With the nominees for the 46th Blue Dragon Film Awards revealed, discussions are swirling online about the absence of the hot topic film 'The Party', which shook the Korean film industry in the first half of this year.
On the 21st, the awards office finalized the nominees for each category. In the Best Picture category, top films like 'There’s Nothing We Can Do', 'Harbin', 'Face', 'Zombie Daughter', and 'The Clash' were nominated. However, 'The Party', which revitalized the Korean film industry upon its release in April, was nowhere to be found in the main categories of Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Screenplay.
'The Party', directed by Hwang Byeong-guk, is a crime action noir that depicts the story of power and betrayal during a drug investigation. The term 'The Party' refers to drug brokers who leak information to law enforcement, and Kang Ha-neul plays the role of Lee Kang-soo, a drug broker. Yoo Hae-jin portrays Prosecutor Koo Kwan-hee, who seeks to use him for his advancement, while Park Hae-joon appears as Detective Oh Sang-jae from the drug investigation team, creating a tense psychological battle among the three characters.
Despite receiving a 'Restricted to Youth' (hereafter R-rated) rating, the film attracted 3.37 million viewers, preserving the pride of Korean cinema in the first half of the year. Notably, it topped the box office for seven consecutive days upon release, marking it as a '300,000 R-rated film' after 6 years. Riding on its popularity, an extended version titled 'The Party: Extended Cut', featuring additional scenes of Koo Kwan-hee, was released in August.
Online comments on this issue include statements like "Kang Ha-neul's acting was great", "How could the most commercially successful film of the first half be excluded?", "The nominee selection makes no sense", and "Is it because the title is too political?"
Meanwhile, the 46th Blue Dragon Film Awards will be held on November 19 at KBS Hall in Yeouido, and it will be broadcast live on KBS2.