Song Hye-gyo (Descended From the Sun) and Song Joong-ki must’ve timed their wedding announcement with new casting offers or vice versa, because on the same day that news broke of their coupledom and October wedding, Song Joong-ki’s name came up for zombie apocalypse drama Kingdom, and Song Hye-gyo announced that she’s considering an offer for a new period film called Go Back Home.
The film is set during the Japanese occupation and tells the story of comfort women who were recruited under false promises of work or education, and forced into sexual slavery and stationed in brothels to serve the Japanese imperial army. The production is courting Song Hye-gyo and Go Hyun-jung (Dear My Friends) to headline, and both actresses have stated that they’re considering the project carefully. If they sign on, they’ll be playing sisters, and not much else has been released about their roles.
Director Ryu Seung-wan’s (Veteran) wife, film producer Kang Hye-jung, is behind the production (they’re also the team behind Song Joong-ki’s upcoming occupation-era prison break movie Battleship Island). It’s been three years since Song Hye-gyo’s last domestic film, the warm family drama My Brilliant Life, and five years since Go Hyun-jung’s action comedy Miss Go, though Go Hyun-jung has recently completed shoots for the low-budget indie film Winter Guest Scarier Than a Tiger, which will be released soon.
I’m so glad to know that more films are going to tackle the subject of comfort women, because it’s a truly tragic part of Korea’s history that should be talked about. Last year’s award-winning Spirits’ Homecoming was based on real-life women who had come forward to share their stories of being forced into slavery, and though it struggled to get funding and complete production, it ultimately topped the box office on opening weekend. I can only hope that a major film with A-list stars will do even more to bring these stories to light.
Go Back Home is still in the planning stages, but hopes to begin filming later this year.