White: Melody of Death
| White: Melody of Death | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Hangul | 화이트: 저주의 멜로디 |
| Revised Romanization | Hwaiteu: jeojooui mellodi |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hwait‘ŭ: chŏjuŭi melrodi |
| Directed by |
Kim Gok Kim Sun |
| Written by |
Kim Gok Kim Sun |
| Starring |
Ham Eun-jeong Hwang Woo-seul-hye May Doni Kim |
Production company |
DOO Entertainment |
| Distributed by | CJ Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Box office | US$5,299,831[1] |
White: Melody of Death (Hangul: 화이트: 저주의 멜로디; RR: Hwaiteu: Jeojooui Mellodi, lit. White: The Melody of the Curse) is a 2011 South Korean horror film by Kim Gok and Kim Sun.
Plot
The film opens with a girl group called "Pink Dolls" about to perform in a televised competition. They lose to the more mainstream girl group, Pure (played by After School) . They move into a new studio where they hope to record their next hit, and finally make it to the top. There is tension and rivalry between the four members of "Pink Dolls" - Je-ni, a singer insecure with hitting high notes, A-rang, a singer addicted to cosmetic surgery, Shin-ji, who can't sing, but is an excellent dancer, and Eun-ju, the eldest and former backup dancer who despite being the oldest, is bullied by the younger three.
Eun-ju discovers a tape entitled "White" which turns out to be an old unreleased music video that her manager thinks might have the right moves and addictive tune for the group's success. Since the rights to the song are unknown, their manager gives the okay for them to deconstruct the video for their next performance. They perform "White" on stage, becoming an overnight sensation. With success, the girls become resentful of each other, ruled by their desire to be promoted as the lead singer.
First to fall victim to the curse is Je-ni, who, after recording for the lead, is forced to take an overdose of her medication, then made to hit high notes and is found mysteriously hung in the recording booth. Next, A-rang becomes the lead but starts having allergic reactions to her makeup, then feels something claw at her eyes during a performance, falling off the stage and injuring herself. The doctors say that due to a negative reaction to her cosmetic surgery, she will be unable to perform. Finally, Shin-ji sees the ghost while filming a reality show and panics, running into a crowd of over-zealous fans and is crushed by a piece of filming equipment.
Eun-ju suspects a connection to the lead's bad luck and "White" so she asks her friend Soon-ye to dig up anything related to the song's original singer. Soon-ye tells Eun-ju that the singer from the video was a competitive girl named Jang Ye-bin who died in a studio fire 15 years ago and was blamed for the suicide of a back-up dancer. The video was never released because something went wrong with the recording. They review the tape and see that the singer's face is scarred, and come to the conclusion that Jang Ye-bin wrote the song "White", and out of jealousy the other girls damaged her face so she couldn't have the lead position. Shin-ji dies after seeing the ghost. Eun-ju is reluctant to be the lead until she can find a way to lift the curse. She believes Jang Ye-bin started the fire to kill herself, and makes an offering at Ye-bin's grave.
Now confident that the curse has been lifted, Eun-ju starts a solo career using "White"'s popularity. She undergoes a total transformation, bleaching her hair, answering to White as her name, denying ever being a back up, and taking credit for writing the song and choreography. When her former group members wake in the hospital, they see Eun-ju on the television as a full-blown celebrity, about to compete against "Pure" for the #1 song. Soon-ye is upset at Eun-ju's new selfishness. She then hears something new on the original track and discovers it isn't Ye-bin singing.
"White" was originally written by a young bullied back-up dancer whose face was disfigured by Jang Ye-bin and the rest of the dancers with acid for "standing out." The girl committed suicide by drinking bleach, and now returns to haunt and kill whoever sings "her" song, beginning with getting revenge on Ye-bin (the ghost caused the fire). Jang Ye-bin was not the author of the song, but the first victim of the curse.
Soon-ye calls Eun-ju to warn her but is hung up on. Je-ni, A-rang and Shin-ji commit suicide on air by drinking bleach. Eun-ju is assaulted by the ghost while performing "White," causing a blackout. The crowd panics and her sponsor and manager both die in the chaos. Soon-ye arrives but as Eun-ju jumps into the crowd to reach her, she trips, resulting in her being trampled to death. The film concludes with Soon-ye at the karaoke bar, disposing of Eun-ju's album, the trainee's suicide note and the original tape by setting them on fire. She believes she has finally defeated the curse, but is horrified when the karaoke machine announces the song "White", implying that the curse has not been broken and she too will die.
Cast
- Ham Eun-jeong as Eun-ju
- May Doni Kim as Shin-ji
- Choi Ah-ra as A-rang
- Jin Se-yeon as Je-ni
- Hwang Woo-seul-hye as Soon-ye
- After School as Pure
- Yu Mo-ri as Jang Ye-bin
- Kim Soo-hyun as White
- Lee Junho as Music Fever host
Soundtrack
The soundtrack contains 3 versions of the song "White," the original (the one featured on the VHS tape), another sung by PinkDolls (Ham Eun-jeong, May Doni Kim, Choi Ah-ra and Jin Se-yeon), and a solo version with just Eun-jeong.
Reception
The film grossed US$1,265,702 its opening weekend landing at the fifth position of the box office chart.[2] In total the film grossed US$5,299,831 by the end of its theatrical run.[1] The film received a total of 791,133 admissions nationwide.[3]