easternkicks.com » South Korea

Hong Sang-soo retrospective at the BFI Southbank, London

Andrew Heskins — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:00:44 +0000

It’s often easy to forget korean cinema has much more to offer than taught thrillers and action films, and Hong Sang-soo is a great example of a much ‘quieter’ filmmaker whose work is often overlooked, despite his film Hahaha being awarded the Un Certain Regard prize this year at Cannes this year.

From Wednesday 1 to 28 September, the BFI Southbank celebrates his work with a complete overview of his work, including a preview of Hahaha and a personal appearance by Hong Sang-soo himself this Friday. Curated by the ICO, the 10-film retrospective will tour major cities in the UK over the next few months.

For more information on the retrospective and to book, see the BFI’s website »

Mother

Andrew Heskins — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:00:47 +0000

A masterful piece of cinema from Bong Joon-ho, director of The Host and Memories Of Murder…

A single mother and practitioner of alternative medicines, Hye-je’s (Kim Hye-je, Mayonnaise, Late Autumn [dir. Kim Soo-yong] ) world revolves around her son, Do-Joon (Won Bin, Taegukgi , My Brother) a naïve and gullible young man with the mind of a child. When the body of a young girl is found in a derelict building, Do-Joon quickly becomes the first and only suspect by a police force seemingly only too happy to wrap up the case quickly, even if the evidence is hardly substantial.

With little help from her apathetic lawyer, Hye-je becomes determined to find the girls real killer and prove her son’s innocence.

The plight of the wrong man is a common theme in film, from the majority of Hitchcock’s main pretexts to Lu Chuan’s The Missing Gun and Roy Chow’s Murderer. It’s not often we see it from the perspective of the accused’s own mother, though.

It’s a clever spin that brings director Bong Joon-ho’s recurring themes of family – continually coming back to perpetual love/hate relationships and misplaced loyalties like some warped Yasujirō Ozu – to the fore once again to centre on the topic of unconditional love. Just how far will Do-Joon’s mother go to find the truth, and will she like what she finds?

Only his fourth feature length film, Joon-ho’s confidence as a director grows as he follows the blockbuster and box office success of monster film The Host with a far more subdued and personal journey that doesn’t necessarily play out as you might expect. But then even from his first film, Barking Dogs Never Bite, Joon-ho has been an expert at subverting audiences’ expectations.

With typical Korean black humour Hye-je’s journey quickly descends into darker tones. Her encounter with her lawyer and his friends in a karaoke bar, surrounded by escorts, for instance, swirls around in an increasingly surreal world reminiscent of Hitchcock’s often underrated and forgotten The Wrong Man. It’s a similar decent into an underworld far out of the control of it’s leading participants, or perhaps the real key is that Hye-je has spent her life distanced from reality to avoid mistakes she’d rather forget. The superb cinematography by Hong Kyung-Pyo matches this descent, following Hye-je’s journey to darker and more unpleasant environments.

It’s a poignant, heady mix that explores her devotion to the hilt, to conclusions that will force the audience to ask disagreeable questions of themselves and their own relationships. Last year in conversation Joon-ho admitted that he’d shown the film to his own mother and she’d not spoken to him about it since. Indeed, it shows just how horrific that devotion can become.

Veteran actress Kim Hye-je is superb in the lead role, whom Joon-ho saw as a ‘mother figure’ in Korean TV and film. In the role of Do-Joon, he amused himself and audiences casting heartthrob Won Bin (something co-star Jin Goo, in the role of Do-Joon’s iffy friend Jin-tae, thanked him for as audiences saw his role as far sexier). Indeed, Won makes a good job of not playing his character over sympathetically, but making him more realistic – full of flaws that can be exploited by those who wish to.

A fine cinematic experience by a master storyteller that stands up to repeated viewings.

Back in November 2009, Bong Joon-ho spoke at the BFI Southbank in London, which we reviewed here.

