Director Park Jin-pyo: "School violence and decline of teacher authority were known but ignored issues"

Movie 'Brave Citizen' to be Released on the 25th of This Month

Director Park Jin-pyo Photo by Mindmark

The film Brave Citizen tackles the serious social issues of school violence and the decline of teachers' authority, which have recently come to the forefront. It depicts the story of a temporary teacher who has lived as if weak, confronting the misdeeds of an arrogant power figure. The film is directed by Park Jin-pyo, who also directed The Man's Voice (2007) and My Love, My Side (2009). At the press screening held on the afternoon of the 18th at CGV Yongsan in Ichon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Director Park stated, "This is a problem that has existed for a very long time, though it was not widely known." He added, "We knew about it but just pretended not to."

Director Park, who adapted the webtoon of the same name that was released on Naver and received a rating of 9.8, recalled, "When I adapted the original work into a screenplay two and a half years ago, the issue of teachers' authority had not yet become a major news topic." He said, "During the screenplay stage, there were opinions that the content might be too intense." He continued, "Now it is starting to come to light and is being taken seriously, but the problem has existed for a long time."

Regarding the scenes of school violence, teachers' authority, and parents' abuse of power in the film, Director Park said, "The film is just a film," and asked viewers to "watch it as a film adaptation of a webtoon and enjoy it with a sense of relief."

(From left) Director Park Jin-pyo, actors Shin Hye-sun and Lee Jun-young
[Photo by Mindmark]

Director Park also said, "Compared to the level of (criminal) acts happening in reality, the film might feel mild," adding, "School violence in reality is intelligent and extremely cruel." He expressed regret, saying, "If we had tried to include all of reality, it would have become a crime film."

He said, "I wanted to express through the film how individual cries combine to become a great roar." He added, "I hope that watching the film can help people bring out the courage that lives hidden inside them, even if just a little."

Shin Hye-sun, who plays a temporary teacher and former boxing athlete dreaming of becoming a full-time employee in Brave Citizen, said, "The topic alone could be heavy, but I wanted to focus on showing a sense of exhilaration." She added, "The goal was to vicariously satisfy the courage we cannot muster in reality in a dramatic way."

Lee Jun-young, formerly of U-KISS, plays the absolute authority figure at the school. He said, "I could not resolve the unpleasant scenes of abuse with my imagination alone, so I consulted with the director." He continued, "I hope the film offers comfort to those who have experienced (school violence). I worked hard with the hope that it would touch their hearts."

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