Written by Steve Weintraub
Translator: Yi Ersan
Proofreader: Irise
Source: Collider (September 28, 2022)
If you're a fan of director Park Chan-wook and curious about his films, interests, and ways of working, this interview is a must-see. At this year's Toronto International Film Festival, we were able to sit down with the maestro who has shot masterpieces such as Old Boy, Kind Gold, Miss, The Bat and I Want Revenge to discuss his latest work, Determination to Break Up, and future projects.
"Determination to Break Up" (2022)
In addition, in this rather extensive conversation, Park Chan-wook also talked about which one to start with for those who have not seen his work, his views on the explosion of Korean culture in the United States, the movies he wants to make, his upcoming series "The Sympathizer" with Robert Downey Jr., the movies he has seen the most, his opinion on "Squid Game", and so on.
"Determination to Break Up" will represent South Korea in the 95th Academy Award for Best International Film, which is both a romance film and a detective film. In the film, Park Hae-il plays a police detective, and Tang Wei plays a mysterious woman who he suspects of murdering her husband. The film will be released in theaters in North America on October 14 and in the UK and Ireland on October 21.
Q: Director Park, I'm a big fan of yours. I have a lot of questions, but before I get to your film, I want to ask an off-topic question, if someone has never seen any of your works, then what step would you recommend them to start watching and why?
Park Chan-wook: Well, if there's one movie that contains all the characteristics of my work, it's The Bat.
The Bat (2009)
Q: From my American perspective, Korean culture has exploded in the U.S. over the past few years, but I think it originated – a lot of things go back to your films and the impact you've had on the film industry over the past few years. Have you noticed the influence of Korean culture around the world and the place your work plays in it?
Park Chan-wook: Actually, with the global milestone of Parasite, I certainly noticed the rise of Korean cultural products not only in the United States, but also on the world stage. I also recently heard that Los Angeles even has a "squid game day", which is a classic example.
Squid Game (2021)
Q: Have you watched Squid Game?
Park Chan-wook: Absolutely. I know all the actors and directors in this series very well. The Korean film scene is very small.
Q: Which film has undergone a dramatic change in the editing room that you yourself did not expect?
Park Chan-wook: The finished film of "Determination to Break Up" is very different from what I thought before I started editing. Like other films I make, I storyboard everything first, but there may be discrepancies in the timing of the calculation. So when I ended up sitting in the editing room, I had to check it box by box to keep the length as short as possible.
It was a huge challenge, and I not only had to remove some of the frames, but I also had to adjust some clips. So the final product was naturally different from what I expected. Counting the opening and ending credits, the full length of the film is 2 hours and 18 minutes, which is still quite long, but I have tried my best.
Q: So have you considered releasing a longer version of Determination to Break Up as a Blu-ray or home video? Would you rather let those deleted scenes be seen, or would you hide them and seal them forever?
Park Chan-wook: All I can say is that the version that the audience is going to see is the only version they should see. Of course, it hurts me every time I have to remove some scenes, it's a difficult process in the editing studio, and after finalizing the current version, I put a lot of effort into the sound. So I think the current version is a very complete version. I have no regrets about that.
Q: I think there are a lot of people willing to work with you, but do you have any projects in the pipeline or looking for funding?
Park Chan-wook: Well, I have three projects in my hands, all of which have been in the works for a long time. First of all, a western, and a film adapted from the novel "Axe". In fact, the novel has previously been remade by Costa Gavras into Workplace Killer. Finally, there's a sci-fi action movie called Genocidal Organ.
Q: Which of them will be your next work first?
Park Chan-wook: I'm not sure which one will be implemented first. It's hard to say, but I'm happy to see any of these three productions brought to the screen because they have a very special place in my heart. However, there is another project that has found funding and is in pre-production, and is "Sympathizer". This is a series released by HBO.
Q: The one with Robert Downey Jr.? Robert seems to be cautious about picking projects. How did you feel when he was willing to join the project?
