BIFF 2011│Ku Hye-sun: The appeal to being a director is that you get to do everything together

Director-actor Ku Hye-sun takes part in a guest visit for her film "The Peach Tree" in Busan, South Korea on October 13, 2011. [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

Film festivals are about those who made movies communicating directly with those who enjoy films -- the audience. And many directors and actors had heated discussions with the audience at the 16th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). On Thursday, a day ahead of BIFF's closing ceremony, director Ku Hye-sun met with the audiences of her second feature "The Peach Tree." Many members of the audience asked meaningful questions of Ku's story on the love between a girl and Siamese twin brothers. Below are excerpts from the event.

<#10_QMARK#> Are any of the characters in your movie a reflection of you?
Ku Hye-sun: All of the characters in the movie are actually reflections of me. I'm sure there are mean sides to me and warm sides to me. Yet the personality you think I have is one that I've created for myself while I think there are numerous sides to me within that. And I believe I have all those sides to me. I think the dad, mom, twins and Seung-ah are all different parts of who I am.

<#10_QMARK#> You do all sorts of things including acting, writing, music composition and drawing. But what do you think is the appeal to directing movies?
Ku: I think the largest appeal to directing films is that you get to do everything altogether. I was never someone who was very good at a single thing. And even when I was in school, I thought long and hard about the career I should lead. But I think movies are a comprehensive form of art through which I can combine all of those thoughts. And that's why I started to direct.

<#10_QMARK#> Your movie contained a lot of pretty scenes. Were there moments you couldn't decide which scenes to go with? And had you ever considered going with an ending that's different from what we see in the movie?
Ku: "The Peach Tree" is actually the first movie I've shot according to its script. (laugh) And it was tough to come up with a different conclusion because the actors did great at showing their characters' emotions. We were also working on a very tight schedule because this is a low-budget film which had to be shot in 23 sessions so I didn't have choices to make. The scenes had to come out the way I shoot them so I had to think long and hard ahead of shooting the scenes.

<#10_QMARK#> I think you must've paid extra attention to the casting because you're an actor yourself.
Ku: I was very lucky in terms of the casting because I got to work with all of the actors that I wanted to. I started writing the movie's script with the names of the actors I had in mind written on the side, writing 'Nam Sang-mi as Park Seung-ah.' (laugh) And Cho Seung-woo and Ryoo Duk-hwan are the first actors I had thought of as well because they fit the image of their characters well.

Director-actor Ku Hye-sun takes part in a guest visit for her film "The Peach Tree" in Busan, South Korea on October 13, 2011. [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

<#10_QMARK#> The title of your movie is "The Peach Tree" and there's a line that says the Siamese twin brothers are like peaches. What does 'peach' signify?
Ku: The main character's name Park Seung-ah came from peach [pronounced 'pok-soong-ah' in Korean]. I'm very simple-minded. (laugh) And I found out that peach is the fruit that contains the most meanings. They're supposed to chase away ghosts and signify the bonding of blood brothers in "The Three Kingdoms." That's why I felt it would be suitable for expressing several meanings. And they're like babies bottoms, as well as people's faces. (laugh)

<#10_QMARK#> Your previous movie "Magic" and this movie as well both had two main male characters and one of them got killed.
Ku: It's not like I'm greatly curious about or interested in death but the impact it has on the audience is big. So I wanted to share the emotion of what it would feel like, as the one left behind, when someone no longer exists because he dies. The emotion that is felt when something precious to you disappears probably delivers a greater message than 'We'll live happily ever after.' Although I'm not sure I'll have the main male character to my next movie die. (laugh)

<#10_QMARK#> Your works have been like fairytales and fantasies rather than realistic. Do you plan to continue to make fantasy films?
Ku: I think fantasy is the direction I'm going for. I've even also imagined that it would be impossible to make a film that doesn't contain fantasy. I think that's what I'm best at doing. I'd like to continue to make fantasy films.

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