Production Notes

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CJ ENTERTAINMENT and SK PLANET Presents, a Directors Production

MY WAYSTARRING

Jang Dong-gunJoe Odagiri

Fan BingbingKim In-kwon

Written by: Kang Je-kyu and Kim Byung-inDirected by: Kang Je-kyu

Executive Producers: Miky Lee, So Jin-Woo, and Mu Xiao Guang

Release date: April 20th, 2012 – New York and Los Angeles / Expansion on May 4th Rated: R

Running time: 143 minutesKorean, Japanese, Russian, German with English subtitles

Distributed by: CJ Entertainment & PMK*BNC Filmswww.mywaymovie2012.com

Press Contacts:

New YorkNina Baron – Nina.Baron@pmkbnc.com – 212.373.6150Lee Meltzer – Lee.Meltzer@pmkbnc.com – 212.373.6142

Lindsay Firestone – Lindsay.Firestone@pmkbnc.com – 212.373.6131Marian Koltai-Levine – Marian.Koltai@pmkbnc.com – 212.373.6130

Los AngelesRachel Aberly – Rachel.Aberly@pmkbnc.com – 310.854.4812Morgan Ressa – Morgan.Ressa@pmkbnc.com – 310.854.4885Nicole Almira – Nicole.Almira@pmkbnc.com - 310.854.4897

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“My Way”

CAST

Jun-shik Jang Dong-gunTatsuo Joe OdagiriShirai Fan Bingbing

Jong-dae Kim In-kwonChunbok Kim Hee-won

Kwangchun Oh Tae-kyungMinwoo Kwak Jung-uk

Jun-shik’s Father Cheon Ho-jinSohn Ki-Jung Yoon Hee-won

Noda Yamamoto TaroMukai Hamada Manabu

Takakura Tsurumi ShingoTatsuo’s Grandfather Natsuyagi Isao

Tatsuo’s Father Sano ShiroTatsuo’s Mother Nakamura Kumi

Special Appearances by

Man with Microphone Kim Su-roEun-soo Lee Yeon-hee

League President HakuryuPress Conference Attendant Nicole (Kara)

High Ranking Banquet Official Yang Jin-suk

FILMMAKERS

Director Kang Je-kyuScreenwriter Kang Je-kyu

Kim Byung-inExecutive Producers Miky Lee

So Jin-wooMu Xiao Guang

Producers Kang Je-kyuKim Yong-hwa

Line Producers Tomas MakarasSon Min-gyu

Cinematography Lee Mo-gaeEditing Park Gok-ji

Production Design Joh Geun-hyunCostume Design Kim Jong-won

Original Music Lee Dong-junSpecial Effects Jung Do-ahn

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“My Way”

Short synopsis

After emerging as bitter rivals and enemies as young marathon runners, Korean native Kim Jun-shik

and Japanese aristocrat Tatsuo Hasegawa both find themselves in the Japanese army, fighting the Chinese

and Soviets in a bloody battle. Jun-shik is there under duress, while Tatsuo is a powerful colonel. After

both are taken prisoner by the Soviets, their mutual hatred and mistrust boils over into a violence that is only

stopped by the continuing horror of the war. Forced to fight for the Soviets, the two eventually rely on each

other for survival, making it to Germany, where they are in turn separated and forced to fight for the Nazis.

They meet again at Normandy Beach, both unlikely survivors, bonded together by history as they struggle to

survive one more terrible battle as the Allies arrive on D-Day.

Long Synopsis

1936: when athlete Sohn Ki-jung becomes the first Korean to ever earn a medal at the Olympics,

taking the gold in the prestigious marathon event, it is an inspiration to the Korean people, who are under

Japanese occupation. Particularly inspired is young Kim Jun-shik, whose father works as a servant for a

prominent Japanese official. But he has a new rival – Tatsuo Hasegawa, the official’s grandson, newly

arrived from Tokyo, who has dreams of marathon glory himself. The two become intense competitors,

trading championships while training for the 1940 games in Tokyo.