Park Chan-wook: All great actors are very picky, and I think he chose this project because he read the original, and he liked the core idea of the novel, the comparison of Western and Eastern values. He was very interested in telling the stories of refugees, and this novel is about Vietnamese refugees who came to the United States after the war. So I guess that's part of the reason he agreed to be part of the project.
Q: When did you start shooting?
Park Chan-wook: It's still in the pre-production stage. It will probably start up in November.
Park Chan-wook
Q: So what stood out from the crowd of projects that made Determination to Break Up the most?
Park Chan-wook: I think of myself as a director who tells love stories all the time, but other people don't seem to think so. And in their memory, it seems that none of my movies are about love stories. I thought, "Why do they see it that way?" Maybe it's because my films have a lot of violence, nudity and erotica, even though my erotic scenes are very superficial.
On the surface they look erotic, but these are all acts of love. But the audience seems to have too strong an impression of this. So this time I wanted to make a film that would show the love story between two very mature people who were able to restrain themselves and were patient. The film focuses on emotions rather than explicit or figurative illustrations of acts of love between two people.
Q: I know you'll make storyboards for all your films, but when shooting on set, do you prefer to shoot with just one camera or use multiple cameras?
Park Chan-wook: Usually, I only use one camera, but sometimes when certain scenes require it, I have two cameras because it is very helpful for the editing stage, especially for this film. Finally, in the scene on the coast, I added a camera, and the different angles provided by this lens were very useful in editing. Without that camera, you're taking a big risk. So when I have to shoot quickly or shoot some key scenes, I use two lenses at the same time. Especially in TV dramas, such as "The Female Drummer", I was not given too long a shooting period, which meant that I had to shoot with two cameras at the same time.
"Female Drummer" (2018)
Q: In this interview series we do at the Toronto Film Festival, we always ask interviewees some questions about their personal hobbies, first of all, what series would you like to write and direct?
Park Chan-wook: "The Wire", "Flowing Man".
Q: Oh, I'd love to see you working with Gary Oldman.
Park Chan-wook: I love John le Carré and that's one of the reasons I agreed to make The Drummer. So although he left us not long ago, the show was filmed impeccably, as if he somehow came to life again. So it now seems that the show is a celebration of John le Carré's legacy.
Q: Which movie have you seen the most times?
Park Chan-wook: "The Exorcist".
Q: How many times?
Park Chan-wook: Five times.
Q: A lot of people say this forty or fifty times when they talk about it.
Park Chan-wook: I don't usually watch a movie repeatedly.
The Exorcist (1973)
Q: When you watch a movie as a director, do you have a mindset that is mostly entertainment, or do you think about what to do if you do it yourself?
Park Chan-wook: To be honest, most of the time I watch movies for pure entertainment. I don't usually study or analyze any films, but if I'm writing a script, I'll probably appreciate movies with similar themes.
For a while, I had to earn money by writing reviews and criticizing the work of other directors. So of course, in order to survive, I had to put on the hat of a critic. So you can find a lot of articles about other films, film and television works in my books, all from a time when I had to appreciate all kinds of films. But now I really rarely do that.
Q: Do you keep props from movies or TV shows?
Park Chan-wook: There are a few. There is an illustration sandwiched in a picture book that was used in "Robot Love". And there is a legend about that illustration: "Don't feel apprehensive" (butterflies do not pop out of your stomach). If you knew the movie, you would see what I mean. In addition, I have two ties that Hae-joon wore in "Determination to Break Up". I also have the scissors that cut off the protagonist's tongue in Old Boy.
"Robot Love" (2006)
Q: Wow. Is there anything about making movies that you would like more people to know about?
Park Chan-wook: Actually, I think audiences nowadays know too much about filmmaking and behind-the-scenes work. When they see certain scenes, they think, "Oh, here's the effects." There are also a lot of media reports showing pre- and post-production photos – how the actors performed in front of the green screen and what it looked like after the special effects were made. Instead, I wanted to reveal a little less information to the audience. I also hope that the audience can enter the magical world of cinema with a leap of faith without any prior understanding or presupposition. I just think there's just too much information right now.