CCFF24: Lee Sun-kyun’s Last Film ‘Sleep’ on Chicago Critics Fest Opening Night, May 3rd

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CHICAGO – Opening Night at the 2024 Chicago Critics Film Festival (CCFF) on May 3rd will include the last film of popular South Korean (SK) Actor Lee Sun-kyun, entitled “Sleep” (click here for tickets) The world was rocked on December 27th, 2023, when the report came through that that actor – who had a prominent role in the 2019 Oscar Best Picture “Parasite’ – had died at age 48 from an apparent suicide in Seoul (SK), months after his appearance in Chicago during the Asian Pop-Up Cinema.

“Sleep” follows newlyweds Hyun-su (Lee Sun-kyun) and Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi), whose domestic bliss is disrupted when Hyun-su begins speaking in his sleep, ominously stating, “someone’s inside.”  From that night on, whenever he falls asleep, Hyun-su transforms into someone else, with no recollection of what happened the night before. Overwhelmed with anxiety that he may hurt himself or their young family, Soo-jin can barely sleep because of this irrational fear. Despite treatment, Soo-jin begins to feel that her unborn child may be in danger.

Lee Sun Kyun in ‘Sleep,’ screening at the 2024 CCFF on May 3rd
Photo credit: ChicagoCriticsFilmFestival.com

CAPSULE REVIEW: A relatable problem becomes a scenario with a high creep factor. Lee Sun-kyun takes his final bow with a strange parallel to his real life, as his character is haunted with “someone inside.” Director Jason Yu creates an atmosphere of paranoia and madness, all due to the factor of disrupted sleep. As is noted with the character interpreted by Lee Sun-kyun and the actor himself, it can happen to anyone. (Midnight).

After beginning his career in musical theatre, Lee Sun-kyun was relegated to minor and supporting roles onscreen as he began in TV and film. His breakthrough was in SK TV’s “Coffee Prince” and the medical drama “Behind the White Tower,” both in 2007. He gained more popularity with “My Mister,” which is currently on Netflix.

In film he got award-winning notices in Paju (2009), and arthouse credibility with “Oki’s Movie” (2010) and “Nobody’s Daughter Haewan” (2013). In “Parasite,” Lee portrayed Park Dong-ik, the patriarch of the wealthy family in the film. Besides the Oscars, Lee scored an Ensemble Award from the Screen Actors Guild. In his appearance at APUC’s Closing Night, Lee was representing his role as Jonathan Na in “Killing Romance,” with a nearly perfect comic performance.

In a flashback interview to October of 2023, Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com talked to Lee through an interpreter.

HollywoodChicago.com: When you were filming ‘Parasite,’ was there anything you experienced on set or saw when it premiered that told you that this could be the Academy Award Best Picture, or was the whole journey to that trophy just one big surprise, and why either way?

LS-k: Because the film received the Palme d’OR at Cannes we were hoping that the film would received some recognition at the Oscars, because it was the first Korean film that even had a chance.

When all the nominations came out, I expected that director Boon Joon-ho could win, but I never thought we had a chance at Best Picture. So when our director won, we thought the day was over. You cannot imagine how surprised and excited we were when they called the film for Best Picture. I’ll never forget it.

HollywoodChicago.com: And how did your career change after all the awards, or did it?

LS-k: I got a bump … there were several offers to do international films. But my English isn’t very good, and although I probably should have worked harder on learning the language the offers that came in Korea were steady, because ‘Parasite’ raised our profile. There has been an uptick both in Korean cinema and culture, so I hope it provides opportunities for our younger actors coming up.

Lee Sun Kyun Accepts APUC’s Excellent Achievement in Film Award, October of 2023
Photo credit: AsianPopUpCinema.org

HollywoodChicago.com: Why do you like working for directors like Boog Joon-ho and Lee Won Suk, even when you’re doing something that you’d never thought you would do in a film?

LS-k: First, I respect and like both directors, but their styles are completely different. Bong Joon-ho is a planner, from script to storyboard. Everything to seem finished inside his head before he steps onto the set. With director Lee, especially since ‘Killing Romance’ is a comedy, we had a lot of different approaches and discussions on set, as well as room for improvisation.

HollywoodChicago.com: Finally, what was your favorite moment as a performer in ‘Parasite’?

LS-k: I liked the scene where the daughter brings in a peach, and the housekeeper vomits blood … but as far as my contributions to the film it was really the opportunity to work with Bong Joon-ho. My first scene was driving, and there were just butterflies in my stomach. 


By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Critic/Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com