[Bat] is arguably one of Park Chan-wook's most controversial works. The film "beat" Bong Joon-ho's [mother] and was successfully selected for the main competition unit of that year's Cannes Film Festival, but at the same time its local evaluation showed a polarized controversy.
When he received the invitation to the main competition unit of Cannes, Park Chan-wook looked flattered, "Christian Monge did not enter, I heard that Kore-eda was not in the list, and I was really frightened to be able to be selected."
The surprise from Europe also eased Park Chan-wook's mood that fell into a trough due to the cold [bat] in his home country.
After the release of [Bat], audience evaluation was polarized, with 10 and 0 points abounding, and even Park Chan-wook himself said, "This trend this time can be described as a 'general trend'."
However, compared to this extreme evaluation, Park Chan-wook "hates" those who give 6 or 7 points, because in his opinion:
"The audience who gives 0 points doesn't like the movie at all, and this may be what the audience who gives the full score likes, while the audience who gives 6 or 7 points feels that they hate Park Chan-wook more than they hate the movie, and this evaluation makes me very hurt."
Park Chan-wook also admitted that "[Bat] is a puzzling film", and he understands the insults of paid viewers, but also worries that excessive negative evaluation will affect the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies.
At this time, the invitation to Cannes just alleviated the box office crisis of [Bat], and overseas recognition stimulated a domestic movie boom, and the film ended successfully with two million box office.
The weirdness of [Bat] stems from Park Chan-wook's years of accumulation.
During the period of cooperation with Song Kang-ho [Common Security Area], Park Chan-wook sketched its original outline in his mind, "At that time, the first picture was of a male protagonist, imagining a priest or doctor who contracted an infectious disease after traveling to Africa to help people."
Although some people think that park Chan-wook's later short film [Spliced] (the male protagonist is a vampire) has begun to show the beginning of [bat], the director himself denies the connection between the two:
"The idea of the male protagonist going from a man to a vampire was a process, and when I was shooting the short film, I didn't link the two because I didn't have a specific idea of [bats] at the time, so it was just a coincidence that I was also a vampire."
For Park Chan-wook, [bats] were not easy to come by. As the role of the male protagonist gradually became fuller, his conception of the female protagonist fell into a bottleneck:
"What a woman who can make such a man fall in love is very distressing to me. I've imagined multiple images, but none of them are very satisfied. It wasn't until the collaborating Ahn So-hyun PD came up with his idea, "that is, to adapt 'The Case of the Executioner'."
Park Chan-wook was a little wary of this novel:
"The novel has always been something I wanted to remake, and my idea was to put it in the context of modern Korea, but when Ahn so-hyun came up with that idea, I tried merging it with [Bat], and I got the movie I have now."
Don't look at Park Chan-wook's constant innovation in film techniques, but his attitude towards the staff is as old as possible.
In addition to Kim Yu-bin, Song Kang-ho and Shin Ha are all old partners in "I Want Revenge", including Jung Jin-hoon Photography, Yoo Seong Hee-hee, Park Hyun-won Lighting Director and Cho Young-woo Music Director, etc. are all elites from the "Revenge Trilogy".
Park Chan-wook describes himself as a "very timid" person who will always take a long time to work with others.
Jin Yubin's investment is also the second attempt after Liu Zhitai in [Old Boys], but the latter is a state of active self-recommendation and active preparation, while the former is agreed to "cooperate like completing work".
Using Song Kang-ho and Shin Ha-kyun again, Park Chan-wook also took a lot of effort. Shin Ha-kyun's role in "I Want Revenge" can also be regarded as an equal to Song Kanghao, and he is a supporting role in [Bat]."
Park Chan-wook was worried that he did not want to act, and did not even dare to mention the number of scenes, until he "deceived" people and dared to send out the script.
When Song Kang-ho was invited, Park Chan-wook was still worried that the strange role and excessive scale might be rejected by the other party. Therefore, Director Park adopted a "stalking" policy.
