Director Hwang Donghyuk’s expression is not an exaggeration at all. If we pick out the only one creation that hit the world in 2021, it is definitely Hwang Donghyuk’s Squid Game. Netflix Original Series Squid Game, which opened globally on September 17, 2021, topped Netflix’s Global TV Show section a week after its release, and the record lasted for 46 days. It also has recorded the longest series to win the throne of ‘Global No. 1’ since Netflix, the global OTT, produced its original content. The number of viewing households worldwide has surpassed 140 million.

“We made Squid Game hoping that it would be loved in the global market because we presented it to the audiences around the world, but we did not expect the world to show full response to it this much. I was surprised when I heard the results. It is also true that I was dumbfounded for a while when I heard the overseas reactions.” Like Director Hwang Donghyuk’s feelings, the enthusiasm for Squid Game burned up hotter abroad. As soon as the series was released, IMDb’s audience score was high in the eight-point range, and Rotten Tomato’s freshness index exceeded 94%. Complimentary reviews from overseas media poured out at the same time, too.

Forbes extolled, “It is one of the most bizarre and fascinating Netflix series, and the 6th episode, ‘Kkanbu’, is the best one in 2021. Squid Game is a powerful work full of outstanding acting, intense characters, and creative storytelling.” About the global mega-hit of Squid Game, CNN explained, “Squid Game is an example of the power of Korean creators following the Korean film PARASITE, which surprised the film industry of the world.” The New York Times also praised, “This work, which brought out the dark side of modern society in the game from the realm of childhood, is powerful enough to stimulate popular cultural fans around the world.” France’s leading newspaper Le Monde also explained why Squid Game captivated the world, saying, “The creepy humor and the ingenious mise-en-scene suck us into a terrible fear.”

“Squid Game is a game that young children enjoyed in alleys in the 1970s and 1980s when Korea’s economic growth was on track. Especially, this game is the most competitive and violent among children games. Watching the reality that all of us living in modern times are driven into extreme competitions, this game came to my mind. What if adults risk their lives to win a large sum of money by playing the simple and fun game they enjoyed with their buddies in childhood? I came up with the story of Squid Game from the irony where beautiful memories turn into a terrible reality.”

Audiences around the world immediately empathized with the irony that Director Hwang Donghyuk recalled. Modern capitalistic society, where polarization has become severe, has the countenance of a thorough hierarchical society, and people naturally learn the law of survival of the fittest and the winner-take-all principle. ‘The most Korean survival story’ Director Hwang conjured up has gained ‘universality’ that goes beyond language and nationality and empathizes with audiences around the world. While Director Bong Joonho’s PARASITE showed us the reality by replacing the absurd world through two families living extreme lives, Director Hwang Donghyuk completes a more vivid and brutal fairy tale through 456 participants who participated in the Death Game with their own stories.

“Although the drama is based on Korean games, the global audiences who encounter Squid Game will remember that they also grew up playing similar games. Through the commonality, they can feel more intimate with the series, I think. In addition, ‘being survived’ is the goal of the participants who risk their lives for the prize money of 45.6 billion won. These are ordinary people commonly found in the news and around us. I wanted to convey that the people who participated in the survival game are not different from us and that they can be ourselves’ images.”

“Thanks to the Superb Staff,
Various Experiments Were Possible”

Music that stimulates fairytale-like and high-quality visuals and senses is also a critical factor in the mega-hit of Squid Game. Chae Kyeongsun, the production designer who completed Director Hwang Donghyuk’s film world including Silenced, Miss Granny and The Fortress, joined to express the characters’ psychology with various colors and objects visually. Music that raises tension with its unique recorder melody is made by the music director, Jung Jaeil, who participated in Okja and PARASITE. Director Hwang Donghyuk attributed the success of Squid Game to the staff, saying, “Thanks to the superb staff members who have worked for great films, I was able to break the existing framework and conduct various experiments.”

Director Hwang Donghyuk, who made his debut with the film My Father in 2007, is a representative Korean director who has been recognized for both box office success and completeness with new genres and stories in each work. Silenced (2011), which translated the terrible true story of violence in Korean society into a movie, led to the enactment of related laws, and Miss Granny (2014), based on the comic and warm subject matter of ‘changing bodies,’ recorded 8.66 million viewers in Korea. In particular, Miss Granny was remade in 8 countries, including China, Vietnam, and Japan, making a global box office success. His first costume drama The Fortress (2016) was praised as an ‘enchantingly beautiful period drama’ not only in Korea but also in North America for its beautiful mise-en-scene and profound messages. His first OTT series Squid Game in the global market could be the result of the cinematic achievements Director Hwang Donghyuk has completed so far.

Global Mega Hit Power Based on Cinematic Achievements

“I have dreamed of a work that can resonate with the world beyond Korea.” Director Hwang Donghyuk is witnessing his dream in reality now. Squid Game won the best award in the Breakthrough Series Long Format over 40 Minutes at the 31st Gotham Awards held on Wall Street in New York on November 29, 2021. The director said, “When I first wrote the scenario for Squid Game in 2009, no one seemed to like it. So, it took 12 years to show the work to the audience, but it only took less than 12 days to become the world's No. 1 show. It is a miracle.”

The Gotham Awards, a film award hosted by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), is considered a barometer of the year-end awards ceremony in the United States. Attention is focused on whether Squid Game, the first Korean content that has already won the best award at the Gotham Awards, will also be honored with the Emmy Award and the Golden Globes.

Another curiosity drawing attention from all over the world is about the sequel to Squid Game. Director Hwang Donghyuk, who was quiet about the sequel, said, “I don’t think the sequel is a matter of my choice now,” confessing that the audience would soon meet ‘Lee Jungjae with red hair.’ In the ending of Squid Game, the line Seong Gihun (Lee Jungjae) said is an important keyword that leads to the sequel. “I’m not chess pieces. I’m a person. That’s why I want to know who you people are. And how you can do these horrible things to people.” What choice will Gihun make when he returns to the world of Squid Game? And what cruel and beautiful absurd world will Hwang Donghyuk show us once again? by Kim Jihyun