# Moby Dick (2011 film)

Moby Dick (Korean: 모비딕; RR: Mobidik) is a 2011 South Korean thriller film written by Park In-je and Park Shin-kyu, directed by Park In-je, and starring Hwang Jung-min, Jin Goo, Kim Min-hee and Kim Sang-ho.

## Plot

In winter 1994, an explosion occurs at the fictional Balam Bridge on the outskirts of Seoul and is attributed to terrorists. Social affairs reporter Lee Bang-woo (Hwang) begins to investigate the case when an old friend, Yoon-hyuk (Jin), hands him some secret documents and claims that the explosion was committed intentionally by the government. Lee teams up with fellow journalists Sung Hyo-kwan (Kim Min-hee) and Son Jin-ki (Kim Sang-ho) to pursue the truth. Their investigation reveals what seems to be a secret group that operates the government, and they begin to unravel a string of conspiracies that become far deadlier than they anticipated.

## Cast

* Hwang Jung-min as Lee Bang-woo
* Jin Goo as Yoon-hyuk
* Kim Min-hee as Sung Hyo-kwan
* Kim Sang-ho as Son Jin-ki
* Han Soo-yeon as Seo Eun-sook
* Kim Min-Jae as Kim Yong-sung
* Lee Geung-young as Professor Jang
* Jung Man-sik as Nam Seon-soo
* Jo Hee-bong as Im Jik-sa
* Bae Seong-woo as President Maeng
* Ahn Gil-kang as Detective Ma
* Kim Bo-yeon as Director Jo

## Production

The film is the feature directing debut of Park In-je, grand prizewinner of the 2003 Mise-en-Scene Genre Film Festival. Park was working on a screenplay about a reporter when he came across an account of Private Yun Seok-yang, a soldier at the Defense Security Command of Korea’s Armed Forces. In 1990 Yun deserted his camp, carrying a floppy disk that contained a list of national leaders, including former presidents, religious leaders, politicians, and social activists, that the DSC had been illegally investigating; he made a declaration of conscience and revealed the contents of the disk at a press conference. Moby Dick, loosely based on Yun’s story, follows a journalist’s attempts to investigate a secret organization that controls the government. The title Moby Dick alludes to Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick by conjuring up an overwhelming entity whose size makes it impossible to see all at once; Moby Dick was also the name of a café near Seoul University that was used by the DSC to investigate ordinary citizens. Starring actor Hwang Jung-min interviewed bureau-level reporters to help prepare for his role.
The film was shot during the coldest winter in South Korea in 30 years. Shooting began in mid-October 2010 and ended in February 2011, with the cast and crew enduring the cold for five months.

## Reception

The film was released on June 9, 2011, to generally positive reviews for its 90s-era settings, moody cinematography, and cast performances. It grossed around $3 million at the South Korean box office.

## Accolades

| Award | Year | Category | Nominee(s) / work(s) | Result |
| Cine21 Movie Award | 2011 | Best Screenplay of the Year | Park In-je and Park Shin-kyu | Won |
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2011 | Best New Director — Film | Park In-je | Nominated |
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2011 | Best Screenplay — Film | Park In-je and Park Shin-kyu | Nominated |
| Grand Bell Awards | 2011 | Best New Director | Park In-je | Nominated |
| Grand Bell Awards | 2011 | Best Supporting Actor | Kim Sang-ho | Nominated |
| Grand Bell Awards | 2011 | Best Planning | You Jeong-hun | Nominated |