Kang Woo-Suk Talks About '한반도' ('The Korean Peninsula') [Film2.0 Interview]

Film2.0's Kim Young-Jin: Are preparations for '한반도' ('The Korean Peninsula') going well?
Kang Woo-Suk: Looks like the script will be completed by the end of the month. Then we plan to reveal more details about the content of the film to the press. For '실미도' ('Silmido'), we kept the content of the film secret, since it dealt with such a sensitive issue. But with this film, even if we reveal info about the script, I don't think it will create much of a problem. And, even if people misunderstand it or see it in a different light, it's not the kind of item which will be easy raise a fuss about and complain for no reason.

Kim: Then what will you do with '택스' ('Tax') [the other film he was preparing]?
Kang: That was suspended. The script came in, but with all the problems regarding real estate speculation raising noisy debates nowadays, I felt like preaching to the converted and that people could think I was merely following the current trend, so I just hesitated about going on with the project. Then Director Jang Jin came to me with an item he said fit perfectly with my style, and he put in a good word to me regarding this script. After I was done reading, it reminded me of the script Kim Hee-Jae wrote last year, called '아침의 나라' ('Land of the Morning'). It just needed a little touch-up to work, and I changed the title to '한반도' ('The Korean Peninsula'). There were even people who said they liked the title... (laughs)

Kim: No, I heard it was more like: 'What's this about?'
Kang: I can't talk about the content yet, since we're still working on it. You could just see it as a Drama about the recurring past, present and near future, and the events that could happen. You know the word 'Faction (Fact+Fiction)'? 'Silmido' is one of those films, using reality as a foundation to create a fictional story. Instead, 'The Korean Peninsula' is the other way around: It uses fiction as its basis, but connections to reality keep emerging from the story. It'll be something that historians will be satisfied about.

Kim: Are you really cutting off any relationship you had with the Cinema Service management?
Kang: I'll just exchange some ideas when I go out for a drink with members of the company's management, but that's where things end: I will not meddle in anything else, and I told them to especially exclude me from any decision making process. If there's any film that's going into production soon and they want to let me know, that's fine. After all I'm a Cinema Service shareholder, so I have to at least know which films are being made by the company. But I also told them to avoid asking me about a film's item, whether to invest or not: you go your way, I'll find my own colour. I'll take care of my own productions from now on, all the films made by Kang Woo-Suk Productions will have no relation with Cinema Service. I could even get funding elsewhere, so you do things your way. But if the films I make look OK, well, you can distribute them... that's what I said to them (laughs). If I don't draw a strong line between them and I, that 'Cinema Service President' line will continue to be added to my name. It's been two months since I left the company's management, and I don't even go up to the 5th floor where the President and the other board members work anymore. Some people don't believe I'm done with that position yet, so they keep sending me scripts, but that's really off my hands now. Cine2000 Director Lee Choon-Yeon even said he wanted me to be the one completing the investment for their film, but I said I couldn't, and I abruptly cut him saying to go deal with the new board of directors for that.

Kim: I mean, is this 'Korean Peninsula' some kind of film striving to paint a big picture, make resonant statements?
Kang: Let's just say it's film that will make you feel all the dignity of the people populating the Korean peninsula. We're living in a small and lonely place, but we can still make it... that kind of feeling. Just like in American films like 'Independence Day' or 'Air Force One' and their characters showing such ridiculous self-confidence. If they're so proud of themselves they think they can go around running the world, why are we Koreans shriveling so much... that's the kind of idea at the basis of the film. You could see it as a film with strong and fair optimism concerning the future of our Korean peninsula.

Kim: Blockbusters in Korea are quite dark and gloomy, often carrying tragic visions of reality. We might try to develop a similar ideology of optimism encompassing all races as the Americans, but historically we as Koreans have had to endure a lot of difficult moments, so a lot of people have reasons to be pessimistic. Even looking at something like public sentiment in regards to society, more than optimism it's complaints and frustration that emerge most times. So that's why there are a lot of films that make the viewers depressed, not knowing they're actually evoking painful feelings instead of entertaining the viewer. But thinking about it, it's not so easy to make a commercial film that's exciting and optimistic. It's not that easy to close a film with the kind of optimism which satisfies the viewer.
Kang: That's why we're working on the script intensely as we speak. We are taking into consideration all the little details and taking care of any loose end, carefully and meticulously planning the film's pre-production. So to speak, in this film Ahn Sung-Gi plays the president [of Korea], something he's done before. Of course the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about politicians is Presidents. President Noh Mu-Hyeon is so cool, but then again he's not doing well... things like that. That kind of dimension avoiding those thoughts right from the beginning is how we'll depict the role. We'll make you think, after watching the film, that this is the President you'd like to have.

Kim: Haven't you made enough money?
Kang: That's all Cinema Service's, so what does it have to do with me (laughs). I'm making a fresh start from now on.

Via Film2.0