But in 1938, the Japanese authorities rule that Koreans are ineligible for the Olympics. After public

outcry, Jun-shik is allowed to compete. At the finish line of the qualifying competition, Jun-shik edges out

Tatsuo – only to be disqualified for defending himself against a Japanese runner who tried to trip him. A

riot ensues, involving Jun-shik and his best friend, Jong-dae. Their punishment, handed out by a Japanese

judge, is to be conscripted into the Japanese army. Meanwhile, Tatsuo rejects his father’s advice of medical

school and chooses instead to fight for his native Japan.

Two years later, Jun-shik and his friends are little more than slaves in the bloody battle with the

Soviets and Chinese at the Mongolian border. Used as little more than pawns and ordered to fight to the

death, off the battle field they are humiliated by the Japanese soldiers, who treat them like dogs. After a

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particularly disastrous battle, Tatsuo, now a powerful colonel, arrives to take command. When Jun-shik

refuses to go along on a suicide mission, he is thrown in detention to be executed, alongside a female

Chinese sniper, Shirai. That night, Jun-shik’s friends spring him and Shirai from custody, and at dawn they

all escape. But when Jun-shik sees Soviet tanks on the horizon, he decides to return to the Japanese camp to

warn them. In the battle that ensues, thousands of Japanese die as Tatsuo commands them all to rush

forward and sacrifice themselves for the Emperor and glory of Japan. Jun-shik pleads with Tatsuo to stop

and order a retreat, but Tatsuo refuses. He drags Jun-shik towards the fray…

The next thing either man knows, they are in a crowded transport bound for a frozen Soviet POW

camp. At the camp, Jun-shik finds his friend Jong-dae – now called “Anton” – in charge of the prisoners

and swearing fealty to the Soviet cause. Now, it is the Koreans who can mistreat the Japanese, which Jong-

dae seems to delight in to the point of sadistic cruelty. Jun-shik and Tatsuo are clear enemies, but as each of

them observe the horrors of the camp – men with frostbite are thrown in incinerators to die – they start to

form a bond. Soon, word comes of the Germans attacking the Russians in the west, and the prisoners are

given an ultimatum: fight for the USSR or die. Reluctantly, Jun-shik and Tatsuo don Soviet uniforms.

In another vicious battle, Tatsuo sees first-hand how absurd it is to order men to sacrifice themselves

for a losing cause, as the Soviets are massacred by the Nazis for a small section of land. Wounded but alive,

Jun-shik manages to get a bleeding Tatsuo out of the fray, and the two trek over the mountains, hoping to

find the border with Germany. With Tatsuo losing consciousness, Jun-shik goes to get help, but instead is

taken prisoner…

Two years later, Tatsuo has recovered and is part of a special troupe of former POWs who have been

forced to fight for the Nazis. At Normandy, he is stunned to see someone running for exercise along the

shore – it is Jun-shik. Jun-shik has grown mostly deaf from his wounds. The long, troubled rivalry with

Tatsuo has now emerged into a bond of reliable trust: both men vow to survive the war and return to their

homes and run the marathon again. When word comes that the troops are to be shipped to Calais, where the

Allies are expected to land, they make plans to escape to a ship that will return them to Asia. But the next

morning, the sound of planes overhead indicates the Allies are attacking. Fighting side-by-side while trying

to forge a plan of escape, Tatsuo and Jun-shik work together – only to see one of them fall in the final

moments of the battle, sacrificing himself for the other.

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Four years later, in a London marathon, an Asian runner emerges from the pack in the final mile to

win the race….as he crosses the finish line, he remembers the sacrifice of the friend who was once his

enemy.

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“My Way”

About the Production

International audiences are used to seeing World War II from the side of the Allies: award-winning

films such as “Patton” and “Saving Private Ryan” have helped to define the genre by offering compelling

battle sequences alongside rich characterization. More recently, in Clint Eastwood’s “Flags of Our Fathers”

and “Letters from Iwo Jima,” the war has been considered from multiple perspectives, as a single battle was

presented from both the American and Japanese perspective.

