[Joo Seong-cheol's Locker] When Trees Comfort Trees, the Cello of 'The Moment the Bell Rings' and 'Can't Help It'

Trees comfort trees. The documentary 〈The Moment the Bell Rings〉 tells the story of the millennium forest of Mount Gariwang in Jeongseon, Gangwon-do, which was destroyed to host the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. In it, Italian cellist Mario Brunello held a solo concert for the trees sacrificed for the Olympics. The issues surrounding the 2018 Olympics continue into the 2026 Olympics. Recently, in the Cortina region of the Italian Dolomites, a representative resort city in the Southern Alps known for the Ampezzo Valley, countless trees have been cut down in preparation for the 2026 Cortina-Milan Winter Olympics. The Italian government submitted an application to the IOC stating, "We will hold a sustainable Olympics that simultaneously addresses social and environmental issues," but that promise was not kept. Many of the hardwood trees destroyed to create new ski resorts were over 200 years old. Many trees were also cut down outside the planned construction sites. Mario Brunello sat in front of the fallen trees of the ski resort and played the cello to comfort those sacrificed trees.

Mario Brunello was the first Italian to win the 8th Tchaikovsky Competition in 1986, and in 2017, he participated in the Tongyeong International Music Festival honoring composer Yun Isang, delivering a wonderful performance. In 2023, he also visited Korea with the Italian Baroque ensemble 'Accademia della Nunziata' to perform a concert reviving the original sound of Bach with ancient instruments from the Baroque era. He is known for performing in nature, such as the Dolomites, which he often describes as the most beautiful place in the world, or the Sahara Desert, believing that playing in nature allows one to hear the true sound of the instrument. He is also famous for using a Maggini cello made in the 1600s, and when asked if playing the cello in rough environments like mountains or deserts damages the nearly 500-year-old instrument, he replied, "Since it is originally made of wood, I actually enjoy returning to nature. It produces a better sound." Thus, all musical instruments originally came from nature.

At the moment when trees are sacrificed by excavators, and the melody of the cello comforts them, it can also be seen in Park Chan-wook's film 〈Can't Help It〉 released this year. The scenes of deforestation in both 〈The Moment the Bell Rings〉 and 〈Can't Help It〉 are remarkably similar. Just as trees are cut down for the Olympics, in 〈Can't Help It〉, the 'necks' of workers are also cut off. The trees become the paper of father Mansoo (Lee Byung-hun) and the cello of daughter Liwon (Choi Soo-yeol). At that moment, 'Le Badinage' by Mareng Maré, which means a joke or light banter, resonates through the performance of French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, comforting the fallen trees. At the same time, Mansoo, who has become a being that is now buried under factory machine noise and is a hindrance to AI work, is also comforted. Interestingly, Mario Brunello and Jean-Guihen Queyras shared the stage at the 73rd Gran Gala Festival last year. Did the two cellists know that their performances would resonate in Korean theaters with a similar sentiment almost simultaneously? One might say that at the moment the bell rings to announce the opening of the Olympic stadium, it can't be helped, but when a cello made of wood comforts trees, it is also inevitable that a warning bell rings deep within our hearts.

***** Starting with 'Joo Seong-cheol's Locker', which excessively attributes meaning to objects in movies, the actor's user manual 'Kim Ji-yeon's Jewelry Box', the movie music appreciation room 'Choo Ah-young's Music Box' that moved my heart, and the subculture merchant's purchase diary 'Sung Chan-eol's Comic Book' will be serialized biweekly by Cineplay reporters, each with their own tastes and perspectives. *****