{ "id": "ep802s498r", "slug": "time-2006-film", "title": "Time (시간) (2006 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.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s", "label": "Drama films 2000s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s.romantic-drama-films-2000s", "label": "Romantic drama films 2000s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s.romantic-drama-films-2000s" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s", "label": "Asia (other) · 2001 to 2020: Drama films 2000s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s", "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" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s", "label": "Drama films 2000s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Time (시간, Shi-gan) is a 2006 South Korean drama written and directed by Kim Ki-duk, his 13th film, starring Sung Hyun-ah and Ha Jung-woo. A woman secretly has plastic surgery to win back her fading lover; released August 24, 2006, Metascore 73.", "snippet": "Time (시간, Shi-gan) is a 2006 South Korean drama written and directed by Kim Ki-duk, his 13th film, starring Sung Hyun-ah and Ha Jung-woo. A woman secretly has plastic surgery to win back her fading lover; released August 24, 2006, Metascore 73.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2000s.romantic-drama-films-2000s", "markdown": "# Time (시간) (2006 film)\n\n**Time** (시간; also romanized *Shi-gan*) is a 2006 South Korean drama film written, directed, and edited by [Kim Ki-duk](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-ki-duk), in which a woman secretly undergoes plastic surgery to become a new person and test whether her boyfriend's love depends on her face.[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20060228) Sung Hyun-ah, Ha Jung-woo, and [Park Ji-yeon](https://www.edgepedia.org/park-ji-yeon) star; it was released in South Korea on August 24, 2006 by the director's own company, Kim Ki Duk Film.[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20060228) • [2](https://jkma.koreanfilm.org/films2006.html) It was Kim's thirteenth feature.[3](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/8/2767-time)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | 시간 (Shi-gan), international title *Time*[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20060228) |\n| Director and screenwriter | Kim Ki-duk, who also edited[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20060228) |\n| Release | August 24, 2006, South Korea[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20060228) |\n| Running time | 98 minutes per KOFIC and KMDb records; 97 minutes on IMDb and in the US DVD release[4](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/scenario/CKR003558) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/Title/tt0497986/) |\n| Lead cast | Sung Hyun-ah (Seh-hee/See-hee), Ha Jung-woo (Ji-woo), Park Ji-yeon (Seh-hee before surgery), Kim Sung-min (plastic surgeon)[2](https://jkma.koreanfilm.org/films2006.html) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/time) |\n| Production | Kim Ki Duk Film; distributed in Korea by Sponge; international sales by Cineclick Asia[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20060228) • [2](https://jkma.koreanfilm.org/films2006.html) |\n| Korean box office | About 28,000–29,000 admissions (28,021 admissions and US$133,474 gross on 12 screens per the KOFIC film database; 29,075 admissions on a 2006 yearly ranking)[7](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20060228) • [8](https://sonty12.tistory.com/9210236) |\n| Reception | Metascore 73; Rotten Tomatoes 77% from 35 reviews; IMDb 7.1 from about 13,000 votes[9](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/time/critic-reviews/) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shi-gan-time) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nSeh-hee and Ji-woo have been together for two years. Seh-hee senses Ji-woo's love fading, believes the problem is that she no longer feels new to him, and reacts with jealousy whenever he looks at other women; Ji-woo finds her sensitivity tiring.[11](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=18902) She suddenly disappears, erasing every trace of herself, and undergoes extensive plastic surgery.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20060228)\n\nAfter six months, enough time for the scars to heal, she reappears as a waitress at the café Ji-woo frequents, introducing herself as \"See-hee,\" a name that sounds very similar.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20060228) • [12](https://lifesizeentertainment.com/catalog/time/) Ji-woo falls for her. When he receives a note from the missing Seh-hee asking to get back together, he breaks up with See-hee; when he goes to meet Seh-hee, See-hee is there wearing a mask made from a photograph of Seh-hee's old face, telling him she changed her appearance to love him and be loved forever. A shocked Ji-woo leaves her, and he in turn receives plastic surgery.