Secretly, Greatly

Secretly, Greatly
Promotional poster
Hangul
은밀하게 위대하게
Hanja
隱密하게 偉大하게
Revised RomanizationEunmilhage widaehage
McCune–ReischauerŬnmirhage widaehage
Directed byJang Cheol-soo
Written by
  • Yun Hong-Gi
  • Kim Bang-Hyeon
Based onCovertness
by Hun
Produced byKim Yeong-min
Starring
CinematographyChoe Sang-ho
Edited byKim Sun-min
Music by
Distributed byShowbox/Mediaplex
Release date
  • June 5, 2013 (2013-06-05)
Running time
123 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box officeUS$42.6 million[1]

Secretly, Greatly (Korean은밀하게 위대하게; Hanja隱密하게 偉大하게; RREunmilhage Widaehage; MRŬnmirhage Widaehage) is a 2013 South Korean action comedy-drama film starring Kim Soo-hyun, Park Ki-woong, and Lee Hyun-woo, who play North Korean spies who infiltrate South Korea as a village idiot, a rock musician, and a high school student, respectively. They assimilate to small-town life while awaiting their orders, until one day, due to a sudden power shift in the North, their mission turns out to be an order to commit suicide.[2][3][4][5]

The film is based on the 2010 spy webtoon series Covertness by Hun, which has received over 40 million page hits.[6][7] Upon its release on June 5, 2013, the film broke several box office records in South Korea: the highest single day opening for a domestic film, most tickets sold in one day for a domestic film, the biggest opening weekend, the highest-grossing webtoon-based film, and the fastest movie to reach the million, two million, three million, and four million marks in audience number. Movie pundits attribute its success to a large percentage of teen audience turnout.[8][9]

  1. ^ "Secretly, Greatly". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  2. ^ Ji, Yong-jin (18 January 2013). "Thrilling Mix of Comedy and Tragedy in SECRETLY GREATLY". Korean Film Council. Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  3. ^ Ji, Yong-jin (5 April 2013). "Comic action drama about two Koreas creates curiosity Secretly Greatly". Korean Film Council. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  4. ^ Jin, Eun-soo (17 April 2013). "Actor Kim Soo-hyun returns to screen as a goofy N.K. spy". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  5. ^ Jang, Sung-ran (24 May 2013). "SECRETLY GREATLY's Hidden Story: Greatness of Mise-en-scene Expressed on Screen". Korean Cinema Today. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  6. ^ Lee, Hwa-jung (4 December 2012). 끝까지 봐야만 알 수 있는 세계. Cine21 (in Korean). Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  7. ^ Sunwoo, Carla (6 May 2013). "Heartthrobs jazz up North Korean spy story". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "Secretly Greatly Blazes Trail at Box Office by Tapping Teen Audience". The Chosun Ilbo. 10 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  9. ^ Yun, Suh-young (10 June 2013). "Secretly success shows teen power at box office". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2013.