South Korean television series
All In
(
Korean
:
올인
;
RR
:
Orin
;
MR
:
Orin
) is a 2003
South Korean television drama series
that aired on
SBS TV
from 15 January to 3 April 2003, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 (
KST
) for 24 episodes.
[1]
Inspired by the life of professional
poker
player
Jimmy Cha
, it starred
Lee Byung-hun
and
Song Hye-kyo
in a story about one's man's rise through the fiercely competitive world of
casino
gambling as he clashes with his rivals over money, success, and love.
[2]
The drama was a ratings success in South Korea, with its final episode reaching a peak viewership rating of 47.7%, which is the 42nd highest-rated Korean drama episode of all time.
[3]
It also won several awards, notably the Grand Prize ("Daesang") for Lee Byung-hun at the 2003
SBS Drama Awards
.
Synopsis
[
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]
Orphaned then taken in by his gambler uncle, Kim In-ha (
Jin Goo
) often hangs out with his friends in the basement of a movie theater. He unexpectedly befriends Choi Jung-won, a model student and the rich son of the theater owner. In-ha and Jung-won both fall for Min Su-yeon (
Han Ji-min
), the daughter of the projectionist at the theater.
When Su-yeon's father was killed by loan sharks, In-ha and Jung-won hatch a plan to avenge Su-yeon by setting fire to a gangster's hideout. But the fire spreads, accidentally killing the gang leader. In-ha is sentenced to seven years, while thanks to his family connections, Jung-won avoids jail time. As In-ha serves his sentence, Jung-won goes to the United States to study and Su-yeon decides to become a nun.
Seven years pass, and by pure chance, the three all end up working at the same casino. In-ha (
Lee Byung-hun
) and Su-yeon (
Song Hye-kyo
) fall in love, but are later separated when In-ha is forced to illegally immigrate to the U.S. He finds a job as a mafia hitman, and by a stroke of luck, again meets Su-yeon, and the two plan to get married. However, on their supposed wedding day, In-ha suffers a near-fatal gunshot wound and becomes comatose for 8 months. Unaware that In-ha is alive, the grieving Su-yeon returns to Korea.
In-ha eventually recovers, but Jung-won (
Ji Sung
) intervenes, saying that he is unworthy to love Su-yeon. In-ha decides to turn his life of misery around and becomes a professional gambler. He meets a business partner and, betting everything he has, returns to Korea to win back Su-yeon's love.
Cast
[
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]
Main
[
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]
Supporting
[
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]
- Lee Deok-hwa
as Choi Do-hwan, Jung-won's father
- Sunwoo Eun-sook
as Yoon Hye-sun, Jung-won's mother
- Im Hyun-sik
as Kim Chi-soo, In-ha's uncle
- Park Won-sook
as Jang Hyun-ja
- Jo Kyung-hwan as Chairman Seo Seung-don, Jin-hee's father
- Kim Tae-yeon
as Jenny
- Huh Joon-ho
as Yoo Jong-gu, In-ha's friend from prison
- Choi Jung-won
as Yoo Jung-ae, Hyun-ja's daughter
- Choi Joon-yong as Park Tae-joon, In-ha's hometown friend who became a detective
- Yoon Gi-won as Woo Yong-tae, In-ha's hometown friend who became a waiter
- Baek Seung-hyeon
as Yang Shi-bong, In-ha's hometown friend who is crippled
- Jung Yoo-seok as Im Dae-soo ("Shorty")
- Jung Ho-bin as Jung Joon-il
- Park Jung-woo as Jjagoo
- Im Dae-ho as Chun Sang-gu
- Yoon Seo-hyun as Man-soo
- Hong Yeo-jin
as bar hostess
- Cho Yeon-woo
as yakuza
- Kim Byung-se
as Michael Jang
- Yuko Fueki
as Rie Ochida
- Kim Hee-jung
as office clerk
- Park Sang-myun
as Im Dae-chi, gang boss
- Kim Ha-kyun as Director Son
- Choi Ran
as Manager Jang Mi-ran
- Park Joon-hee as Jo Jung-min
- Gi Ju-bong
as Bae Sang-doo
Production
[
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]
Development and casting
[
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]
All In
was adapted from the novel of the same name by Noh Seung-il, inspired by the life of poker player
Jimmy Cha
. The title
All In
comes from
a term in poker
that refers to betting one's entire stake. Though the plot was adapted from the novel, the characters were wholly original to the drama.
[2]
In 2000, SBS drama production team director Lee Jong-su first approached Jimmy Cha, on whom the original novel was based, to adapt the novel for a TV series, but Cha rejected the offer due to Korea's negative attitude towards gambling. Lee later approached Cha again twice, requesting to make a series about Cha's mother. Cha turned the offer down both times, but the project was already at the casting stage. A meeting was held, and screenwriter
Choi Wan-gyu
suggested changing the concept to focus more on Jimmy Cha's life as a whole.
