[Movie 2008] The Good, The Bad, The Weird 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈

[rubie]

August 14, 2015

Sensitive era scares off audiences and filmmakers

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

A peculiar curse exists in Korea’s movie industry: Films set in the Japanese colonial era (1910-45) never make it.

Notably, there was Kang Je-kyu’s ambitious Korean-Chinese war drama “My Way” (2011), set in 1938, starring Jang Dong-gun, Joe Odagiri and Fan Bing Bing, which attracted a disappointing 2.1 million moviegoers.

Considering its international stellar cast and jaw-dropping 2.8 billion won ($2.4 million) production cost, the outcome was far below expectations. 

Comedy flick “Radio Days” (2008) and romance film “Modern Boy” (2008), both of which were set in the 1930s, also took in a dreadful 214,946 and 758,473 admissions, respectively.

Critics say the depressing mood and sense of defeat pervasive in the era scare away cinemagoers, who are looking for entertainment at the theaters. 

Of course, there are always exceptions.

In theaters now is Choi Dong-hoon’s latest historical action flick, “Assassination,” set in 1933, which has been seen by more than nine million moviegoers as of Wednesday. 

Generating buzz for its nice portrayal of major historical facts and Choi’s signature fast-paced editing, the highly entertaining “Assassination” is on the verge of hitting the monumental 10 million mark, easily surpassing its break-even point of seven million admissions.

By depicting a stumbling yet glorious assassination scheme carried out by Korean independence fighters, the film is also said to be resonating in the current atmosphere in Korea where a sour sentiment toward its neighbor to the east still remains. 

But in most other past cases, the jinx holds true. 

“People don’t want to remember the era where Korea was under Japanese control,” explains culture critic Ha Jae-keun. “Those who go to theaters to find something entertaining aren’t interested in films set in this gloomy era.”

This also explains why films set in the final years of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) have also failed to win the hearts of the public. 

Representatively, “Gabi” (2012) and “The Sword With No Name” (2009) flopped, despite depicting the dynamic lives of well-known historical figures King Gojong (1852-1919) and his first wife, Empress Myeongseong (1851-1895), who was put to death by the Japanese. 

Meanwhile, Kim Jee-woon’s “The Good, The Bad, The Weird” achieved an unusual level success. This is likely because the film was made in an entertaining way, and there was no mention of Japanese colonization . 

“Events happening in that film could be cut out and placed into any time of the history and it would still work,” said film critic Hwang Young-mee.

Sometimes, the sullen sentiment towards the Japanese government surfaces in the public’s reaction to films set in the era. In “Blue Shallow” (2005), the late actress Jang Jin-young played Park Kyung-won, the first Korean female pilot, who had attended a Japanese flying school.

However, once the film began to be perceived as pro-Japanese, it led to the launch of an online petition against seeing movie. The film’s box office sales topped out at 543,597 admissions.

“The film itself was pretty well-made, but the social sentiment didn’t support it,” said Hwang.

However, Hwang believes the era should continue to be “excavated.”

“The Japanese colonial era contains an indefinite source of stories, because Korea was going through uneven development, having both sophisticated culture brought in by intellectuals who studied abroad while also having an underdeveloped side with many people still suffering from exploitation,” she said.

“Just as the Chinese keep making films about the frustration and sense of loss they felt when they lost the Second Sino-Japanese War, we should think about how to revive past events to find valuable meaning and relevance to present-day audiences.” 

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]

[rubie]

^ there's a glimpse of GBW's The Bad at 0:28 time mark

The London Korean Film Festival (LKFF), which runs from 2-14 November and this year celebrates its 10th Anniversary, is delighted to reveal details of their 2015 programme. Boasting 52 films across features and shorts, a host of UK Premieres, retrospectives and newly introduced Emerging Directors and Documentary strands, the 2015 Festival offers UK audiences a fantastic opportunity to discover the very best in Korean cinema. With works from established filmmakers including Bong Joon Ho, to up-and-coming directors and renowned Korean actors, this Festival guarantees to offer something for everyone.

