NEWS & REPORTS
See Your Schedule
Ko - production in Busan
- Interview
- CHOO Chang-min of SEVEN YEARS OF NIGHT
- by LEE Yong Cheol (Film Critic) / May 09, 2018
- Is there really such evil?
Seven Years of Night is the latest film from CHOO Chang-min, the director of Masquerade (2012), which recorded over 12 million admissions. It is the director’s first feature film in six years. Based on JEONG You-jeong ' bestselling novel of the same name and starringJANG Dong-gun and RYU Seung-ryong , two of the most prominent actors of Korean cinema today, the film has been drawing much attention right from the start. Inevitably, its delayed release gave rise to many rumors. Upon its release, the film became the talk of the town and caused much controversy among critics and viewers alike.The location plays a major role in the movie. How did the filming go?The village, where the major incidents take place, is itself another protagonist of the film. In order to bring out the unique atmosphere of each different place like the reservoir, the dam, and the residential area, I divided them broadly into three separate areas. It took a considerable amount of time to travel from one location to another, but I simply couldn’t give up onfilming at the locations that corresponded the most to my idea. Of course, there always was the possibility of using CG to create some scenes, but that wouldn’t have conveyed the feel I was after. Instead, I chose to apply CG directly onto the real background images we shot on location. One of the best examples of this is the scene in which the village gets flooded.RYU Seung-ryong and JANG Dong-gun, two top stars of Korean cinema, appear on screen together for the first time. Please tell us about the casting process.RYU Seung-ryong read the original novel and really liked it. He expressed his enthusiasm for the project from an early stage, and I welcomed the chance to work with him again. RYU’s acting in Masquerade was superb, and I have much respect for him. While I was still considering who to pick for the opposite role of OH Young-je , I heard that JANG Dong-gun was interested in the project. I thought it’d be a good opportunity to discover another side of this handsome actor, and so I met with him. In order to counter his image as a polite and nice person and turn him into a bad guy that would turn people off, I made a number of suggestions. And since JANG was also looking for a change, he responded with enthusiasm.Seven Years of Night is an extremely dark story, especially when compared to your previous works that were cheerful and light-hearted.The original novel follows the perspective of each of the main characters, which poses many difficulties for a film adaptation. Not only is the book very long and complex, but the personality of each character also makes it difficult to empathize. That’s why at first, I didn’t want to step in as director, but I had a change of heart. Whereas my previous films, Late Blossom (2011), Lost in Love (2006) and Mapado: Island of Fortunes (2005), focused on the good in people, I wanted to explore the dark side of evil. After that, adapting the novel into a screenplay turned out to be more difficult than I’d expected, it took me about two years.Unlike the mood of the story or the atmosphere in the film, the subject is not tragic.The film emphasizes the way a man with a dark and painful past tries to overcome his tragic legacy. His future may not be bright and promising, but I still root for him to find the will to go on and move forward. This idea is reflected in the way the film’s title appears on a black background in the beginning and then on a white background in the end.
The two wives who play key roles in the original novel have disappeared in the film adaptation.In the original novel, OH Young-je’s wife, Ha-young, plays a significant role in the last chapters. However, because I understood Young-je to be a man who would dictate his own destiny without someone else’s intervention, I decided it would be out of character for him to be influenced by his wife. For that reason, I did away with the character of Ha-young. On the other hand, I regret that I couldn’t fully explore the character of Eun-ju , CHOI Hyun-su’s wife. In the original novel, she is very attached to life and has an interesting storyline. But it would have taken another film altogether to deal with everything. Choosing what to keep and what to lose was a very difficult task.The film tells a complex and vast story. The editing work must have been difficult.Initially, the script was too long; it contained over 140 scenes. The first time I edited the film, it was nearly three hours long. I realized I couldn’t explain the characters’ past and emotions in every detail. Instead of explaining everything, I wanted to leave it to the audience to take it in and follow the story in their own way. My idea was to lead the spectator to construct a story of their own from diverse perspectives as if reading an epic novel.How was your relationship with JEONG You-jeong , the author of the original novel?We met and exchanged greetings before the shooting began but that was it. Her only request was that the title shouldn’t be changed, that and nothing else. Because of the book’s massive popularity, I was apprehensive about the author’s response to its film adaptation. She saw the film and found it to be rather good. She appreciates the visual depiction of the story, and even enjoys the changes made to the plot towards the end as part of the cinematic reinvention.
- Any copying, republication or redistribution of KOFIC's content is prohibited without prior consent of KOFIC.
