[INTERVIEW] Director Park Jung-bum - Part 2

Park Jung-bum [Beck Una]

10: There is very little change to Seung-chul’s face and expressions but it rather seemed like his emotions showed the most when the camera gets a full shot on him.
Park: I think that applies to everyone, not just the Seung-chul inside my movie. When you look at people in the subway or passing on the street, nobody has expressions. Everybody is of achromatic colors. And it may be the city which has made them seem like that. But you can feel their thoughts and feelings when you look at them from a distance. Look at Seung-chul. You feel his loneliness from how he fails to fit in amongst the huge number of people around him. And Seung-chul doesn’t request things of people. It’s because he instinctively knows there is nobody to help him in that world. That’s why it’s sad. We have friends, family, and at least someone to make a phonecall to. But the only person this guy could call was a detective.

10: Your short film “125 JEON Seung Chul” was the start to “The Journals of Musan” right?
Park: There’s actually a 30-minute film that I didn’t submit to the fest. And the real Seung-chul and I appear in that movie as actors. I’m the South Korean friend and he is a defector. And we made a film drama out of something that really happened. I had hidden in my drawer at the time because I thought it was awful but the members of my crew that saw it later on said it was fun so if a DVD for “The Journals of Musan” ever gets released, I’d like to include this as well.

10: It was only after watching this movie that I found out that the latter half of defectors’ resident registration numbers start with 125.
Park: It comes from the address of Hanawon that’s located in Ansung of the Gyeonggi Province. Men’s numbers start with 125, women with 225. Then it was for the Beijing Olympics that people with the registration numbers of 125 were rejected visas to China. That’s when the South Korean 125s got angry. So they filed a petition to the Unification Ministry and Foreign Ministry and this got changed last year. The Hanawon now issues registration numbers based on where the defectors first settle in. And people who were issued 125 in the past can change their numbers upon application.

10: Well “The Journals of Musan” is now being recognized for its value and artistic worth at numerous film festivals overseas but I think you must’ve needed a mandate to shoot a film in which so much effort and hard work needs to be put in.
Park: I always told myself that I have a dragon on my left and a white tiger on my right. Seung-chul looking over this side of my shoulder and a friend, who committed suicide while I was shooting the movie, looking over my other shoulder. They had been like family to me… I had lived with them and talked to them everyday. But I lost both of them over a span of a year… And I couldn’t stop. I pushed myself forward thinking of them. And I thought a lot about director Lee Chang-dong as well. I kept thinking of how he would overcome the moments of crisis I was met with. I kept thinking of what I saw about him and what decisions he would have made if he were in my shoes.

10: What had you seen about him?
Park: Someone who doesn’t give up easily, someone who has faith in himself. I too tried hard to look for that, which my crew had a tough time with, but it was worth it. I think everybody became satisfied with each and every cut we shot. I think I’m very lucky to have met with such a crew and such a teacher. “The Journals of Musan” would have been impossible to make were it not for them.

10: How did you become acquainted with director Lee Chang-dong?
Park Jung-bum: I met with the assistant director for “Eternal Sunshine” at the after-party for the Mise-en-Scene Film Festival and he asked if I’d like to be the assistant director for Lee Chang-dong’s next film. I said it would be the honor of my life. And I went in to interview for him after that. The moment he told me to be his assistant director is a moment that I think I will remember the most for the rest of my life. I tried to seem composed but really, wow. It felt great. It felt like my dreams had come true.

10: Did director Lee turn out to be different from what you had imagined him to be?
Park: He was as I had heard him to be. A true master. He is always thinking but never falters. Seeing through whatever he is in charge of till the end. I wanted to learn that. And not just how he does his movies but also how he analyzes and solves the issues regarding his personal relationships. He looks far and has a huge heart. He’s someone I could never become like but I wanted to imitate him at least. He has great character and I think that shows in his movies.

10 : What did he say about “The Journals of Musan?”
Park: Just one phrase. You worked hard. (laugh)

10: I’m sorry to the actor who played the main character for saying this but I think puppy Baek-goo showed the best acting in the film.
Park: I chose the one that looked the nicest at the market and he really did do good. After we were done shooting the movie, my parents raised him in Gangwon Province but he met his death one day after fighting with animals from the mountain.

10: You said you kept thinking of Seung-chul while writing the script and directing the movie but I think there must’ve been moments that you are with him.
Park: I felt that when I was filming the ending scene. I was looking at the dead dog when I felt that what I was looking at wasn’t the dog but Seung-chul. That’s why I think I stood there for so long. The dog’s dead body reminded me of when Seung-chul died after battling cancer. That was the last day of filming as well and I was actually crying then. I had thought of Seung-chul when I’d been filming the movie while he had never popped into my mind like that but I felt a wave of something that moment. The dog dying with its tongue hanging out… was so sad. I think I got the feeling that Seung-chul and I were facing each other that moment. I think this film… is like a miracle. We faced a lot of difficulties while filming it and for four months, my mother cooked and delivered food for our crew. After shuddering in the cold for 72 hours without sleep, we’d wake up in the morning, wiping off blood from our nose and go on set to shoot again. We filmed like crazy. To the extent that I wondered how we could be shooting like so.

10: May I ask you why you also act as the actor for your movies?
Park: Some say I’m greedy about acting (laugh) but it’s not that. It’s only natural for “The Journals of Musan” and for my next pic, I feel a sense of responsibility to. I wanted to be loyal to or show express my apologies to the actual models to my films. But I always think the movie is what’s more important. I won’t cast myself for a movie if I think I’ll harm or ruin it. I’d cast whoever I think would fit the characters better. But so far, it’s been about keeping a promise. And there have been a lot of dangerous scenes. You can think of my next movie as almost an action drama. I’ll be holding an axe in my hand and jump from the fourth floor. (laugh)

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Senior Reporter : Beck Una one@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@, Lee Ji-Hye seven@, Jang Kyung-Jin three@