That was about one year ago: Interview with E J-yong

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Category: Interviews

I sometimes have trouble to meet deadlines, but this beats the hell out of everything I can think of, off the top of my head.

In any case, I figured I might as well unearth this interview from light years ago (well, one year, to be exact), since I am writing my book, and as usual, busy not contributing a single word to this blog - not something I should boast of, I guess, but considering the number of readers of these lines, I shouldn't worry too much.

This interview with director E J-yong (a somewhat funky spelling, which would be more orthodoxically transcribed as "Yi Jae-yong") swas conducted at the New York Asian Film Festival in 2007, courtesy of my friend, Goran, and Seran Kim. a few days after E's third film Untold Scandal became the biggest-opening Korean film in history. An adaptation of the French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses set in Chosun Dynasty-era Korea, the film was a critical and box-office smash noted for its mise-en-scene, its smooth direction, the performance of its actors and its sexy appeal to modern-day audiencesBorn in 1965,  (spelt phonetically -- a more conventional spelling would be "Yi Jae-yong") studied at the Korean Academy of Film Arts in Seoul. In 1990, together with fellow student Byun Hyuk (Interview), he shot a 20-minute film named Homo Videocus which won Best Short Narrative award at the 1992 San Francisco Film Festival, as well as two prizes at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. E went on to make other short films such as My Mother's Summer and Time in the Mirror.

In 1998 he made his directorial debut with An Affair, about a woman who starts an affair with her sister's fiance. The film was a critical and box-office hit, and also resurrected the career of actress Lee Mi-sook. Two years later in 2000, E made his second film Asako in Ruby Shoes, shot half in Seoul and half in Japan. Although not a commercial hit, the film played at several festivals and drew notice among academics for its portrayal of the interplay between Japanese, Chinese and Korean cultures.

 

Q: Jae-yong, you’ve made Untold Scandal before in separate movie shoots. You’ve made films that were much darker and then switched to a black comedy. Even though it’s a black comedy, it has some dark undertones. It’s a completely different from things you’ve done in the past. So what made you switch to this particular genre? It’s a pretty funny film, I think; yesterday’s reactions among the audience show that it is a pretty entertaining film.

A: When I was studying film and working on An Affair, I was really looking at the narrative side of film. But I was more interested in experimental films and documentaries, so narrative films and melodramas were not my first choices.
Since those types were the first genres with which I got to work with, they were experimental for me.

Q: They became experimental?

A: I was more concerned with experimental films and documentaries, so the major kind of story narratives and melodramas became more experimental to me. So when I was exposed to the story Dasepo Sonyo, I was actually going back to the period when I was interested in experimental films and things outside the mainstream. I was really happy to work on the project.

Q:  How did you discover the Internet manhwa, and how did you first come out with the story?

A: There was one producer who wanted to work with me for many years but we didn’t have a chance to work together. Then he showed me the webtoon and gave me the Internet link to have a look. I liked it. At first, he only knew me as the director who made An Affair and Untold Scandal, classical, mainstream narrative films. So actually, the producer presented the concept of Dasepo Sonyo to another director, Kim Ji-hoon. Kim Ji-hoon then recommended me to the producer because he felt my interests were better suited for the idea. The producer only then approached me to introduce the concept.

Q: I noticed overall that you, from Jung-sa to Untold Scandal presented a strong element of eroticism in your film and the content of the manhwa. But in the film it’s an element you downplayed a little bit in favor of social criticism. If I’m not mistaken, why did you choose to attenuate that element in favor of something more social criticism oriented?

A: When I was exposed to the story, I originally thought that it was not going to be a mainstream film. I thought it was going to be more of an underground film. In Korea there is barely any underground film market. So if you ever want to make an underground movie, it is very difficult and the budget is pretty low. I thought that the concept was more for an underground movie, but the producer wanted to make a big movie. But I’m the type of person who doesn’t share something personal or shameful with a big audience. Also, because this story could be seen in Korea as too radical, I tried to sugarcoat it and make it less shocking to Korean society.

Q: Some of the Korean audiences were a little shocked. I read some reactions on the Internet. Were you surprised at the reaction of some of the Korean audiences and film critics in Korea? Was there any particular surprise for you?

A: I wasn’t shocked.

Q: No? You were expecting it?

A: I knew.

Q: You knew that would happen.

A: That’s why I thought this film, this story, was more suited for underground, independent film audiences.

Q: Do you think your film has more potential to please European audiences or American audiences? Your film was played in Berlin; how did the audience react?

 
A: Where did you see the film?

 
Q: About two months ago. I really liked it; I thought it was fun.

 
A: The film was very well received. People in Berlin really liked it. The audience in Seattle, though, had more of a reaction to the movie. So I believe an American audience would be more pleased with the film. Basically the whole world, with the exception of some shocked Korean audiences, liked the film. The reason I believe Koreans did not like the film very much is that they are not familiar with black humor and do not carry it out well. Koreans like more to be more straightforward; a sad movie is just sad, a comedy is just funny. This movie, though, has many layers and twisted humor, so Koreans aren’t very used to that. Every Korean movie has to survive in the first week, just like a blockbuster in America. This film was not that kind of movie blockbuster, but it was promoted like a mainstream movie. Thus people did not expect the movie to be so different from mainstream movies and ended up disappointed or confused.

 

Q: It was actually marketed and sold as a teenage comedy, if I’m not mistaken, when it was released in Korea. With this film you work with a very young cast here, Kim Ok-bin in particular. In the past you worked twice with Lee Mi-sook in Untold Scandal and Jung-sa. How were they different? You worked with both ends of the spectrum. On the one hand you had an actress who had a lot of experience behind her and on the other hand you had very young actors, some of them newcomers, I believe?

A: Most of them. When I plan a film, I actually imagine how the actor should be acting in my head. My ideas might work against the actors, but I still try to give my actors tips on how to act. I have something specific that I want from the actors so I give directions almost like a dictator. Sometimes they don’t like it, but fortunately, Lee Mi-sook was a very good actress. She knew everything I wanted and was able to express it. She took my advice to heart. If I wanted her to express the color red, she could do it, whereas other actresses might express pink or yellow. She was a great actress, but at the same time she was able to respect my directions and myself as a director. When I was working with Bae Yong-joon and Lee Jung-jae at that time, they weren’t really well known but they were still able to work with me very well. I think I was very lucky with the actors I worked with. The actors from Dasepo sonyo, I met them all through proper official auditions. They were also able to express exactly the colors that I wanted on film and were extremely willing and enthusiastic. More established actors might have been ashamed of the themes they were working with, but these young, new, and innocent actors thought the story was fun. So even if they were not established actors, they had fresh attitudes that were fun to work with.

 
Q: I read that you were writing a story about a monk. Are you still working on that story? Is it your next project?

A: I had an idea of a character that resembles Amélie [Poulain], but she is a Buddhist nun. But that story I’m keeping aside for now. Right now I’m working on a story about an old man who’s about to pass away.

Q: Has it become more difficult in the past couple of years to make a film in Korea? A lot of commentators are speaking about a crisis in the industry.

A: That phenomenon started to happen this year and since I’m not a producer who is actually dealing with the budget it doesn’t actually affect me directly. Yet a lot of people say the industry is negatively affecting filmmaking.

Q: Do you think the situation might privilege underground filmmaking as opposed to commercial cinema, since commercial cinema, some people claim, is going into a crisis?

A: In my opinion, no. Investors want to invest their money in films that have some sort of guarantee of earning more money. They’ll be looking for something that’s more commercial that has better promise to earn more money. So I don’t think the independent, underground film genre will be flourishing.