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All In (TV series)
2003 South Korean television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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All In (Korean: 올인; RR: Orin) is a 2003 South Korean television drama series that aired on SBS TV from 15 January to 3 April 2003, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 (KST) for 24 episodes.[1] Inspired by the life of professional poker player Jimmy Cha, it starred Lee Byung-hun and Song Hye-kyo in a story about one's man's rise through the fiercely competitive world of casino gambling as he clashes with his rivals over money, success, and love.[2]
The drama was a ratings success in South Korea, with its final episode reaching a peak viewership rating of 47.7%, the 10th highest rated episode of any Korean series aired between 2000 and 2008. It also won several awards, notably the Grand Prize ("Daesang") for Lee Byung-hun at the 2003 SBS Drama Awards.
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Synopsis
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Orphaned then taken in by his gambler uncle, Kim In-ha (Jin Goo) often hangs out with his friends in the basement of a movie theater. He unexpectedly befriends Choi Jung-won, a model student and the rich son of the theater owner. In-ha and Jung-won both fall for Min Su-yeon (Song Hye-kyo), the daughter of the projectionist at the theater.
When Su-yeon's father was killed by loan sharks, In-ha and Jung-won hatch a plan to avenge Su-yeon by setting fire to a gangster's hideout. But the fire spreads, accidentally killing the gang leader. In-ha is sentenced to seven years, while thanks to his family connections, Jung-won avoids jail time. As In-ha serves his sentence, Jung-won goes to the United States to study and Su-yeon decides to become a nun.
Seven years pass, and by pure chance, the three all end up working at the same casino. In-ha (Lee Byung-hun) and Su-yeon (Song Hye-kyo) fall in love, but are later separated when In-ha is forced to illegally immigrate to the U.S. He finds a job as a mafia hitman, and by a stroke of luck, again meets Su-yeon, and the two plan to get married. However, on their supposed wedding day, In-ha suffers a near-fatal gunshot wound and becomes comatose for 8 months. Unaware that In-ha is alive, the grieving Su-yeon returns to Korea.
In-ha eventually recovers, but Jung-won (Ji Sung) intervenes, saying that he is unworthy to love Su-yeon. In-ha decides to turn his life of misery around and becomes a professional gambler. He meets a business partner and, betting everything he has, returns to Korea to win back Su-yeon's love.
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Cast
Main
- Lee Byung-hun as Kim In-ha
- Jin Goo as young In-ha
- Song Hye-kyo as Min Su-yeon / Sister Angela
- Han Ji-min as young Su-yeon
- Ji Sung as Choi Jung-won
- Go Dong-hyeon as young Jung-won
- Park Sol-mi as Seo Jin-hee
- Shin Ah as young Jin-hee
Supporting
- Lee Deok-hwa as Choi Do-hwan, Jung-won's father
- Sunwoo Eun-sook as Yoon Hye-sun, Jung-won's mother
- Im Hyun-sik as Kim Chi-soo, In-ha's uncle
- Park Won-sook as Jang Hyun-ja
- Jo Kyung-hwan as Chairman Seo Seung-don, Jin-hee's father
- Kim Tae-yeon as Jenny
- Huh Joon-ho as Yoo Jong-gu, In-ha's friend from prison
- Choi Jung-won as Yoo Jung-ae, Hyun-ja's daughter
- Choi Joon-yong as Park Tae-joon, In-ha's hometown friend who became a detective
- Yoon Gi-won as Woo Yong-tae, In-ha's hometown friend who became a waiter
- Baek Seung-hyeon as Yang Shi-bong, In-ha's hometown friend who is crippled
- Jung Yoo-seok as Im Dae-soo ("Shorty")
- Jung Ho-bin as Jung Joon-il
- Park Jung-woo as Jjagoo
- Im Dae-ho as Chun Sang-gu
- Yoon Seo-hyun as Man-soo
- Hong Yeo-jin as bar hostess
- Cho Yeon-woo as yakuza
- Kim Byung-se as Michael Jang
- Yuko Fueki as Rie Ochida
- Kim Hee-jung as office clerk
- Park Sang-myun as Im Dae-chi, gang boss
- Kim Ha-kyun as Director Son
- Choi Ran as Manager Jang Mi-ran
- Park Joon-hee as Jo Jung-min
- Gi Ju-bong as Bae Sang-doo
- Gianni Russo as Falcone, the American mob boss
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Production
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Development and casting
All In was adapted from the novel of the same name by Noh Seung-il, inspired by the life of poker player Jimmy Cha. The title All In comes from a term in poker that refers to betting one's entire stake. Though the plot was adapted from the novel, the characters were wholly original to the drama.[2]
In 2000, SBS drama production team director Lee Jong-su first approached Jimmy Cha, whom the original novel was based on, to adapt the novel for a TV series, but Cha rejected the offer due to Korea's negative attitude towards gambling. Lee later approached Cha twice, requesting to make a series about Cha's mother. Cha turned the offer down both times, but the project was already at the casting stage. A meeting was held, and screenwriter Choi Wan-gyu suggested changing the concept to focus more on Jimmy Cha's life as a whole.[3]
Lee Byung-hun had already been cast as the main role,[3] but his female counterpart had not been decided on; actors considered for the role included Lee Young-ae, Song Yoon-ah, Kim Hee-sun, and Shin Eun-kyung. The producers then suggested Song Hye-kyo to Jimmy Cha, and Cha gave SBS the OK to cast her.[4] Additionally, Joo Sang-wook was supposed to play the young version of Lee Byung-hun's character, but he was replaced by Jin Goo last minute.[5] Gianni Russo, known to international audiences as Carlo in The Godfather, appears in a few episodes as Falcone, the American mafia boss.[6]
Filming
Filming began on 9 September 2002[7] and took place in several locations. An outdoor set was built in Jeju Island, for which the island provided 200 million Korean won.[8] Most scenes filmed in Jeju were shot on the Seopjikoji coast, located in the city Seogwipo.[9] From 28 November to 31 December 2002, location filming took place in the United States, with the casino scenes being filmed in Las Vegas.[7][10] The kiss scene between Song Hye-kyo and Lee Byung-hun was filmed over two days, moving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.[11] Production costs reached 250 million won per episode to a total budget of over 5 billion won, at that time the highest for a Korean miniseries.[12]
