Park So-dam becomes legendary singer for Lee Nan-young film

by tipsymocha

Oh, I love biopics! Park So-dam (Cinderella and the Four Knights) has been focusing on drama projects for the past year or so, but she’s taking on more Chungmuro roles with upcoming films Fifth Column and Good Day, and has added a new film, Lee Nan-young, to her schedule. The period film will be set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation, and will follow the titular Lee Nan-young, a legendary singer who rose to stardom despite her humble beginnings.

Lee Ok-rye, who would later go on to use stage name Lee Nan-young, was born in Japanese-occupied Mokpo in 1916 and was later raised by her mother on Jeju Island. There, she became a local performer who would sing right before theater plays or movies. At the young age of 16, she caught the eye of a record producer and became the voice behind the famous trot song “Tears of Mokpo.”

I’m kind of amazed to learn that “Tears of Mokpo” is so old (it was released in 1935), because I remember hearing versions of the song sung by other artists, and I assumed it was more recent. In general, Lee Nan-young’s eventful life sounds very film-worthy, from backwater small-time singer to the voice behind one of the greatest hits of her generation. If nothing else, I expect an amazing soundtrack bringing back the really old-school songs of that era. I look forward to Park So-dam’s portrayal, but I do wonder whether she’ll do her own singing. It would be great if she did.

Lee Nan-young will be directed by Lee Mi-yeon, whose credits include films Third Glance and Bus, Stop. I’m not very familiar with those films, but I’m pretty excited to see that the script will be written by Shin Yeon-shik, who wrote another occupation-era biopic that was released last year, Dong-ju: The Portrait of a Poet. Hopefully, Lee Nan-young won’t make me cry buckets of tears like I did for his last film.

Filming for Lee Nan-young was reportedly supposed to start sometime later this year, but it has been delayed. Park So-dam is currently busy preparing for her role, so my fingers are crossed that they’ll set a date to start production soon. For those of you interested, please see below the original version of “Tears of Mokpo”:

Via Osen

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