# Road to Boston (보스턴 1947)
**Road to Boston** (Korean title *1947 보스톤*, Boston 1947) is a 2023 South Korean biographical sports drama directed by Kang Je-gyu that dramatizes the true story of the Korean marathoners who competed in the 1947 Boston International Marathon, the first international marathon held after World War II.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=57276) • [2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20197122) It stars [Ha Jung-woo](https://www.edgepedia.org/ha-jung-woo) as marathon legend Son Kee-jung, Im Si-wan as his protégé Suh Yun-bok, and Bae Sung-woo as fellow runner Nam Seung-ryong.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=57276)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Korean release | September 27, 2023, during the Chuseok holiday; rated 12 and over; 108 minutes in Korean release[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=57276) |
| Director | Kang Je-gyu, his first feature in eight years since *Salut d'Amour* (2015)[3](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/amp/A2023091823200005256) |
| Main cast | Ha Jung-woo (Son Kee-jung), Im Si-wan (Suh Yun-bok), Bae Sung-woo (Nam Seung-ryong), Kim Sang-ho, with Park Eun-bin in a special appearance[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=57276) • [4](https://kstar.kbs.co.kr/list_view.html?idx=281626) |
| Historical basis | Suh Yun-bok won the 51st Boston Marathon on April 19, 1947 in 2:25:39, recorded as the first Asian winner of the race[5](https://www.sonkeechung.com/uploads/BMSR00009/202211/202211140332591220.pdf) |
| Korean admissions | 1,029,781 (Cine21); KOFIC lists 1,029,777 admissions and $6,866,370 gross[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=57276) • [2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20197122) |
| Production | Budget of 21 billion won; filmed September 2019 to January 2020, with 1940s Boston recreated near Melbourne, Australia[3](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/amp/A2023091823200005256) |
| Streaming | Available on Netflix and Coupang Play in South Korea[6](https://kinolights.com/season/82995) |
## Spoilers
### Story and historical basis
The film opens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where Son Kee-jung won the marathon gold medal and set a world record. As Japan's anthem played at the medal ceremony, he used a potted plant to cover the Japanese flag on his uniform, since colonial Korea's athletes competed under Japanese names and symbols. He became a national hero overnight, but Japanese colonial rule kept him from racing again.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=57276) • [7](https://www.netflixmovies.com/road-to-boston-2023)
After liberation, in 1947 Seoul, Son approaches Suh Yun-bok, a young runner hailed as a second Son Kee-jung, and proposes entering the [Boston Marathon](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-marathon), hoping to reclaim the glory that Berlin's victory, credited to Japan, had cost him and to run with the Taegeuk mark, the Korean flag, on their chests for the first time.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=57276) The film follows the three athletes, Son, Nam, and Suh, through training, obstacles on the way to the United States, and the race itself, whose climax depicts the 51st Boston Marathon held on April 19, 1947.[3](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/amp/A2023091823200005256)
The historical record behind the film is specific: Suh Yun-bok, then a [Korea University](https://www.edgepedia.org/korea-university) runner, won the 1947 Boston race in 2 hours 25 minutes 39 seconds, and the result is recorded as the first Boston Marathon victory by an Asian runner.[5](https://www.sonkeechung.com/uploads/BMSR00009/202211/202211140332591220.pdf) Kang Je-gyu said he kept invention to a minimum because the real story was already dramatic, estimating the film's agreement with the actual events at about 80 percent.[3](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/amp/A2023091823200005256) The film itself announces from the start that it is a story reworked from true events, moving between documented history and dramatization.[8](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk202309110274)
