Crossing

Title: Crossing / 크로싱
Genre: Drama / Poverty / North Korea / Father & Son
Runtime: 105min.
Release date: June 26, 2008

Main Cast

Cha In-Pyo	Shin Myeong-Cheol
Kim Yong-Soo	Kim Joon

Synopsis

Yong-Soo (Cha In-Pyo) lives in a small coal-mine village in North Korea with his wife and young son. Although living in extreme poverty, the family is happy just to be with each other. Then one day, Yong-Soo’s pregnant wife becomes critically ill. Let alone medicine, Yong-soo can’t even find food for her in North Korea. So he secretly crosses the borders of China hoping to find the medicine for his wife. After many life threatening moments in China, Yong-Soo is forced into South Korea, becoming an unwanted refugee prohibited to return to his family. Meanwhile, his wife passes away leaving their young son alone in desperation. With no one to turn to, his young son sets out to find his father not knowing where or how to find him.

Notes

1. “Crossing” was first conceived in 2005, influenced by an MBC television documentary “30-Day Report on the Defectors in China, Part 2:Crossing Death”.
2. Tae-gyun Kim & Yoo-jin Lee conducted over 100 interviews with defectors, members of NGO, and brokers who help people to defect to make the film as realistic as possible.
3. Assistant Director Cheol-young Kim is a real life North Korean defector.
4. To perfect North Korean accents, cast members received lessons for 3 months from actual North Korean defectors.
5. Large portions of the film were filmed on location in China & Mongolia to accurately depict the escape route.
6. Scenes involving North Korean villages, were shot on location in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province (a South Korean coal mining town having housing most similar to the North Korean style) and the Beyiyo village of Mongolia.
7. “Crossing” was selected as Korea’s submission for the Best Foreign Film section at the 81st Academy Awards.

Trailer:

Download

CD1: Part 1 | Part 2 + Eng Subs
CD2: Part 1 | Part 2 + Eng Subs