Nobel Prize Winner Han Kang Sparks Theater Craze... Vegetarian and Scar Re-released

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A 'Han Kang fever' is sweeping the theater scene. Following the bestseller status of Han Kang's novels, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, two films based on her novels are meeting audiences again in theaters.

According to the film industry on the 21st, CGV has been exclusively screening Han's "The Vegetarian" and "Scar," based on "Baby Buddha" from the short story collection "My Woman's Fruit," since the 17th. They are available for viewing at 45 CGV theaters nationwide as well as at Art Nine and CineQ. Although both films were released in 2010 and 2011 respectively, they did not receive significant attention domestically. They were also hard to find on online video services (OTT) or IPTV, but have been re-released following renewed interest sparked by Han's award.

"The Vegetarian" is a low-budget independent film with a production cost of around 300 million KRW, depicting the story of a woman who suddenly refuses to eat meat and declares vegetarianism after living an ordinary life. It was invited to the 'Korean Cinema Today - Panorama' section at the 2009 Busan International Film Festival and the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

Re-released films based on novels by Han Kang are displayed on the reservation status board at a movie theater in Seoul [Photo by Yonhap News]

"Scar" is a 68-minute mid-length film portraying the lonely and precarious married life of a woman raised strictly with emotional dryness and a man obsessed with perfectionism due to an indelible scar. It was invited to the New Directors section at the San Sebasti?n International Film Festival in Spain. Both films were directed by Lim Woo-sung.

Ticket prices are 10,000 KRW for "The Vegetarian" and 6,000 KRW for "Scar." Jeon Jeong-hyun, head of CGV's content programming team, said, "We prepared this screening to meet the audience's interest in films based on Han's novels," adding, "In October, as autumn deepens, we hope people enjoy these two literature-based films in theaters."