Now comes the most expensive film ever produced in Korea, from Kang Je-kyu, one of the nation’s

most acclaimed and successful directors. “My Way” tells the story of the war from the most unlikely of

perspectives, as a backdrop against the bitter rivalry that evolves into a powerful friendship between a

Korean and Japanese soldier. With battle sequences that rival any found in a Hollywood film, an

international cast, and a story that covers a decade across two continents, “My Way” is a thrilling and

consuming drama that transcends borders and nationality, revealing the horror of war and the power of hope.

Filmmaker Kang Je-kyu was inspired by a documentary he saw in Korea about a photograph that had

recently been unearthed by the United States National Archives. Taken shortly after D-Day, the photograph

shows a number of Nazi POWs – among them, a small man of clearly Asian descent. He spoke little

German and no English, but eventually his story was told to the American authorities. The ultimate pawn in

the deadly game of war, the Korean native had been conscripted into the Japanese army, and subsequently

taken as a POW by the Soviets, then the Germans.

Realizing the cinematic potential of the man’s story, Kang began assembling a story inspired by this

forgotten soldier, in a project that would ultimately take him seven years to realize and become the Korean

film industry’s most imaginative and ambitious film to date. "I gave my best effort and passion that I have

spared for the past seven years while producing this film,” he explained in an interview.

Kang is known as one of Korea’s most successful directors of action films. His 1999 breakthrough

spy thriller “Shiri” became the nation’s box-office champion upon its release, the first film to sell over six

million admissions in Korea. Four years later, “Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War,” an epic about the

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Korean War, nearly doubled that take, and still ranks as the third-most successful Korean film of all time.

But he knew that “My Way” would require more than just an epic vision and exciting action sequences.

“The film touches upon sensitive historical issues,” he explains, citing the still-sensitive historical tension

concerning the Japanese occupation of Korea. “But it’s not a conventional war story featuring perpetrators

and victims. It strives to transmit humanist message, as it is about not giving up on your dreams even

through the turmoil of war and even learning to forgive because of that dream.”

With a production budget of 28 billion won (about $23 million), “My Way” is the first Korean film

to deal with the subject of World War II. To capture the scope of Jun-shik and Tatsuo’s story, the film

needed to recreate battlefronts scattered across the globe, including the Nomonhan Incident of 1939 (along

the Mongolian-Chinese border), a Nazi-Soviet clash in 1941, and the Invasion of Normandy (D-Day) in

1944.

As a complement to the ambitious technical scale, the central story of “My Way” is strengthened by

relationship between two marathon runners, one Korean and one Japanese, who come to the battlefields as

former athletic rivals but over time become each other’s greatest hope for survival. On a 7500 mile journey

from occupied Korea to the Soviet Union to Germany to France, the horrors of war and their powerful

instinct for survival force the men to set aside their prior bitterness.

Dramatizing the characters’ epic lives and visualizing their experiences was like having to make

several different films: the first half-hour of “My Way” details the passionate rivalry that evolves as young

Jun-shik and Tatsuo emerge as Olympic hopefuls against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation of Korea.

Subsequent sequences see them serving in the Japanese army, a Soviet POW camp, with the Soviet army,

and finally with the Nazis at Normandy – each portion of the film featuring enough plot twists and

emotional tension to be films in and of themselves. After two years of research, three years of writing the

final screenplay and fourteen months of pre-production, the shooting of “My Way” began in October 2010,

and wrapped up 156 days later.

For the lead role of Jun-shik, Kang reunited with his star from “Tae Guk Gi,” Korean leading man

Jang Dong-gun. The role of Tatsuo was given to Japanese actor Joe Odagiri, who had made films in Korea

previously and has fans and box-office appeal in both countries. Adding to the Pan-Asian appeal of the cast

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is actress Fan Bingbing, one of China’s top television, film, and recording stars (and winner of the Best

Actress Award at the 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival), cast in the supporting role of Shirai, the

vengeance-fueled sniper who helps Jun-shik avoid death at the hands of a Russian fighter pilot. Rounding

out the cast is the scene-stealing Kim In-kwon, cast as Jun-shik’s best friend Jong-dae. Although at first

something of comic relief, Jong-dae becomes a symbol for the horror of war when his elevated position at

the Russian POW camp turns him into a ruthless tyrant mad with abusive power.

