Following its screenings at the 18th Jeonju International Film Festival, the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival (Discovery section), and the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival (World Focus section), a film has brought attention and shined a new light on low-budget Korean films. After directing One Day to be Passing By (2007) and Hearing Aid (2013), director KIM Yang-hee is back after a four year absence with feature The Poet and the Boy. The film is about a hardworking woman (JEON Hye-jin) and an incompetent poet with an eventless life (YANG Ik-june) who ends up meeting a poor young boy (JUNG Ga-ram). The process of falling in love with the boy allows the poet to mature as an artist and grow as an adult. Jeju Island which is a famous tourist site in Korea is shown poetically in the film. Through the portrayal of realistic characters living on Jeju Island, the film questions art, love, and the quality of life. We met with director KIM Yang-hee who actually resides on Jeju Island and longs to make films of Jeju.

Being born and raised in Seoul, I never understood what nature was. When I moved to Jeju Island 6 years ago, what I first observed was its nature. The mountains and the ocean were a part of the people’s lives and the scenery was very beautiful to me. The people that live honestly and courageously on this island also gave me inspiration. The Poet and the Boy is a story that naturally came to me after I moved to Jeju Island. I was inspired by the people, the nature, and also by my struggle as an artist. 

I like coming-of-age stories. I tend to grow affection to those that are struggling and lost because they’re too inexperienced or they have not yet found the truth to life. Perhaps that’s why I make films where you want to cheer on the character and for their growth. I tend to love characters that are self-reflective. When I met poet HYUN Taek-hoon on Jeju Island, I noticed that his environment and his desires were not much different from mine. Instead, I saw myself in him. The world demands us to grow up, but I wanted to cheer on those that are still not yet mature. The poet is inexperienced, but he’s a loveable good-for-nothing. You might see such a character or two in your family, but you can’t hate them. I made this film to support those people in the hopes that they will break out of their shells and get on their feet.

The wife character played by JEON Hye-jin is the breadwinner of the house. She’s a very nosy person. I’m always amazed by the strength of such women. I wanted to express a love that’s big, deep, and persevering. The youth is young and full of potential, but he’s unprotected. I created this character in the hopes that all youths will get the interest and protection they need in order to make their dreams come true. When the poet who grew up in a peaceful environment starts to protect the boy, it represents the growth of the poet. 

The first poem that opens up the film is called The Map of Jeju In My Heart , written by the poet that became the subject of my film, HYUN Taek-hoon. I decided to use it since the poem expresses the island as a space in a romantic way. Another poem by the same poet is called The Gotjawal In My Heart, which was used when the protagonist expressed his feelings about the boy. Gotjawal is a primeval forest on Jeju Island, and it represents the pure natural state that hasn’t been damaged. In the poem, Gotjawal becomes a respirator that keeps the poet alive, while the boy is like Gotjawal to the poet in my film. Works called Grandpa Is an Orphan Too, What Is Love?, and Dead Dog were written by me. While writing my script, I drafted some poems so that I could reference them to find something with similar sentiments later, but I was unable to find poems that fit perfectly with the film. On top of that, people around me gave me positive feedback, so those poems were edited to become what they are today. I don’t consider them to be poems, but more so a part of the script. Poet KIM So-yeon’s So is one of my favorites. I have never found any writing that was able to express longing through such a beautiful and lonely scenery. Poet KI Hyung-do’s unreleased poem called Hope was used as the last poem the protagonist writes after his love with the young boy ends up in a failure. I felt that the last poem had to be something very different to the style of writing he had done before. This meant he would have to let go of his attachment to beauty, and expose the violent storm that’s tearing up his heart.

The Poet and the Boy first participated in the pitching program at the Jeonju Project Market and won the grand prize as well as the audience prize. Thanks to this, I was able to get the support for feature films from the Jeonju Cinema Project. It’s not common for a debut filmmaker without any filmography to get such an opportunity and it was a big help to me. On top of that, I received production support from the Korean Film Council. However, it’s still a low-budget film, so we were limited on production dates. We were scheduled to shoot for a month on Jeju Island, but the weather is unpredictable there during the winter. We were left with very few days to absorb all of our schedule. I wanted enough time during the shooting to continuously reflect on the film, but it was not possible to do so which is unfortunate. 

Artists fight with a sense of defeat at the front line. This doesn’t apply just to the poet in the film. I was born and raised in Seoul, but I felt a sense of defeat as a creator. However, Jeju Island is a place that opened up a new vision for me. In the midst of such beautiful nature and in a society based on relationships, I continuously got inspirations. There is another story I would like to base on Jeju Island, so my second film will also have the island as the backdrop. I intend on telling a story about a courageous woman that lives on Jeju Island.