[4]
Lee Byung-hun had already been cast as the main role,
[4]
but his female counterpart had not been decided on; actors considered for the role included
Lee Young-ae
,
Song Yoon-ah
,
Kim Hee-sun
, and
Shin Eun-kyung
. The producers then suggested Song Hye-kyo to Jimmy Cha, and Cha gave SBS the OK to cast her.
[5]
Additionally,
Joo Sang-wook
was supposed to play the young version of Lee Byung-hun's character, but he was replaced by
Jin Goo
last minute.
[6]
Filming
[
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]
Filming began on 9 September 2002
[7]
and took place in several locations. An outdoor set was built in
Jeju Island
, for which the island provided 200 million Korean won.
[8]
Most scenes filmed in Jeju were shot on the Seopjikoji coast, located in the city
Seogwipo
.
[9]
From 28 November to 31 December 2002, location filming took place in the United States, with the casino scenes being filmed in Las Vegas.
[7]
[10]
The kiss scene between Song Hye-kyo and Lee Byung-hun was filmed over two days, moving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
[11]
Production costs reached 250 million won per episode to a total budget of over 5 billion won, at that time the highest for a Korean miniseries.
[12]
During the drama's filming, SBS promised they would stop broadcasting smoking scenes in their TV dramas.
All In
, which started production before the announcement, had scenes where characters smoked ? as many of the scenes as possible were removed in editing, and during the scenes that couldn't be cut, subtitles were displayed during broadcast asking for understanding.
[7]
Changes in writing
[
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]
Initially, Ji Sung's character Jung-won was planned to die in the story, but as the show's scale increased, its plot became uncertain. Actors approached screenwriter Choi Wan-gyu mid-production to explain why their character had to die. Choi said to
Maeil Business Newspaper
, "All of [the actors] are very good at analyzing the drama, and their advice is very helpful. That's why I'm more worried about how to end it."
[13]
In the end, Choi decided that none of the main characters would die, stating that death was unnecessary for an emotional story.
[14]
Additionally, Song Hye-kyo's character Su-yeon was meant to marry Jung-won, thinking Lee Byung-hun's character In-ha had died. Viewers expressed dissatisfaction with the storyline online,
[15]
and it was later dropped to create tension within the narrative.
[16]
Awards
[
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]
- 2003 39th
Baeksang Arts Awards
- Grand Prize (Daesang) for TV ?
All In
- Best Actor for TV ?
Lee Byung-hun
- 2003
SBS Drama Awards
Regional broadcast
[
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]
In April 2003, SBS signed a contract with the Taiwanese cable channel GTV to broadcast
All In
in Taiwan. Although the export price was not disclosed, it was said to be the highest for a Korean drama until then. At the time, the record export price had stood at over 400 million won for the Japanese export of
Winter Sonata
.
[17]
In Japan, it first aired on the cable channel KNTV from 8 March to 25 May 2003.
[18]
[19]
Japanese satellite channel NHK BS2 broadcast
All In
under the title
All In: Fated Love
(
オ?ルイン 運命の愛
,
?ruin unmei no ai
)
once a week from 1 April 2004,
[20]
[21]
and re-airings followed once a week on
terrestrial TV
starting 16 April 2005.
[22]
[23]
According to a poll conducted by
TV Asahi
variety show
SMAP Station
in May 2007,
All In
ranked as the seventh most popular Korean drama in Japan.
[24]
It was also broadcast in countries like Macedonia and Turkey on the channel
Arirang TV
, gaining enough popularity in Macedonia to be rebroadcast.
[25]
[26]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
|
---|
1970s
| |
---|
1980s
|
- Kim Min-ja (
A Lonely Affair
) (1980)
- Ulhwa
(1981)
- A Life-sized Buddha
(1982)
- Winds of Change
(1983)
- The Five Indian Kingdoms
(1984)
- Korea's Butterflies
(1985)
- Shin Bong-seung (
500 Years of Joseon Dynasty
) (1986)
- The Boil
(1987)
- Love and Ambition
(1988)
- Kim Hye-ja
(
Winter Mist
and
Sand Castle
) (1989)
|
---|
1990s
|
- Peace, the Arduous Way to Go
and
Tree Blooming with Love
(1990)
- The Second Republic
(1991)
- Eyes of Dawn
(1992)
- Go Doo-shim
(
My Husband's Woman
) and
Kim Hee-ae
(
Sons and Daughters
) (1993)
- Park Chul (
My Mother's Sea
) (1994)
- Sandglass
(1995)
- Korea's Reptiles
(1996)
- The Most Beautiful Goodbye
(1997)
- Lee Jang-soo (
Offspring
) (1998)
- Jang Soo-bong (
When Time Flows
) (1999)
|
---|
2000s
| |
---|
2010s
| |
---|
2020s
| |
---|
*
awarded to theatrical play or film
|