While the movie ‘Harbin’, which depicts the Harbin Uprising by Ahn Jung-geun, is continuing its box office success, surpassing 3.6 million viewers, domestic audiences are responding positively to the appearance of Japanese actor Lily Frankie, who plays Ito Hirobumi, the first Resident-General of the Residency-General of Korea. Even other Japanese actors who appeared in anti-Japanese films before ‘Harbin’ are being reexamined.

Lily Frankie, who is a Japanese Academy Award-winning actress and is active in various fields of art, including as a band vocalist, lyricist/composer, novelist, and illustrator, played the role of Ito Hirobumi, a symbol of Japanese imperialism and the ‘axis of evil’, in ‘Harbin’, and displayed an overwhelming presence despite her small screen time.

‘A Family’, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, The humane and easygoing appearance he showed in ‘Like Father, Like Son’ was completely erased, and with his cold expression, gaze, and voice, he impressively portrayed the ambition of the invaders on the screen.

Despite being a representative Japanese actress, Lily Frankie, who appeared in a film with an anti-Japanese theme and gave a passionate performance, also attracted attention by attending the press conference stage greeting held on the 18th of last month ahead of the release.

Director Woo Min-ho explained, “I thought he would naturally decline, but he happily decided to appear because he liked the script. He didn‘t seem to have any worries about taking on the role of Ito Hirobumi. He had a good understanding of Korean history and the meaning of this film, and his interpretation of the character of Ito Hirobumi was clear.”

Hyun Bin, who played Ahn Jung-geun, also expressed his gratitude to Lily Frankie for making a difficult choice. Hyun Bin said, “When we first met, the first thing he said was ‘Thank you.’ “While filming together, I felt Lily Franky’s aura and once again felt that she was an amazing actress,” he said.

Meanwhile, thanks to Lily Franky‘s passionate performance, Japanese actors who had previously appeared in other anti-Japanese films are also being re-examined.

Despite his agency’s opposition, Japanese actor Kazuki Kitamura played the Japanese military pursuit leader Jiro Yaskawa in ‘The Battle of Bongodong’ in 2019, saying, “As an actor, you have to do any role.” Tasuku Yamanouchi played the Japanese lawyer Tatsuji Fuse, who defended Koreans, in ‘Anarchist from Colony’ in 2017.


Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com