The 10th London Korean Film Festival Announces 2015 Programme (related excerpt only)

As part of this year’s 10th Anniversary, the 2015 Programme sees the introduction of an Audience’s Choice strand, where the public were asked to vote for their favourite Opening/Closing films of the LKFF over the last 9 years. The top three films will be screened at this year’s festival and includes the 2009 UK theatrically released ‘THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD’ from Kim Jee-woon, his take on a Western with the backdrop of 1930s Manchuria.

The Results of Audience Survey

30 September 2015

We are pleased to announce the results of our latest audience survey regarding the 10th London Korean Film Festival through the Facebook! From your vote, we have a special programme entitled ‘Audience’s Choice’ that shows your favourite 3 films from the Opening and Closing Gala of the last 9 years of the festival. You can see the results below: and discover if you have been selected as a lucky winner!

We asked, ‘Which Korean directors would you most like to see at the 10th London Korean Film Festival?’

You answered,

Park Chan-wook
Bong Jooh Ho
Kim Ki-duk

We asked, ‘Which actors or actresses in particular would you most like to see on screen at the 10th London Korean Film Festival?’

You answered,

Song Kang-ho
Choi Min-sik
Gianna Jun

We asked, ‘From our Opening and Closing films of the 9 years (2006-2014) could you pick 3 favourites?’

You answered,

The Good the Bad the Weird (Kim Jee-woon) - 2008 Opening
The Man from Nowhere (Lee Jeong-beom) - 2010 Opening
The Thieves (Choi Dong-hoon) - 2012 Opening

* These 3 films will be shown at the 10th London Korean Film Festival.

[rubie]

January 8, 2016

The director of A Tale Of Two Sisters serves spaghetti, Manchurian style

By Katie Rife@futureschlock A.V.Club

Every day, Watch This offers staff recommendations inspired by a new movie coming out that week. This week: The Hateful Eight and The Revenant have us thinking about modern Westerns.

Like his countryman Bong Joon-ho, South Korean director Kim Jee-woon is known as a multi-talented genre stylist. For example: Before The Good The Bad, The Weird, Kim directed a grim, violent gangster movie, A Bittersweet Life, and a creepy, atmospheric ghost story, A Tale Of Two Sisters. None of those adjectives apply to Kim’s take on the spaghetti Western, referred to alternately as an “Oriental Western” (in the credits) and a “kimchee Western” (by Kim himself). Instead, it’s a kinetic, occasionally goofy action movie, bookended by a train robbery and a shootout with an extended chase sequence in between.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird plays tribute to the all-time Western classic The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly in more than just its title, quickly setting up three protagonists whose personalities, wardrobes, and interpersonal dynamics all resemble those between Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in Leone’s film. There’s Park Do-won (Jung Woo-sung), the “Good” bounty hunter in the long brown duster; Park Chang-yi (Lee Byung-hun), the “Bad” killer for hire in the sharp black suit; and Yoon Tae-goo (Song Kang-ho), the “Weird” bandit in goggles and leather vest. Befitting his character’s nickname, Song delivers the most outwardly hammy performance (an inept gang of Manchurian bandits pursuing the trio comes close), although Jung and Lee both seem to be having fun twirling shotguns on horseback and delivering deadpan tough-guy dialogue.

The plot of the movie, like that of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, also involves a search for treasure. Here, though, it’s a literal treasure map and not a dying confession that drives the action as the characters chase the map and each other through bustling taverns, exotic marketplaces, and the windswept Manchurian plains. (Using occupied Manchuria in the ’30s as a substitute for the Old West was a clever move; the period fashions and technologies resemble those of late 19th-century America, not to mention the similarly barren geography.)