## Production
**Casting and training.** Kang said casting was the most important part of production, and that his conviction in the power of a true story and his sense of responsibility to history shaped the work.[9](https://www.mk.co.kr/news/movies/10830423) To play Suh Yun-bok, Im Si-wan trained for five months under Kwon Eun-ju, the former national marathoner who served as the film's marathon coach; he entered a 10 km shortened marathon and kept training during shooting, building a physique close to Suh's in muscle shape and body-fat ratio.[3](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/amp/A2023091823200005256) Marathon authenticity was further supported by advisers including Lee Bong-ju, winner of the 2001 Boston Marathon, and Ham Ki-yong, the 1950 Boston champion.[10](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/1947boston/boston_2-1.htm)
**Locations and schedule.** Filming began in September 2019 and finished in January 2020. To recreate 1940s Boston, the production scouted Latvia, Poland, Hungary, Uruguay, and New Zealand before settling on a location near Melbourne, Australia. The release was repeatedly postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Kang used the delay for more detailed post-production.[3](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/amp/A2023091823200005256) Production design worked from the few surviving color photographs and paintings of the era to reproduce the period's characteristic color palette.[10](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/1947boston/boston_2-1.htm)
**Runtime and budget.** The production budget was 21 billion won. Kang originally planned a 110-minute cut, and the Korean release runs 108 minutes; international databases list a 113-minute version.[3](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/amp/A2023091823200005256) • [11](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/road-to-boston)
## Reception
The film opened on September 27, 2023, in the Chuseok holiday window and drew about 1.03 million admissions in South Korea.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=57276) Cine21's three critics averaged 5.67 out of 10, with audience scores at 7.00 on the same site; IMDb lists 7.1.[1](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=57276) • [6](https://kinolights.com/season/82995) Reviews commonly singled out [Im Si-wan](https://www.edgepedia.org/im-si-wan)'s performance and the climactic marathon sequence.[12](https://www.wikitree.co.kr/articles/1122683) The film was later invited to the Frankfurt Korean Film Festival in 2024.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20197122)
Kang framed the film as recovering a forgotten victory rather than a story of defeat, saying he wanted audiences to see a winning chapter of Korean sports history and recommending it as a hopeful holiday film for families.[4](https://kstar.kbs.co.kr/list_view.html?idx=281626)
## The director's context
Kang Je-gyu debuted with *Ginkgo Bed* (1996), pioneered the Korean espionage-action blockbuster with *Shiri* (1999), and directed *Taegukgi* (2004), the second Korean film to reach ten million admissions.[13](https://www.cineplay.co.kr/ko-kr/articles/7927) He has repeatedly returned to the years around Korea's liberation, in *Taegukgi*, *My Way* (2011), and now *Road to Boston*; he described the generation that lived through the era's upheavals as the most dramatic he could portray.[3](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/amp/A2023091823200005256)
## References
1. [1947 보스톤 (Boston 1947) 상세정보, Cine21](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=57276)
2. [Road to Boston (2023), Korean Film Council database](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20197122)
3. [강제규 감독 "잊고 있던 승리의 역사 전하고 싶었다", Hankook Ilbo (2023)](https://www.hankookilbo.com/news/article/amp/A2023091823200005256)
4. [강제규 감독 승리의 역사, 영광의 드라마, KBS](https://kstar.kbs.co.kr/list_view.html?idx=281626)
5. [손기정 기념사업회 자료: 1947년 제51회 보스턴대회 기록](https://www.sonkeechung.com/uploads/BMSR00009/202211/202211140332591220.pdf)
6. [1947 보스톤 다시보기, KinoLights](https://kinolights.com/season/82995)
7. [Road to Boston (2023), NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/road-to-boston-2023)
8. [애국심과 신파 사이 순한 맛, '1947 보스톤' [쿡리뷰], Kukinews (2023)](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk202309110274)
9. ['1947 보스톤' 강제규 감독 인터뷰, Star Today (2023)](https://www.mk.co.kr/news/movies/10830423)
10. [1947 보스톤 제작 정보, KoreaFilm](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/1947boston/boston_2-1.htm)
11. [Road to Boston streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/road-to-boston)
12. ['넷플릭스 TOP 6' 등극한 200억 대작, Wikitree](https://www.wikitree.co.kr/articles/1122683)
13. [강제규 감독 인터뷰, Cineplay (2023)](https://www.cineplay.co.kr/ko-kr/articles/7927)
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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 2023 and 2024 › Titles O to Y*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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