Director confirms that Yoo Ah-in will appear in 'The Match' despite the drug scandal

By Baek Byung-Yeul

Kim Hyung-Ju, director of the film “The Match”, based on the Strategy Board Game Go, said on Friday that scenes with the lead actor Yoo Ah-in-Dessen Drug scandal delayed the release of the film.

“We worked out Yoo with regard to the trailers and advertising materials,” said the director on Friday during a press conference in Seoul. “However, the processing of yoo in the film would have made history impossible. Since it was a story about two people, there were structural problems.”

In September, Yoo was sentenced to one year in prison for the usual drug use. The 38-year-old actor was released last month after receiving a suspended prison sentence from an appellate court.

Due to its drug use, the film, which has postponed the relationship and rivalry between two go legend cho Hun-Hyun (Lee Byung-Hun) and Lee Chang-Ho (Yoo)-the publication several times.

“I want to believe that the audience will fully understand after the film has been published,” said the director. “From the point of view of a director, the film was wounded before it was published, and I didn't want to do any additional wounds.”

The film was to be published on Netflix, but its distributor BY4M Studio finally decided to publish it in the cinemas.

The director, known for his 2017 film “The Sheriff in Town”, said that the film was originally intended for the release of theater and he was happy to meet the audience in the cinemas.

Director Kim Hyung-Ju takes part in the press conference for his film “The Match” in a theater in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

“We initially prepared for a theater publication. I think the theater are making a film a film, so I was happy to get to know the audience in this area,” said Kim.

In this film, the senior actor Lee Byung-Hun Cho, the first Korean winner of the world's best go competition, the Ing Cup, plays in 1988.

Cho takes the child prodigy Lee Chang-Ho as his disciple in 1984 and lives and plays together. However, since his student's skills improve, he repeatedly loses him and, after a long determination, begins his challenge to regain the top position.

Lee Byung-Hun said he was confident that even those who do not know that the game would be fascinated by the attraction of this film.

“Since it is based on real people and a true story, the story itself has dramatic power,” said Lee Byung-Hun. “Although I didn't know anything about Go, the power of the drama was so great that I wanted to participate.”

The 54-year-old actor said that he learned delicate actions, such as: B. how to place stones and other hand gaps that are used in the game by taking lessons from a go player.

“I found the hand gestures for playing nothing special, but it was very difficult without hesitation to put a stone in the densely packed stones,” he said. “Of course I had to watch hand movements and techniques, but it was also difficult to express psychology in the middle of silence when playing.”

“The Match” will come to the cinemas on March 26.