Mother is released by Optimum Releasing and ICO in cinemas from Friday, 20 August, and will be released on DVD by Optimum Home Entertainment on 20 September.

Bong Joon-ho’s Mother UK release date revealed

Andrew Heskins — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:00:12 +0000

Optimum have finally committed to a UK cinema release for Bong Joon-ho’s Mother (or Maedo) – Yey!

According to Launchingfilms.com this will be a collaborative release from Optimum Releasing and ICO in cinemas from Friday, 20 August. There is no information yet on how limited it might be, or when we can expect a following UK DVD and Blu-Ray release (perhaps October/November?)

UPDATE: The official UK DVD release will be 20 September.

Out on DVD today: Breathless

Andrew Heskins — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:00:46 +0000

Yang Ik-june’s Breathless comes to DVD in the UK courtesy of Terracotta Distribution as a two-disc collector’s edition laden with bonus features, many of which are exclusive to this version.

The exhausting list of features includes: an interview with director Yang Ik-june; an interview with actress Kim Kkobbi; behind the scenes at the Rotterdam Film Festival; special Korean Film Industry Preview Screening footage; London Korean Film Festival Q&A at the Barbican Centre; London Press Junket footage; trailers (including Korean, UK and French); and a stills gallery.

This is a superb edition from Terracotta limited to just 2,000 copies. It even includes a collector’s booklet featuring sleeve notes personally written by Yang Ik-june and co-star Kim Kkobbi. Hopefully this will help the film continue to find a wider audience, as it really deserves it.

We interviewed both star and director Yang Ik-June, and his co-star Kim Kkobbi.

Read our full review here »

Exclusive interview: Kim Kkobbi

Andrew Heskins — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:00:35 +0000

We chat to Kim Kkobbi, co-star of Yang Ik-June’s Breathless – out Monday 22 March as a two-disc collector’s edition DVD…

Was this your first trip to London? How are you finding it? Any chance for sightseeing or shopping?
Yes, it was my first time. However, I’m only staying for one day so I couldn’t sightsee. After doing a few interviews, I went shopping and after dinner, partied all night. It was a busy day!

What brings you to the UK this time?
I came to Europe as I was invited to the Dublin International Film Festival so decided to visit London.

When I spoke to Yang Ik-June late last year, he told me that he’d seen you in a short film and you’d blown him away. Originally you’d been up for a different role in the film. Can you tell me how he approached you initially for the role, and how you came to be the lead?
Oh, the Director saw me in a short film which I appear as a secondary school student. He thought I was too young to play Yeon-hue so had intended me to play Sang-hoon’s younger sister’s role. However, when he met me I was older than he thought and felt that I was capable of playing Yeon-hue’s character.

How was it working with Yank Ik-June on his first film as a director? And how does it compare to the other films you’ve worked on?
First of all, Director Yang was originally an actor he knew exactly how to work with actors. How to get the best from actors, how to make actors comfortable. That was what I liked the most. Compared to working with other directors, it was more comfortable and enjoyable. And I learnt a lot – I mean immensely a lot. Through this experience, I feel I have developed a stage further.

The film deals quite frankly with domestic abuse, but according to Yang he was not aware of any message in the film until it was completed and watching it on screen. How did you feel about the subject matter and how he dealt with it.
Hmm… To be honest, I have not experienced domestic abuse so I could not empathise largely with that area. However, the father’s role within a family and his status etc was discussed frequently. Fathers remain dogmatic, dictatorial and unfriendly. They are loners. We talked a lot about fathers who have difficulty expressing in a normal and healthy manner. And such a father’s relationship with his children, love and hate relationship etc.

Both You and Yang have won awards for Breathless at festivals around the world, from the Blue Dragon awards to the Las Palmas Festival. Have you been surprised by the international critical acclaim and success of the film? Why do you think it’s struck such a chord with audiences?
Yes I was very surprised. It is both an honour and a burden. The audiences say that the film’s beginning is very violent and aggressive so it was difficult to watch. However, the more they watched, it is also humorous and as they get to know the circumstances within the story, they feel sad. Audiences who have similar experiences within their own families said that they could empathise particularly more. I think everyone has big and small family conflicts so the film struck a chord with many of the audiences.

