[HanCinema's News] An Unusual Slate of Celebrities Comes Out to Support "The School Nurse Files"
By William Schwartz | Published on
The new Netflix drama "The School Nurse Files" has featured an unusual emphasis in its marketing. The paranormal drama starring Jung Yu-mi and Nam Joo-hyuk would normally seem an obvious draw for younger viewers. Yet "The School Nurse Files" has featured glowing endorsements from a peculiar slate of older celebrities that includes director Park Chan-wook and actresses Lee Young-ae, Gong Hyo-jin, and Son Ye-jin.
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What these four persons have in common is that all have worked with director Lee Kyoung-mi. Park Chan-wook and Lee Young-ae are acquainted with Lee Kyoung-mi from "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance", where Lee Kyoung-mi was the script supervisor for the internationally acclaimed film. Gong Hyo-jin was the lead actress in Lee Kyoung-mi's directorial debut "Crush and Blush". Lastly, Son Ye-jin was the lead in "The Truth Beneath", Lee Kyoung-mi's second film.
The actual endorsements from the persons in question do not mention past professional involvement with Lee Kyoung-mi, instead describing "The School Nurse Files" in relatively generic superlatives. Nevertheless, it's noteworthy how years later all of these persons still maintain a positive enough opinion of Lee Kyoung-mi to assist the woman in a major break for her career. Neither "Crush and Blush" nor "The Truth Beneath" did very well at the South Korean box office.
Lee Kyoung-mi's more upscale cinematic style has proven a more natural fit for Netflix than the weekly drama marketplace or in mainstream commercial films. She first worked with the streaming company on "Persona" last year. "The School Nurse Files" premiered on Netflix on September 25th.
Written by William Schwartz
William Schwartz
Staff writer. Has been writing articles for HanCinema since 2012, having lived in South Korea since 2011. Started out in Gyeongju, then to Daegu, then to Ansan, then to Yeongju, then to Seoul, lived on the road for HanCinema's travel diaries series in the summer of 2016, and is currently settled in Anyang. Has good tips for utilizing South Korea's public bus system. William Schwartz can be contacted via william@hancinema.net. He also has a substack at williamschwartz.substack.com where he discusses the South Korean film industry in broader terms and takes suggestions for future movies to review.