In addition to finding a cast that could carry the emotional weight of the film, Kang and his

production crew took painstaking measures to ensure that the look of the film was both realistic in terms of

historical accuracy while still taking advantage of the latest cinematic technology. They spent almost two

years researching locations that could stand in for parts of Asia, Russia, Eastern and Western Europe. In the

end, the production was supported by a staff of over 170 Korean film professionals behind the cameras and

over 16,000 extras.

To maximize production costs, Kang’s crew made the decision to reconstruct the Japanese, Soviet,

and German army camps on the south coast of Korea at Saemangeum, the world’s largest man-made sea

barrier. An area of nearly 250 square miles was divided into three sectors to represent three distinct areas

that help make up the film’s diverse backdrops.

Duplicating the beaches of Normandy, France, however, was a more daunting task. Searching for

suitable locations near the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Caspian Sea, the crew eventually settled on

a stretch of beach located on the Baltic Sea in the country of Latvia. Ultimately, the Latvian shoot included

a total of 200 crew members, half of them local Latvians, Russians, Lithuanians, Germans, Norwegians, and

Swiss. A thorough preparation, great collaboration between Korean and non-Korean crews, and a warm

welcome from Latvia contributed to the overwhelming success of Normandy Invasion sequence, which

rivals that of “Saving Private Ryan” in terms of technical detail and epic scope.

Making the intense battle sequences work meant careful coordination between the camera and effects

crews. The most pressing issue was to visualize battle scenes as realistically as possible – something that

none of the Korean professionals had any experience with, as they had never worked on a film set during

World War II. Director of Photography Lee Mo-gae used five different cameras and ten different shooting

techniques. For the battle scenes, two RED MX, one Arriflex 435 and two Canon 5D Mark 2 cameras were

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used. The production also utilized body cams equipped to the bodies and helmets of actors; electric and

propeller-powered wirecams; manned and unmanned helicopter shooting; super high speed and underwater

shooting; wire shooting with the DP holding the camera while tied to a wire; and an air-pressure shooting

system. The air pressure shooting system was developed by Lee and special effects director Jung Do-ahn:

the camera is attached on the line, propelled forward with air pressure, and stopped at an exact location. This

technique was used in Shirai’s sniper scenes, which resemble the famous cornfield sequence from Alfred

Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” contributing immensely to delivering images as if from a fast-flying

bullets’ point of view.

“My Way” also features large amounts of aerial shooting, specifically to encompass thousands of

soldiers fighting and huge explosions in one shot. Wirecam and wireless helicams were used in the

sequences shot in Korea. But in Latvia, it was impossible to adopt the same system because of Latvia’s

strong winds. Ultimately, Kang called upon the specialized Norwegian helicopter shooting team Blue Sky,

also renowned in Hollywood for its aerial talent and recently employed for David Fincher’s “The Girl with

the Dragon Tattoo.” On the day of shooting, the best pilot in Norway placed Blue Sky’s helicopter Pegasus

wherever it needed to be, enabling Kang and Lee to capture the most dangerous moment of the invasion

from a birds-eye perspective.

The production crew’s efforts to realistically portray WWII are also evidenced in the sets and props,

from a fully constructed 12-meter high building — which ultimately came down in a concluding explosion

captured on camera — to Japanese jeeps, Soviet tanks and German armoured cars. A healthy portion of the

film’s budget was spent on building the sets from materials actually used during World War II, including the

era’s distinct red bricks. In addition, two Soviet BT5 tanks were specially made for a perfect historical

depiction, delivered from England to be renovated and restored to almost-new status. Japanese trucks and

jeeps, German motorcycles and armoured cars, and an additional Soviet BT5 tank were made in Korea.

