# Dream (비몽) (2008 film)
**Dream** (비몽, also romanized *Bi-mong*; hanja 悲夢, "sad dream") is a 2008 South Korean drama-romance-fantasy film written, directed, and edited by [Kim Ki-duk](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-ki-duk), in which a man's dreams are acted out in reality by a sleepwalking stranger. It stars Joe Odagiri as Jin and [Lee Na-young](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-na-young) as Ran, with Chang Mi-hee in a special appearance as a psychiatrist.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=24309) A co-production between South Korea and Japan, it premiered in competition at the San Sebastián International Film Festival on September 26, 2008 and opened in South Korean theaters on October 9, 2008.[2](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/7556193/) • [3](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20080887) It was Kim's 15th feature.[4](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20080926172900005)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Kim Ki-duk, his 15th feature; he also edited the film[4](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20080926172900005) • [3](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20080887) |
| Cast | Joe Odagiri (Jin), Lee Na-young (Ran), Chang Mi-hee (psychiatrist, special appearance), Park Ji-a (Jin's ex-lover), Jin Tae-hyun (Ran's ex-lover)[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=24309) |
| Release | World premiere September 26, 2008 (San Sebastián, competition); South Korea October 9, 2008; Japan February 7, 2009[2](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/7556193/) • [5](https://www.kobiz.or.kr/new/kor/02_overseas/production/productionCaseView.jsp?pageIndex=1&seq=9&yearType=ALL) |
| Format | 95 minutes; rated restricted (18+) in Korea; South Korea–Japan co-production[3](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20080887) • [6](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20080887) |
| Box office | 89,858 admissions in South Korea on 101 screens, grossing $441,043[3](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20080887) |
| Award | Best Director, Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2008[3](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20080887) |
| Production cost | Net production cost 600 million won; 800 million won raised from five sources[5](https://www.kobiz.or.kr/new/kor/02_overseas/production/productionCaseView.jsp?pageIndex=1&seq=9&yearType=ALL) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Jin, a traditional woodblock printmaker, wakes from a nightmare in which he caused a traffic accident, drives to the spot he saw, and finds that a real hit-and-run took place there. The CCTV footage shows not his car but that of Ran, a fashion designer whose sleepwalking has escalated to nocturnal driving; she denies the accusation because she was asleep all night, and the police arrest her.[7](https://www.screendaily.com/dream-bi-mong/4041112.article) • [3](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20080887)
The two discover the mechanism of their connection: when Jin dreams, Ran acts out his dream in her sleep. Because Jin cannot stop dreaming of his ex-girlfriend (Park Ji-a), Ran involuntarily visits her own ex-boyfriend (Jin Tae-hyun), whom she despises, in the real world.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=24309) • [7](https://www.screendaily.com/dream-bi-mong/4041112.article) A psychiatrist tells them the two were originally one body, and that when one becomes happy the other must become unhappy; from this premise the film's tragedy unfolds, including a dream in which Jin kills his former girlfriend, which Ran carries out on her former boyfriend.[8](https://www.etnews.com/200810090113)
To prevent the dreams from acting themselves out, Jin moves into Ran's apartment and the two agree to sleep in shifts, at one point handcuffing their hands together. Jin's stratagems to stay awake begin as comic and grow harder to watch as he starts mutilating himself with his printing tools. As the boundary between dream and reality blurs, the two leads and their two exes begin to swap places.[7](https://www.screendaily.com/dream-bi-mong/4041112.article) • [4](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20080926172900005)
## Themes and style
Kim built the film around an aesthetics of symmetry: the actions of the two leads in dream and reality mirror each other, like the two wings of a butterfly, a motif that recurs throughout the film. The psychiatrist's line that "the two are in fact one person" states the structure directly, and the film treats longing for the past and trying to forget it as the same act.[4](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20080926172900005) Reviewers noted that the film is more strongly fantastic and poetic in character than Kim's previous work, while retaining his habitual method of a clear, allegorical setup followed by unpredictable plot development.[4](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20080926172900005) The etnews review read the title as 非夢 ("non-dream") rather than only 悲夢 ("sad dream"), and described the film's subject as following relative morality rather than absolute truth.[8](https://www.etnews.com/200810090113)
