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| Michael Lehr and Tim Park in the K-drama-infused action short, Spin Kick 2 |
In 2004, Cinema Service released writer and director Nam Sang-guk’s coming-of-age martial arts drama, Spin Kick, a story about a high school gang forced to join their school’s martial arts team in preparation for the next National Taekwondo Competition at the behest of their principal to avoid jail time. The film is fan fave for many who enjoy their fair share of Korean cinema, including independent filmmaker, martial artist, action director and EMC Monkeys team member Malay Kim who was inspired to attribute his newest shortfilm to Nam’s movie in the form of Spin Kick 2.
As usual for the EMC Monkeys, the project brings a little something different and fresh, with Kim‘s adherence to some of the elements that often make Korean cinema what it is. “I have aspirations of becoming a director, so I wanted to try shooting dialogue. Actual serious dialogue.” says Kim. “I decided to go with K-drama because I generally love how its stories and characters are executed. Plus, I figured that if I can direct in a different language and still get what I want, then English *might* be easier. After that the pieces just fell into places for me, so it was pretty simple putting it together.”
The project features Tim Park, along with Michael Lehr who has been making his presence known quite well this year in independent cinema, in accordance with his own career as a professional stuntman. Park, who speaks Korean natively contrary to everyone else, helped coach Lehr and fellow performer and EMC member Johnny Yang on their dialect for the project on the very day of filming. The choreography and pre-vizualiation earned a little more time with just a few days of preparation beforehand.
Of course, therein lies the simple question of how it all plays out as an inspired unofficial, albeit fan-driven and non-profit sequel to a film favorite for Kim, and what he loved most about the original film. “The relationships of the characters.” he says. “Everyone had a story, no matter how big or small the character.”.
If anything, on top of being a really great shortfilm, one could also look at this as an awesome recommendation to see the first film. Korean cinema has been blossoming in the eyes of the world for some time now, and it’s something I know the niche would enjoy. I, for one, hope to see it myself someday (purchased, not torrented, obviously). However, in the meantime, Spin Kick 2 is worth a looksy below.
Check it out, and then hit the subscribe button to stay in touch with the EMC Monkeys YouTube channel.
