'Hope' director Na Hong-jin mentioned the differences from his previous work 'The Wailing'.
On the afternoon of the 6th at Megabox COEX in Seoul, a press screening for the film 'Hope' was held. Director Na Hong-jin and lead actors Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon and others attended.
'Hope' (written and directed by Na Hong-jin, produced by Forged Films, co-produced by Plus M Entertainment·West World Co., distributed by Plus M Entertainment) begins with Beom-seok (Hwang Jung-min), the head of the Hopo Port branch office located in the demilitarized zone, hearing from local youths that a tiger has appeared, and as the whole village goes on alert, encountering an unbelievable reality.
Hwang Jung-min passionately plays Beom-seok, the arrogant but responsible head of the Hopo Port branch office; Zo In-sung portrays Seong-gi, a village youth who passes the time with hunting and fishing; and Jung Ho-yeon gives a strong performance as Seong-ae, the Hopo Port police officer who does her duty in any situation.
The sci-fi film 'Hope' is reported to have the largest production budget in Korean film history. Estimates say at least 70 billion won, and including late-stage marketing and promotion costs it could reach the 100 billion won range. With a star-studded cast including top stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon and Hollywood actors Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, it is generating great buzz.
It was an official selection in competition at the 79th Cannes Film Festival and is Na Hong-jin's new work released 10 years after 'The Wailing' (2016). It is the first Korean film to enter the Cannes competition since Park Chan-wook's 'Decision to Leave' four years ago, and after its world premiere in May this year it received praise from many foreign media outlets. According to the Korea Film Council (KOFIC) integrated ticketing system, 'Hope' has surpassed a real-time reservation rate of 45% despite being more than a week away from release, topping the chart overwhelmingly. It is already proving the public's anticipation for the film.
Although Hopo Port is the setting, on why the title was chosen as 'Hope' he said, "Actually I thought of the title 'Hope' first and created a fictional place name. I imagined a small Korean village and invented a place name with a similar-sounding meaning."
'Hope' features gun action from the beginning to the end of the film, and he said, "Compared with my previous work 'The Wailing', I thought this would be a film with a much lower level of violence. I wanted to try making it that much less violent," adding, "So knives and guns could be the crueler elements, but I thought they could be expressed effectively. So from the start we designed it to use firearms," explaining the distinction from 'The Wailing'.
Meanwhile, 'Hope' opens on the 15th.<
[Photo] Reporter Lee Dae-seon
[OSEN]