The 15th annual Jeonju International Film Festival has its Korean Film Competition finalists lined-up as of last month, ahead of the two-part event set to begin between May 1 through May 10. One such selection includes Jung Byung-shik‘s directorial debut, Monkeys, a feature-length Korean noir action comedy satirizing the indepenednt film scene. Jung Byoung-gil, best known for helming the 2008 Korean stunt documentary, Action Boys, and the 2012 thriller, Confessions Of Murder, trades the director’s chair for an acting role this time around alongside Jeon Se-jin and Kwak Jin-seok.
Monkeys revolves around Gong-hyeok, a man who once had future ambitions of becoming renowned in the music and film industry. Yet now in his late twenties and in dire need to support his family, Gong-hyeok is still no closer to achieving his dreams. Yet when he reconnects with an old friend who has just debuted as a film director, Gong-hyeok cannot help himself and old quarrels suddenly start to reappear and drive a wedge between them. The film is in both colour and black and white.