The Film Experience

By Jose Solís.

Kim Jee-woon is certainly no stranger to genre extravaganzas, but in The Age of Shadows (which Tim reviewed here) he takes it to the most sumptuous level yet. The spy thriller set during the Japanese occupation of South Korea centers on the dilemma a double agent (Song Kang-ho) faces when he realizes the resistance fighters he’s trying to capture, might actually be more patriotic than the people he’s working for. With stunningly choreographed action sequences, exquisite period detail and powerhouse performances, the film is the rare historical film that actually feels urgent and exciting. Since it’s South Korea’s Oscar submission I spoke to director Kim Jee-woon about what he discovered about the resistance, working with some of his best known collaborators, and what the Oscar nomination would mean to him.

Special thanks to interpreter: Areum Jeong

Read the interview after the jump.

JOSE: Why was it important for you tell this story?

KIM JEE-WOON: The Japanese colonial period was the most difficult time in Korean history, in contrast today you can see how the world is moving towards the right wing, even Korea is having a hard time financially. I thought it would be important to show what happened then and how it relates to what’s happening today.

JOSE: You’re no stranger to genre films, why did you want to tell historical fiction as an action film?

KIM JEE-WOON: I always wanted to make spy films, so I watched classics like The Third Man and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as a reference, but those movies were cold, stern films portraying the Western clashes during that time, which made them cold noirs. The Age of Shadows started as a cold noir but became heated because it’s a film about the Korean resistance, and how they risked and sacrificed their lives.

Director Kim Jee-woonI was fascinated by the subplot about the forgers and how they sell art to their enemies in order to raise money for the resistance. Do you see any connection between making commercial films to fund dream projects?

According to my research and historical accounts, resistance fighters needed to make money and selling artwork to rich people was one of the ways. To talk about a connection between that and compromising would require me to think longer, so I’ll come back to you on that one.

Fair enough. The level of detail in this film is exquisite, and we see how so much of it is destroyed, has the rise of fascism in our world made you worried about the destruction of beauty in general?

The detailed settings and costumes were because I wanted to recreate everything as faithfully as possible. It can also be seen as a metaphor for visually deconstructing art.

I loved when Lee Byung-hun appeared in the film, was his cameo a way of giving your longtime fans a present so to speak, since you’ve worked with him in the past?

I wanted to cast a spiritual leader for the resistance and needed someone charismatic and energetic, and fortunately Lee Byung-hun had some free time after shooting The Magnificent Seven, so rather his cameo was a present to me.

Historical fiction is usually quite dull and by the numbers, your film is pretty exciting. Why do you think most historical fiction chooses to be so restrained?

Since the film was inspired by true events it could’ve been tragic and serious, since it was a period film which would be very expensive I needed to make it entertaining for the general audience. I wanted to make the entertainment meaningful, and the meaning entertaining.

Several reviews in American and European trades have mentioned the film will feel more relevant in South Korea because the story is so specific. Do you feel this same reasoning could be used to suggest that Hollywood movies are too specific to America and shouldn’t work all over the world?

While I was making the film I wasn’t thinking about the international audience, but I figured the actors would appeal to them at some point. Also there have been resistance movements all over the world, so those events can appeal to international audiences.

You’ve mentioned Jean-Pierre Melville as a huge influence for you, were you thinking about Army of Shadows when you made this film?

Not this time, A Bittersweet Life however was very much so, it was like a Koreanized Melville. In The Age of Shadows I just wanted to create characters that showed the hypocrisy of the period.

What did you learn about the resistance movement that you didn’t know before?

I found out there were a lot more fighters and undercover agents than I thought. There is a historical account of a resistance fighter who brought explosives from Shanghai and asked a close friend of his to hide them since he was going to be captured, and he discovered his friend was an undercover agent.

Congrats on the film being submitted for the Oscars. What would the Oscar nomination mean for you?

I’m very happy, but I know I have to compete with over 80 other brilliant films. What’s most meaningful to me is that portraying this historical period shows that it can be relevant to modern audiences, the most meaningful thing to me is having audience members tell me they didn’t know much about the resistance until they saw the film.

Other Foreign Film Oscar Interviews
Singapore - Boo Junfeng on the prison drama The Apprentice
Colombia - Jose Luis Rugules on Alias Maria
Italy - Gianfranco Rosi on the prize-winning Fire at Sea
Israel - Elite Zexer on Sandstorm
Cuba - Pavel Giroud on The Companion
Austria - Maria Scharder on Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe