"Knowing history is important." The Japanese actor Yamada Takayuki, who visited Korea because of the Netflix film "Good News," drew a line by emphasizing historical awareness amid past anti-Korean controversy.
On the morning of the 19th at Busan Cinema Center, a press conference was held for the film "Good News" (director Byun Sung-hyun), which was invited to the gala presentation of the 30th Busan International Film Festival. Director Byun Sung-hyun and lead actors Sul KyungGu, Hong Kyung, and Yamada Takayuki attended and talked about the work.
"Good News" is a film about a suspicious operation by people gathered in one place in the 1970s to do whatever it took to force a hijacked plane to land. It was reborn by taking the March 1970 Yodogo hijacking in Japan as a motif and adding cinematic imagination. The Yodogo hijacking was an incident in which members of the Japanese Red Army hijacked a commercial airliner departing Tokyo for Fukuoka, boarded passengers and crew, and headed to North Korea.
Naturally, "Good News" shows settings that move between Korea, Japan and North Korea, and features actual Japanese actors to enhance realism. Because of this, it conjures up the sensitive Northeast Asian situation that cannot avoid historical issues to the present, and it carries the burden of being based on a true story. However, Director Byun Sung-hyun's distinctive stylish direction is predicted to raise the film's completeness, and the black comedy genre is expected to neutralize the sensitivity of the true-story motif. The attention it received after its world premiere in the Special Presentation section at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival also adds to the praise.
Nevertheless, Yamada Takayuki's casting stirred criticism among some domestic movie fans immediately after the casting news became known, because Yamada Takayuki had been embroiled in past anti-Korean controversy.
The controversy began in February 2022, when on a Fuji Television variety show Yamada Takayuki and Suda Masaki were accused of belittling Korean dramas while conscious of the rising Korean entertainment industry. However, Yamada Takayuki immediately after the controversy used his personal social media to emphasize Fuji Television's malicious editing and express his grievance.
The following year he appeared on the same program again and formally protested the incident that had caused the past anti-Korean controversy. At the time he drew attention by saying strongly, "This is not the first time. I was hurt four times." In this process, it was later revealed that in the earlier broadcast's debate about whether Japanese entertainment was lagging behind Korea, Yamada Takayuki had said, "It's not a competition; the direction is different." Yamada Takayuki also caused a stir by firmly protesting on the broadcast, "I felt Fuji Television's malice. The message must be conveyed correctly. I may be hurt, but people who cherish Korean entertainment must not be hurt."
Perhaps conscious of those past controversies, Yamada Takayuki spoke cautiously throughout the press conference. He said he had done his own research to portray a real person before filming, and that he had many conversations with Director Byun Sung-hyun and tried to focus on the character.
He also said, "Language is also culture. Literal translation or carrying something over as is does not always convey what you want to express, and there are difficulties. Doing various things this time became an opportunity to learn in many ways. I thought it's a big task that I should carry forward. If there are opportunities to work jointly with many countries in the future, I also feel motivated to actively try."
Above all, near the end of the meeting Yamada Takayuki emphasized historical awareness, saying, "People of my generation may know the name of the incident dealt with in this film but actually didn't know much about it. I'm glad there was an opportunity to encounter a real incident even through a comedy like this work. I think knowing history is important. I'm happy and grateful to be able to participate in such a work."
In his closing remarks he also expressed gratitude, saying, "I was told by the organizers around yesterday that sharp questions might come up at the press conference, but thank you for the kind and gentle questions."
"Good News" will be released on Netflix on Oct. 17.
[Photo] OSEN reporter Lee Seok-woo, provided by Netflix.
[OSEN]