The double-crosses and secret identities can get complicated, but this isn’t really a “plot” movie, anyway. It’s a movie made for having fun and geeking out, full of winking references to other films, both Westerns and non-Westerns—keep your eyes peeled for the Japanese army official in the black overcoat straight out of an Indiana Jones movie—and many exhilarating, excellently staged action scenes. Kim even manages to keep the nuances of who’s shooting at who and where clear despite extensive use of shaky cam (did we mention this movie was shot in 2008?), which is remarkable in and of itself.

Availability: The Good, The Bad, The Weird is DVD from Amazon, Netflix, or possibly your local video store/library. It’s also currently streaming on Netflix, and can be rented or purchased from the major digital services.

[rubie]

Art by doowop79 #ParkChangYi #GBW #NomNomNom

 

[rubie]

Mischief-makers: Instead of using his character-name Jeong Chae San, Lee Byung Hun introduced himself as Park Chang Yi (The Bad) to Song Kang Ho (The Weird) in the 2016 hit movie 'The Age of Shadows'. They were co-stars in 2008's Kimchi western 'The Good, The Bad, The Weird,' talk about way to purposely create an NG. 

Published on September 19, 2016 by 김종철의 익스트림무비

Source: TV Report

[rubie]

The NG clip with English subs  

September 27, 2016

Song Kang-ho and Lee Byung-hun reunite in 'Age of Shadows'

SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- Song Kang-ho and Lee Byung-hun have reunited after their 2008 film "The Good, The Bad, The Weird."

Song and Lee meet again in one of the most memorable scenes in "The Age of Shadows" as the Korean-born Japanese policeman Lee Jeong-chul and leader Jeong Chae-san of "Uiyeoldan," the notorious Korean anti-Japanese resistance group.

Actor Lee playfully ad-libs his lines introducing himself as "Park Chan," the name of his previous role in the 2008 movie. He also jokes around telling his henchman to bring some mojitos, re-enacting his famous line in the film "Inside Men."

Set in 1920s' Shanghai and Seoul, the film tells the story of the Korean-born Japanese police officer who makes friends with a key leader of Uiyeoldan, with the purpose of gathering crucial information on the group.

Korea was a colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945.

The two actors first met in the film "Joint Security Area" (2000) and showed off their teamwork in "The Good, The Bad, The Weird."

   

yujeoungkr@yna.co.kr

[rubie]

 OFFICIAL WEBSITE

September 27, 2016

Sitges Invites 14 Films for 49th Edition
Five Features Selected for Official Fantastic Competition

by Pierce Conran / KoBiz

The Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is leaning particularly heavily on Korean films this year, with 14 titles peppered throughout its 2016 program, including 13 features and one short. Five Korean films will compete in the festival’s signature Official Fantastic Competition.

Big names will be featured in the competition lineup, including NA Hong-jin, with THE WAILING, PARK Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden and both YEON Sang-ho’s animation Seoul Station and live action smash TRAIN TO BUSAN. A new name at the festival also competing will be KIM Sang-chan with Karaoke Crazies.

KIM Jee-woon will feature in the Orbita section with his new Colonial Era smash The Age of Shadows along with IM Sang-soo’s Intimate Enemies, PARK Hoon-jung’s The Tiger and KIM Seong-hun’s Tunnel.

Also playing in the coastal town will be LEE Hae-young’s The Silenced in Seven Chances, the horror omnibus Horror Stories III in Panorama Fantastic and KIM Ji-hyeon’s Throttled in Anima’t Shorts. Finally, the open air Brigadoon section will also feature NA Hong-jin’s The Chaser and KIM Jee-woon’s The Good, The Bad, And The Weird, both from 2008.

Among the Korean guests at Sitges this year will be Tunnel actress BAE Doo-na, along with director KIM Seong-hun and Karaoke Crazies director KIM Sang-chan.

The 49th edition of the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival will unspool from October 7th to 16th.

