Overview of Pawn

‘Pawn’ is a South Korean movie released in 2020. It features Sung Dong-il, Ha Ji-won, Kim Hee-won, and Park So-yi in lead roles. Kang Dae-gyu directed the movie penned by Yoon Je-kyoon.

‘Pawn’ narrates the tale of a child and her guardians. Doo-seok (Sung Dong-il) and Jong-bae (Kim Hee-won) take the child Seung-yi as collateral from her mother. Seung-yi’s mother who is an illegal immigrant gets evicted from South Korea. As the child starts living with the men, they start to form a family-like bond.

Profile

• Name: ‘Pawn’
• Genre: Drama
• Starring: Sung Dong-il, Ha Ji-won, Kim Hee-won, Park So-yi
• Director: Kang Dae-gyu
• Writer: Yoon Je-kyoon
• Produced by: Yoon Je-kyoon
• Edited by: Yang jin-mo
• Cinematography: Yoon Joo-hwan
• Distributed by: CJ Entertainment
• Production Companies: JK Film, Redrover Co Ltd, Film Company Youn
• Running time: 113 minutes
• Release date: 29 September 2020
• Language: Korean
• Country: South Korea

Cast

Synopsis

Seung-yi works as a translator. While at work, she receives a call from her uncle Jong-bae, telling her that he has found Doo-seok. After her work, Seung-yi rushes to meet her uncle Jong-bae. Later, the story goes back to 1993 in South Korea.

Doo-seok and Jong-bae were retired soldiers. After returning from the army, they start to serve a finance company as debt collectors. One day, they meet a borrower lady walking with her nine-year-old daughter through the street. She has failed to pay the interest for the last two months. Therefore, Doo-seok confronts her and asks to repay the money, but the lady requests to give her more time. An angry Doo-seok grabs her daughter and tells her that he will return her the day she clears her debt.

Doo-seok and Jong-bae take Seung-yi (the child) to their house. They give her food and arrange a room for her. The next day, the duo take Seung-yi to their office. The manager of the finance company becomes angry with them for kidnapping a child. He orders them to return the child and bring him the debt from her mother.

The duo takes Seung-yi into their car and asks her about the place she stays. However, she jumps out of the car and runs away when they halt the car at the signal. Doo-seok and Jong-bae run after her and soon lose her in the street.

On the flip side, Seung-yi’s mother tries all the possible ways to get a loan from her acquaintances. Finally, as the last ray of hope, she calls her uncle to bring her child back home from the custody of Doo-seok and Jong-bae. The uncle agrees to send her the money. However, soon after she finishes up her call from the local call booth, she gets caught up by Korean police officers.

Seung-yi’s mother was an illegal immigrant in South Korea. Therefore, the Korean government decides to send her back to her native place in China.

Doo-seok goes to the government office to meet the lady, knowing the news. She tells him her uncle will repay the money and takes Seung-yi. Having no other choice, Doo-seok agrees.

On the other hand, Seung-yi reaches her home after a long walk. She packs her bag and writes a note on the board for her mother saying that she will find her. Seung-yi leaves her house in search of her mother by the time Doo-seok reaches.

Doo-seok finds her trying to escape from a beggar who is harassing her. Seung-yi pleads with Doo-seok to help her find her mother. He tells her that her mother has left Korea; therefore, she has to live with Doo-seok and Jong-bae till her uncle comes to collect her.

Seung-yi starts living with them, and soon she becomes a part of their lives. Doo-seok and Jong-bae buy her new dresses and take her to her favourite idol’s concert. Doo-seok buys her a CD and a CD player as a gift the day before her uncle arrives to collect her. Doo-seok gives her a pager, through which she can contact him and her mother.

After her departure, Doo-seok loses focus on his work. One day, he receives a message from her and starts to worry when he becomes unable to contact her. Therefore, Doo-seok finds out where her uncle lives, and learns that the old man has sold her. Through her next message, he finds out the bar where Seung-yi works. Doo-seok and Jong-bae go to rescue her and take her with them.

Doo-seok adopts her and enrolls her in a school. The three of them start to live happily and peacefully. Years later, one day, Seung-yi’s mother returns to Korea to meet her, but she sees Doo-seok coming back from work to pick her up. Seeing them happily, she returns to China.

Unexpectedly, Doo-seok receives a call from Seung-yi’s grandmother, telling him that Seung-yi’s mother is fighting a serious disease. Doo-seok takes Seung-yi to see her mother. On their return to South Korea, Doo-seok determines to find Seung-yi’s father upon her mother’s request. After a laborious search, Doo-seok finds Seung-yi’s father, now living with a rich family.

One evening, Doo-seok takes Seung-yi to her biological father, and he leaves. When he reaches his house, he receives a call from Seung-yi asking him to take her back with him. It makes him overjoyed, and he goes on his bike to pick her up from the restaurant. However, on his way, his vision blurs, and he loses control of his bike. It was the last day that Seung-yi met him.

Ten years later, the movie shows the current Korea. Jong-bae got information about a man named Park Doo-seok. Seung-yi and Jong-bae go to see the man but find that he is not the Doo-seok that they are searching for. Finally, with the help of the police, Seung-yi and Jong-bae find Doo-seok in an old age home.

Theme

‘Pawn’ tells the story of a family of three non-blood-related people. By sending the nine-year-old Seung-yi to school, Doo-seok becomes her adopted father. However, their life together gives Doo-seok a new reason to live forward. He chooses a better job to give Seung-yi a better life. As days pass, Doo-seok’s fatherly love grows, and he becomes fond of his adoptive daughter.

The same thing happens for Seung-yi. Even after Doo-seok shows Seung-yi her biological father, who is living a prosperous life, she chooses to live with her poor adopted father. Jong-bae, the friend and the only family of Doo-seok from the beginning supports him in every circumstance.

The movie shows love, friendship, and loyalty to each other, which resulted in constructing a family of choice.

Awards

• Golden Cinematography Awards 2021
  Best Young Actress – Park So-yi

Interesting Facts about Pawn

1. ‘Pawn’ was a domestic box-office hit and it became one of the highest-grossing films during the time of its release.
2. The filming of ‘Pawn’ began on 22 April 2019 and ended on 31 July 2019.
3. Most of the scenes in ‘Pawn’ were shot in Incheon, the northwest part of South Korea.
4. On 29 October 2020, ‘Pawn’ was screened at the London Korean Film Festival.
5. ‘Pawn’ was released on 1342 screens on 29 September 2020.

FAQs

1. Who is the director of ‘Pawn’?
   Kang Dae-gyu is the director of ‘Pawn’.
2. What is the Instagram ID of Ha Ji-won?
   @hajiwon1023.
3. When was the movie ‘Pawn’ released?
   The South Korean movie ‘Pawn’ was released on 29 September 2020.