Actor Zo In-sung is drawing audiences into the film Hope with an appeal that few find divisive. While opinions about the film itself may vary, there seems to be no dissent regarding Zo In-sung's passionate performance.
Zo In-sung plays Go Seong-gi, a young hunter from Hopohang, in the film Hope, which was released on the 15th of last month (director/screenwriter: Na Hong-jin; production: Forged Films; co-producers: Plus M Entertainment, Westworld Co., Ltd.; distributor: Plus M Entertainment).
Hope tells the story of Beom-seok, the branch office chief at Hopohang (played by Hwang Jung-min), who, after hearing from local youths that a tiger has appeared, confronts an unbelievable reality as the whole village goes on alert. Go Seong-gi, played by Zo In-sung, is a local young man in Hopohang who does any work that makes money and ventures into the forest to find the unidentified entity that has descended on the village.
In the film, Go Seong-gi has the unbridled charm of a loose racehorse and matches the film's runaway momentum like a runaway locomotive. Even when facing an unknown creature that displays overwhelming power in the forest, he meets it head-on without flinching. Even when faced with the prospect of being slaughtered by the alien, he does not flee; instead he shouts, "I'll show you what happens if I mess with humans," and runs forward with an unbreakable will.
Zo In-sung described Go Seong-gi as "a character whose will to survive is evident in his desperate struggles." Watching Go Seong-gi confront an alien that does not budge no matter what attacks are unleashed, audiences, beyond the unreality, at some point become captivated by his strong determination and start cheering him on.
This aspect of Zo In-sung's appeal was also mentioned by webtoon author Kang Full, who worked with him on the Disney+ series Moving. Kang Full, at a Hope special GV held on the 24th of last month, said, "As a fellow creator, the truth is Zo In-sung just doesn't die. In the film Smuggling, Kwon Sang was stabbed so much he should have died. But when it's all over, he's alive." He added, "The same happened to me. After Moving I disappeared for 15 years and eventually came back alive. There's no big reason; I guess people just can't give up on Zo In-sung. There's a charm of 'you can't kill this guy.' I'm not joking—when we work, sometimes that happens. A character becomes too valuable to kill, or this person's accumulated character makes you reluctant to kill him," sharing his thoughts as a creator.
Kang Full's remarks resonated with many viewers who watched Hope. In Hope, Zo In-sung never displays his good looks. With a scruffy beard and a grimy face that seems like it would reek of sweat, he rolls on the dirt floor again and again. Even so, many viewers who left the theater confess to a Zo In-sung obsession. Despite being hurled by the extrahuman force Maveiyo and thrown about, Go Seong-gi rises again, prompting the question, "Is he really human?" Yet at the same time, his tenacious, superhero-like persistence eventually makes viewers want to applaud. That, too, is indisputably the power of the actor Zo In-sung.
With Zo In-sung's passionate performance, Hope increasingly draws viewers in and has sparked a multiple-viewing phenomenon among many fans. According to the integrated box office computer network, as of midnight on the 2nd, Hope surpassed 4 million cumulative admissions and is enjoying box office success.
Meanwhile, Zo In-sung celebrated overlapping fortunes as another of his lead films, the Netflix movie Possible Love (directed by Lee Chang-dong), was also mentioned as a strong candidate to be South Korea's submission for the international feature film category at the Academy Awards. According to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), six films were submitted to this contest: Colony (directed by Yeon Sang-ho), Salmokji: Whispering Water (directed by Lee Sang-min), Possible Love (directed by Lee Chang-dong), Hope (directed by Na Hong-jin), Project Y (directed by Lee Hwan), and Mr. Kim Goes to the Cinema (directed by Kim Dong-ho). But within the industry, considering artistic quality, overseas competitiveness and the director's international standing, the field has effectively narrowed to Hope and Possible Love as the likely Korean submissions.
Earlier, Zo In-sung's Hope was invited to compete in the main competition at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, and Possible Love was officially invited to the Special Presentations section of the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, drawing global fan interest. Amid this, the unprecedented situation of two films starring Zo In-sung competing for a ticket to the Oscars has further proven his stature as an actor.
[Photo] Plus M Entertainment
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