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20060228) Park Ji-yeon plays Seh-hee before the surgery and Sung Hyun-ah plays her afterward, so the role is shared between two performers.[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/time)\n\n## Production and release\n\nThe film was produced by Kim Ki Duk Film with Gang Yeong-gu as producer and Song Myung-chul as line producer, and shot by cinematographer Sung Jong-mu with lighting by Nahm Han-ho and music by Noh Hyeong-woo.[1](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20060228) A 2006 festival catalog lists a production budget of US$1 million and executive producer Michio Suzuki, and notes 2006 KOFIC support for subtitle translation and print production.[13](https://netboardme.s3.amazonaws.com/published/1518/files/e7285e1e3f18a385a90602fd2d446c66.pdf) Korea's KMDb database describes the domestic release as a 98-minute drama, rated for adults only, distributed by Sponge.[4](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/scenario/CKR003558) • [11](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=18902)\n\nAt the press screening for *Time* in 2006, Kim Ki-duk remarked about *[The Host](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-host-2006-film)*, then sweeping Korean screens, that it \"showed exactly the level of Korean films and audiences,\" a comment that caused a public uproar; he then described himself, in a self-punishing statement, as unfit to live in Korea.[14](https://www.kapanet.or.kr/kapabook/107/PDF/107_kapa%20life-%EC%94%A8%EB%84%A4%EB%A7%88%20%EB%A6%AC%EB%B7%B0.pdf)\n\n## Festival and commercial performance\n\n*Time* opened the 2006 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and played in the VISION section of the 2006 [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival), with additional 2006 selections at Antalya, Chicago, Sitges, and Leeds.[13](https://netboardme.s3.amazonaws.com/published/1518/files/e7285e1e3f18a385a90602fd2d446c66.pdf) The Sitges International Film Festival awarded it Best Makeup in 2006.[15](https://www.filmaffinity.com/gt/film694341.html) Later invitations included retrospectives and sidebars in 2007 and 2008, such as Melbourne, Sofia, Tbilisi, Bangkok, and the Third Eye Asian Film Festival's focus on Kim Ki-duk.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20060228)\n\nDomestically the film was a minor release: the KOFIC database records 28,021 admissions and US$133,474 in total gross on 12 screens, and a 2006 yearly ranking places it 83rd with 29,075 admissions.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20060228) • [8](https://sonty12.tistory.com/9210236) In North America it opened on one screen and played for two weeks, earning US$14,742, with an opening weekend of US$4,630; the DVD, released in the United States on November 6, 2007 by Lifesize Entertainment, ran 97 minutes.[16](https://www.ioncinema.com/news/disc-reviews/time-2006-dvd-review) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/Title/tt0497986/) • [12](https://lifesizeentertainment.com/catalog/time/)\n\n## Critical reception\n\nAnglophone critics responded favorably overall. The film holds a Metascore of 73, based on 11 positive and 3 mixed reviews with none negative, and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 77 percent from 35 reviews; IMDb users rate it 7.1.[9](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/time/critic-reviews/) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shi-gan-time) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/Title/tt0497986/) James Berardinelli, the critic behind Reelviews, called it \"haunting and disturbing\" and a meditation on identity and physical appearance.[17](https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/time) The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips praised Kim's sureness of touch and called the film \"a heartening step up\" from Kim's previous film *The Bow*; the Village Voice's Mike D'Angelo described it as a parable about the conflict between infatuation and familiarity.[9](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/time/critic-reviews/) The New York Times review by Matt Zoller Seitz described Kim flipping between soapy melodrama and dry, self-aware comedy, \"thrilling and disorienting.\"[9](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/time/critic-reviews/)\n\nMore critical voices found the treatment shallow. Nick Schager, entertainment critic for [The Daily Beast](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-daily-beast) and a contributor to [Variety](https://www.edgepedia.org/variety-magazine) and [The Village Voice](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-village-voice), wrote in Slant Magazine that a persistent glibness in Kim's depiction of vanity, distrust, and possessiveness undermined serious examination of the themes, and that a protracted third-act twist mired the film in red herrings and didacticism.