Kingmaker (film)

Kingmaker is a 2022 South Korean political drama film, written and directed by Byun Sung-hyun for Seed Film and starring Sol Kyung-gu, Lee Sun-kyun and Yoo Jae-myung. It was scheduled to be theatrically released on December 29, 2021, but due to rapid increase in COVID-19 pandemic it was released on January 26, 2022, to coincide with Korean New Year holidays. The film was also officially invited in competition section at the 24th Udine Far East Film Festival held from April 22 to 30, 2022.

Premise
The film is based on anecdotal accounts of the working relationship between Kim Dae-jung and his political strategist Uhm Chang-rok during his political career. Seo Chang-dae is a political strategist who prioritizes winning above all else, while Kim Woon-beom is a politician with ambitions to become president so that he can change the country for the better.

Main

 * Sol Kyung-gu as Kim Woon-beom: the fictional lead character based on Kim Dae-jung, who later became the 8th President of South Korea
 * Lee Sun-kyun as Seo Chang-dae: based on Uhm Chang-rok, a political strategist

Supporting

 * Yoo Jae-myung as Kim Young-ho: the character based on Kim Young-sam, who later became the 7th President of South Korea
 * Jo Woo-jin as Director Lee: the character based on Lee Hu-rak, who served as the KCIA director from 1970 to 1973
 * Park In-hwan as Kang In-san: the character based on Yu Chin-san
 * Kim Sung-oh as Secretary Park: based on a composite of people who were Kim Dae-jung's vassals
 * Jeon Bae-soo as Lee's assistant
 * Seo Eun-soo as Soo-yeon, support staff
 * Kim Jong-soo as President: the character based on Park Chung-hee, the 3rd President of South Korea
 * Yoon Kyung-ho as Mr. Kim: the character based on Kim Hyong-uk, who served as the KCIA director from 1963 to 1969
 * Lee Hae-Young as Lee Han-Sang: the character based on Yi Cheol-seung
 * Park Hyung-soo as Jeong-hyeon
 * Kim Sae-byuk as Myung-sook
 * Jung Woo-hyuk as Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
 * Lee Hwa-ryong as opposition lawmaker
 * Yoon Se-woong as secretary Kim Woon-beom
 * Son Kyung-won as New Democratic Party campaigner

Special appearance

 * Bae Jong-ok as Hee-ran: the character based on Lee Hee-ho, Kim Dae-jung's wife
 * Jin Seon-kyu as Farmer
 * Kim Joo-ryoung as Professor Kang
 * Jang In-sub

Production
Sol Kyung-gu was cast in the film in July 2018 as politician and Lee Sun-kyun as political strategist. Director Byun Sung-Hyun and Sol Kyung-gu are working together after 2017 crime thriller film The Merciless. On March 29, 2019, on completion of cast line-up the script reading site was revealed by releasing photos.

Director Byun Sung-Hyun worked with his old team for the film. Art director Han Ah-reum, Kim Hong-jip and Lee Jin-hee (music) and Lee Gil-gyu, director of Lighting have worked with him on The Merciless. The film was produced with an estimated cost of.

Principal photography began on March 25, 2019. and It ended in July 30, 2019.

Release
The film was scheduled for release on December 29, 2021 but due to fresh wave of COVID-19 pandemic it has been postponed to January 2022 to coincide with Korean New Year holiday. It was released on January 26, 2022.

The film was officially invited in competition section of the 24th Udine Far East Film Festival held from April 22 to 30, 2022.

Home media
The film was made available for streaming on IPTV (Olleh TV, SK Btv, TV, LG U+TV), Home Choice, TVING, Naver TV, WAVVE, Google Play, KT skylife, Cinefox and KakaoPage from February 24, 2022.

Box office
The film was released on 1184 screens on January 26, 2022. As per Korean Film Council (Kofic) integrated computer network, the film opened at 2nd place with 58,974 admissions at the Korean box office. It maintained its no 2 position at the Korean box office for consecutive 14 days after its release.

, it is at 12th place among all the Korean films released in the year 2022, with gross of US$6.00 million and 775,583 admissions.

Critical response
Song Kyung-won of Cine21 wrote that the film differed from other political dramas and films as it focused on the relationships between the main characters rather than politics or the actual plot, given the fact that the storyline itself was a thinly-veiled reference to Kim Dae-jung's presidential election campaign. Song appreciated the direction of Byun Seong-hyeon's writing, "From the stylish scenes, sensuous shooting, and the strong chemistry between the characters, the director's talents are still alive." Concluding the review, Song observed that Seo's use of negative campaigning to help Kim win raised a fundamental question about whether the end justifies the means.