On October 1, the movie “Love in the Big City”, starring Kim Go-eun and Noh Sang-hyun, will be released in theaters nationwide. Based on a novel by Park Sang-young, the film follows the love story of Jae-hee (Kim Go-eun), a free-spirited soul, and Heung-soo (Noh Sang-hyun), who is used to distancing himself from others.
Heung-soo, portrayed by Noh Sang-hyun, is a character from the LGBTQ+ community. His romantic partner, played by Jung-hwi, is also a man, and the film includes scenes where Heung-soo dances at a club frequented by sexual minorities and also has intimate skinship with his boyfriend.
Ahead of the film’s release, Noh Sang-hyun revealed in an interview that he met with people from the LGBTQ+ community to better understand his character.
The actor also shared, “Everyone has secrets that they don’t want to tell others, such as family history or childhood trauma. ‘Love in the Big City’ is about meeting a friend who understands those things and accepts them as themselves. I think it’s a comprehensive story that isn’t limited to sexual minorities.”
The story will also be adapted into a TVING original drama starring Nam Yoon-soo. In a recent interview with Allure Korea, the actor shared that he had queer friends growing up and was always open-minded.
However, he also commented, “Seeing that the drama is only being released on OTT, I guess Korean society is still a bit conservative. I don’t know how they edited it, but there are a lot of scenes that are quite racy, so it must have been difficult on terrestrial TV.”
On the other hand, Han So-hee also takes the lead in the queer-themed film “Heavy Snow”, which tells a winter love story between high school star Seol (Han So-hee) and aspiring actress Soo-an (Han Hae-in).
The film has been recognized at various international film festivals, including the 24th Jeonju International Film Festival and the 38th London LGBT Film Festival.
Hyeri is also set to star in the queer-themed drama “Friendly Rivalry”, a high-teen mystery thriller adapted from a webtoon, focusing on the tense relationships between teenage girls in a competitive high school environment.
Following the success of Boy Love K-drama “Semantic Error” in 2022, LGBTQ+ content has proven to have significant mainstream appeal. With the continued release of films like “The Dream Songs” and “Concerning My Daughter”, the genre is showing strong potential for broader acceptance. While prejudice against LGBTQ+ themes still exists, the growing presence of queer content is setting a positive example for the public.
Source: TopStarNews