[18](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/time/) Korean criticism has since reappraised the film: Cine21 records an expert rating of 6.33 and an audience rating of 7.75, and a retrospective piece at the Cinematheque argued that the questions the film raised about relationships have become more pressing in the era of Instagram dating.[11](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=18902) • [19](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20060228)\n\n## Themes and context\n\nThe title refers to Seh-hee's wish to return to an earlier, happier point in the relationship, and the film connects time to the link between image and identity, set against South Korea's widespread use of plastic surgery.[18](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/time/) Recurring visual settings include a seaside sculpture park of entwined nude figures and a giant sculptural hand that is partly submerged at high tide, where many of the romantic scenes take place.[18](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/time/) • [16](https://www.ioncinema.com/news/disc-reviews/time-2006-dvd-review) Reviewers frequently compared the structure to [Alfred Hitchcock](https://www.edgepedia.org/alfred-hitchcock)'s *[Vertigo](https://www.edgepedia.org/vertigo-film)*, in which a man remakes a woman into an image of a lost lover; the film's US marketing called it \"the South Korean answer to *Vertigo*.\"[18](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/time/) • [12](https://lifesizeentertainment.com/catalog/time/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Time, Filmmakers Community film database](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20060228)\n2. [Korean Film List 2006, Korean Film Archive (JKMA)](https://jkma.koreanfilm.org/films2006.html)\n3. [Time, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival program](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/8/2767-time)\n4. [시간(타임) scenario record, Korean Film Archive (KOFA) media library](https://www.koreafilm.or.kr/library/search/scenario/CKR003558)\n5. [Time (2006), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/Title/tt0497986/)\n6. [Time (2006), JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/time)\n7. [Time (2006), KOFIC/Korean Film Council film database](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20060228)\n8. [2006 Korean film box office Top 100 (KOFIC data compilation)](https://sonty12.tistory.com/9210236)\n9. [Time critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/time/critic-reviews/)\n10. [Time, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shi-gan-time)\n11. [시간 (Time) 상세정보, Cine21](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=18902)\n12. [Time, Lifesize Entertainment catalog](https://lifesizeentertainment.com/catalog/time/)\n13. [Kim Ki-duk festival catalogue, Time (2006), KOFIC-supported publication (PDF)](https://netboardme.s3.amazonaws.com/published/1518/files/e7285e1e3f18a385a90602fd2d446c66.pdf)\n14. [KAPA Life cinema review (Kim Ki-duk and Pieta context, PDF)](https://www.kapanet.or.kr/kapabook/107/PDF/107_kapa%20life-%EC%94%A8%EB%84%A4%EB%A7%88%20%EB%A6%AC%EB%B7%B0.pdf)\n15. [Time, FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/gt/film694341.html)\n16. [Time (2006) DVD review, IONCINEMA.com](https://www.ioncinema.com/news/disc-reviews/time-2006-dvd-review)\n17. [Time (South Korea, 2006), Reelviews, James Berardinelli](https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/time)\n18. [Review: Time, Slant Magazine, Nick Schager (2007)](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/time/)\n19. [시간 (Time), Cinematheque](https://www.cinematheque.co.kr/cinema/20060228)\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 › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2000s › Romantic drama films 2000s*\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/time-2006-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/time-2006-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": "\"Time (시간) (2006 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/time-2006-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Time (시간) (2006 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/time-2006-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/time-2006-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/time-2006-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Time (시간) (2006 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/time-2006-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Time is a 2006 South Korean drama written and directed by Kim Ki-duk, his 13th film, starring Sung Hyun-ah and Ha Jung-woo." }