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To tell you the truth, I was kind of expecting it. When I first read the scenario, I was confident that I could make it more interesting than most Korean movies around these days. It is a fantasy comedy, but deep inside, it is a family story that anybody could sympathize with. That is what clicked with so many different generations. I sneaked into a general premiere and heard a man in a young couple whisper: “I want to see it again with my mom.” I was very happy to hear that, because that is exactly the kind of response that I was counting on. Although you watch it with your lover or friend at first, you would want to watch it again with your parents. Three generations can watch it together, where each generation can agree with the movie from their own standpoint: it is the kind of film that makes you want to give to your mom or grandma a call.

 

 

The grandma stole her employer’s original recipe and launched her own shop right in the same neighborhood. Also, she is the one who caused her daughter-in-law to have cardiac disease due to her aggressive and pointed personality. In Silenced, the righteous main character KANG In-ho (played by GONG Yoo)’s mother says something like “you can’t live life as Mr. Good if you want to put food on the plate for your family.” That was the same for everybody during Korea’s so-called transitional period, when life was very harsh and tough for all. To save oneself and one’s family, one had to step on others. The grandma protected herself and her son by throwing herself in the mud.

 

 

At first, the granny was to turn into a glamorous sexy lady and HAN Seun-woo (played by LEE Jin-wook) was to fall in love with her at first sight. However, working on the scenario, it looked as though her sexy features were in conflict with the fun parts that the granny character may offer. Besides, I didn’t want the typical comedy where the granny would walk sexily with her long hair flapping around and men walking by who couldn’t take their eyes off her, jaws dropping to the floor. I wanted a more unique character. That’s when I came up with the idea of SHIM Eun-kyoung. SHIM played an innocent countryside girl in Sunny (2011) and also demonstrated deep drama and humanity in Masquerade (2012). We needed both of these qualities in Miss Granny. She had to show a unique character for comedy, and later on, show her dramatic side as a woman and a mother. SHIM was the best fit that I could think of. 

 

 

What do you mean not many? It is practically non-existent, other than 200 Pounds Beauty (2006). They just don’t get made, let alone become box office hits. What counts the most in casting is fan popularity, but there are no such popular Korean actresses. Therefore, movies geared with a single actress are not well funded and therefore not planned for in the first place. It was the same with Miss Granny. Now that it has become successful things may be different, but at first, in the pre-production stage, the response was very cold. When we were working on the budget, they tried to downsize it since it was not a guaranteed box-office hit.

 

Promotion and marketing were also hard due to the lack of star power. The first reason why audiences pick a movie is the star. Without a star, early selling power is very weak. Miss Granny began at number three in the box office ranking. In this case, you have to count on word of mouth, which makes it harder for the filmmaker. I guess Miss Granny becoming a box office hit will remain as an unusual phenomenon. To have an actress being as popular as a top male actor, the entire trend and overall environment in society would need to change. Korea is a male dominant society but fandom is female driven. It will not easily change with the one-time success of Miss Granny.

 

Quite honestly, I am expecting as many as ten million viewers. It would be a lie if I told you that I have no expectations. Frozen is an obstacle, but we are both doing well together, so it isn’t time to give up hope yet.

 

 

Of course not, why should I add one more ticket to their box office? (Laughs)

 

 By SONG Soon-jin