Epitaph


Korean name
Hangul	기담
Hanja	奇談
Revised Romanization	Gidam
McCune–Reischauer	Kidam

Directed by	Jung Sik Jung Bum-shik
Written by	Jung Sik, Jung Bum-shik
Produced by	Jang So-jeong
Starring	Jin Goo Kim Tae-woo Kim Bo-kyung Ko Joo-yeon
Cinematography	Yoon Nam-joo
Edited by	Kim Sang-bum Kim Jae-bum
Music by	Park Yeong-ran
Release date	August 1, 2007 (2007-08-01)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean、Japanese
Budget	US$2.8 million
Box office	US$4,443,849^[1]

Epitaph (Korean: 기담; Hanja: 奇談; RR: Gidam) is a 2007 South Korean film directed by brothers Jung Sik and Jung Bum-shik. The film is a horror film set primarily in 1942, while Korea was under the colonial rule of Japan. It is framed by scenes set in 1979.

Plot

Dr. Park Jung-nam finds a photo album dating back to his days as an intern at the Ansaeng Hospital. This triggers memories of his life. In 1942, as a young medical intern, Jung-nam's arranged marriage ended when his fiancée, whom he had never met, committed suicide. Later he was assigned to monitor the morgue late at night. There he fell in love with a corpse, which is later revealed as the body of his deceased fiancée. Soon other mysterious events take place in the hospital, involving a young girl haunted by ghosts and a serial killer targeting Japanese soldiers.

Cast

Kim Bo-kyung as Kim In-yeong
Jin Goo as Park Jeong-nam
Lee Dong-kyu as Lee Su-In
Kim Tae-woo as Kim Dong-won
Ko Joo-yeon as Asako
Park Ji-a as mother
David McInnis as father
Kim Ju-hyeon as Aoi
Kim Eung-soo as Akiyama
Choi Jae-hwan as Jae-hwan
Jeon Moo-song as Professor Park Jung-nam
Choi Dae-woong as Professor Jung
Jung Ji-ahn as Nurse Choi
Ye Soo-jung as Director of Ansang Hospital
Kong Ho-suk as Japanese General
Son Young-soon as old woman
Kim Ja-young as head nurse
Uhm Tae-goo as Japanese soldier 1
Son In-yong as Japanese soldier 2

Critical reception

The cinematography, directing and acting by horror film mainstays Kim Eung-soo and Ye Soo-jeong have earned the film praise as "visually as well as intellectually impressive, with some gorgeous cinematography and wonderfully composed shots,"^[2] and "a significant contribution to rehabilitating K-horror's international reputation."^[3]