'Oldboy' director films his next movie with an iPhone

Image Credit: Everett CollectionSouth Korean director Park Chan-Wook is known for pushing the envelope. In films like Oldboy and Thirst, he fills the screen with gallons of blood and full-frontal nudity (sometimes in the same scene!) But his newest movie, Paranmanjang, sounds like his riskiest move yet. The 30-minute film was shot entirely with the iPhone 4’s digital video camera. The director tells the Guardian that the iPhone “creates strange effects because it is new and because it is a medium the audience is used to,” not to mention the fact that cameramen can check their e-mail and play Angry Birds in between takes. (Yay for multi-tasking!) Lest you think this film is just a total lark, the Guardian reports that it cost £85,500 to make (roughly $133,000 American).

The film sounds typically twisted: A man is fishing in a river, catches a mysterious woman, and strange circumstances follow. (Actually, it sounds kind of like Ondine. Are mermaids having a moment?) As goofy as the notion of filming a movie on an iPhone sounds, I’m intrigued to see what kind of “strange effects” a born filmmaker like Park can come up with. Paranmanjang opens in South Korea later this month — pray for some kind of US release.