White: The Melody Of The Curse
Film poster
Hangul
화이트: 저주의 멜로디
Revised RomanizationHwaiteu: jeojooui mellodi
McCune–ReischauerHwait‘ŭ: chŏjuŭi melrodi
Directed byKim Gok
Kim Sun
Written byKim Gok
Kim Sun
StarringHahm Eun-jung
Hwang Woo-seul-hye
May Doni Kim
Choi Ah-ra
Jin Se-yeon
Production
company
DOO Entertainment
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release date
  • June 7, 2011 (2011-06-07)
Running time
106 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box officeUS$5,299,831[1]

White: Melody of Death (Korean: 화이트: 저주의 멜로디; RR: Hwaiteu: Jeojooui Mellodi, lit. White: The Melody of the Curse) is a 2011 South Korean horror film directed by Kim Gok and Kim Sun.

The film was pre-sold in Malaysia and Singapore with the teaser trailer and poster released at the Hong Kong Film Mart.[2] The movie was a commercial success grossing US$ 5,3 Million and ending up being the highest-grossing horror movie and among Top 30 highest-grossing movies in South Korea in 2011.[3]

Plot

The girl group Pink Dolls, which consists of Je-ni, A-rang, Shin-ji, and Eun-ju, made their debut on stage but failed to achieve popularity. They and the record production company moved to a renovated studio that was burnt down in a fire 15 years ago. Eun-ju's sponsor, Mr. Choi, who funds an idol or group on the condition they receive sexual favors, was credited for making the move, and renovations happen. The other three members bully Eun-ju for her involvement with Mr. Choi and consider quitting. Her vocal trainer and best friend, Soon-ye, encourages her to remain in the group as she believes they will find success and gain attention with their new song. While cleaning up in the dance rehearsal room, Eun-ju finds a VHS tape titled "WHITE" and plays it in her dorm room. The footage is of an unfinished music video. When the group's manager finds her watching the tape, she demands that the group be permitted to remake the song as their next single.

When Pink Dolls received overnight popularity with their debut of the song "White," which has become a viral hit, the manager sought to re-record the song but with the main vocalist as the focal point doing most of the singing. The tension begins to rise as Je-ni, A-rang, and Shin-ji become jealous and hostile against each other as they fight over the spot of the lead vocalist. During this time, a ghost attacks the three members on different occasions; Je-ni by strangling her with microphone cords, A-rang by causing her to fall off a music-video set, and Shin-ji by crushing her with camera equipment. Fearing the song is cursed and that she will be the next victim, Eun-ju accompanies Soon-ye and a record producer, Tae-Yong, to examine hidden images within the video, and from there comes to believe that a trainee named Jang Ye-bin, who died before the studio caught fire, wrote the song. Eun-ju meets up with Mr. Choi and asks about the circumstances surrounding Ye-bin, and he replies that she died by suicide. After returning to the rehearsal room in a fit of depression, Eun-Ju finds a suicide note beside power sockets that may have started the fire and she smashes the sockets with a hammer until she falls asleep in the morning.

After feeling confident that the curse has been broken, Eun-ju plans to reinvent her image by dying her hair, dressing in white, and using the stage name "White". However, she takes credit for the song as her solo performance, which causes conflict with those around her and distances herself from her friends Je-ni, A-rang, and Shin-ji who are still recovering from their injuries. While Soon-ye was destroying the evidence, she re-watched the video and noticed new details they had never seen. While doing so, Soon-ye and Tae-yong, received a phone call from the studio that the other three members of Pink Dolls, who had been hosts for a music television show, died from drinking bleach live on air. Soon-ye calls Eun-ju, who is on her way to a venue to perform "White," and warns her that the curse is not over, but Eun-ju ignores her. Soon-ye and Tae-yong finally learn that the writer of the song was not Ye-bin, but a backup dancer who bullied Ye-bin by disfiguring her face with acid, driving the dancer to commit suicide by drinking bleach. Her ghost then kills Ye-bin, causing the studio to be set on fire as she attempts to burn the suicide note.

Soon-ye rushes to the venue to rescue Eun-ju but cannot enter the stage with all the doors locked. During Eun-ju's performance, all of the stage lights go out, and the electricity in the venue begins to malfunction. Eun-ju's manager and Mr. Choi try to get her off the stage, but they are both killed by stage equipment, and the ghost attempts to attack her. Afterward, the doors all open, and the panicking crowd starts to rush out of the building, Soon-ye enters and she and Eun-ju attempt to reunite, but Eun-ju trips in the crowd and gets trampled to death. The electricity eventually sets the venue on fire. After the incident, Soon-ye destroys all of the remaining evidence of the song in the studio's karaoke room. However, the karaoke machine announces that the next song is "White," alluding to the possibility that the curse has not been broken.

