Director Yoon Ga-eun once again delivers a warm message of consolation to audiences with the film "The World of Love".
On the 15th in the afternoon, a press screening for the film "The World of Love" (director Yoon Ga-eun) was held at CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Director Yoon Ga-eun, who wrote and directed the work, and lead actors Seo Su-bin and Jang Hye-jin attended the event and talked about the film.
"The World of Love" is a film that depicts the story that unfolds after an inscrutable 18-year-old high school girl, Ju-in (played by Seo Su-bin), who is between being an in-crowd member and an attention seeker, refuses alone a petition that the entire school participated in and then starts receiving mysterious notes. As Yoon Ga-eun's new work following "Our Body" and "Our House", it was invited to the Platform institutional sector in competition at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival as the first and only Korean film. In addition, it has been receiving a relay of love calls from leading international film festivals, such as sweeping two awards at the 9th Pingyao International Film Festival.
The work has already received favorable reviews at leading international film festivals under the English title The World of Love. Asian cinema masters such as Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda and China's Jia Zhangke have praised it.
Regarding the Korean title and the different English title, director Yoon Ga-eun said, "I held onto the title for a long time. But when I tried to change it into English, it became things like 'The Owner of the World' or 'Master of the World,' and in Korean 'ju-in' is someone who owns something. That didn't translate well into English. I finished the film and then decided on the English title. The character Ju-in is someone who has been hurt by very significant people and by love during her life. She is a child who bravely recovers with the help of those around her. She still craves love and wants greater love. I realized she is a character who creates diverse forms of love as she lives. I wanted the world Ju-in experiences to be a world of love that she continuously experiences and moves forward into, so I titled it "The World of Love,"" she said.
Director Yoon Ga-eun is widely recognized as a next-generation figure in Korean cinema, even acknowledged by director Bong Joon-ho. Jang Hye-jin, who worked with her for the third time following "Our Body" and "Our House," said, "I formed a connection with the director through 'Our Body,' and we kept in personal contact. She is the friend I contact most and an acquaintance. I knew she was writing a script but she didn't tell me what it was, and one day she sent me the script. I remember thinking I didn't have to do it, but she said in her heart the mother was me. She said if it had gone to someone else before me, she would have cut off contact," she said with a laugh. "Reading the scenario was so enjoyable. I kept turning the pages to see what Ju-in would think next and what kind of child she was. It was so interesting. I'm glad I've had a long-standing relationship with Yoon Ga-eun. I wanted to appear as much like Ju-in's mother as possible. I put aside my usual self and wanted to act as if it weren't acting. I don't know if it resonated. I'm very insufficient," she said, showing strong trust.
Newcomer Seo Su-bin, who debuted through this work, said, "I was such a fan even before meeting the director. When I first received the phone call that I would have a meeting with the director, I was so happy at the thought that the director had a new work coming out that I couldn't contain myself even before I enjoyed the news of the meeting. There were three meetings in total. Like blind dates. In the first meeting, we had about 20 minutes of everyday conversation," she recalled.
Director Yoon Ga-eun said, "Seo Su-bin's profile wasn't impressive. She had no career. There was no way to see past appearances. But her eyes were alive. When I met her, she was very honest and spoke slowly and calmly in her own rhythm and breath," and praised, "I was very surprised during the improvisation workshop. It would have been a very tense setting and many experienced actors attended, but I felt she breathed with her fellow actors. If the opposite actor is fast and energetic, the energy rises together; I felt she was an actor who savored and read the flow slowly. The more we talked, the more I wondered how such a person could exist. She had practiced taekwondo for a long time. When I met her, taekwondo was already in my script, so the kiai that comes from long taekwondo training was a good aspect. That was one of the charms I fell for," she said.
She also explained why she sent another love call to Jang Hye-jin, saying, "I politely proposed by text and didn't realize it might put pressure on the senior. I gave the script in great detail and thought this role might be burdensome," she said awkwardly, adding with a laugh, "She's such a world-class actress that I told her she could refuse, but I feel like I unintentionally pressured her, so I'm glad it worked out." She added, "Hye-jin has played mother roles in many works, and from my long observation of Jang Hye-jin, she has a warmth and kindness that seems to embrace everything. She always exists as herself. Within that, there is a side that is very cold, strict, sharp and sensitive. That is present in senior Hye-jin and shows when watching her acting. In the film, she's not just a simple mother but a mother who has shared so much history with her daughter Taeseon. Because of human Kang Taeseon's efforts, I thought Ju-in could be Ju-in. So I wanted to lean on her even more," she said.
Director Yoon Ga-eun, who has consistently told stories with children as protagonists following her previous works, said, "For a very long time, what I wanted to tell was a very real, practical story about sex and love experienced by adolescent girls among teenagers. I spent a long time taking hold of and putting down this theme. Every time I grabbed it to write, my original intention was a story about a healthy, cheerful girl honestly and boldly exploring sex and love. But in some ways, difficult, uncomfortable elements that are hard to look into intruded into the story. In a way, I feel like I ran away. I avoided it for a long time because I was burdened about how it would come out," she confessed.
She continued, "When I was wondering what to do for the third work, it happened to overlap with the pandemic period. That story came back to mind. I felt like the whole world was shutting down," and confessed, "I also remembered not being able to muster the courage. I wondered if it was the moment to go out boldly. I wanted to see whether this story would carry me along rather than me creating the story."
Meanwhile, Yoon Ga-eun said, "First, I gave the full script, and previously when working with children I didn't give the script, but this time it was so comfortable that they memorized the script fully. We exchanged a wide range of opinions about the work. They shared stories about parts I didn't know and it was a moment overflowing with questions," she said with a laugh, expressing strong satisfaction, "I think we approached it in a way that reexamined it anew."
Finally, director Yoon Ga-eun added, "We've shown the film on three continents and I always said this: Korean audiences are the most intimidating and make me the most nervous. They are the smartest and have the most cinematic experience, so standing here is the scariest. I was also looking forward to it. Thank you so much for the good questions and great conversations. I want to continue the stories we couldn't finish."
"The World of Love" opens on the 22nd.
[Photo] OSEN reporter Lee Dae-sun, provided by Barunson E&A.
[OSEN]