Director Ryu Seung-wan expressed his affection for "Humanite."
On the 20th, Director Ryu Seung-wan met reporters at a cafe in Anguk-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, and talked about the production and direction of the film "Humanite."
The film "Humanite" is set in Vladivostok, where secrets and truths are submerged in a cold sea of ice, and tells the story of people with different objectives clashing with each other, starring Zo In-sung, Park Jeongmin, Park Hae-jun, Shin Sae-kyeong and others. It opened on the 11th and surpassed 1 million admissions.
In particular, "Humanite" deals with the story of four people who gathered in Vladivostok to find clues about incidents occurring in the border area between North Korea and Russia, and the action and melodrama depicted in this story are being evaluated as further expanding Director Ryu Seung-wan's stage.
After finishing a stage greeting schedule during the Lunar New Year holiday and meeting reporters, Director Ryu Seung-wan did not lose his smile despite his busy schedule. He laughed, "The mood at the stage greetings was good, so I went around excitedly. Previously, at stage greetings, actors would go through the audience taking photos and it was awkward to be in front, but now that's harder," and added, "When I follow the actors to greet, some people who missed the actors grab my hand and say they enjoyed it, and of course when Zo In-sung passes by they let go of my hand, but I was still very grateful. You can feel the pure reactions of people who have seen the movie or attended stage greetings. We talk about those things on the bus with the actors."
Through "Humanite," Director Ryu Seung-wan worked with Zo In-sung for the third time following "Mogadishu" and "Smuggling." Releasing works in succession and now being film comrades, he laughed, "He seems to be much taller."
Director Ryu recalled, "When we first met, it was already difficult because he had lived as a star for a long time, but watching him I thought this person ages well. He seems to accumulate time with great dignity, and I felt he doesn't waste his energy on set. When you go on overseas shoots for months for 'Mogadishu' and 'Humanite,' there are moments when people get exhausted, but he doesn't show it. This time, since he took on 1 reel himself, I saw he had greater responsibility and was more embracing, and it felt like he lightened the burden beyond just the actor-director relationship."
Director Ryu, who said he also shares many concerns about Zo In-sung and Korean cinema, said, "These days we talk a lot about 'how do we cultivate younger colleagues?' How can the younger generation inherit our playground? Since last year we've been sponsoring film festivals again, and it's the same," adding, "After COVID-19 things have become so fragmented that at press conferences I ask how we can return theaters to audiences' playgrounds. To do that, we should do what we do well; let's start with ourselves. Now he's a really good friend."
In this work, action scenes led by Zo In-sung and Park Jeongmin, along with the love line "Geonseonhwa" between Park Jeongmin and Shin Sae-kyeong, are receiving a lot of love. Park Jeongmin, who had not previously filmed melodramas, appears particularly handsome, generating much buzz.
As evaluations calling Park Jeongmin a rediscovery through "Humanite" poured in, Director Ryu explained the reason he gave the melodramatic moment to Park Jeongmin instead of Zo In-sung: "Giving Zo In-sung a melodramatic arc felt too predictable. Coincidentally, while working with Zo In-sung over the past few years, our recent growths have been on the same trajectory, and seeing this actor develop increasingly solidly, I felt he has become an actor with the inner strength to perform subtraction in acting."
He continued, "The actors received the script and there wasn't much stimulation, and they recognized that they were not pillars holding up the whole thing but more like roots, and because I thought that, other actors may have stood out more. Park Jeongmin probably didn't expect that he would react so strongly to a melodramatic arc. I felt that way too."
There were also assessments that "Humanite" fully showcases Director Ryu Seung-wan's strengths. Director Ryu mentioned his concerns: "Not every film is easy every time. It's difficult, but I try to find different pleasures, and while the creators are important, how interesting audiences find it matters. 'Humanite' has no humor. The question was whether to maintain suspense and carry the play, or how to create the film's unique rhythm."
Director Ryu explained, "And since I also made a film called 'Berlin,' what could be done differently by the same person? Rather than showing more flashy technique, my big task was to be faithful to the essence, focus on the characters, build the line of emotion, and from after an hour push forward in a classic yet modern balance."
He added, "For this film I wanted to make a character-centered movie. I focused on relationships and thought that while cutting quickly to maintain tempo and continuity can be fun, continuously attaching and connecting relationships would build up and increase relational density."
However, given the genre's characteristic of having no humor and action appearing only after an hour, he continued to worry about how to keep audiences focused for two hours. Director Ryu said, "That's why casting was important. Making someone look at a character, how you capture the actors, what parts you show—that was important. Fun contains many elements: there is the joy we conventionally think of, but also pleasure from awe, from tension, and how to show the energy an actor holds is also very important."
As positive reviews continued for the nonstop action in "Humanite," Director Ryu said, "Action is hard to make. The physical amount you have to film is different from making a drama, and what's painful is it's dangerous. You worry someone might get hurt doing it. For me, action films are still the purest cinematic form."
