# Firebird (1997 film)
**Firebird** (불새; also translated *Fire Bird* or *Bulsae*) is a 1997 South Korean drama film directed by Kim Young-bin and starring [Lee Jung-jae](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-jung-jae), Son Chang-min, Oh Yeon-soo, and Kim Ji-yeon. It was released in South Korea on 1 February 1997 and follows a drifting young man whose life is bound to a wealthy heir after the two conspire to cover up a woman's death.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0184475/) • [2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=145)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Korean title | 불새 (*Bulsae*), also rendered Fire Bird[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0184475/) |
| Director / screenwriter | Kim Young-bin; screenplay by Choi In-ho and Kim Young-bin, based on Choi In-ho's novel[3](https://www.etnews.com/199702100061) • [2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=145) |
| Release | 1 February 1997, South Korea[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0184475/) |
| Main cast | Lee Jung-jae (Yeong-hoo), Son Chang-min (Min-seop), Oh Yeon-soo (Mi-ran), Kim Ji-yeon (Hyeon-joo)[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=145) |
| Genre and rating | Melodrama/romance; rated for adults only (18세 관람가) in Korea[4](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/fire_bird/fire_bird.htm) |
| Runtime | 114 minutes per IMDb and the Korean Movie Database; Cine21 lists 107 minutes[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0184475/) • [4](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/fire_bird/fire_bird.htm) • [2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=145) |
| Production | Sunick Film (선익필림), producer Im Chung-ryeol[4](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/fire_bird/fire_bird.htm) |
| Admissions | 22,970 recorded by Cine21[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=145) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Yeong-hoo (Lee Jung-jae) is a drifter wandering the night streets of Macau. At a casino he meets the chaebol (large family-owned South Korean business conglomerate) heir Min-seop (Son Chang-min). While using cocaine with Min-seop, Yeong-hoo's friend Yun dies of an overdose, and Yeong-hoo coolly disposes of the body at sea. He returns to Korea a year later, hides his troubled past, and offers himself as Min-seop's loyal subordinate in pursuit of his own ambitions; Min-seop, covering up his own wrongdoing, provides him with an apartment and a job.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=145) • [3](https://www.etnews.com/199702100061)
By chance Yeong-hoo meets Hyeon-joo (Kim Ji-yeon), Min-seop's fiancée, and finds himself drawn to her. Hyeon-joo gradually discovers Min-seop's two-faced character and opens her heart to Yeong-hoo. Min-seop orders Yeong-hoo to watch over Mi-ran (Oh Yeon-soo), his half-sister, who has returned from the United States to claim an inheritance; Mi-ran recklessly seduces Yeong-hoo, who uses her feelings for his own ends, and Min-seop eventually announces that Yeong-hoo and Mi-ran will marry. Only then does Yeong-hoo recognize his love for Hyeon-joo, and the story ends with his destruction.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=145) • [3](https://www.etnews.com/199702100061)
## Production and release
The film was the fifth feature directed by Kim Young-bin, whose earlier work had consisted of tough, male-oriented pictures.[3](https://www.etnews.com/199702100061) It drew attention before release because it marked Lee Jung-jae's first role after completing his military service, following the television drama *Sandglass* in which he had played the bodyguard Baek Jae-hee.[3](https://www.etnews.com/199702100061) Sunick Film produced it, with Jeon Jo-myoung as cinematographer, Choi Jeong-hwa as art director, Jung Doo-hong handling action and stunts, and music by Jung Won-young.[4](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/fire_bird/fire_bird.htm)
The screenplay adapts Choi In-ho's novel of the same name. A contemporary review in the *Electronic Times* judged that transplanting the novel, whose appeal belonged to the early 1980s, to the 1990s without further apparatus was a hazardous undertaking, and criticized the resulting story's structure and its caricatured portrayal of the chaebol class, while praising Lee Jung-jae's screen presence.[3](https://www.etnews.com/199702100061) A note published on [Letterboxd](https://www.edgepedia.org/letterboxd) describes the film as a big-budgeted flop which, together with the 1997 Asian financial crisis, ended the film division of the conglomerate Daewoo, and lists the 1997 film as a remake of a 1987 version of the same title.[5](https://letterboxd.com/film/firebird/crew/) • [6](https://dspace.lu.lv/dspace/bitstream/handle/7/57119/RFR_Special_web_final.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
## Reception
Cine21 records 22,970 admissions and an audience rating of 5.20 out of 10.[2](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=145) On IMDb the film holds a rating of about 4.9 out of 10 from 41 votes.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0184475/) Rotten Tomatoes shows no critic reviews and no audience ratings for the title, and it is not currently available on major streaming services in the United States.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fire_bird) • [8](https://www.playpilot.com/us/movie/firebird-pptiWmM7/) The film received the silver prize in cinematography at the 20th Golden Cinematography Awards (황금촬영상), where it was recognized for Jeon Jo-myoung's camerawork.[4](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/fire_bird/fire_bird.htm)
## Note on the title
Several unrelated films share or translate the title "Firebird," including Peeter Rebane's 2021 queer romance *[Firebird](https://www.edgepedia.org/firebird-2021-film)* about Soviet Air Force personnel in occupied Estonia and the 1996/1997 Czech-German fairy-tale feature *Der Feuervogel*; neither is connected to this Korean production.[9](https://firebirdmovie.com/) • [10](https://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/der-feuervogel_ea43d4a735145006e03053d50b37753d)
## References
1. [Firebird (1997), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0184475/)
2. [불새 Fire Bird (1996), Cine21](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=145)
3. [스크린 관람석: 불새, Electronic Times, 10 February 1997](https://www.etnews.com/199702100061)
4. [불새, Korean Movie Database (koreafilm.co.kr)](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/fire_bird/fire_bird.htm)
5. [Firebird (1997), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/firebird/crew/)
6. [Latvian Film Researchers' Association special edition on Korean cinema](https://dspace.lu.lv/dspace/bitstream/handle/7/57119/RFR_Special_web_final.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
7. [Fire Bird, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fire_bird)
8. [Firebird (1997) streaming guide, PlayPilot](https://www.playpilot.com/us/movie/firebird-pptiWmM7/)
9. [Firebird official film website](https://firebirdmovie.com/)
10. [Der Feuervogel, filmportal.de](https://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/der-feuervogel_ea43d4a735145006e03053d50b37753d)
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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 › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action thrillers, 1980s and 1990s*
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