook talks about Park Chan-wook". Cine21 (in Korean). May 28, 2004. Retrieved 10 December 2022.