{ "id": "ep2g2xk7s9", "slug": "friend-2001-film", "title": "Friend (친구) (2001 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films", "label": "Film noir and neo-noir films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films.yr-1977-2022", "label": "Released 1977 to 2022", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films.yr-1977-2022" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Asia (other) · 2001 to 2020: Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2001", "label": "Asia (other) · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Friend (친구) is a 2001 Korean crime drama by Kwak Kyung-taek about four Busan boyhood friends split by rival gangs. It sold 8,181,377 tickets, breaking JSA's Korean box office record, and inspired a 2009 drama and 2013 sequel.", "snippet": "Friend (친구) is a 2001 Korean crime drama by Kwak Kyung-taek about four Busan boyhood friends split by rival gangs. It sold 8,181,377 tickets, breaking JSA's Korean box office record, and inspired a 2009 drama and 2013 sequel.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.film-noir-and-neo-noir-films.yr-1977-2022", "markdown": "# Friend (친구) (2001 film)\n\n**Friend** (친구) is a 2001 South Korean crime drama directed by Kwak Kyung-taek that follows four boyhood friends from Busan as their paths diverge over two decades, ending with two of them as leaders of rival gangs. Released on March 31, 2001, it sold 8,181,377 tickets nationwide, breaking the Korean box office record set by *Joint Security Area* and becoming the most-seen Korean film up to that time.[1](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=6366)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / release | Kwak Kyung-taek; released March 31, 2001, produced by Cine Line 2, distributed nationwide by Korea Pictures[2](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200104011726491/amp) |\n| Box office | 8,181,377 admissions nationwide (Seoul 2,666,414); nine weeks at number one; 134 days in theaters[1](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=6366) |\n| Previous record | Surpassed *Joint Security Area*'s nationwide total of 5,795,820 admissions[1](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=6366) |\n| Main cast | Yoo Oh-sung (Jun-seok), Jang Dong-gun (Dong-su), Seo Tae-hwa (Sang-taek), Jung Woon-taek (Jung-ho), Kim Bo-kyung (Jin-suk)[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/8118) |\n| Setting and rating | Busan, from 1970s schooldays to the mid-1990s; rated for adults only (청소년 관람불가)[4](https://kinolights.com/season/8262) |\n| Real-world basis | Modeled on a July 8, 1993 gang murder in Busan; the man on whom Jun-seok was based received a 10-year sentence for ordering the killing[5](https://www.donga.com/news//article/all/20010418/7678206/9) |\n| Afterlife | MBC drama adaptation *Friend, Our Legend* (2009) and a theatrical sequel, *Friend 2* (2013)[6](https://view.asiae.co.kr/article/2009062608510539570) • [7](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT3mrP7RyU0) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and characters\n\nThe film traces Jun-seok, Dong-su, Sang-taek, and Jung-ho from childhood in Busan through high school in the 1970s and 1980s and into adulthood. Sang-taek, the film's narrator, becomes a model student and later studies in the United States, returning to find that Jun-seok, son of a former gang boss, and Dong-su, son of an undertaker, have risen in rival criminal organizations. Their friendship collapses into a gang war in which Dong-su is killed on Jun-seok's orders, and Jun-seok is imprisoned.[3](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/8118) • [8](https://www.timeout.com/movies/friend)\n\nKwak Kyung-taek has described the film as drawn from his own schooldays in Busan, and critics placed it within the coming-of-age stories of the so-called 386 generation, the cohort that wore school uniforms in the 1970s and 1980s.[9](https://www.etnews.com/200103290172) The Busan dialect runs through the dialogue throughout, and lines such as \"느그 아부지 뭐 하시노?\" (\"What does your father do?\") became widely quoted.