Am I right in thinking you’ve actually appeared in several films before? (In fact some of our reader might be surprised by how many.) These include City Of Violence and The Ghost Theater, for which you were nominated for best new actress (some four years too late by the looks of it!). Which performances are you proudest of, and which are the ones you’d like to forget?
Well, I was not nominated for City of Violence but for The Ghost Theater. Hmm… I filmed in several feature length films as a minor role, a few short films, my first main character role in The Ghost Theater and Breathless was my second leading role. I don’t have any work that I am proud of yet… I am expectant and looking forward to my future.

What have you been working on since this film?
Yes, I’ve done a lot of work since Breathless. Be with me is being released this May and also Be my guest… Both were shown at the Pusan International Film Festival. I also have finished filming 창피해 (English title TBC – either So Shame or So Embarassing).

What actors and actresses do you admire?
Hmm…I have a lot of actors that I like. I tend to see actors and think one is great at this and another at something else; and in the process learn from them.

Thanks to Kim Kkobbi for her time, and Joey from Terracotta and Paul from The Associates for setting the interview up.

We also spoke to Yang Ik-June late last year, read the exclusive interview here…

Breathless is released on a special 2-disc collector’s edition DVD on 22 March by Terracotta Distribution.

DVD: Breathless

Andrew Heskins — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:57:52 +0000

“ONE OF THE YEAR’S BOLDEST AND MOST THRILLING DEBUT FEATURES.” – EYE WEEKLY.COM

Following its critically acclaimed UK theatrical release in January, Yang Ik-june’s award winning Breathless comes to DVD in March 2010 as a two-disc Special Collector’s Edition featuring a host of exclusive extras including interviews with the director and cast members, specially filmed festival footage and Q&As, plus a collector’s booklet featuring sleeve notes personally written by Yang Ik-june and co-star Kim Kkobbi.

The winner of numerous international film awards in 2009, including the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, the Jury Prize for Best Film and Best Male Performance at Montreal’s Fant-Asia Film Festival and the Best Film award and Critics’ Prize at the Deauville Asian Film Festival, the debut feature from South Korean writer-director and star Yang Ik-june, Breathless is a brutal, uncompromising and profanity-filled look at the cause and effect of domestic violence.

Giving a stunning performance in the film’s lead role, Yang Ik-june stars as Sang-hoon, a deeply troubled man prone to violent outbursts, who freelances as a hired thug at his friend’s debt collecting firm. His private life revolves around his extremely strained relationship with his ex-convict father, who was directly responsible for the tragic breakdown of their family, and a slightly more subdued, but still difficult, connection with his stepsister and her young son.

Seemingly possessed by the pent-up rage caused by the domestic events from his past, Sang-hoon finds an opportunity for salvation when he encounters a similarly emotionally damaged schoolgirl ((Kot-bi Kim), who is as foul-mouthed, headstrong and fearless as he is. The two begin an offbeat and touching friendship, not realising that their lives are already connected in ways that will have a profound effect on both their fates.

As moving as it is shocking in its portrayal of people struggling to live in a world of routine violence and abuse, Breathless was hailed by ReelAsian.com as “one of the most powerful films of the year” and by Screen International as a film that marks director Yang Ik-june as a name to watch.

Breathless (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£14.99) by Terracotta Distribution on 22nd March 2010.

Special Features include: interview with director Yang Ik-june (20 minutes); interview with actress Kim Kkobbi (10 minutes); behind the scenes at the Rotterdam Film Festival (20 minutes); special Korean Film Industry Preview Screening footage (10 minutes); London Korean Film Festival Q&A at the Barbican Centre; London Press Junket footage; trailers (Korean theatrical, Korean teaser, three UK trailers, French trailer); stills gallery.