## Production
**Financing.** The film was planned by Kim Ki-duk Film and Sponge on the Korean side and Style Jam and Dongyu Club, Odagiri's agency, on the Japanese side, with investment from Sponge, CJ Venture Investment, Showbox, and Style Jam. Net production cost was 600 million won against 800 million won raised; the Seoul Film Commission contributed 100 million won in location support (about 80 million won after settlement). Rights were held by Kim Ki Duk Film, with domestic distribution by Studio 2.0 (planned on 100 screens) and international sales by Showbox.[5](https://www.kobiz.or.kr/new/kor/02_overseas/production/productionCaseView.jsp?pageIndex=1&seq=9&yearType=ALL)
**Casting and language.** Because a foreign lead would normally raise a dialogue problem, the script was written so that Jin is a Korean who understands Japanese and Ran a Japanese speaker who understands Korean, allowing each actor to perform in their own native language. Producer Cho Sung-kyu of Sponge cited this script-level solution as the way the co-production resolved the language issue.[5](https://www.kobiz.or.kr/new/kor/02_overseas/production/productionCaseView.jsp?pageIndex=1&seq=9&yearType=ALL)
**Locations.** The film was shot entirely on location in Seoul, including the Gahoe-dong hanok village, the Han River, and Beomeosa temple, with filming in January 2008 after planning began in October 2007.[5](https://www.kobiz.or.kr/new/kor/02_overseas/production/productionCaseView.jsp?pageIndex=1&seq=9&yearType=ALL)
## Reception
The film's commercial performance in South Korea was modest: 89,858 admissions on 101 screens.[3](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20080887) Cine21 recorded 87,963 admissions, a slightly different count from the same period, with an expert rating of 7.00 and an audience rating of 7.64 out of 10; among its four credited critics, Lee Dong-jin gave the highest score (9/10) and Park Pyeong-shik the lowest (5/10).[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=24309) On Rotten Tomatoes the film had no counted critic reviews and a 59% audience score on the Popcornmeter from more than 500 ratings.[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bimong)
In a review filed from [San Sebastián](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-sebastian), Lee Marshall of *Screen Daily* judged the premise better than Kim's previous *Breath* though below *3-Iron*, praised Kim's use of music, lighting, costume, and art direction, and the chemistry between Lee and Odagiri, but found the story structure increasingly frantic and the character development thin. He also noted the commercial context: Kim's arthouse cachet had been fading with every film since *3-Iron* in 2004, and the film was unlikely to revive it, though Japanese audiences might respond to Odagiri's presence.[7](https://www.screendaily.com/dream-bi-mong/4041112.article)
The film won Best Director for Kim at the 2008 Korean Association of Film Critics Awards and circulated widely on the festival circuit, with selections including San Sebastián (2008, competition), the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (2009, 7th Orbit), the New York Asian Film Festival (2009), Fantasia (2009), and the Kerala and Kolkata festivals (2009).[3](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20080887)
## Aftermath
During the shoot in 2008, one of Kim's actresses almost lost her life, an incident Kim blamed on his own negligence. He stopped making films afterward and withdrew into a solitary life, returning to directing only with the documentary *[Arirang](https://www.edgepedia.org/arirang-2011-film)* (2011), which he presented at Cannes and in which he examines that period.[10](https://www.screendaily.com/arirang/5027493.article) *Dream* was thus his last fiction feature before that hiatus.[11](https://www.lemonde.fr/cinema/article/2011/05/14/moretti-kim-ki-duk-vague-a-l-ame-et-depression_5990283_3476.html)
## References
1. [비몽 (Dream) 상세정보, Cine21](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=24309)
2. [Dream 2008, Kinoafisha](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/7556193/)
3. [Dream (2008), Korean Film Council (KOFIC) database](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20080887)
4. [〈새영화〉 사랑의 상처에 대한 고찰 '비몽', 연합뉴스 (2008-09-28)](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20080926172900005)
5. [공동제작 제작사례: 비몽 (2008), KoBiz (Korean Film Council)](https://www.kobiz.or.kr/new/kor/02_overseas/production/productionCaseView.jsp?pageIndex=1&seq=9&yearType=ALL)
6. [Dream (비몽), Filmmakers film database](https://www.filmmakers.co.kr/movies/en/20080887)
7. [Dream (Bi Mong), review by Lee Marshall, Screen Daily (2008-09-29)](https://www.screendaily.com/dream-bi-mong/4041112.article)
8. [〈클릭 시네마〉비몽, 전자신문 (2008-10-10)](https://www.etnews.com/200810090113)
9. [Dream, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bimong)
10. [Arirang, review, Screen Daily (2011)](https://www.screendaily.com/arirang/5027493.article)
11. [Moretti, Kim Ki-duk, vague à l'âme et dépression, Le Monde (2011-05-14)](https://www.lemonde.fr/cinema/article/2011/05/14/moretti-kim-ki-duk-vague-a-l-ame-et-depression_5990283_3476.html)
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*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 › Biographical and historical drama films 2000s › Released 2006 to 2009*
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