[rubie]

November 30, 2016

THE AGE OF SHADOWS to Open Marrakech Film Festival
KIM Jee-woon’s THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD also on Deck in Morocco

by Pierce Conran / KoBiz

KIM Jee-woon’s hit Colonial Era action-thriller The Age of Shadows will serve as the opening film of the 16th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival, which kicks off on December 2nd. The film, which debuted at the Venice International Film Festival in August, drew 7.5 million viewers (USD 52.38 million) to theaters during the Chuseok holiday in Korea this year, becoming the acclaimed genre maestro’s most successful film to date.

SONG Kang-ho leads the cast as a Korean man working as an officer for the Japanese police during the occupation period in the early 20th century, whose allegiances are put to the test when he is tasked with taking down a group of resistance fighters and enters into a tense game of cat and mouse with one of their charismatic members, played by GONG Yoo.

The Age of Shadows has been very visible on the fall festival circuit this year, playing in Toronto, Busan, Mar del Plata, Sitges and Hawaii, as well as serving as the opening film of the London East Asian Film Festival. In addition, the film picked up the Best Action Film prize from Fantastic Fest in Austin and was awarded the Best Film accolade from the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards.

KIM’s 2008 Manchuria-set action film The Good, The Bad, And The Weird, once again featuring SONG, is also playing in Marrakech. Recent Korean films that have featured prominently at the festival include 2013’s HAN Gong-ju, which picked up the Golden Star which is Grand Prize, and last year’s Steel Flower, which came away with a Special Jury Prize.

[rubie]

February 7, 2017

The 50 Best Action Movies of the 21st Century Thus Far

Written by The Film Stage

Since the dawn of the 21st century, action cinema has undergone a bigger change than perhaps any other genre. As the tools with which filmmakers craft their works have continually advanced, a sort of renaissance has begun wherein action films stepped firmly into their own. Often put in the same category as horror — not taken seriously as a form of artistic expression outside of its core fanbase — action has had to boldly announce itself as a viable medium through which big set pieces, but also big ideas, can be presented and explored.

With the highly anticipated John Wick: Chapter 2 arriving in theaters this Friday, we’ve set out to reflect on the millennium’s action films that have most excelled. To pick our top 50, we’ve reached out to all corners of the globe, choosing an array of films ranging from grand to gritty, brutal to beautiful. The result is a showcase of what action cinema can do at its peak presentation: knock you flat on your back while igniting ideas and emotions with explosive, lasting impact.

Check out our top 50 below and let us know your favorites in the comments. One can also see the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Miami Vice
2. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
3. Kill Bill: Vol. 2
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
7. The Bourne Ultimatum
8. Haywire
9. John Wick
10. The Grandmaster
11. Collateral
12. The Raid
13. Minority Report
14. Apocalypto
15. The Dark Knight
16. Hot Fuzz
17. Spider-Man 2
18. Crank
19. Crank: High Voltage
20. Blackhat
21. Why Don't You Play in Hell?
22. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
23. Inception
24. Time and Tide
25. Non-Stop
26. Sleepless Night
27. Man on Fire
28. A Bittersweet Life
29. Jack Reacher
30. Exiled
31. Casino Royale
32. SPL: Kill Zone
33. SPL 2: A Time for Consequences
34. The Guest
35. Ip Man
36. 300
37. Hero
38. Drug War
39. The Bourne Identity
40. Unleashed
41. District B13
42. Skyfall
43. 13 Assassins
44. District 9
45. Elite Squad
46. Edge of Tomorrow
47. Dredd
48. The Good, The Bad, The Weird
49. Fast Five
50. Three

[rubie]

February 15, 2017

Korean films influenced US monster movie 

US director unveils fantasy King Kong film

By Kim Jae-heun The Korea Times

American director Jordan Vogt-Roberts talks during the press conference for his new film "Kong: Skull Island" at Lotte World Mall in Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap

Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts said two Korean films ― Bong Joon-ho's "The Host" (2006) and Kim Jee-woon's "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" (2008) _ inspired him to work on the upcoming monster film "Kong: Skull Island."