Bong Joon-ho inteviewed at BFI, London

Tania Hall — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:30:09 +0000

Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Memories of Murder) spoke at a preview of Mother about the influences on his latest film, and how his own mother hasn’t talked to him about it since it’s release…

Bong Joon-ho’s latest film Mother (Madeo) previewed at the BFI during November’s London Korean Film Festival, which also held a season of his films. He spoke, through an interpreter, with Tony Rayns after the filming. As well as tales of growing up in Korea, his influences and how he got into movies, he talked in detail about his new film – the tale of a devoted single mother who’s simple-minded son is accused of murder and she sets out to clear him… with unexpected and harrowing results.

Bong said he’d had the idea for the film since 2004. The curious scene which ends the film – of a group of mothers dancing in the aisle of a moving bus – was the first he thought of.

“In Korea it’s a reality that mothers dance together on the bus, but they dance behind curtains so you can’t really see it as you’re going past,” Bong said. When he was younger he was embarrassed by it, but now as an adult he empathises with them: “It’s funny, but also sad at the same time.” So, he decided if he made a film about mothers that dance would have to be its last scene.

He decided to cast veteran actress Kim Hye-ja as the mother. In Korea she’s well-known for her television work, but Mother is only her third movie role.

“She was acting before I was even born and was one of those faces I always saw on TV. She was always really warm and an iconic mother figure, but in my mind I could see the slightly mad, crazy side of her and I always thought they tried to hide that from the audience,” Bong said.

“I wanted to concentrate on that particular aspect of her character and before the story even existed I wanted to work with this actress, so it wasn’t a typical casting process. I very much wanted to focus on her and how her crazy side could be explored.”

Fortunately, Kim also liked the idea and embraced the role: “she enjoyed this process and would suggest ways of taking it further and making it more extreme.”

The rest of the casting was just as subversive. He turned heart-throb Won Bin into the slightly simple and homely son, and made co-actor Jin Ku the sexy best friend. Bong said he “found happiness turning a handsome man into an idiot,” although he was scared about casting Won in the first instance because he already has a huge fan base in Japan and Korea.

“But when I showed him the script he agreed really easily – he’s actually very adventurous. He’s naturally quite strange and awkward and that helped. Although he’s famous for his looks, he [Won] grew up in the deep Korean countryside and knew the locations even better than I did.”

On the other hand he had to work hard to make Jin look sexy: “he isn’t sexy in real life so we had to work on it in the movie,” he joked.

Bong said he’s never entirely sure how his scripts are created – whether it’s the overall idea or a plot which he thinks of first: “I write scripts more out of instinct, then look back and ask ‘why did this character say this, what’s the hidden meaning behind it’. I hate writing scripts – it’s the part of the process that’s most painful.”

However, he’s exacting about the entire process. “I want 100% control of the movie-making process.” That’s why he draws all the storyboards himself one by one, and that’s the way he’s always worked.

He’s also obsessive about getting the look of the film just right. Unlike Hollywood, where a set would be constructed to the director’s specifications, a Korean film budget doesn’t stretch that far, so scouting the right locations is crucial. For Mother, as in his film Memories of Murder, he sent scouts all over the country looking for the right buildings, fields, interiors and streets: “they complained the price of petrol would be more than the cost of the film,” he said. The final result looks like one town and its immediate environs, but was, in fact, 26 different locations.

And he wanted these locations to mirror the mother as the central character: “I wanted to find locations that were feminine in feel.” He said it’s not easy to say what counts as a feminine location or setting, but he tried to concentrate on a particular look for the landscape, in particular the shapes of hills, curves and waves.

The core of the film is the relationship between the un-named mother and son – and how far a mother will go to protect her child.

“The film is about the mother becoming the monster,” he explained. “The mother becomes a monster out of love and devotion for her son. As love becomes more extreme, so she becomes a monster. I don’t think for a second that all mothers are monsters, but faced with an extreme situation like murder, not many mothers could say for sure they wouldn’t become monsters. Maybe it’s not the side of our mothers we’d want to see, but it is possible to see if you look directly at the situation.”

