{ "id": "epn5b07900", "slug": "libera-me", "title": "Libera Me (리베라 메)", "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.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2000-2004-films", "label": "2000–2004 films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2000-2004-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2000-2004-films.yr-2000-2002", "label": "Released 2000 to 2002", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2000-2004-films.yr-2000-2002" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000: Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.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.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Libera Me (리베라 메) is a 2000 South Korean fire-action film directed by Yang Yun-ho, starring Choi Min-soo, Cha Seung-won, and Yoo Ji-tae, about a Busan firefighter hunting a serial arsonist; it won Paeksang Grand Prize.", "snippet": "Libera Me (리베라 메) is a 2000 South Korean fire-action film directed by Yang Yun-ho, starring Choi Min-soo, Cha Seung-won, and Yoo Ji-tae, about a Busan firefighter hunting a serial arsonist; it won Paeksang Grand Prize.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2000-2004-films.yr-2000-2002", "markdown": "# Libera Me (리베라 메)\n\n**Libera Me** (리베라 메) is a 2000 South Korean action film directed by Yang Yun-ho, in which a Busan firefighter pursues a serial arsonist through a series of large-scale fires. It was released in South Korea on November 11, 2000, produced by Dreamsearch and distributed by Cinema Service.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20000055) The title is the Latin opening of the \"Libera me\" movement of Fauré's Requiem, meaning \"deliver me.\"\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | November 11, 2000, South Korea; 119–120 minutes; rated 15[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20000055) • [2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=5194) |\n| Director and writer | Yang Yun-ho; screenplay by Yeo Ji-na (with Hyun Chung-ryul credited on the Japanese release)[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=5194) • [3](https://eiga.com/movie/1496/) |\n| Lead cast | Choi Min-soo (Sang-woo), Cha Seung-won (Hee-soo), Yoo Ji-tae (Hyeon-tae), Kim Gyu-ri (Min-seong)[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=5194) |\n| Production scale | Real fire throughout, no CG or miniatures; 300 fire trucks and 1,580 firefighter extras mobilized[3](https://eiga.com/movie/1496/) |\n| Budget | About 4.5 billion won, described as the highest production cost in Korean film history at the time[3](https://eiga.com/movie/1496/) • [4](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20000055) |\n| Box office | 533,560 admissions recorded by Cine21; 546,300 Seoul admissions, the fifth best-selling Korean film of 2000[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=5194) • [5](https://stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html) |\n| Awards | Paeksang Arts Awards 2001 Grand Prize, Best Film, and Best Actor; Daejong Film Awards 2001 for cinematography, editing, and lighting; Blue Dragon Technical Award 2000[6](https://www.ysdb.kr/culture/movies/MV-2000-Q4E4SX/%EB%A6%AC%EB%B2%A0%EB%9D%BC%EB%A9%94/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nHee-soo ([Cha Seung-won](https://www.edgepedia.org/cha-seung-won)), who has spent twelve years in prison as a juvenile offender on arson charges, walks out of prison on the day of his release, and the prison boiler room explodes moments later.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20000055) Unexplained fires then break out one after another across the city, at a pharmacy, in a residential area, and at an apartment complex, and fear of fire spreads through the population.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20000055) • [2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=5194)\n\nFirefighter Jo Sang-woo ([Choi Min-soo](https://www.edgepedia.org/choi-min-soo)) receives a threatening phone call telling him not to interfere as he responds to a gas-station blaze, and he concludes that a single person stands behind the series of fires.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=5194) While the police try to play the incidents down, an investigator named Min-seong (Kim Gyu-ri), Sang-woo's former lover, joins the inquiry into deliberate arson, and Sang-woo spots a stranger loitering at a fire scene in photographs.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=5194) A colleague, firefighter In-su ([Heo Jun](https://www.edgepedia.org/heo-jun)-ho), dies in an early blaze, giving Sang-woo a personal motive for the pursuit.[7](https://www.kinocine.com/2000/11/2000.html) Flashbacks show the arsonist's childhood wounds and an ignored plea for rescue, which have curdled into a desire to burn the world that failed him.[4](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20000055) • [7](https://www.kinocine.com/2000/11/2000.html)\n\n## Production\n\nThe film was pitched as Korea's first large-scale \"fire action\" picture, and its spectacle was produced without computer graphics or miniatures: fire scenes were staged with real flames in actual buildings, using a special synthetic oil that let the crew control live fire.[3](https://eiga.com/movie/1496/) • [5](https://stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html) The production mobilized 300 fire trucks and a cumulative 1,580 firefighters.[3](https://eiga.com/movie/1496/) For a key gas-station scene, a life-size set was built and detonated at a cost of about US$250,000.[5](https://stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html)\n\n**Location and cooperation.** The film was shot in Busan with the enthusiastic support of the city and its local fire department.[5](https://stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html) Busan's city government provided traffic control and fire-truck support during the burning of an apartment building slated for demolition and an empty hospital, which the production used to achieve what one contemporary reviewer called a sense of \"scale realism\" beyond the earlier firefighter film *The Siren*.