Song Kang-ho
Now that the end of the year is approaching (eeek!), we can look forward to the slew of beautiful stars strutting their stuff on the red carpet for awards season. The 38th Blue Dragon Awards celebrated some of the biggest films this past year, including surprise tearjerker I Can Speak and political thriller The King. There was a good spread of awards given without one film sweeping them all, but A Taxi Driver was definitely one of the big winners of the night.
The historical drama about a taxi driver who gets swept up in the ill-fated Gwangju Uprising won the Best Picture award and its lead actor Song Kang-ho received the Best Actor trophy for his portrayal. The film also picked up the Box Office Audience Award and a trophy for its music direction, which I love, because I recall A Taxi Driver’s box office performance doing well above and beyond expectations, especially since it was in direct competition with the highly anticipated blockbuster Battleship Island this past summer.
Veteran actress Na Mun-hee beat out fellow nominees Kim Ok-bin, Yeom Jung-ah, Gong Hyo-jin, and Moon So-ri in the Best Actress category for her role in I Can Speak as a grandmother with a penchant for submitting petty complaints to city hall. One of the more surprising wins of the night was in the Supporting Actor category, where Jin Seon-kyu won over Yoo Hae-jin, Bae Sung-woo, Kim Hee-won, and Kim Dae-myung for his role in Crime City. I was really happy for him, since he seemed so genuinely surprised to hear his name called, and I liked him even more for his tear-filled, hilarious acceptance speech.
Jo In-sung
Another humorous moment of the night came when Jo In-sung joked he was fulfilling a drunk promise when he came up to accept the New Actor award on D.O.’s behalf, who made it to the ceremony late due to an EXO concert. I appreciated these brief moments of levity, because the ceremony made time to honor the late Kim Young-ae, Kim Ji-young, Yoon So-jung, and, of course, Kim Joo-hyuk, which had their peers (and me) in tears.
I was glad to see that Jo In-sung did later collect an award for himself as well, in the Popularity Award category. He was joined onstage by an eclectic group of fellow actors and actresses in the same category, with a dapper-looking Sol Kyung-gu, adorable Kim Soo-ahn, and Na Mun-hee collecting their Popularity Awards. See below for the full list of winners!
Jin Seon-kyu
WINNERS LIST
Best Picture: A Taxi Driver
Best Director: Kim Hyun-suk (I Can Speak)
Best Actor: Song Kang-ho (A Taxi Driver)
Best Actress: Na Mun-hee (I Can Speak)
Supporting Actor: Jin Seon-kyu (Crime City)
Supporting Actress: Kim So-jin (The King)
New Actor: D.O. (Hyung)
New Actress: Choi Hee-seo (Park Yeol)
New Director: Lee Hyun-joo (Our Love Story)
Lighting: The Merciless, Jo Hyung-rae
Editing: The King, Shin Min-kyung
Music: A Taxi Driver, Jo Yeong-wook
Art Direction: Battleship Island, Lee Hoo-kyung
Technical effects: The Villainess, Kwon Gwi-deok
Screenplay: The Fortress, Hwang Dong-hyuk
Short Film Award: A Handwritten Poster
Box Office Audience Award: A Taxi Driver
Popularity Award: Sol Kyung-gu, Kim Soo-ahn, Na Mun-hee, Jo In-sung
MCs Kim Hye-soo, Lee Seon-kyun
Na Mun-hee, Song Kang-ho
Na Mun-hee
Kim So-jin
D.O.
Choi Hee-seo
Sol Kyung-gu
Kim Soo-ahn
Cha Tae-hyun
Esom, Park Byung-eun