“Maybe that’s why my mother won’t talk about the film, even though she saw it five months ago.”

You can see more from the interview on BFI’s LIVE site, click here.

Mother is released in the US by Magnolia Pictures on 12 March, and by Optimum in the UK later in the year, but the release date is yet to be finalised.

Thirst Korean 3-disc DVD to include extended Director’s Cut

Andrew Heskins — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:00:09 +0000

It seemed rather odd that the one place Park Chan-wook’s revisionist vampire flick hadn’t been released was in his home Korea, but maybe that makes sense now with the announcement of the limited edition 3-disc DVD, which includes not only the original version but the extended director’s cut (which premiered at the London Korean Festival late last year).

This version adds some 10 minutes of new scenes to the film. The DVD itself also includes audio commentary, plus a Bonus Disc containing making of, previews, featurettes on art direction and music, the Director’s Choice animated short film “Dust Kid” directed by Jung Yu Mi, and other special features – though how much of that will have English subtitles is questionable.

The DVD is expected to be released 17 March, and currently available from YesAsia.com. No word of a Blu-Ray release yet, though.

Out on DVD today: Love Exposure and Thirst

Andrew Heskins — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:00:26 +0000

Surely, no need to highlight that Park Chan-wook critically acclaimed Thirst gets released by Palisades Tartan on Blu-ray and DVD? Highly enjoyable, funny and intelligent, it’s everything you’d want from a post-modern vampire film but were too afraid you’d end up with Twilight, instead.

Also out today – and sharing a common theme in Catholism – is the four-hour epic Love Exposure, from writer-director Sion Sono (Exte: Hair Extensions). Highly inventive and less of an endurance test than you might expect at that length, to my mind the end result is flawed – not helped by the lack of chemistry between leads Takahiro Nishijima and the delightful Hikari Mitsushima.

Exclusive interview: Yang Ik-June

Andrew Heskins — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:00:54 +0000

We talk exclusively to Yang Ik-June about his fantastic debut feature Breathless…

If you’ve already seen Breathless, then the film’s lead actor (and writer, director and editor) Yang Ik-June wouldn’t be quite what you’d expect. Of course, it’s not as if you’d be expecting that intimidating presence, ready to spurt into a violent and angry outburst at the drop of a hat, but in person he’s charming, fun, hip and very laid back. He later tells me the girls always tell him how much cuter he is in real life.

He has much better dress sense too. None of those terrible, 90s style chavvy, unfashionable shirts on him today.

Even if it hadn’t been his directorial debut, Breathless is an impressive feature. Applauded throughout the world, winning awards from festivals from Rotterdam to Singapore – most recently picking up the Grand Prize and the Audience Award at the tenth annual Tokyo Filmex – it’s an uncompromising study of a two-bit gangsters life and domestic violence in working class Korea, about a hired thug who begins an unlikely friendship with an equally damaged schoolgirl. On paper it shouldn’t work, but on screen the film reaches an unexpected understanding of its characters and their motivations, reminiscent of films like Nil By Mouth and more recently the work of Andrea Arnold, including her Cannes Jury prize winner Fish Tank.

Most impressively, despite Yang Ik-June’s lead character of debt collector Sang-hoon being almost entirely devoid of any redemptive qualities, he ultimately wins over audiences without apologetically architecting your sympathies. Not bad for an actor whose roles have previously rarely made it into the first five names on a cast list.

‘Well, I made it just for you and so you’d be surprised’, he jokes.

Really, you shouldn’t have gone to this much trouble for me? But really, what was his inspiration for the film that deals so candidly with domestic violence?

‘Actually there wasn’t any! There was no message that I intended to deliver. It was only after the film had been written and made that I understood what it was trying to say. In that sense I’m just another member of the audience.’

Did he enjoy playing a character who is, at least until we find about more about him much later in the film, quite unsympathetic?

