Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, Lee Chang-dong, since the 2010s, the breakthrough of Korean cinema around the world, let these names land in Hollywood from Chungmuro, or Cannes Cinema Palace.
With the accumulation of these three films, fans don't need these awards to understand the high quality of their works.
However, for a book to transcend the boundaries of language and form a deep understanding of the communication, it takes some additional opportunities after all.
After Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho, it was finally Lee Chang-dong's turn.
In 2020-2021, Li Cangdong, who is a writer, was the first to be introduced to us.
The two short story collections "Burning Paper" and "There is a Lot of Dung in Luchuan" give us a taste of what the director looks like when he expresses himself with his pen.
So, what does a director really look like when he makes a movie? Is there a film book that can answer that?
Hou Lang's "Poems: Original Scripts" (Hou Lang Film Academy 231) is an answer.
The outer cover of the book is Liang Meizi played by Yin Jingji, and the most subtle thing about this still is Liang Meizi's demeanor.
It doesn't exist in the movie.
(I believe our readers should know that stills are pictures specially used for publicity and dissemination, with their own set of color matching and design ideas, which are not the same as the actual pictures in the movie)
Liang Meizi does often make a posture with her head held high, but she is trying to observe and think.
This process is often painful and confusing for Liang Meizi (like the state shown in the movie poster).
And in this picture, we seem to be able to see a little bit of pride (I am a poet) in the quiet gesture.
It's just that it is not shown in the movie, which does not mean that Liang Meizi has not been.
In the scene where she saw the apricots, she walked through the woods, smiled, and said "It's really joyful".
Then, she saw the apricots on the ground, and wrote the closest sentence to a poem in her notes, except for the last "Song of Agnes"—the apricot gave herself to the earth / to be broken, trampled / for her next life.
At that moment, did she feel like she was close to the poet for a moment?
If she combines the scene after that, even if she really has such an idea, she will be shattered immediately.
But between plays, there are flavors that are not shown, but can be imagined.
The so-called "look carefully" means to see what you see, and see what you don't see, which is the "competition" between the creator and the audience, and it is also an indicator of the creator's ability.
This is even more true for a movie called [poem].
In this sense, the design of the Chinese version is more in line with the theme of the movie.
The same is true for the inner cover of the book.
used a color similar to Liang Meizi's notebook, and faintly suppressed her in front of outsiders, favoring fancy and gaudy clothing matching.
The overall design makes people feel that Liang Meizi has turned herself into a "poem".
The Namhangang shot on the back cover is not integrated with the cover, and through the uniform color tone, the two form an organic connection.
Especially for readers who have watched the film, Liang Meizi's connection with the river is naturally not only about people and scenery, but also about the rich meaning of poetry.
Even better, when the two pictures are connected by the spine, the title of the book, "Poem", connects all kinds of imagery and themes.
These elements echo the book's dedicated "Album" chapter, which closely interweaves a "face" that can represent beauty with a "poem" that tries to pursue beauty.
A good director, a good movie, a good script, and a good (design) book, which is also the most needed film book for this column.
Since the subtitle of "Original Script" is used, the content of this book also includes everything from the plot synopsis to the story outline.
Hou Lang has published a large number of script writing experience books, formula books, and skill books.
In "Poems", we can get a glimpse of Li Cangdong's demonstration operation as a professional screenwriter.
Watching a scene, how to plump up a little bit through camera prompts, action reactions, and line dialogues.
For example, at the end of the story, the complete script clarifies the structure and use of audiovisual language of the film through descriptions such as "the same place as the first scene" and "only the sound of water continues in the dark";
And in the synopsis, it ends with "She made up the compensation, and then finally ...... completed a poem";
And in the "Outline of the Story", the last is "River Water." The water that keeps rushing to the front of the picture. Slowly fade out".
This is the "life cycle" of the script, how can it not be the birth of a "poem"!
A script book is a kind of content with a threshold, and it needs to be equipped with other content to pave the ladder for more readers.
The previous evolution from synopsis to script is an example.
The "Two Talks and One Commentary" provided in this book is also an example.
From this, we can learn about the closer creative connection between [Poetry] and [Miryang], as well as the process of story formation;
From this, we can confirm that the feeling of pain in creation belongs not only to the "poets" in the movie, but also to Li Cangdong himself.
And this pain also has two meanings, one is the feeling in the creative process, and the other is the theme of the creation.
We can also feel the director's sense of humor, which is based on the recognition and acceptance of pain.
For example, his helplessness and acceptance of the promotion of the movie, such as his response to whether there is a next one.
Now we know that Li Cangdong did indeed make the next [Burning].
From his somewhat flickering and uncertain words, he can probably predict the difficulties and twists and turns of the next part.
In addition to the script, this book also invokes another weapon of filmmaking: storyboarding.
A particularly important part is the "playing badminton" at the beginning of page 176, which, combined with the text of the script, makes it easier for us to understand the "pain" (Roger Ebert's words) in this scene full of intense action and meaningless language.
This kind of implication is a kind of realm of blank space, and it is also a realm of poetry.
It's not about creating suspense, it's about making (moral) choices.
Therefore, Li Cangdong's [poem] is in some way a response to Adorno's famous poem - after Auschwitz, writing poetry is barbaric.
He proved that this moral and artistic dilemma does not require a grander historical event to give birth to a "thump" that destroys the life of an individual.
And at the end of that pain and destruction, poetry echoes.
This kind of reverberation has been repeatedly transmitted and continued through movies and books.
Finally, we can borrow Li Cangdong's poem to make an evaluation of this book:
"May one sunny morning, I wake up again/Open my eyes, and meet you (this book) who is 'placed' by the bedside."