[7](https://www.kinocine.com/2000/11/2000.html) Filming locations listed for the movie include the Busan Geumjeong fire and police stations, the Yeongdeungpo and Dobong fire stations in Seoul, the 119 special rescue unit, and Uijeongbu Prison.[4](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20000055)\n\nThe budget of about 4.5 billion won was reported as the largest in Korean film history at the time.[3](https://eiga.com/movie/1496/) • [4](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20000055) Jung Doo-hong served as action and stunt director, and the technical crew included cinematographer Seo Jeong-min, lighting director Shin Jun-ha, editor Park Soon-duk, and special-effects supervisor Jung Do-an.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=5194)\n\n## Release and reception\n\nLibera Me opened on November 11, 2000, in direct competition with *The Legend of Gingko*, which opened the same day, and only two weeks after *The Siren*, another firefighter-centered action film.[5](https://stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html) It was initially overshadowed by *Gingko* but gathered momentum over its six-week run, drawing praise for its action and drama.[5](https://stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html) With 546,300 Seoul admissions it ranked fifth among Korean films and ninth among all films in Seoul for 2000, in a year when Korean films took 35.1 percent of nationwide market share.[5](https://stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html) Cine21 records 533,560 admissions and an audience rating of 5.62 out of 10.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=5194) The film was released in Japan on November 17, 2001, distributed by Shochiku and FRAP.[3](https://eiga.com/movie/1496/)\n\nContemporary reviewers singled out the all-star cast, with particular praise for the interplay of Choi Min-soo, Yoo Ji-tae, and Cha Seung-won, and for Cha's portrayal of the arsonist.[5](https://stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html) • [7](https://www.kinocine.com/2000/11/2000.html) A retrospective review at cityonfire.com rated the film 8/10, noting that its real in-camera flames give it a physicality that digital fire cannot match, while observing that some scene transitions feel jerky compared with later Korean cinema.[8](https://cityonfire.com/libera-me-2000-review/)\n\n## Awards\n\nThe film received the Grand Prize (Daesang), Best Film, and Best Actor at the 2001 Paeksang Arts Awards, with the Best Actor award going to lead actor Choi Min-soo.[6](https://www.ysdb.kr/culture/movies/MV-2000-Q4E4SX/%EB%A6%AC%EB%B2%A0%EB%9D%BC%EB%A9%94/) • [4](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20000055) At the 38th Daejong Film Awards it won Best Cinematography (Seo Jeong-min), Best Editing (Park Soon-duk), and Best Lighting (Shin Jun-ha).[6](https://www.ysdb.kr/culture/movies/MV-2000-Q4E4SX/%EB%A6%AC%EB%B2%A0%EB%9D%BC%EB%A9%94/) It also took the Technical Award at the 21st Blue Dragon Awards and cinematography and technical honors at the 9th Chunsa Film Art Awards.[6](https://www.ysdb.kr/culture/movies/MV-2000-Q4E4SX/%EB%A6%AC%EB%B2%A0%EB%9D%BC%EB%A9%94/) The film was invited to the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival, the Udine Far East Film Festival, and the Shanghai International Film & TV Festival in 2001.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20000055)\n\n## Context in Korean cinema\n\nLibera Me belongs to the wave of big-budget Korean genre films that followed the success of *Shiri* in 1999, alongside *Bichunmoo* and *The Legend of Gingko*, as Korean production companies entered the high-priced blockbuster market.[5](https://stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html) A 2025 academic study compared its portrayal of the arsonist Hee-soo, a figure who repeats arson as a ritual of inner pain, with that of the 2024 film *[The Firefighters](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-firefighters-2024-film)*, as part of an analysis of how Korean cinema links arsonist representation to social context.[9](https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART003225613)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Libera Me (2000), Korean Film Council (KOFIC) film database](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20000055)\n2. [리베라 메 (Libera Me) 상세정보, 씨네21 (Cine21)](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=5194)\n3. [リベラ・メ：作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ, 映画.com (Eiga.com)](https://eiga.com/movie/1496/)\n4. [리베라메 (Libera Me), Cinematheque](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20000055)\n5. [Korean Movie Reviews for 2000, Koreanfilm.org](https://stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm00.html)\n6. [리베라메 (2000) 줄거리·출연진, YSDB](https://www.ysdb.kr/culture/movies/MV-2000-Q4E4SX/%EB%A6%AC%EB%B2%A0%EB%9D%BC%EB%A9%94/)\n7. [부산은 아직도 불타고 있는가 (리베라 메 리뷰), kinocine.com](https://www.kinocine.com/2000/11/2000.html)\n8. [Libera Me (2000) Review, cityonfire.com](https://cityonfire.com/libera-me-2000-review/)\n9. [Choi Junseok, Lee Teri (2025). A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Arsonist Representations in Film, Korea Criminal Intelligence Review 11(1)](https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART003225613)\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 › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2000–2004 films › Released 2000 to 2002*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: 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/libera-me", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/libera-me.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": "\"Libera Me (리베라 메)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/libera-me. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Libera Me (리베라 메)](https://www.edgepedia.org/libera-me)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/libera-me](https://www.edgepedia.org/libera-me). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Libera Me (리베라 메)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/libera-me. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Libera Me is a 2000 South Korean fire-action film directed by Yang Yun-ho, starring Choi Min-soo, Cha Seung-won, and Yoo Ji-tae, about a Busan firefighter hunting a serial arsonist; it won Paeksang Grand Prize." }