Director Ryu said, "In the latter part of the film there is a 20-minute section without dialogue. It's made purely of sound and light, so what it decorates with is still fantasy. I can't seem to escape that charm. It's also an area that leaves curiosity. When someone does something new, I wonder why I didn't think of it, and there are things I loved but didn't immerse myself in, so a somewhat childlike feeling remains in that area."
It drew attention when he revealed that Park Jeongmin personally performed the early action sequences. Asked about the secret behind many actors such as Jung Haein and Zo In-sung delivering astonishing action performances when working with Director Ryu, he laughed, "It's relentless gaslighting. Telling them 'Only you can do this, you're the best.' They themselves accomplish it and are surprised."
Recalling the shoot, Director Ryu said, "Park Jeongmin is not the type to say 'I can't do it' often. But he told an assistant director who worked with him since 'The Guard' that he couldn't possibly do it. Then we made the monitor distance so he couldn't hear (laughs). Preparing isn't just waiting around before going to set. There's a test period, and actors who work with me come doing physical training close to athletics. It's not easy, so I think the actors are even more admirable. Zo In-sung also had knee cartilage surgery and did that action," expressing his gratitude.
He said that he sometimes demonstrates stunts himself on set. Director Ryu said, "Using the body is difficult. I'm not doing extremely dangerous things, but if I can do something like that, people think it's safe. I at least try it once," adding, "Especially when staff shoot long hours or difficult action scenes in the same space and lighting conditions, they get tired. Then a small event like the director theatrically collapsing can become a little event on set where people think the director is annoying but he actually fell himself."
He added, "Rather than saying I act, it's a psychological reassurance: our setting is stable and the safety devices are in place. If it's something the stunt or directing team should do, I do a simple version once to say let's smile and get through this tough set."
Asked whether the high expectations for Ryu Seung-wan are burdensome, Director Ryu replied, "Isn't that better than low expectations?" He confided, "What got me this far wasn't talent so much as continuous critical eyes, healthy criticism. I can now distinguish between blame and criticism to some extent. That helped me a lot. No world champion becomes a champion without taking a hit. You must train your resilience as much as punch training. If I have high expectations placed on me, I think I should be truly grateful."
He said he worries about giving a similar directorial image in repetitive action films. Director Ryu said, "That's a big task for me now. I've lived a life making films and made more than a dozen films. I haven't made something based on an original work until now, so repetitions are unavoidable and I try to be cautious. But there are moments when there's no choice but to use this method."
Director Ryu said, "Im Kwon-taek once used the expression 'there's no choice,' but if you can't become lower then how will you do things differently? Whether to expand or express in other ways—if you do in 'Humanite' what was done in 'The Duet' like grabbing the head, how can you express it differently?" He added, "More simply, don't be showy. Rather than pretending to be young or on the cutting edge of fashion, if I want to delve more into people or the world, I need to reduce superficial skimming. That's my direction: not too complicated, and if complex, not too one-dimensional."
Asked whether he insisted on an original screenplay on purpose, Director Ryu laughed, "What I want to do is already being done by someone. So someone else does it. I'm not insisting on only original screenplays. Whatever I want to do someone else does. Each time that happens I say 'there are discerning eyes' and let it be."
Asked whether his instinctive sense of editing that drives the film without boredom is a natural-born talent, he shook his head, "How nice it would be if it were innate." He said, "When I write scripts, make storyboards, edit, and record, I'm constantly worried and busy. I think the moment of scene transition is cinematic, and I wonder how to transition so audiences, especially in the short-form era, can engage in a tense push-and-pull for two hours."
Director Ryu said, "I'm not sure either, but looking back at my method it seems to only torment me. Still, when I look now there are unsatisfactory parts. I constantly question and distrust myself. There's no answer other than that."
Director Ryu said he seeks advice from those around him, adding, "Doing it alone is too hard. Then I could fall into judgment errors, so I keep bothering the people around me. Some crew members have children about my kids' age. I ask these friends and keep bothering people I work with."
As his affection for the film grows, his goal to meet audiences well also grows. Especially for recently released films, early audience reviews can determine box office success. Asked whether that provokes stubbornness, Director Ryu laughed, "I stopped having that kind of stubbornness a long time ago. I'm not at an age to be stubborn."
Director Ryu said, "I felt good doing stage greetings. The theater was bustling after a long time, there were many people in the lobby, and it had been a while since families came. You can't stop the tide of the times. You can't simply blame success or failure on that, and theaters are similar to public baths."
He said, "Now everyone showers at home, so they ask, 'Why go to a public bath?' But people who drank banana milk at the bath remember that. Then you need something better. A jjimjilbang might be good, or something other than a hot stone egg. Movies are like that too. The flow of the times is inevitable, and I'm grateful people show interest in any form. After all, it's talking about films."
Meanwhile, the film 'Humanite' opened on the 11th.
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