[4](https://kinolights.com/season/8262)\n\n## Fact and fiction\n\nThe film presents its central murder as occurring outside a nightclub at the International Hotel in Busan's Beomil-dong, but Kwak told the *Dong-A Ilbo* in April 2001 that the real event was a killing between criminal organizations outside an S bank in Jungang-dong 3-ga at about 1 a.m. on July 8, 1993. In reality, the action leader of the Chilseong faction, identified only as A, who had once been friends with the action leader of the 20th Century faction, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for ordering his former friend's murder and was serving that sentence at the time of the interview.[5](https://www.donga.com/news//article/all/20010418/7678206/9)\n\nKwak also acknowledged that the film's close childhood friendship between Jun-seok and Dong-su was invented: the real Jun-seok was his sixth-grade classmate, while Dong-su was someone he came to know through Jun-seok after elementary school. Other scenes, including Sang-taek's visit to Jun-seok's home and Yoo Oh-sung's portrayal of a drug-addicted Jun-seok, were adapted from episodes Kwak witnessed himself.[5](https://www.donga.com/news//article/all/20010418/7678206/9)\n\n## Box office and economic impact\n\n**Records.** The film opened on 41 theaters and 62 screens, both then records for a Korean film, and its first weekend drew about 210,000 admissions, surpassing *Joint Security Area*'s 165,000.[2](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200104011726491/amp) It then held first place for nine weeks and played for 134 days, closing on July 29, 2001, with 8,181,377 admissions nationwide, of which 2,666,414 were in Seoul.[1](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=6366) The distributor reported that the film had sent 21.2 billion won back to theaters by the time of that tally.[1](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=6366) Regional audiences responded especially strongly; the gap with *Joint Security Area* was about 150,000 in Seoul but roughly 2.4 million nationwide.[1](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=6366)\n\n**Market effects.** *Friend* was the top Korean film and the top film overall of the first half of 2001, ahead of *Pearl Harbor*, and it helped push Korean films' market share past 50 percent for the year, up from 35.1 percent in 2000.[10](https://www.donga.com/news/amp/all/20010703/7709900/1) • [11](https://cine21.com/news/view/?idx=0&mag_id=30245) The Bank of Korea, analyzing the film's economic ripple effects as of May 22, 2001, when admissions stood at 7.05 million and box office revenue at 49.4 billion won, estimated that it had generated 115.8 billion won in direct and indirect production and 36.4 billion won in value added.[12](https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/2001/05/26/20010526009002) Japan's distribution rights were sold for 2.1 million dollars, then the highest price in Korean film export history.[13](https://history.chosun.com/history/popup.jsp?id=20010501_0013) In a Samsung Economic Research Institute survey of 4,200 internet users, *Friend* was named the top hit product of 2001, ahead of consumer goods such as xylitol gum.[14](https://imnews.imbc.com/replay/2001/nwdesk/article/1884930_30743.html)\n\n## Reception and legacy\n\nA Cine21 poll of 15,321 voters in December 2001 named *Friend* the best Korean film of the year, with respondents crediting it with both commercial success and artistic quality.[15](https://host.cine21.com/news/view/?idx=2&mag_id=6371) Kwak received the Chunsa Film Festival and Blue Dragon Film Awards for the film, and it came to be regarded as a classic of Korean gangster noir.[16](https://www.bifan.kr/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=5054&sc_category1=&sc_year=2001) Critics noted that [Jang Dong-gun](https://www.edgepedia.org/jang-dong-gun)'s performance as the increasingly brutal Dong-su marked his transition from star to actor.[13](https://history.chosun.com/history/popup.jsp?id=20010501_0013) The film also drew criticism: commentator Kim Hyeong-sul argued that its myth of loyalty dressed up as friendship offered a social absolution for violence, and the line \"friends owe each other no apologies\" became a byword for covering up for one's own group.