Lee Chang-dong: “Na Hong-jin’s ‘Hope’ is a crazy movie”…The high point of entertainment cinema

A titan of the Korean film industry, ‘Lee Chang-dong’, offered praise for ‘Na Hong-jin’’s new work ‘Hope’ that felt less like a compliment and more like awe. “The absolute peak that an entertainment film can reach—that’s a crazy movie, plain and simple.” The audacious line spoken by the dean of Korean realism cinema quickly snatched the attention of both critics and the public.

Where a master’s gaze landed: genre thrill that broke through limits

On the 14th, Lotte Cinema World Tower was packed with crowds eager to witness the meeting of the two masters. The ‘Hope’ audience Q&A (GV) event pulled off a rare feat: sold-out seats for the entire theater as soon as reservations opened. At this event, ‘Lee Chang-dong’ heaped praise on ‘Hope’’s overwhelming energy. He said, “A work that expands every cinematic element we can experience on the screen—suspense and impact, as well as that sense of speed—beyond the threshold point,” and he could not hide his astonishment.

A Korean dystopia amid an encounter with an unknown alien life form

‘Hope’ is an SF action thriller set in the decaying port city of Hope Port, near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), depicting a bloody chaos that erupts when an unknown alien life form appears. Top-tier domestic actors including ‘Hwang Jung-min’, ‘Jo In-sung’, and ‘Jung Hoyeon’, as well as Hollywood stars such as ‘Michael Fassbender’ and ‘Alicia Vikander’, made their way into the project as aliens through motion capture and facial capture technologies, drawing global attention from the production stage.

‘Lee Chang-dong’ director praised ‘Na Hong-jin’’s distinctive aesthetic. “While borrowing genre grammar that’s usually seen as Hollywood’s domain, it tightly weaves in the texture of Korean spaces and the tableau of human beings,” he said, adding, “Now the genre itself is ‘Na Hong-jin’.” He then expressed his deep respect for the directing power that went beyond technical limitations, saying, “I want to convey a heavy thank-you as a fellow filmmaker for paving a barren path that no one else dared to walk.”

The making of a “crazy scene,” and Jo In-sung reemerging as the masters’ persona

It wasn’t only the director who sensed the arrival of a masterpiece. ‘Lee Chang-dong’ shared the contents of a phone call he had with cinematography director ‘Hong Kyung-pyo’ right after filming, recalling that he was told, “He said he just shot a real crazy movie,” and he looked back on the unusual heat that was sensed even before release.

In particular, ‘Jo In-sung’’s action sequences that dominate the latter half of the film are widely considered the standout. Playing the role of Seong-gi, a village youth, ‘Jo In-sung’ flawlessly carried out a difficult action set piece in which he launches an intense firefight while running alongside a speeding car. In response, ‘Lee Chang-dong’ director praised without holding back, saying, “A mad masterpiece scene that leaps far beyond mere entertainment thrills.” He added, “Without the actor ‘Jo In-sung’, it would have been hard to support the weight of this massive narrative around its center.”

What’s especially interesting is that ‘Jo In-sung’ also took on the title role in ‘Lee Chang-dong’’s Netflix new release ‘Possible Love’, slated for release this year. With the two masters who lead the Korean film industry teaming up back-to-back and ‘Jo In-sung’ carving out his distinct persona, expectations from both critics and the public are rising significantly.