"The amazing thing about Warner Brothers and Legendary was I pitched them a very crazy idea about setting the movie in the ‘70s and making a sort of Vietnam War film with monsters," Vogt-Roberts said during a press conference at Lotte World Mall in southern Seoul, Wednesday. "And for me it was inspired more by things like Bong Joon-ho's The Host or Kim Jee-woon's The Good, the Bad, the Weird, which sort of take traditional ideas and Western ideas and twist them and make them new.

"So looking at movies like The Host and The Good, the Bad, The Weird, that was a jumping-off point for me of how to potentially make a new King Kong movie feel fresh."

The American director said the 30-meter-tall King Kong that appears very early in the film is an example of the Korean movies' influence on his film. He said he took the idea from "The Host" as Bong shows his monster at the beginning of the film, and that he hates monsters appearing at the end of the movie.

The influence of Kim's film on the King Kong movie is also found in the movie. He said the tone and genre of the film switches from one to another frequently to express serious and violent scenes while inserting comic relief in between.

"The first clip on the beach, one thing for me that was very inspired by Korean cinema is the way that you guys are able to take tone and different genres to jump between them very quickly. American filmmakers and a lot of Americans audiences are uncomfortable with big shifts in tone and big shifts in genre," the director said.

"I am so in love with what Korean directors are able to do by jumping between two different genres and jumping between different tones very seamlessly, and together making something that becomes sort of poignant because of that.

"That was a bit of a jumping-off point for me in how to approach a scene like that: you can have these funny goofy moments that are absurd and have these moments that are very serious, very dark and very violent."

Vogt-Roberts also referred to the monstrous creature in "The Host" as an inspiration behind his Skull Crawler. He explained that his monster and that of Bong's walk in a similar manner in that they both walk very uncomfortably as if they have evolved wrong and keep stumbling. 

The director hinted that King Kong will not go to New York City and he will not end the film with another "Beauty and the Beast" moment, because there are already enough of those.

Instead, he said he wants to emphasize that people have become arrogant that they can control the world, but there is always a more powerful force than humanity. In that sense, King Kong is somewhere between a man and a god, and Vogt-Roberts wants to show how small humans can look in front of the monstrous creatures of the isolated island.

"Kong: Skull Island" hits theaters March 9. 

jhkim@ktimes.com 

[rubie]

Source: Rhythm @thisgenius

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

[rubie]

July 1, 2017

The Good, The Bad, The Weird: The Western Homage You Shouldn't Miss on Netflix

BY JOSHUA RIVERA GQ

IFC FILMS

It's Korean cinema's Shaun of the Dead for Westerns—and a tremendously fun hidden gem.

With the very excellent Baby Driver now in theaters, we've been thinking about (and talking to) Edgar Wright a lot. Wright's a filmmaker of tremendous style and substance, a writer-director who makes films in conversation with beloved genre conventions and things to say beyond them. Thing is, he's only got a handful of films, and odds are you've seen them already—but if you dig his metatextual, genre-bending, unpredictable and heartfelt style, man does Netflix have a Korean Western for you.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird is a 2008 film from Korean genre chameleon Kim Jee-woon. It's the director's tribute to all things Western—think of it as a Korean Shaun of the Dead, only with spaghetti Westerns instead of zombie movies—that pivots from action to slapstick comedy and crazy suspense so effortlessly its two-hour-and-twenty-minute runtime just breezes by.
One of the many jokes in The Good, The Bad, The Weird is that those descriptors don't just apply to its three main characters—it's what their characters are actually credited as, even though they also have given names. The Good is Park Do-Won, a bounty hunter out to collect a bounty on The Bad, hitman Park Chang-yi—who himself is on the hunt for a treasure map possessed by a Japanese army officer who'll be taking a train through the Manchurian desert. However, Chang-yi's plans to get the treasure map—and Do-Won's hopes of capturing him—are upset by the interference of The Weird, Yoon Tae-goo, a thief who steals the map before Chang-yi can get ahold of it. And so the game is afoot: Bad chases Weird, Good chases Bad, and the entire Japanese Imperial Army—along with some Manchurian bandits who also want the map—chase Good, Bad, and Weird alike. It's an incredible, madcap ride. Just look at it:

