Park Chan-wook’s iPhone Film

The "Oldboy" director goes consumer grade for a new short.

The latest film from Park Chan-wook, Korea’s great chronicler of revenge and its accoutrements, is a short shot entirely on the iPhone 4. According to Mobiledia:

The South Korean movie director screened his latest work, a short called “Paranmanjang,” which means “ups and downs” in Korean. The 30-minute fantasy-horror short, shot in collaboration with Park’s director brother Park Chan-kyong, was shot entirely on the iPhone and concerns a man transcending his current and former lives.

South Korean wireless provider KT Corp fronted a chunk of the $130,000 budget for the film, which will open in theaters there January 27th. The Guardian has a few more plot details:

Paranmanjang… is about a man transcending his current and former lives. He catches a woman while fishing in a river in the middle of the night. They both end up entangled in the line and he thinks she is dead.

Suddenly, though, she wakes up, strangles him and he passes out. When the woman awakens him, she is wearing his clothing and he hers. She cries and calls him “Father”.

No word on whether, if at all, the film will receive a US release — given its length, theatrical distribution seems unlikely. Park’s last feature, 2009′s “Thirst,” was released by Focus Features, but 2006′s “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK” never found a US distributor.

[Hat tip to Movie City News]