Cast

  • Hahm Eun-jung as Eun-ju, a de-facto leader of the Pink Dolls who is a former backup dancer
  • Hwang Woo-seul-hye as Soon-ye, a vocal trainer and Eun-Ju's best friend
  • Jin Se-yeon as Je-ni, a lead singer who is insecure about hitting high notes
  • Choi Ah-Ra as A-rang, a visual/singer who is addicted to plastic surgery
  • May Doni Kim as Shin-ji, a rapper/dancer who cannot sing but is excellent at dancing
  • After School as Pure
  • Byun Jung-soo as Talent Agent
  • Kim Young-min as Lee Tae-Yong
  • Kim Ki-bang as Manager
  • Yoo Mo-ri as Jang Ye-bin
  • Kim Soo-Hyun as White
  • Lee Jun-ho as Music Fever host

Soundtrack

The soundtrack contains 3 versions of the song "White," the original (the one featured on the VHS tape), another sung by Pink Dolls (Ham Eun-jeong, May Doni Kim, Choi Ah-ra, and Jin Se-yeon), and a solo version with just Eun-jeong.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed US$1,265,702 its opening weekend landing at the fifth position of the box office chart.[4] In total the film grossed US$5,299,831 by the end of its theatrical run.[1] The film received a total of 791,133 admissions nationwide.[5]

Accolades

Year Award Category Recipients Result Ref
2011 The 30th Vancouver International Film Festival — White: The Melody of the Curse Nominated [6]
2012 16th Fantasia International Film Festival Feature film Nominated [7]
2013 The 6th FILM LIVE: KT&G Music Film Festival — Nominated [8]
2016 14th Florence Korean Film Festival — Nominated [9]

Listicles

Publisher Year List Recipient Rank Ref
SlashFilm 2018 The Best South Korean Horror Movies You've Never Seen White: The Melody of the Curse Placed [10]
India Times 2020 Best Korean Horror Films Plcaed [11]
OTAKUKART 2021 Top Ten Horror Korean Movies of All Time 5th [12]
Rolling Stone India 2022 15 Creepy Korean Horror Films You Must See Placed [13]
Scoop Whoop 8 Best Korean Horror Films To Watch 4th [14]
WION 2023 15 spine-chilling Korean movies 15th [15]
Creepy Catalog The 30 Best Korean Horror Movies Placed [16]
OTAKUKART 50 Best South Korean Horror Movies of All Time Placed [17]

Release

White was released in Japan as a DVD on March 02, 2012 by NBC Universal. A re-issue was released in the same country on July 21, 2017.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 Box Office Mojo
  2. ↑ "칸필름마켓서 6개국 이상 추가 선판매 | 연예가화제: 네이트 연예". 모바일 네이트 뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  3. ↑ "KOBIZ - Korean Film Biz Zone : Yearly BoxOffice [2011]". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  4. ↑ Box Office Mojo
  5. ↑ Hancinema.net
  6. ↑ "벤쿠버국제영화제 : 네이버 영화". movie.naver.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  7. ↑ "판타지아 영화제 : 네이버 영화". movie.naver.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  8. ↑ "FILM LIVE: KT&G 상상마당 음악영화제 : 네이버 영화". movie.naver.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  9. ↑ "피렌체 한국영화제 : 네이버 영화". movie.naver.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  10. ↑ "The Best South Korean Horror Movies You've Never Seen". /Film. April 18, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Best Korean Horror Films To Watch Alone". www.indiatimes.com. July 27, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  12. ↑ Shaw, Aanchal (November 5, 2021). "Top Ten Horror Korean Movies of All Time – OtakuKart News". news.otakukart.com. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  13. ↑ Dutta, Debashree (March 11, 2022). "K-Drama Flashback: 15 Creepy Korean Horror Films You Must See". Rolling Stone India. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  14. ↑ "8 Korean Horror Movies You Should Watch If You Like A Good Story And A Greater Still Scare". ScoopWhoop. December 13, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  15. ↑ "15 spine-chilling Korean movies you should not watch alone". WION. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  16. ↑ "The 30 Best Korean Horror Movies". Creepy Catalog. May 17, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  17. ↑ Chauhan, Sakshi (March 7, 2023). "50 Best South Korean Horror Movies of All Time - OtakuKart". otakukart.com. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  18. ↑ "White Movie DVD". CDJapan. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
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