Like the trailer suggests, this is not a movie that skimps on just about anything. The setpieces are big, the action is insane, and the gags really go for it. Sung Kang-ho as The Weird, in particular, delivers a tremendous performance, equal parts clown, trickster, and something more, sliding between oaf and mystery man with unsettling ease. And Lee Byung-hun (The Bad, and an actor whose crossed over to several American action movies in roles like Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe and the T-1000 in Terminator: Genisys.) is simply the coolest man alive, with an unforgettable style and swagger that makes you want to see him in everything.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird is the sort of movie you have to see to believe, and one you'll enjoy every second of watching, whether or not you're a fan of Westerns. Who knows, maybe after watching this, you'll become one.

[rubie]

Clip: Korean Film Festival Australia @koffiafilmfest

#KimJeeWoon #ISawTheDevil #TheFoulKing #TheGoodTheBadTheWeird #TheQuietFamily #ABittersweetLife

[rubie]

#Throwback #GBW #NomNomNom

 

The Good The Bad The Weird Poster Making

 

 

[rubie]

Source: bluray_collector

[rubie]

Source: Taylor Ahlgreen

 

[rubie]

March 27, 2018

 

Brussels Fantastic Film Festival to Screen 11 Works from Korea

ALONG WITH THE GODS and HOUSE OF THE DISAPPEARED to Compete in 36th BIFFF

 

by Pierce Conran / KoBiz

 

This year’s 36th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival will screen 11 Korean films when it kicks off on April 3 for its 13-day run. 

 

KIM Yong-hwa’s fantasy epic Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017), which became the second most successful Korean movie of all time following its release last December, has been invited to the festival’s ‘International Competition’ section. LIM Dae-woong’s mystery-thriller House of the Disappeared (2017), with KIM Yun-jin, is also in the competition lineup.

 

Meanwhile, Jay SONG’s The Nightmare (2017) will have its world premiere in Belgium in BIFFF’s 7th Orbit Competition section. The film features OH Ji-ho as a director who writes a screenplay to deal with the death of his daughter.

 

BIFFF’s ‘Thriller Competition’ will feature LEE An-gyu’s gangster action-drama A Special Lady (2017) with KIM Hye-soo, which debuted at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival last year, where it picked up the Focus Asia Award for Best Asian Film, KIM Tae-yun’s judicial drama New Trial (2017) with KANG Ha-neul and JUNG Woo and WON Shin-yun’s serial killer thriller MEMOIR OF A MURDERER (2017) with SUL Kyung-gu.

 

Brussels is also screening three works by acclaimed genre cineaste KIM Jee-woon, including his revenge drama I Saw the Devil (2010), his period action-thriller The Good, The Bad, And The Weird (2008) and his mystery-horror A Tale of Two Sisters (2003).

 

BIFFF will also screen KWAK Kyung-taek’s supernatural thriller RV: Resurrected Victims (2017) led by KIM Rae-won.

[rubie]

Photos: Frank Schüller @akirakitamura82

 

[rubie]

Photo: tempera_on_wood

[rubie]

July 25, 2018

 

(Yonhap Interview)

Director Kim Jee-woon: Che Guevara inspires me to constantly challenge myself

By Shim Sun-ah

 

SEOUL, July 25 (Yonhap) -- Kim Jee-woon, one of the three most prominent Korean directors, along with Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho, has many films of all different genres under his belt.