‘I love playing such emotionally strong and dominant characters. It’s actually ironic, because I wanted to show just how bad these people are, but actually it’s when I play roles like this that I enjoy it the most. In the scenes where my character gets violent and angry, I actually feel a sense of catharticism, of synergy with the part I’m playing and getting that burst of energy out.’

‘You know in some of those scenes where I’m so, argh!’ he screams loudly, ‘it was only because I couldn’t contain all those emotions, it was like I was screaming and letting it out. It was just a natural process for me. And like you said, he’s a very unsympathetic character. Korean audiences reacted in the same way. You watch the movie in the first half and he’s just such a pathetic character, you don’t feel any identification with him, he’s just aggressive.’

‘It’s only as the movie progresses you see that, although he does have this violent side, he’s not a bad person fundamentally, and you start to have more compassion towards him, By the end you want to care for him even. He’s quite a vulnerable and weak character. And I find that female audiences felt that a lot. On my movie homepage there was like 30 or so women who said “I’m completely head over heals in love with you, marry me, marry me”.’

‘When I meet some of those women at film festivals they’re always quite hesitant at initially to approach me. Then they say, “Oh my god, you’re much cuter than I thought you would be from the film”. Then it’s “Come on, swear to me, swear to me”.’ (His character swears almost non-stop through the film.) ‘They like that side of me.’ So of course he obliges!

The film itself is so wonderfully understated in its direction; the tone is naturalistic using handheld camera, and very, very little music. Was that deliberate?

‘I don’t know,’ he begins in English, ‘with regards to the music, I don’t know why I ended up using so little. In fact I asked a friend of mine, who happens to be in an indie band of sorts, to write me some music for the film. He came back with some 30 odd pieces and said, “I’m done! This is as much as I can make, take your pick”. From that I took a few songs, trying to pick the most unusual, the ones that didn’t sound like something you’d listen to commercially. I think they work well, because although they sound a little strange and weird when you first listen to them, the more you hear them the more familiar they become and the more you like them.’

‘As for the use of handheld camera, I think that comes from me having been an actor for the last 10 years. I’m sure there are plenty of elements that are important to a great movie, but for me it’s the actors, they are pivotal and I guess I wanted to pour into that. I just wanted to follow them, get up close to their emotions and facial expressions, stare right into their soul even.’

In fact he wanted to get a little too close. Until the filming director told him it would be far too much on screen, too uncomfortable and awkward to watch. He’d intended there to be far more of those kinds of shots on screen.

‘For me the actors emotion is the most important thing, and that’s what I wanted to capture. There’s an American actor/director who has a very similar style, John Cassavetes, so I think it must be something to do with being an actor.’

So had any other actors turned directors influenced him to make leap himself?

‘Not directly, no. It was more a case of when I was writing the script that I didn’t have any other actor in mind to play the role. And it wasn’t a case of his own acting ambitions either – I just felt it had to be me to portray those emotions.’

Similarly, he ended up editing the film, and even working on the poster with a friend.

‘I think I just wanted to pour as much of myself and my feelings as I could into the film as possible, and that’s why I took all these different roles.’

That didn’t stop him from searching online for actors like him who had turned director, out of curiosity to see what had come before, and found actors who, if they didn’t inspire him directly, he certainly admires. Takeshi Kitano, Clint Eastwood and Vincent Gallo.

‘Kitano I find really interesting because he’s so minimal. I’m an actor who likes to scrunch up my face to portray my feelings, but he is so calm in his facial expressions.’ (He drops into a flawless impression of Kitano, doing little more than raising one eyebrow.) He can get a sense of his feelings and emotions without these sort of violent outbursts and exaggerated facial. Clint Eastwood, I love the fact that he deals with human beings as his themes. I just love that. And Vincent Gallo, well, I just find him cute.’

Interestingly, all of these directors deal with unpleasant and often violent themes in their work. Does he think there’s anything in that? Could it be they wouldn’t ask someone to play a role they’re not willing to play themselves?

