[Interview] Ryu Seung-wan: "I Didn't Want to Give Up 'Mogadishu' to OTT Despite Its High Value"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] “No matter how much money was offered, we could not hand over ‘Mogadishu’ to streaming (OTT).” Director Ryu Seung-wan said this after releasing the film in theaters amid the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic. He explained that he stuck to the principle of wanting audiences to experience the movie in theaters. He also said, “I wanted to present it in the summer when you can feel the heat of Africa.”

Director Ryu Seung-wan answered questions about the movie ‘Mogadishu’ during a video interview held on the morning of the 10th.

‘Mogadishu’ is a film depicting the life-or-death escape of people trapped in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu, during the civil war in 1991. It is the new work by director Ryu Seung-wan, who directed ‘Berlin’ (2012) and ‘Veteran’ (2015), released four years after ‘The Battleship Island’ (2017).

Regarding the film based on the escape of South and North Korean embassy officials trapped in Mogadishu during the actual Somali civil war, Director Ryu said, “I first interviewed related people and prepared by researching materials. I met diplomats, war correspondents, and North Korea experts who knew about the situation at the time, listened to their stories, and referred to various books.”

The scene where a vehicle is covered with books during the escape was fictional. Director Ryu said, “During the investigation, I found that the rifles used at the time had strong recoil and low accuracy. The shooting training was also not well done. Also, I referred to data that bullets could not penetrate a single phone book. I thought this setting in the film would add realism.” He added, “The actual embassy was attacked about eight times, but we expressed it in a compressed way.”

The scene where the characters sit at the table, share a meal, push side dishes to each other, and pick perilla leaves with chopsticks evokes Korean nostalgia. Director Ryu said, “It’s a scene in the script written by the writer,” adding, “I think memories of my grandmother were reflected during the directing process. When I was a child, when eating, if my chopsticks touched the jangjorim side dish, my grandmother would push that side dish toward me. In the movie ‘Berlin,’ there was a scene where a couple pushed side dishes to each other while eating. It seems like a memory of the dining table. I wanted to capture how humans treat each other in the scene.”

Director Ryu said, “I hoped it would be seen that North and South Koreans share not only language but also aspects of eating and living. Everyone must have the same memories. I thought it would look warm,” giving it a special meaning.

‘Mogadishu’ began filming in October 2019 in Morocco, Africa, and wrapped up in February 2020. Post-production started afterward, but the release date was hard to set due to the COVID-19 impact. Director Ryu recalled, “I think it’s important when and in which season the movie is watched. I wanted it to be released in summer when audiences can feel the heat of Africa. No one expected the pandemic to last this long.”

He confessed, “Although a lot of production costs went into the film, I gave up the desire to make a record-breaking box office score. No matter how much money was offered, I could not hand over ‘Mogadishu’ to streaming.” He added, “I stuck to the principle that it is a movie to be experienced in theaters.”

Director Ryu Seung-wan lamented that the Korean film industry is facing a difficult situation due to COVID-19. He said, “Our film industry is really struggling. Since movies can’t be released, companies responsible for post-production are in chaos. They would organize hard disk space after the release,” showing his bitterness. He continued, “If movies like ‘Mogadishu’ keep getting postponed, the entire industry will suffer. We are not great people, but we thought, ‘How bad can it really get?’” and expressed gratitude, “Thank you for understanding our sincerity.”

He also said, “The movie ‘Hostage,’ produced by the production company Oyou Naegang, will be released soon. The theater situation is really tough, but it will gradually improve.”

Photo = Lotte Entertainment

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