Box Office: Elegant Lies, To the Wonder, The Monuments Men

Elegant Lies (Korea), Opening March 13

Drama. Directed by Lee Han. Hyeon-sook (Kim Hee-ae) is a single mother who is raising two teenage daughters while working at a big grocery store. One day, her youngest child Cheon-ji (Kim Hyang-gi) suddenly commits suicide without even leaving a note. Struggling with guilt and anger, and not knowing why Cheon-ji chose to kill herself, Hyeon-sook and her eldest daughter Man-ji (Ko Ah-sung) wonder whether there was something they missed or something they could’ve said or done.

To the Wonder (U.S.), Opening March 6

Romance. Drama. Directed by Terrence Malick. Neil (Ben Affleck), an American traveling in Europe, meets Marina (Olga Kurylenko), a single mother living in Paris. They fall in love and decide to move to the U.S. together, along with Marina’s 10-year-old daughter, Tatiana. The three start a new life in Oklahoma, but Tatiana finds it difficult to make friends and adjust to the new surroundings. Meanwhile, Neil reconnects with his old flame, Jane (Rachel McAdams).

The Monuments Men, (U.S., Germany) Opened Feb. 27

Drama. Directed by George Clooney. During World War II, seven men ― comprised of curators, art historians and museum directors ― get together and plan to search for famous art works looted by the Nazis, then return them to their rightful owners. The film is based on a true story and is directed, produced by and stars George Clooney, along with Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin and other stars.

12 Years a Slave, (U.S., U.K.) Opened Feb. 27

Drama. Directed by Steve McQueen. In 1841, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free African-American New Yorker, is kidnapped by slavers in Washington, D.C., and sold into slavery in Louisiana. There, he is enslaved to work on farms in the South, after being renamed “Platt,” and becomes the property of a plantation owner (Benedict Cumberbatch). This film is an adaptation of the 1853 memoir of the same title by Northup, who was an educated carpenter, musician and family man before being abducted.

Venus Talk (Korea), Opened Feb. 13

Comedy. Drama. Directed by Kwon Chil-in. Shin-hye (Uhm Jung-hwa) is a capable TV producer and a single woman in her 40s. She used to date her coworker, the current chief of their TV network, but he left her for a younger woman who also happens to be Shin-hye’s junior colleague. She has two best friends, Mi-yeon (Moon So-ri), a housewife who is not satisfied with her sex life with her rather docile husband, and Hae-young (Jo Min-soo), a single mother who wants her grown daughter to move out so she can have more time with her boyfriend, Seong-jae (Lee Gyeung-young).