(Interview ③ continued) Director Lee Hwan of 'Project Y' explained why he chose an entertainment district as the film's setting.
On the afternoon of the 16th at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, an interview was held with director Lee Hwan, who directed the film 'Project Y' (provided by: Plus M Entertainment, Fenchur Invest Co., Ltd.; distributed by: Plus M Entertainment; planned by: WOWPOINT, Climax Studio; produced by: Climax Studio, WOWPOINT | co-produced by: Plus M Entertainment).
'Project Y' is a work that tells the story of Miseon (Han So-hee) and Dokyeong (Jeon Jong-seo), who, dreaming of a different tomorrow amid the glittering city, steal black money and gold bullion at the edge of their lives.
In particular, the film draws attention by setting the overall background, including main characters who work in the entertainment district, in the Gangnam entertainment district of Seoul. When asked why he chose this background, director Lee Hwan explained, "I wanted to depict the darkest side of society, and I thought Gangnam was the place that was both the brightest and the darkest. These days it's not like that, but in the past, when you said Gangnam, especially kids in Gangbuk admired it a lot. I thought showing Gangnam's hidden sides would be an effective way to show the darkest aspects. Also, as I thought of dark characters working in dark places, I placed them in that space (the entertainment district); it wasn't that they absolutely had to be there."
He said that, as with his previous works Park Hwa-young and Nobody Knows, this work "genre-wise reflects the absence of adults and parents." When asked why he particularly expresses this 'absence of adults and parents' through female characters, director Lee Hwan explained, "First, I'm very interested in people, so I observe people a lot. I don't think growth only happens in the teens or twenties. If you look again, from the start, being born wasn't something I chose, but once you're born there are parents, and from that a person's self is formed. I was very interested in what happens to a person when those things are absent and how they grow. When you asked 'mother or father,' I think I was more interested in the presence of the mother because of motherhood."
When asked jokingly whether it was influenced by his childhood, director Lee Hwan laughed, "I get that question a lot." He said, "Before meeting actors I thought I would be very scary, but I was ordinary as a child. Still, when I went to school there were wild rumors at that age, true or not. I thought about those a lot. I remember the me who trusted others, and thinking about that helps me imagine and build characters. Also, looking at social news and riding Seoul Subway Line 1 a lot, when I see the 'Line 1 villains' I don't feel disgust but wonder, 'They must have families at home; what kind of story made them do that?' I think doing that much is due to some kind of lack. Seeing that, since I can't take a photo, I describe and record it and use that to build characters," he said.
When asked why he chose noir and crime for his first commercial film debut, he said, "It was actually a work I wrote before Park Hwa-young. Back then Dokyeong was male and Miseon was female and it was a melodrama. I had the grand ambition of making a very desperate melodrama and wrote it. But when investment didn't come through, I shot Park Hwa-young first. Then director Yeon Sang-ho, who had been close since doing independent films, called while filming Nobody Knows. He invited me to visit, so I went to his office, and while hanging out he asked, 'What happened to that script?' I said, 'I'm trying to do it but don't know how,' and he told me to brief him again, so I explained it. After listening, the director told me to try changing it into a genre film. We talked a lot right there. I thought, 'This would be fun,' and from then on I changed it into a genre film. Director Yeon Sang-ho practically helped me a lot," he said, adding that the current 'Project Y' was born from his advice.
He went on to say the meaning of the film's title: "I think it tells the film's ending. The film's ending shows the two actors walking away from behind at the end. You hear only their voices. In the early part it shows many tight scenes and faces. Then it loosens up to give the audience the desire to think about what their choices are. That made it an open ending. I also had the ambition that audiences would complete their own 'Y.' Also, since 'Project Y' itself is my first commercial film challenge, it's a project for me personally. There were personal aspects, and 'Y' also meant a crossroads. There are various things," he added.
Meanwhile, 'Project Y' opens in theaters on the 21st.
[Photo] Plus M Entertainment
[OSEN]