Steel Rain 2: Summit

Steel Rain 2: Summit (Korean: 강철비2: 정상회담; Hanja: Gangchulbi 2: Jungsanghwedam) is a 2020 South Korean action thriller film[3] written and directed by Yang Woo-suk. It is a standalone sequel to the 2017 film Steel Rain. In the film, three leaders each from South Korea, North Korea and USA are kidnapped and held in a North Korean nuclear submarine during a summit between the two Koreas and the United States. It stars Jung Woo-sung as the South Korean president, Kwak Do-won as the North Korean Supreme Guard Command Chief, Yoo Yeon-seok as the North Korean Leader and Angus Macfadyen as the United States president.

Steel Rain 2: Summit
Poster
Directed byYang Woo-suk
Screenplay byYang Woo-suk
StarringJung Woo-sung
Kwak Do-won
Music byKim Tae-seong
Production
company
Studio Genius Woojeung[1]
Distributed byLotte Cultureworks
Release date
  • July 29, 2020 (2020-07-29)
Running time
131 minutes[2]
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean

The film was theatrically released in South Korea on 29 July 2020.

Synopsis

Striving for a successful peace treaty between North Korea and USA, the South Korean President Han Kyeong-Jae attends a summit along with the North Korean Leader and the United States President. In the meantime, a coup takes place in North Korea, led by the Supreme Guard Command Chief, who opposes the peace treaty. This is when the three leaders are kidnapped and held in a North Korean nuclear submarine, resulting in a crisis near the brink of war.

Cast
  • Jung Woo-Sung as Han Kyeong-Jae, the President of South Korea
  • Kwak Do-won as North Korean Supreme Guard Command Chief
  • Yoo Yeon-Seok as North Korean Leader
  • Angus Macfadyen as United States President

Production

Development
"I personally believe the North Korean regime is more likely to collapse due to a military-led coup rather than nuclear weapons. However, South Korea is not really prepared for a crisis within North Korea ― a coup and a civil war among warring factions. Therefore, I wanted to offer a cinematic simulation on the future of the two Koreas."

— Yang Woo-suk during an interview with The Korea Times.

Writer and director Yang Woo-suk wanted to offer a cinematic simulation on the future of the two Koreas. According to him, the previous film showed the outbreak of war between the two Koreas, while this film shows a "more realistic approach to the situation on the Korean Peninsula that involves more than just the two countries." He also wanted to present the reality that the fate and stability of the Korean Peninsula are determined by other countries. He also explained the film's division into three parts: the historical background and international politics behind the conflict, some black comedy elements and the battle sequences between submarine and underwater missile attacks. He was worried that the long dialogues in the beginning could bore viewers, but also found them integral for explaining the complexity of inter-Korean relations.

He further described the power struggle inside the submarine as a metaphor for the inter-Korean conflict, further hinting a future sequel might be about families.[4]

Casting

Yang Woo-suk casted the same actors but changed their roles, especially their sides. A few changes were made in the other cast members for China, Japan and USA. Yang deemed it a symbol of the current regional dynamics remaining the same even though South and North Korea change their approaches, since geopolitics in the region is decided by external factors.

Jung Woo-sung, who portrays the South Korean President, felt the film saw the Korean Peninsula from "a cool-headed point of view". He studied a lot about the history of inter-Korean summits and presidents, and had to imagine what the leaders thought of the future, the Korean Peninsula and how they led the summits. He described the film as an action thriller instead of a moral lecture.[3] Yoo Yeon-seok, who portrays the North Korean Leader, was initially reluctant to play the role as he couldn't imagine himself playing a North Korean Leader. He said the film featured geopolitical situations in a realistic way, but its being fictional allowed him to create his own character: a leader who felt great pressure to retain the regime against regional superpowers. Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen was chosen to play the United States President.[5] He thought of his character as a vulgar and narcissistic man who thought of himself as always right and everyone else as wrong.[6] Kwak Do-won, who plays the Supreme Guard Command, thought his character wasn't merely a villain. Given that North Korea has shown different attitudes towards South Korea in the real world, he tried to depict an aspect of North Korea that contrasts with Yoo's character.

Filming

The filming began on 27 August 2019.[7] While filming on the sets, Yoo Yeon-seok felt "the psychological pressure of being in the dark, deep water." He further added that the restricted location helped in portraying the slightest changes in power relationship and emotions more sensitively.[8]

Box office

The film debuted on the number one spot at the South Korean box office, attracting a million viewers in just five days of its release.[9][10][11] Trade experts found the collections to be disappointing and lower than the prequel, but decent given the COVID-19 slowdown.[12][13]

References
  1. "Companies Directory: STUDIOGENIUSWOOJEUNG CO., LTD". KoBiz -Korean Film Biz Zone.
  2. "강철비2: 정상회담(2019)". Daum Movies.
  3. "[HanCinema's News] Jung Woo-sung Talks About "Steel Rain 2: Summit"". HanCinema. Retrieved 6 August 2020. Jung Woo-sung described "Steel Rain 2: Summit" as being an action thriller rather than a moral lecture.
  4. "[INTERVIEW] 'Steel Rain 2: Summit' offers cinematic imagining of 2 Koreas' future". The Korea Times. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  5. "'Steel Rain 2' intended to dramatize geopolitics on Korean Peninsula, says director". The Korea Times. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  6. "'Steel Rain 2: Summit' features summits and submarines". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  7. "'Steel Rain' spinoff coming soon". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  8. "Summit takes place on submarine in 'Steel Rain 2'". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  9. "Action Sequel Attracts 1 Million Viewers in About a Week". HanCinema. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  10. "Korean Box Office for the Weekend 2020.07.31 ~ 2020.08.02". HanCinema. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  11. "Korea Box Office: 'Steel Rain 2' Keeps Cinemas in Motion". Variety. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  12. "[HanCinema's News] Blockbusters Persist But Have Yet to Excel at South Korean Box Office". HanCinema. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  13. "Local Hits Continue to Dominate COVID-19 Market". KoBiz -Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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