Finally, the film is supported by a lush and dramatic score by composer Lee Dong-Jun, who had

worked with Kang previously on “Tae Guk Gi.” Viewers will undoubtedly recognize the voice of opera

superstar Andrea Bocelli over the closing credits, singing the song “To Find My Way” composed especially

for the film.

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Facts about production:

Script writing and verification period: 3 years Data collected for historical research: 300GB Pre-production period: 14months Preparation for international locations: approximately 2 years Latvia location shooting: approximately 1 month Production cost: 28 billion won (approximately $23 million dollars) Number of Korea production staff: approximately 170 Number of Latvia production staff: Koreans approximately 90; Latvians approxi-mately 80 Total number of extras: 16,668 Number of cameras used for battle scenes: 5 in total: RED MX-2: ARRIFLEX 435-1; CANON 5D;

MARK2-2 Firearms used: 18 kinds; 263 in total Bullets used: 57,500 in total, Korea 32,000; Latvia 25,500 Number of military uniforms used: 1,100: Kwantung army, 300 made; Soviet prisoners, 200 made;

Soviet-German war convert 100 made; Normandy invasion, German, 250 rented; Normandy Landing, US, 250 rented

Production cost of Saemangeum set: approximately 2 billion won ($1.8 million) Production period: 8 months / 242 days (including 2 days of miniature shooting) Shooting days, including 2 days of miniature shooting: 156 in total Locations across the country: 12 regions: Saemanguem; Jeonju; Jung-eup;

Hapcheon; Andong; Ansung; Seoul; Bucheon; Muju; Youngju; Taebaek Busan Total shots taken: 5,441 cuts , including 1,500 CG

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“My Way”

About the Cast

Jang Dong-gun (Kim Jun-shik)

For fans of Asian cinema, Jang Dong-gun needs little introduction. As the star of some of Korea’s

biggest box-office hits (“Friend,” “Tae Guk Gi”) as well as lesser known art house films (Kim Ki-duk’s

“The Coast Guard”) and popular actioners, Jang represents the best of Korean talent. From a dandy

president who seeks love, to a cold, heartless warrior, his diversity and ability to transform have proven his

seemingly limitless talent to audiences. Other credits include the Chinese film “The Promise,” the Korean

blockbuster “Typhoon,” and the English-language fantasy “The Warrior’s Way” with Geoffrey Rush and

Kate Bosworth. His next film will be the Chinese adaptation of “Dangerous Liaisons,” entitled “Weixian

Guanxi” and co-starring Zhang Ziyi and Cecelia Cheung. He is married to Korean actress Ko So-young.

Joe Odagiri (Hasegawa Tatsuo)

After majoring in performance at Fresno State University in California, Joe Odagiri began his acting

career on television and quickly made the leap to film. His solitary persona and intense looks won him

immediate popularity with movie-goers. He cultivated a substantial fan base in Korea following films such

as “La Maison De Himiko,” “Yureru,” and “Tokyo Tower.” He won the award for Best New Actor from the

Japanese academy for his role in “Azumi,” and later received the Best Supporting Actor award for “Blood

and Bones.” A fashion icon and exemplar of “Japan Cool,” he is also the author of two books and two

collections of photography, and has made two albums of his music.

Fan Bingbing (Shirai)

Fan Bingbing has become one of China’s most prominent actresses alongside Gong Li and Zhang

Ziyi. Starting off in the Chinese television series “Princess Pearl,” she soon crossed over into film and

music, becoming one of her country’s most recognizable and beloved stars. Her other credits include the

2003 box-office champ “Cell Phone” (for which she won China’s Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress,

the equivalent of the Golden Globe); Li Yu’s “Lost in Beijing”; the martial arts film “Flash Point”;

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“Shinkjuku Incident” produced by and starring Jackie Chan; Teddy Chan’s award-winning “Bodyguards and

Assassins”; and David Carradine’s final film “Stretch.”