[17](https://www.kookje.co.kr/news2011/asp/newsbody.asp?code=0500&key=20010524.01001S01172)\n\n**Busan on screen.** The film popularized the rough Busan dialect nationwide and drew tourists to locations including Yeongdo Bridge, Gukje Market, Jagalchi Market, and Yongdusan Park. Busan named the area near the International Hotel, where Dong-su's death scene was filmed, \"Friend's Street,\" marked by a Korean-language monument.[18](https://www.kookje.co.kr/news2011/asp/newsbody.asp?code=0500&key=20040331.22021165546)\n\n**Adaptations.** MBC adapted the film as the weekend drama *Friend, Our Legend*, which aired in 2009 with [Hyun Bin](https://www.edgepedia.org/hyun-bin) as Dong-su and ended with a different conclusion from the film.[6](https://view.asiae.co.kr/article/2009062608510539570) • [19](https://view.asiae.co.kr/article/2009083023471505515) Kwak directed a theatrical sequel, *[Friend 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/friend-2)* (2013), set 17 years after Jun-seok's imprisonment for Dong-su's murder.[7](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT3mrP7RyU0) The film remained available on streaming services in South Korea decades after release.[4](https://kinolights.com/season/8262)\n\n## References\n\n1. [2001년 한국영화 10대 사건 [2], Cine21](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=6366)\n2. [영화 '친구' 한국영화 개봉 주말 흥행 '신기록', 경향신문](https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200104011726491/amp)\n3. [친구 자료검색, 한국영상자료원](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/video/8118)\n4. [친구 다시보기, 키노라이츠](https://kinolights.com/season/8262)\n5. [<친구> 어디까지 실화? 감독이 밝히는 진실과 허구, 동아일보](https://www.donga.com/news//article/all/20010418/7678206/9)\n6. [드라마 '친구', 영화 '친구' 인기 뛰어넘을까?, 아시아경제](https://view.asiae.co.kr/article/2009062608510539570)\n7. ['친구2' 곽경택 감독 제작발표회, News1 via YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT3mrP7RyU0)\n8. [Friend, Time Out film review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/friend)\n9. [<엄용주의 영화읽기> 곽경택 감독의 「친구」, 전자신문](https://www.etnews.com/200103290172)\n10. [올 상반기 영화흥행 '친구' 1위, 동아일보](https://www.donga.com/news/amp/all/20010703/7709900/1)\n11. [한국영화 10년, 씨네21 10년 [8] - 2001년, Cine21](https://cine21.com/news/view/?idx=0&mag_id=30245)\n12. [영화 '친구' 경제효과 쏘나타 3,036대와 같다, 서울신문](https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/2001/05/26/20010526009002)\n13. [오늘의 역사 (3월 31일): 영화 '친구' 개봉, 아카이브조선](https://history.chosun.com/history/popup.jsp?id=20010501_0013)\n14. [영화 <친구> 2001년 최고 히트상품, MBC 뉴스데스크](https://imnews.imbc.com/replay/2001/nwdesk/article/1884930_30743.html)\n15. [2001년 한국영화 결산 [3] - 올해의 영화인, Cine21](https://host.cine21.com/news/view/?idx=2&mag_id=6371)\n16. [친구 Friend, 부산국제영화제 아카이브 / BIFAN 역대 영화제](https://www.bifan.kr/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=5054&sc_category1=&sc_year=2001)\n17. ['친구' 과연 부산영화 맞나, 국제신문](https://www.kookje.co.kr/news2011/asp/newsbody.asp?code=0500&key=20010524.01001S01172)\n18. [부산시 영상관광 '전략이 없다', 국제신문](https://www.kookje.co.kr/news2011/asp/newsbody.asp?code=0500&key=20040331.22021165546)\n19. ['친구' 종영, 영화 같은 영상미…배우들의 재발견, 아시아경제](https://view.asiae.co.kr/article/2009083023471505515)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Film noir and neo-noir films › Released 1977 to 2022*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/friend-2001-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/friend-2001-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Friend (친구) (2001 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/friend-2001-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Friend (친구) (2001 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/friend-2001-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/friend-2001-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/friend-2001-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Friend (친구) (2001 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/friend-2001-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Friend is a 2001 Korean crime drama by Kwak Kyung-taek about four Busan boyhood friends split by rival gangs." }