Disaster Film with Black Comedy 'Concrete Utopia' Opens (Comprehensive)

Actors: "The reason for appearing is Lee Byung-hun"
Korean apartment, a space of love and hate

Lee Byung-hun (left) Park Seo-joon
Photo by Yonhap News

A Korean-style disaster film with black comedy elements is landing in theaters this summer. Expectations are high for what 'Concrete Utopia,' starring actor Lee Byung-hun, will look like.

On the morning of the 21st, at the production briefing for the film 'Concrete Utopia' (directed by Um Tae-hwa) held at Lotte Cinema Konkuk University in Jayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, Lee Byung-hun said, "As someone who loves theaters, I feel sorry about the declining audience and the stagnant atmosphere." He added, "There is a huge difference between watching a large-scale disaster film in a theater and on TV."

'Concrete Utopia,' set to be released in August, depicts a story that begins as survivors gather in the only remaining Hwanggung Apartment in Seoul, which has become a ruin due to a massive earthquake.

Based on the webtoon 'Cheerful Outcast' Part 2 'Cheerful Neighbor' by writer Kim Soong-nyung, director Um Tae-hwa took the helm. Subsequently, using the IP (intellectual property), the same universe is being built with 'Wilderness,' 'Cheerful Outcast,' and 'Concrete Market' being presented as films and dramas respectively.

Director Um Tae-hwa, who directed 'Ingtoogi' (2013) and 'Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned' (2016), took the director's chair.

On this day, Director Um said, "It feels fresh since it's my first film in seven years." He recalled, "I saw the Lezhin Comics 'Cheerful Outcast' four years ago and learned about the existence of the second part, 'Cheerful Neighbor.'"

He said, "Apartments are familiar spaces to Koreans. They are objects of both love and hate and inseparable places. I studied a lot and adapted the story imagining what could happen in extreme situations."

Lee Byung-hun [Photo by Yonhap News]

Lee Byung-hun explained, "I wonder if it can even be called a disaster film because it has a different tone." He added, "It shows how people endure, communicate, and live after a disaster occurs. In that sense, it strongly carries the genre characteristics of black comedy," highlighting its distinction.

Playing Yeong-tak, the resident representative who goes to any lengths for the apartment residents and anchors the story, Lee Byung-hun introduced him as "a character who changes a lot in extreme situations after the disaster."

He continued, "I usually create the outward appearance before filming starts. For Yeong-tak, I imagined him having a lot of hair and the beginning of an M-shaped hairline." Then he laughed, asking, "Doesn't he look like a ward?"

Lee Byung-hun also said, "Even when united, people's personalities and tendencies differ. There are times of division, and you see the extremes of selfishness and cruelty. The situation is extreme, but the personal circumstances have realistic subtle points that I liked."

[Photo by Yonhap News]

Director Um said, "I cast Lee Byung-hun first with the expectation that good actors would come if I got him." He added, "I monitored the filming with a pounding heart."

Park Seo-joon also cited Lee Byung-hun as his reason for appearing. He said, "I have long wanted to work with the senior actor. Although it was not a project offered to me, I strongly expressed my desire to appear." Co-stars Park Bo-young and Kim Sun-young also added, "We wanted to act with Lee Byung-hun."

Playing Min-seong, a responsible character who tries to protect his family no matter what happens, Park Seo-joon said, "He was an interesting character because he could express many emotional changes," showing confidence by saying, "I put a lot of time and effort into it."

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