Who Is Ryu Deok-Hwan?

Ryu Deok-Hwan on set of "Our Town"

Can you believe that this fresh-faced lad in the picture above is a serial killer? He must possess great acting talent then, to have convinced me in the slasher Korean flick ”Our Town”.

This young, promising actor sent me on a movie marathon recently after I saw him in ”Our Town” – which I’ve dreaded to watch ever since I bought the DVD some time ago, because I just don’t have the stomach for the horror genre.

When I finally mustered enough courage to plod it into my DVD player, I wondered why it took me this long – it’s a decent enough film (at least it’s not some senseless slasher Korean flick) with some pretty good acting and direction all round.   

Two characters caught my attention right away – Ryu Deok-Hwan and his dog. By the way, the 22-year-old actor played a serial killer in “Our Town” and he killed his dog just half hour into the  movie because it ate his lunch.

I guess one is not supposed to like the serial killer – because that would probably mean the actor didn’t do justice to the character. Or maybe it’s the plot that set him up so that he garnered some sympathy votes? It’s a little of both… his character is burdened with a sad story, but a serial is supposed to inflict fear. I was disappointed with the scene where he had to kill the vet, because it was one of the few that showed him actually knifing a victim. But it didn’t turn out as impactful as I’d hoped.

Nonetheless, he displayed some fine acting in the movie. Despite his slight built, he held his own against his bigger name co-stars Oh Man Seok and Lee Seon Gyun. Impressed by his performance, I checked out his previous work and realized that he’d earned recognition as an actor in his debut role as an aspiring transgeneder, overweight but talented Ssireumm teen wrestler in the critically-acclaimed and crowd pleasing indie flick ”Like A Virgin”.

Coming from “Our Town”, I couldn’t recognized the boy that was buried beneath the flab, but those eyes and voice were him.  He put on 28kg in 3 months to play the part. His understated acting won him a deserving nomination at the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actor.

Scene from "My Son"

Post-”Virgin”, the slimmed-down Ryu went on to play a son in Jang Jin’s project “My Son”, alongside Cha Seung-Won.  At six-foot plus, Cha towers over the slight Ryu, yet the young actor commanded as much presence onscreen as his more experienced co-star.

His quiet acting, coupled with the witty dialogue and wry humor – characteristic of any Jang Jin movies – left a strong impression.

“My Son” tells a story of a convicted murderer played by Cha, who’s serving a life sentence, getting to spend a day with his son whom he’d never seen for 15 (?)  years. The first meeting was as awkward as you would have imagined, but when the two finally warmed up to each other, it was  time to head separate ways. There’s also a rather nice twist at the end by the way.

There’s no lack of memorable scenes from the movie – the two runing down the  streets, the scene at the telephone booth with the fly, the dinner scene… just to name a few.

Though simple on plot, “My Son” is easily a classic and a must-watch for Kmovie buffs. Definitely a finer example of Korean cinema, amidst some of the senseless flicks that are churned out ever-so-frequently.

Ryu’s latest outing was a doctor in training in2009′s “Private Eye”, a mystery-thriller set in the early 20th century when Korea was still under Japanese colonial rule.  

The plot is simple – A medical student chanced upon a corpse in the woods, wheel-barrowed it home for dissection practice, but found out later that the victim was the son of an influential politician. And so, the student enlisted the help of a private investigator (played by Hwang Jeong-min who was impressive in the chilly “Black House”) to find the real killer. And here’s the catch – Hwang was not our seasoned PI, but he’s a pro at tracking down cheating spouses and exposing illicit scandals.

The movie was a fun ride and it kept you guessing who the killer was. Though not as nail-biting as a Holmes case, or as jaw-dropping when the final truth was unveiled, it entertained nonetheless. Initially, I thought the period at which this movie was set would work against it, just because I’m not fond of anything that’s not contemporary. Surpringly, it gave the film a rustic air and helped set it apart from the scores of mystery thrillers elsewhere.

There’s little that I know about the actor, due in part to his lack of star status (hence the lack of interviews) and his standing as a serious actor. He does stage plays at times and plays the piano – at least I think he does, because the piano scene in “My Son” didn’t seem fake. And he dances well, just check out “Virgin”. Then again, a lot of Korean actors got some nifty moves up their sleeves, some of whom I’d least expect.  

What is impressive about his body of work is consistency – in terms of his performance and the quality of projects that he’d picked. None of the movies that I’ve seen him in were stuff that you’d wished you hadn’t seen.

He reminds me a lot of another actor that I like – Ninomiya Kazunari. Both  seemed to share the same style in acting – quiet, understated, but strong – and both of  them pay a lot of attention to the details.

I wish I knew more about this actor, but knowing so little about him has its advantage…

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