| The Restless | |||||||||||||
| Native Name: |
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| Director: | Jo Dong-oh | ||||||||||||
| Producer: | Choi Jeong-hwa Jang Si-ah Jo Min-hwan Kim Sung-su | ||||||||||||
| Starring: | Jung Woo-sung Kim Tae-hee Huh Joon-ho | ||||||||||||
| Music: | Shiro Sagisu | ||||||||||||
| Cinematography: | Kim Young-ho | ||||||||||||
| Editing: | Nam Na-yeong | ||||||||||||
| Studio: | Nabi Pictures | ||||||||||||
| Distributor: | CJ Entertainment | ||||||||||||
| Runtime: | 105 minutes | ||||||||||||
| Country: | South Korea | ||||||||||||
| Language: | Korean | ||||||||||||
| Budget: | $10 million[1] | ||||||||||||
| Gross: | $9 million[2] | ||||||||||||
The Restless is a 2006 South Korean period fantasy film directed by Jo Dong-oh, starring Jung Woo-sung and Kim Tae-hee. The film's Korean title, Joong-cheon, is literally translated as "Midheaven".[3] Demon Empire is an alternative English name for the film.
In ancient Korea, Yi Gwak is a former chief of a disbanded elite ghost-hunting military unit who makes a living as an itinerant demon hunter. Betrayed and poisoned by the destitute villagers of a town he saved from demons, he flees the town and passes out in an abandoned shrine. He awakes in Midheaven (a transitional place for the spirits of the deceased) and finds the spirit of his lover Yon-hwa (who had been accused of witchcraft and killed); he finds that she has voluntarily discarded her memories and suffering in order to assume a new name and title. Yi Gwak also encounters his former mentor Ban-chu, who is revealed to be masterminding a demonic rebellion in Midheaven along with other members of their former elite unit in order to invade the living world and take revenge for the injustices done to them when they were alive. Yon-hwa (now going by So-hwa) is entrusted with guarding the soul essence of Lord Chon-hon, which is needed by Ban-chu to access the world of the living, and as a result is being hunted by Ban-chu and his forces. While initially reluctant to fight his former comrades and his mentor, Yi Gwak chooses to protect So-hwa and finds himself at odds with Ban-chu and his former brothers-in-arms.
The first soundtrack, Memory of The Restless OST, was released as an EP on Dec 14, 2006 by CJ Entertainment.
A longer soundtrack, titled The Restless OST, was released on Jan 19, 2007 by CJ Entertainment. It consists of the background music played throughout the film. All music was composed by Shirō Sagisu.