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Children...

Children...

2011 · Film · South Korea · Crime · Mystery · Drama

Directed by Lee Gyu-man · 132 min

The disappearance of five children after they went to the mountain shakes the local community. TV network producer Kang Ji-hwan and Professor Hwang Woo-hyuk suspect the families and pursue clues, but their differing ways of interpreting the case and the limits of the investigation create new conflict.

B

OVERALL TRUTH BASIS · Fact-based dramatization

The work directly takes as its subject the case of five children who went missing in Daegu in 1991, but much of the reporting team, the pursuit of suspects, the interpretation of the case, and the ending are dramatically reconstructed for the film.

Daegu Five Children Disappearance and Death Case

A long-unsolved case in which five children went missing in Daegu on March 26, 1991, and their remains were found on Mount Waryong in 2002.

Event details →

FACT / FICTION

Verification 8

Fact / Fiction verification

8 records
FactConfidence High

The work's true-story and historical background includes the 'Daegu Five Children Disappearance and Death Case.'

On screen · Verified record
On screen
The work directly takes as its subject the case of five children who went missing in Daegu in 1991, but much of the reporting team, the pursuit of suspects, the interpretation of the case, and the ending are dramatically reconstructed for the film.
Verified record
Five children went missing in Daegu on March 26, 1991, and their remains were found on Mount Waryong in 2002; the case has remained unsolved for a long time, and no perpetrator has been identified.
View 2 sources
  • 개구리소년 사건 "범인은 없었다"? 31년 추적MBC · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
  • 개구리소년 사건 해결 위해 총력을 기울이겠다동아일보 · Major news · Grade AOpen source →
CompositeConfidence Medium

Kang Ji-hwan, as portrayed in the film, is difficult to regard as a direct depiction of a specific real person.

On screen · Verified record
On screen
As a broadcasting-station producer chasing an exclusive story, he takes part in reporting that casts suspicion on the families, and later pursues a suspect based on a lead provided by the police.
Verified record
Public production and news materials describe Kang Ji-hwan as a character in the film created to investigate the case. The later pursuit of the perpetrator is regarded as a strongly genre-fictional narrative, not the result of the actual investigation, which remains unresolved.
View 2 sources
  • ‘연민과 슬픔 담았다’…영화 ‘아이들...’MBC 뉴스 · Creator interview · Grade AOpen source →
  • 개구리소년 ‘아이들...’, 첫주 77만 ‘깜짝흥행’ 비결은?아시아경제 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
CompositeConfidence Medium

Hwang Woo-hyeok, as portrayed in the film, is difficult to regard as a direct depiction of a specific real person.

On screen · Verified record
On screen
Hwang Woo-hyeok, a university professor, is portrayed as identifying the family of a missing child as suspects and trying to prove this together with Kang Ji-hwan.
Verified record
In the actual case, there were instances of family members being suspected as perpetrators, but public production and news materials alone do not establish that Hwang Woo-hyeok as a whole corresponds one-to-one with a single real person.
View 2 sources
  • ‘연민과 슬픔 담았다’…영화 ‘아이들...’MBC 뉴스 · Creator interview · Grade AOpen source →
  • 개구리소년 ‘아이들...’, 첫주 77만 ‘깜짝흥행’ 비결은?아시아경제 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
FactConfidence Medium

<Children...> is a 2011 crime and mystery film directed by Lee Gyu-man, known by its English title, Children....

On screen · Verified record
On screen
—
Verified record
This is confirmed by materials about the work.
View 2 sources
FactConfidence High

The film directly takes as its subject the disappearance of five children in Daegu on March 26, 1991.

On screen · Verified record
On screen
The story centers on the disappearance of five children after they go into the mountains.
Verified record
Both materials about the case and the film's synopsis describe it as based on an actual case.
View 4 sources
FactConfidence Medium

The remains of the five missing children were found on Mount Waryong in 2002.

On screen · Verified record
On screen
—
Verified record
Materials about the case record that the remains were found on September 26, 2002.
View 2 sources
  • Frog BoysWikipedia · Other · Grade COpen source →
  • 개구리소년 사건 "범인은 없었다"? 31년 추적MBC · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
DramatizedConfidence High

The film's adult central characters, including a broadcasting-station producer and a professor, and their pursuit narrative are not a direct reproduction of the actual case records and include cinematic devices.

On screen · Verified record
On screen
—
Verified record
The film shapes several hypotheses about the unsolved case into a dramatic narrative.
View 2 sources
  • Children (2011 film)Wikipedia · Other · Grade COpen source →
  • '개구리소년' 비극의 단면, 영화로 만날 것Cine21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
DramatizedConfidence High

A particular suspect or method of resolving the case presented by the film should not be treated as established historical fact.

On screen · Verified record
On screen
—
Verified record
The case remained unsolved for a long time, and the film's narrative conclusion should be distinguished from the actual confirmed investigative outcome.
View 3 sources

CHARACTER ↔ PERSON

Characters and real people

2 characters

강지환

Fictional composite character

황우혁

Fictional composite character

Sources used

  1. 개구리소년 사건 "범인은 없었다"? 31년 추적MBC · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
  2. 개구리소년 사건 해결 위해 총력을 기울이겠다동아일보 · Major news · Grade AOpen source →
  3. ‘연민과 슬픔 담았다’…영화 ‘아이들...’MBC 뉴스 · Creator interview · Grade AOpen source →
  4. 개구리소년 ‘아이들...’, 첫주 77만 ‘깜짝흥행’ 비결은?아시아경제 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →
  5. Children (2011 film)Wikipedia · Other · Grade COpen source →
  6. Children... (2011)KOFIC KoBiz · Specialist database · Grade AOpen source →
  7. Frog BoysWikipedia · Other · Grade COpen source →
  8. '개구리소년' 비극의 단면, 영화로 만날 것Cine21 · Major news · Grade BOpen source →