Kim In-kwon (Jong-Dae)

Kim In-kwon is a seasoned actor with vast experience gained after making his debut in two award-

winning 1999 films, “Rainbow Trout” and “Peppermint Candy.” Since then, his more notable credits

include “The Anarchists” opposite Jang Dong-gun, his “My Way” co-star; the thriller “H”; Yun Je-gyun’s

“Tidal Wave”; and the comedy “He’s on Duty.”

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“My Way”

About the Filmmakers

Kang Je-kyu (Director)

Although he has only made a handful of feature films, Kang Je-kyu is one of Korea’s most

prominent and respected filmmakers. After writing and producing a number of action thrillers in the early

1990s, he made his directorial debut in 1996 with the fantasy/romance actioner “The Gingko Bed.” His next

two films each subsequently became all-time box-office champions in Korea and established him as an

international powerhouse. “Shiri,” released in 1999, was the first Hollywood-style action film produced in

Korea, an espionage film that involved a potential plot to reunify South and North Korea. The film shattered

“Titanic”’s record in Korea by besting the total number of admissions by two million over the James

Cameron blockbuster, and inspired the hit Korean television series “Iris.” Five years later, Kang released

“Tae Guk Gi: Brotherhood of War,” a big-budget epic about two brothers fighting during the Korean War.

On a then-record budget of just under $13 million, the film grossed almost $70 million worldwide, earning

Best Director and Best Picture at the Asia Pacific Film Festival, and was hailed by festivals and awards

organizations around the world for its technical precision and dynamic visual style. “Tae Guk Gi” is still the

third-most successful Korean film ever in terms of total admissions, while “Shiri” ranks 18th (and the only

film made before 2003 in the top 20). Despite being courted by Hollywood studios, Kang chose to continue

working in Korea, investing his passion into the long process of making “My Way.”

Lee Mo-gae (Director of Photography)

Since making his debut lensing 2003’s “A Tale of Two Sisters,” a horror film that earned

international acclaim, Lee Mo-gae has been one of Korea’s most in-demand cinematographers. His

subsequent credits include “Springtime” (Special Award, Tokyo International Film Festival); the romantic

dramas “April Snow” and “More than Blue”; the ensemble drama “Traces of Love”; the Manchurian

western “The Good, the Bad, and the Weird” (for which Lee won the award for Best Cinematography at the

Asia Pacific Screen Awards); and the buddy-thriller “Secret Reunion.”

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Joe Geun-hyun (Production Designer)

Production designer Joh Geun-hyun has become the Korean film industry’s most acclaimed art

director since his sensible and detailed art direction in his debut “L’abri.” His other films include “A Tale of

Two Sisters,” “Duelist,” “Forbidden Quest,” “Radio Days,” and “Gogo 70.”

Jung Do-ahn (Special Effects)

Jung Do-ahn is widely regarded as one of the most imaginative pioneers of special effects in Korean

cinema. With over a dozen credits in the last five years alone, he remains one of the industry’s busiest

specialists. Recent credits include “Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan,” “War of the Arrows,” “The Front

Line,” “I Saw the Devil,” “The Unjust,” “Jeon Woochi: The Taoist Wizard,” “The Good, the Bad, and the

Weird,” “Gingko Bed 2,” and Kang Je-kyu’s “Shiri” and “Tae Guk Gi.”

Park Gok-ji (Editor)

Park Gok-ji is widely regarded as Korean cinema’s most accomplished editor, as she has edited over

80 films since 1991. She served as Kang Je-kyu’s editor for “Shiri” (for which she received the award for

Best Editing at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival) and “Tae Guk Gi.” Her other credits include “Take Off,” “A

Frozen Flower,” “A Dirty Carnival” and “The Spirit of Jeet Keun Do.”

Lee Dong-jun (Music Director)

Lee Dong-jun has over two dozen film credits dating back two decades, including working with

Kang Je-kyu on “Shiri” and “Tae Guk Gi.” His numerous other credits include “Champ,” “Into the Fire,”

“Libera Me,” “Lump of Sugar,” and “A Family.”