[Interview①] Director Jo Jung-rae: "Secretly Watched 'Seopyeonje' at Danseongsa, Filled 'Sorikkun' with Respect"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] "27 years ago, after watching the movie 'Seopyeonje' at Danseongsa, which changed my life, I wanted to express my respect for it."

Director Jo Jeong-rae, who raised awareness about the Japanese military sexual slavery through the film 'Spirits' Homecoming' (2016), has returned after four years with 'Sorikkun.' He delivers a profound resonance by unfolding traditional Korean music, which he has cherished for 28 years, on the screen. He shared the process of completing the film, saying that heaven helped him.

On the 24th, Director Jo Jeong-rae shared various stories about the film 'Sorikkun' during an interview at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

'Sorikkun' is a musical film set in the Joseon Dynasty, portraying the sorrow and humor of low-class sorikkuns (traditional Korean singers) through the beautiful landscapes of the eight provinces of Joseon and the beautiful melodies of folk music. It reinterprets our traditional sound and newly arranges it with a modern music system. It is the new work of Director Jo Jeong-rae, who directed 'Spirits' Homecoming' (2016).

Already recognized as a skilled drummer in the traditional Korean music scene, Director Jo Jeong-rae was captivated by pansori after watching Director Im Kwon-taek's 'Seopyeonje' in 1993 and decided to learn sorikkun. Based on a short screenplay he wrote in 1998, he completed the feature film 'Sorikkun.' Director Jo said, "The film started from a short screenplay I wrote during the second semester of my third year after returning from the military. The structure at that time was insignificant. It was a kind of music video-like film." He added, "It is about a man and a woman born and raised in the same neighborhood who date, marry, grow old together, and reflect on life. It became the foundation for the story of Hak-gyu and Gatnan. It reflects my view of love. Although life is painful, the theme is that if you rely on each other, you can be happy."

Jo Jeong-rae's dream came alive on the screen with the feature film 'Sorikkun' after 22 years. He said, "I am happy," expressing his unique feelings. He also reflected, "There was a time when I regretted entering the film department and almost dropped out, but somehow I became obsessed with films, took a leave of absence, and worked as an assistant on seniors' films. During a wandering period after graduation, I met comfort women grandmothers while volunteering with friends who were also involved in traditional Korean music. Shocked by this, I made 'Spirits' Homecoming.' Traditional Korean music flows as background music throughout the film. In the final scene, the Jindo ssitgimgut ritual is performed to bring the deceased back home. I also appeared on KBS programs like 'Gugak Hanmadang' and 'Poksoclub,'" he recalled his journey.

'Sorikkun' is an authentic pansori musical film produced 27 years after Director Im Kwon-taek's 'Seopyeonje.' The film that changed Director Jo Jeong-rae's life was 'Seopyeonje.' He said, "I was shocked when I saw 'Seopyeonje' at Danseongsa in 1993. I want to take this opportunity to apologize to the theater staff. I was so captivated by the film that I wanted to watch it again, but I didn't have money to buy another ticket, so I hid in the restroom and sneaked into the next screening to watch it again," he laughed.

"When I was active in a theater troupe, a teacher advised me to enter the film department because I would starve if I did theater. I entered but wandered for a whole year. It felt meaningless. Then, in my second year, I watched 'Seopyeonje' as an assignment, and my life changed. I realized the charm of film and became fascinated. At the same time, I thought I should learn sorikkun. I memorized 'Seopyeonje' entirely. Later, when I learned to play the drum, it helped me quickly grasp the rhythm. It's a life-changing film."

Director Jo also shared his thoughts on being compared to 'Seopyeonje.' He said, "The word 'challenge' is nonsense. It's more about respect for the film that changed my life. Although we borrow the subject of our traditional sound, the most important thing is the narrative. I hope the audience takes something away from the story."

Lee Bong-geun plays the lead role of Hak-gyu, delivering beautiful Korean melodies. He majored in music at the School of Traditional Arts, Korea National University of Arts, and is a seasoned sorikkun in the traditional Korean music scene. He gained attention by winning two consecutive victories on KBS2's 'Immortal Songs.' He has been active, receiving the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award in 2018 and the KBS Gugak Award for Performance (Ensemble Sinawi) in 2012, but this is his first acting challenge. Casting him as the lead must not have been easy. Director Jo said, "When I said I would cast an actual sorikkun as the lead Hak-gyu, many around me were worried. They asked why not cast an actor who is good at acting and teach him sorikkun. That wasn't wrong, but I saw the lead of our film as the sound itself."

With the combination of World Music group Gongmyeong and Music Director Park Seung-won, who led the globalization of traditional Korean music, the film built credibility and raised expectations. Music Director Park participated from the screenplay stage and completed over 80% of the guide film music before the start of filming.

Unlike typical music films where music work is done in post-production, meaningful time was spent working on music on set during filming. Also, different musical points were set for each scene. 'Sorikkun' was recorded with live sound from start to finish. Director Jo said, "I really wanted to work with Director Park Seung-won. He has a great interest in various kinds of music. Popularizing traditional Korean music is not easy, but he made a lot of effort. Since it's a musical film, music is important, but for the music to come alive, the narrative must support it. We analyzed the screenplay together and rewrote the music several times. On set, we always made sure to match the key. If the key doesn't match, we have to do post-dubbing, but the audience's standards have risen, and they notice immediately. It wasn't easy, but we repeated meticulous work," he shared about the effort invested.

'Sorikkun' was crafted with the beautiful scenery of the eight provinces of Joseon and beautiful melodies. The background scenery in the film is also a delight to watch. This is the result of the production team's and Director Jo Jeong-rae's painstaking preliminary surveys. Director Jo said, "There is no place in the eight provinces I haven't been to. I worked hard to find places that give the feeling of beautiful landscape paintings or genre paintings. While filming in deep mountains, I even tore the cartilage in my left knee."

"Interestingly, it hardly rained during the entire filming period. It wasn't a drought either. Since we were filming on an open set, if it rained, we would have to stop filming, but we were able to continue without interruption. The day before filming, the weather forecast said it would rain, so I wondered if we should change the schedule, but it didn't rain that day, and the sun was shining brightly. It rained heavily for a while, so I expected heavy rain on filming days, but it was clear as if it never rained. It was really amazing. Saying that heaven helped is accurate."

'Sorikkun' will be released on July 1.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.