During the drama's filming, SBS promised they would stop broadcasting smoking scenes in their TV dramas. All In, which started production before the announcement, had scenes where characters smoked – as many of the scenes as possible were removed in editing, and during the scenes that couldn't be cut, subtitles were displayed during broadcast asking for understanding.[7]
Changes in writing
Initially, Ji Sung's character Jung-won was planned to die in the story, but as the show's scale increased, its plot became uncertain. Actors approached screenwriter Choi Wan-gyu mid-production to explain why their character had to die. Choi said to Maeil Business Newspaper, "All of [the actors] are very good at analyzing the drama, and their advice is very helpful. That's why I'm more worried about how to end it."[13] In the end, Choi decided that none of the main characters would die, stating that death was unnecessary for an emotional story.[14]
Additionally, Song Hye-kyo's character Su-yeon was meant to marry Jung-won, thinking Lee Byung-hun's character In-ha had died. Viewers expressed dissatisfaction with the storyline online,[15] and it was later dropped to create tension within the narrative.[16]
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Music
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The soundtrack album for All In was officially released in January 2003.[17] Produced by Kim Hyeong-seok,[18] the soundtrack sold 53,892 copies in February[19] and was the 18th best-selling Korean album of 2003.[20] "Like the First Day", the drama's theme song, became a popular ringtone, racking up over 900,000 downloads on caller ring services by March.[21][22] The identity of its singer, formally named Who, drew curiosity as he had not made any public appearances;[17] it was later revealed that actor Park Yong-ha was behind the song.[23]
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Reception
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Critical response
Though All In was a ratings and marketing success, it was also subject to criticisms that it glorified gambling.[24] Journalist Jeon Yeo-ok wrote that while the drama was "worth seeing", its provocative subject matter and excessive violence was not fit for public TV.[25] This concern was echoed by a writer for the South Korean newspaper Kukmin Ilbo, who criticized the series as showing a romanticized portrayal of gambling and asserted that it had "everything that shouldn't be seen on TV".[26]
Viewership
All In achieved a 21.7% rating in its first week of broadcast,[27] and by its 3rd episode, ratings exceeded to over 30%.[28] By its final episode, it had held the top spot in weekly TV ratings for 7 weeks.[29] With an average rating of 39.6%, it was the highest rated Korean program in March 2003,[30] and was the second highest rated Korean TV program in 2003.[31] Its top rating of 47.7% gave it the 10th highest peak of any series aired between 2000 and 2008,[32] and it was the 4th highest rated SBS drama as of 2012.[33] All In also set records for video-on-demand, breaking Successful Story of a Bright Girl's record of 700,000 downloads with over 1.1 million VOD views.[24]
Commercial impact
Various spots in Jeju, where most of All In was filmed, became highly-visited tourist attractions upon the show's airing. Over 6,000 visitors came to Seopjikoji during the samiljeol holiday of 2003,[34] and in April that year the series' cast members and staff became PR ambassadors for Jeju Island.[35] Lotte Hotel Jeju, where many of the drama's scenes were filmed, also began selling an "All In Package" where tourists could "experience the vivid emotions of the drama".[36][37] It was reported in 2006 that the drama had earned Jeju 176.4 billion won due to its "advertising effect".[38] Products featured in the series, such as music boxes with which the main characters express their love, were sold to commercial success, reportedly selling 1,000 copies per day.[39][40] Forms of gambling also saw an increase after the drama's broadcast; poker games on sites such as Hangame and Hanafos saw an increase in players,[41] and customer traffic to the casino Kangwon Land was said to have increased by 10% since the drama's airing.[42]
Accolades
All In won the television grand prize at the 39th Baeksang Arts Awards, as well as a Best Actor award for Lee Byung-hun.[43] It was also named the best drama at the 30th Korea Broadcasting Awards,[44] and was one of the Best Picture winners at the 16th Grimae Awards.[45] At the 2003 SBS Drama Awards, Lee Byung-hun won the Grand Prize for his performance in the series. Song Hye-kyo, Ji Sung, and Heo Joon-ho won the Best Actress, Best Actor in a Drama Special, and Best Supporting award respectively, and Lee Byung-hun and Song Hye-kyo also received the Top 10 Stars award at the ceremony.[46]
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Regional broadcast
In April 2003, SBS signed a contract with the Taiwanese cable channel Gala Television to broadcast All In in Taiwan. Although the export price was not disclosed, it was said to be the highest for a Korean drama until then. At the time, the record export price had stood at over 400 million won for the Japanese export of Winter Sonata.[47]
In Japan, it first aired on the cable channel KNTV from 8 March to 25 May 2003.[48][49] Japanese satellite channel NHK BS2 broadcast All In under the title All In: Unmei no Ai (オールイン 運命の愛) once a week from 1 April 2004,[50][51] and re-airings followed once a week on terrestrial TV starting 16 April 2005.[52][53] According to a poll conducted by the TV Asahi variety show SMAP Station in May 2007, All In ranked as the seventh most popular Korean drama in Japan.[54] It was also broadcast in countries like Macedonia and Turkey on the channel Arirang TV, gaining enough popularity in Macedonia to be rebroadcast.[55][56]
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References
External links
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