Even if Song Kanghao was already traveling overseas with his family at that time, he also made a phone call every three to five places, "Only what can I do with Jin Yubin's handsome head, I must have you sitting in town."
Song Kanghao, who was "tireless", had no choice but to end his vacation in a hurry and return to China to prepare for the war.
For Park Chan-wook, the only actors in South Korea who can reassure him are Shin Ha-kyun, Song Kang-ho and Choi Min-sik.
Even if the reputation of [Bat] is cold, Shin Ha-kyun's performance is still well received by the audience.
Song Kang-ho was boycotted by the audience because of his role, but in the eyes of Park Chan-wook as a director, Song Kang-ho as an actor is indeed a "genius".
Song Kanghao showed the obscure humor in the original script very well. Based on the background of the entire film, his improvised physical and verbal humor is also very interesting, which even I did not expect."
Even sometimes some of Song Kanghao's performances can become buzzwords for the set staff.
Park Chan-wook said, "Song Kang-ho is very good as an actor in many ways, and if I had to choose, his most prominent thing is his control of rhythm. ”
Whether it is scripted or improvised, he can master that rhythm, which may be the reason why Bong Joon-ho "can't stop" him.
Interestingly, Song Kang-ho often portrays "Shaky S" in Park Chan-wook's films.
In [I Want Revenge], he electrocuted Pei Douna, beat Shin Ha-kyun in the water, and when he made a cameo appearance in [Kind Jinzi], he also punched and kicked "Jinzi" Li Ying'ai, and in [Bat], he was even more "unscrupulous" to Jin Yubin, and the real beating scene impressed the audience.
"That is indeed a real fight," Park Chan-wook's real requirements for the picture naturally did not let his subordinates engage in some fake actions, and Song Kang-ho's professionalism was also reflected at this time:
"Even if I don't ask for it, Song Kanghao will really do it, but in general, he never NG, often once, which is where the actors of the opponent play most appreciate him" (laughs).
After the release of the film, Park Chan-wook decided to fictionalize [Bat], and his love for the film is self-evident.
Park Chan-wook said, "The male protagonist in the film is almost based on me, and his 'struggle' in the film is also a problem I have encountered. ”
It can be said that [Bat] is a rather favorite work of Park Chan-wook.
For more audiences, instead of expecting the content of the film itself, it is better to look forward to the effect of Song Kang-ho and Park Chan-wook combining swords after 10 years. The audience's trust in the duo underpinned the film's early publicity.
As mentioned above, Park Chan-wook began to work on the script of [Bat] during the [Common Security Zone] period, and the actors were basically fixed at that time.
Throughout the propaganda period of the [Common Security District], Park Chan-wook seized the time to "brainwash" Song Kang-ho and Shin Ha-jun and strongly invited them to join.
Shin Ha-kyun didn't say anything and agreed, but after Song Kang-ho listened to the "deviant" story, he immediately put his hands up and formally rejected Director Park. Director Park did not give up the invitation and continued to amway.
"I remember I officially turned it down three times, for no other reason than to think that the film had too many elements of suddenness and risk, and it was in a completely different direction from the traditional Korean films in Korea before it,"
Song Kanghao, who has been walking a steady and steady route, is also very confused, "As an actor, what kind of movie do I want to make, am I too conservative and safe?" ”
Of course, under the repeated request of Park Chan-wook, Song Kang-ho still agreed. The two joined hands again after 10 years of acquaintance, and the audience's expectations can be imagined.
After the release of [Bat], Park Chan-wook said: "If song kang-ho and I used to be very good friends, then we are more like brothers now." ”
Don't get me wrong, Park Chan-wook is not saying witty words, but through the priest played by Song Kang-ho, Park Chan-wook found himself
shadow.
According to Director Park, the prototype of the priest in [Bat] is the director himself, "he is the closest to me among the characters I have created." ”
Therefore, the subtle feeling played by Song Kanghao, whose appearance and personality are completely different, makes him feel that the capillaries of his body are open.
"The priest's humble appearance and his self-soothing appearance made me feel like I was seeing myself in the mirror."