‘I don’t think it’s because they don’t want someone else to do it, like they wouldn’t trust another actor to do it. It’s more that it just feels right for them to play that role. There’s no ambition for them to have the “best role”. It’s just because, like in my case, with their love for their own film it just comes naturally.’

So how did he find his cast?

‘Let me say first, for me it’s not about getting the best technician or the best possible actor, or anything like that. But it has to be somebody who can fit into the setting comfortably. Someone who can have a good laugh and enjoy themselves, and somebody who suits my style.’

‘The lead actress Kim Kot-Bi, who plays the schoolgirl Yeon-Hue, I first saw her in a short film and I just leapt up! I was astounded by her ability to play emotions. Initially she was up for another role in the film, and there was another woman to play the lead, but things didn’t work out so I used Kim Kot-Bi instead, and she did excellently.’

‘Yeong-Jae, the part of the younger brother was supposed to be played by another actor, but again that didn’t turn out. So Lee Hwan, who had read the script from somewhere (!) came and found me and said he would really love to play this role. Eventually I gave in and said okay, you can play it.’

‘The father figures on both sides were difficult people to get. It was only in the middle of the film that I got conformation that they would be able to do it. And for the role of Sang-hoon’s sister, she was someone I knew from before. As was Man-shik Jeong, cast in the role of Man-Sik, the boss of the debt collectors company. He was a guy I knew and hung around with. I always had them in mind. So it was generally people I knew and people that I felt I could work with.’

‘I don’t believe that the technically trained and experienced actors were superior to any of the other actors in the film. It was more a case that our passion and our trust in each other could overcome those sort of technicalities and deficiencies that they might have in comparison to other actors and I do feel that the film has shown that.’

Amazingly, other than the main cast, all the extras seen in one or two scenes were made up from the filming staff and crew.

‘You know in movies when you see extras who are really obviously from the crew, awkward and conspicuous. My guys were nothing like that. I think everyone in my filming crew must be a born actor, everyone was so great and so natural!’

As for the future, does Yang see himself as a director now?

‘By no means, I don’t feel any sort of restrictions on my career. I’m just going to follow wherever my heart goes. My latest work has been as an actor, I’ve just finished one movie with another to start next month.’

But who knows what the future holds? One thing’s for certain, Yang Ik-June is certainly a talent to look out for.

Breathless is released on a special two-disc collectors edition DVD by Terracotta Distribution on 22 March.

Thanks to Yang Ik-June for his time, the guys from Terracotta and The Associates for setting up the interview.

easternkicks.com » South Korea

Hong Sang-soo retrospective at the BFI Southbank, London

Related Posts:

Mother

Back in November 2009, Bong Joon-ho spoke at the BFI Southbank in London, which we reviewed here.

Mother is released by Optimum Releasing and ICO in cinemas from Friday, 20 August, and will be released on DVD by Optimum Home Entertainment on 20 September.

Related Posts:

Bong Joon-ho’s Mother UK release date revealed

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Out on DVD today: Breathless

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Exclusive interview: Kim Kkobbi

We also spoke to Yang Ik-June late last year, read the exclusive interview here…

Breathless is released on a special 2-disc collector’s edition DVD on 22 March by Terracotta Distribution.

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DVD: Breathless

“ONE OF THE YEAR’S BOLDEST AND MOST THRILLING DEBUT FEATURES.” – EYE WEEKLY.COM

Related Posts:

Bong Joon-ho inteviewed at BFI, London

You can see more from the interview on BFI’s LIVE site, click here.

Mother is released in the US by Magnolia Pictures on 12 March, and by Optimum in the UK later in the year, but the release date is yet to be finalised.

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Thirst Korean 3-disc DVD to include extended Director’s Cut

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Out on DVD today: Love Exposure and Thirst

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Exclusive interview: Yang Ik-June

Breathless is released on a special two-disc collectors edition DVD by Terracotta Distribution on 22 March.

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