Doomsday Book is a 2012 South Korean science-fictionanthology film directed by Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung. It tells three unique stories of human self-destruction in the modern high-tech era, while displaying an alternative form of genuine humanity and compassion. A Brave New World is a political satire about a viral zombie outbreak; The Heavenly Creature philosophizes on whether a robot can achieve enlightenment; and in Happy Birthday a dysfunctional family bonds in the midst of an apocalypse. It won the top prize at the 2012 Fantasia Festival. The jury honored it with the Cheval Noir Award for best film for "its intelligence and originality."
Production
Doomsday Book was originally conceived as a three-part anthology film to be directed by Kim Jee-woon, Yim Pil-sung, and Han Jae-rim. Filming began on May 21, 2006, but shortly after Kim and Yim had shot their segments, financing fell apart and the film was put on hold. Han's third segment titled "The Christmas Gift" was never shot, and the two thirds remained unreleased. But in 2010 with backing from new investor TimeStory, shooting restarted quietly with Yim and Kim collaborating on a new third installment to the trilogy with Yim as the lead director and Kim in more of a "guest director" role. It was pre-sold to six countries at the Berlin Film Market and screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
Left alone after his parents go abroad on a holiday with his sister, geeky research scientist Yoon Seok-woo disposes of the accumulated rubbish in the family flat, which includes a rotten apple. Through the waste disposal system, the apple enters the food chain in the form of recycled feed for cows. Seok-woo and his date, Kim Yoo-min, end up eating the toxic beef during a barbecue one evening, and soon they and the rest of the population become flesh-eating zombies. Directed by Yim Pil-sung. Written by Yim Pil-sung, Lee Hwan-hee. Also starring Kim Roi-ha, Lee Kan-hee, Hwang Hyo-eun, Ma Dong-seok, Jung Woo, Choi Deok-moon, Kim Mu-yeol, Bong Joon-ho, Park Ho-young, and Yoon Je-moon.
The Heavenly Creature
Park Do-won, a young technician employed by robotics corporation UR International, is called out to check an RU-4 robot named In-myung employed at a Buddhist monastery. In-myung has become Buddhist and claims to have achieved enlightenment; the monks want to know whether he really is one or is just a robot with a technical glitch. Do-won gives In-myung a clean bill of technical health but says he is unqualified to do any more. Later, UR chairman Kang, and his team led by research executive Min, arrive at the monastery to decommission In-myung, on the grounds that he is an old series. Do-won and Bodhisattva Hye-joo then try to save the robot from its imminent demise. Written and directed by Kim Jee-woon. Original story by Park Seong-hwan. Also starring Jo Yoon-hee, Lee Bong-gyu, and Jung Jae-jin.
Happy Birthday
Young Park Min-seo secretly orders a replacement 8 Ball from a strange website so her pool-obsessed father and nerdy uncle Hwan won't notice she's damaged it. She throws the original ball out of the window and it drops down a hole in the street. Two years later, South Korea is threatened by an asteroid that looks exactly like a giant version of the 8 Ball. In their underground shelter, the family tries to cancel the order via the extraterrestrial website. Ten years later, the adult Min-seo and her family emerge from their shelter. Directed by Yim Pil-sung. Written by Yim Pil-sung, Jang Jong-ah. Original story by Park Su-min. Also starring Yoon Se-ah, Ryu Seung-soo, Lee Young-eun, John Kim, Kevin Lee, Oh Jae-min, Kim Ok-jin, Jung Chul, Jo Seung-min, Nam Yoon-young, Go Joon-hee, Lee Kyung-ho, and Lee Sang-joon.