 

His filmography includes comedy-thriller "The Quiet Family" (1998), comedy-drama "The Foul King" (2000), horror-thriller "A Tale Of Two Sisters" (2003), action-noir "A Bittersweet Life" (2005), postmodern spaghetti western "The Good, The Bad, The Weird" (2008) and period action flick "The Age of Shadows" (2016).

 

Kim has returned with the Korean-style sci-fi action movie "Illang: The Wolf Brigade." The film, which just opened, is a live-action adaptation of the popular 1999 Japanese animation "Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade" and cost well over 20 billion won (US$17 million) to produce.

 

This photo provided by Warner Bros. Korea shows Kim Jee-woon, director of "Illang: The Wolf Brigade." (Yonhap)

 

The Korean film changes the setting from '60s post-World War II Japan to South Korea in 2029 after the country agreed to launch a unified government with North Korea to survive the chaotic Northeast Asian regional political situation. The story revolves around the actions of a special police unit organized to stop an anti-reunification terrorist group. It has a star cast that includes Gang Dong-won, Jung Woo-sung and Han Hyo-joo.

 

"Who I admire the most is Che Guevara," Kim said when questioned what pushed him to constantly challenge himself during an interview with Yonhap News Agency at a Seoul cafe on Wednesday. "I was deeply impressed by his life path, how he returned to the jungle, refusing to stay in a comfortable life after the success in the Cuban Revolution."

   

The filmmaker said he has constantly given himself new missions and challenged himself because he didn't want to stay in the present, repeating what he's already done.

 

This photo provided by Warner Bros. Korea shows Kim Jee-woon, director of "Illang: The Wolf Brigade." (Yonhap)

 

Making a live-action blockbuster version of an animated movie, however, was never easy, he confided. His latest has much in common with his 2008 hit movie, "The Good, The Bad and The Weird," in that they were both big-budget action projects considered a rather "reckless challenge" at first for the current scale of the local film industry.

 

"By the way, now I think I can never make a film like 'The Good, The Bad and The Weird' again. We, the entire cast and crew of the film, had a sort of strong desire and madness to make a Korean-style Western back then," he said.

 

He has often said during press events that "Illang" was the title that hurt his health the most in his entire filmmaking career. Kim now seems to be personally satisfied with the outcome.

 

"My goal was to make some spectacular sci-fi action noir," he said. "I think I reached a certain level of achievement in making a spectacular action movie with characters wearing combat suits like RoboCop, Batman and Iron Man in a visually perfect way."  

 

This photo provided by Warner Bros. Korea shows Kim Jee-woon, director of "Illang: The Wolf Brigade." (Yonhap)

 

In order to achieve this goal, he first tried to remake "Ghost in the Shell" by Mamoru Oshii, who wrote the original Japanese animation "Jin-Roh." But he had to give it up after learning that the remake rights to the animation had already been sold to a Hollywood studio.

 

And then he watched another iconic animation from the same writer-director for the first time in about 20 years and was captivated by the image of the lead character walking from darkness into light in an underground tunnel wearing his protective gear and the silhouette of special forces members standing on ruins holding machine guns.

 

The movie attracted some unfavorable reviews upon its media pre-screening on Friday, mainly due to its weak storyline.

 

"I think there was some mismatch between what the audiences wanted from the film because it starts from a big story and fizzles out into romance," said the director. "But I think it was not a bad choice considering that the movie is ultimately about an individual who leaves a grand system that has long oppressed him to find his true self. Melodrama was a kind of transportation to go there but it unexpectedly seems to have drawn too much attention."

   

After the Korean-style sci-fi action noir featuring metal suits, what will be his next challenge?

   

Kim said he doesn't know yet, but he wants to have time someday to complete what he has achieved so far.

 

"I don't know how long I can make films. If I can work for 10 more years, I want to spend the time completing what I have done before, whatever genre it may be," he said.

 

sshim@yna.co.kr