Perhaps it is this interconnected feeling that Park Chan-wook has a further sense of intimacy with Song Kang-ho, joking, "Will this final result be coming out?" ”
Unfortunately, "the flowers fall intentionally, the flowing water is merciless", Song Kanghao, who is bent on filming, does not want to read Park Chan-wook's "heart", and Song Kanghao comes with a sentence without understanding the style:
"You can't understand too much in acting, otherwise your body and your lines will become stiff. For me, when I'm acting, I don't want to concentrate on acting."
Song Kanghao, who heard the synopsis of the script in early 2000, thought that the film was a work that was difficult to succeed commercially. In order to be able to go out of different directions, he tried this possibility.
He did not dig deep into the connotation of this movie, but simply interpreted it from the plot.
The film is actually based on the Catholic environment in which director Park Chan-wook lived as a child, perhaps because he did not become a catholic, so he was able to maximize his imagination. The story seems to be very complicated, but in fact, the story direction is very clear, first, the priest has become a vampire, and second, the priest has a woman he likes."
Song Kanghao thinks that [Bat] is the most unique of his roles (he usually plays small people, and most of them are fathers), fortunately, he has been playing in small theaters for so many years since he was a child.
Korean religious films, the theme is nothing more than "rescue and sacrifice, forgiveness and trial", in this regard, the more representative directors, such as Park Chan-wook, Lee Cang-dong, Kim Ki-duk.
The difference is that Park Chan-wook presents himself as a "judge", while Kim Ki-duk is tied to the "shackles of Sisyphus", and Lee Cangdong is filming love stories between God and man.
Park Chan-wook's choice in this regard is very genre-based, so it has also become a different color among Korean directors, and even director Park Chan-wook himself has actually been goosebumps by some of his own lens language.
For example, in the movie, Song Kanghao, Jin Yubin, and Shen Hejun all slept together. The scene of Shen Hejun lying in the middle with stones wrapped around seagrass is eerie and maddening.
Even if even the film's art finger saw this picture and even cried "can't stand it" and suggested that the director delete it, Park Chan-wook was very satisfied with the composition of this picture, and even said with a little regret:
"Originally, Shen Hejun appeared naked, but due to some reasons for censorship, the clothes were still put on for him."
In addition, the scene of the heroine Tae-joo-ae running barefoot in the middle of the night is also one of the scenes selected by Park Chan-wook to "make people goosebumps".
"Because of the depression, Taizhu loved to run barefoot since he was a child, and his feet ran out of the cocoon, and when the priest appeared, he put his shoes on Taizhu's feet, the original intention was to shoot a romantic feeling, but it had an unexpected effect."
Park Chan-wook urged the scene to be left behind, even though he himself said, "I really grit my teeth and endure."
Being able to perform such a strange effect, the heroine Jin Yubin is indispensable. The new people's assets, but not lost to the other actresses in Park Chan-wook's films.
When participating in [Multicellular Girl], he was photographed by the director and "presented" to Park Chan-wook. The two interviewed at the wine table, and Jin Yubin spent 10 minutes and two bottles of red wine to "take down" the director.
"I was originally a person with a lot of emotional ups and downs, and it just so happened that the character in the film was also such a character, so I showed this in 10 minutes."
However, whether it is from the temperament feeling, or from the words and deeds, Jin Yubin's feelings are similar to the former Kang Hye-jin ([old boy]), and Park Chan-wook does not deny: "Her words and deeds are like the jiang hye-jeong who just debuted."
Perhaps it is this ethereal innocence that pokes Park Chan-wook to the point and makes her "[bat] journey", "The protagonist of the film is a simple villain, like a child with a knife, as long as he has desire, he will directly plunder the feeling" (Kim Yu-bin).
The first scene of the film was an emotional confrontation with Song Kanghao, Jin Yubin was not afraid of the stage, but the frizzy personality still brought a lot of trouble to the director, "In the eyes of the director, I am a person with this stubble and no stubble, who is out on the set all day." ”
What do you think of Bat?