After making Korean cinematic history with his record-breaking hit period film
King and the Clown (2005), director
Lee Joon-ik wanted his follow-up to be a smaller-scaled, character-driven film. Like
King and the Clown, Lee wanted his next film to also be about the lives of outsiders, saying, "I think the tragedy of
capitalist society is that so many people endlessly struggle to become part of the mainstream. I want to keep showing that those outside the mainstream of society can also be happy." Screenwriter Choi Seok-hwan brought him a script he had been working on for years; Choi had collaborated with Lee on his previous films
King and the Clown and
Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield (2003). An early draft revolved around the character of a young, female manager, but Achim Pictures president
Jung Seung-hye pointed Lee in a different narrative direction, and the film became a bittersweet dramedy about two older men. Actor
Park Joong-hoon (who once experienced the life of a
KBS 2FM DJ in the 1990s) was cast first, and for the role opposite him, Park suggested his real-life longtime friend
Ahn Sung-ki, with whom he had starred in three previous films, namely,
Chilsu and Mansu (1988),
Two Cops (1993) and
Nowhere to Hide (1999). Park said the project appealed to him because the film industry rarely focused on characters in their forties and fifties (his and Ahn's age), and that as an actor for 21 years, he had had a similar career trajectory to Gon's, "Because we went through similar things in the same period, then it's an analogy that works perfectly. I mean, I've had plenty of ups and downs in my career: repeating the same comedies over and over brought me to a slump, I had to bridge the gap after coming back from the US, I had a little redemption... many things happened over the years." Park added that his friendship with Ahn "has gained depth, we're much more comfortable working together. We've known each other for 20 years, and Choi Gon and Park Min-soo in the film have been together for 20 years. The situation is a little different, but the fundamental relationship between us and the two characters is very similar. Sometimes we feel as if we're shooting a
documentary, in a way. But hey, we're happy."
Radio Star was a co-production between Achim Pictures and Lee's own production shingle Cineworld, was
distributed locally by
Cinema Service and sold internationally by co-investor
CJ Entertainment. It was filmed on location in
Yeongwol County, a remote area in the mountainous
Gangwon Province. After three months of shooting, the film wrapped on July 8, 2006. When asked about the film's themes, Lee said, "Before the advent of television, most people including myself learned a lot about life through
radio. But these days we depend on visual media. If visual media is regarded as a channel for spreading fully constructed images, then the radio can be seen as one that encourages people to use their imagination. Success does not necessarily mean happiness, nor does failure mean unhappiness. Through this film, people will realize that there's more to life than winning or losing. What's important is that you live a happy life." ==Reception==