Related movies

• Joint Security Area/JSA
• The Killers
• Lady Vengeance
• Oldboy
• The Spirit of the Beehive
• Sympathy for Mr Vengeance
• A Tale of Two Sisters

Related people

• Don Siegel
• Alfred Hitchcock
• Lee Marvin
• Audrey Hepburn
• Park Chan-Wook
• Lee Young-Ae
• Song Kang-Ho
• Kim Ji-yong
• Im Soo-Jung

Park Chan-Wook Q&A

The writer-director discusses 'Lady Vengeance' and reveals details about his next two films.

Feb  9 2006

Park Chan-Wook burst onto the film scene with 'JSA: Joint Security Area', a politically charged thriller that became the most successful release in Korean history.

Chan-Wook followed that with the first part of his celebrated 'vengeance' trilogy, the critically acclaimed (and at times hard to stomach) 'Sympathy for Mr Vengeance'.

He then made part two in the shape of 'Oldboy', an international smash that won awards all over the world, including the coveted Grand Prix in Cannes.

Tomorrow sees the release of the final part of the trilogy, 'Lady Vengeance', and we caught up with the writer-director earlier today to discuss his stunning new film.

Where did the concept 'Lady Vengeance' come from?

It has two origins, one of which was when I thought to myself: 'How-come I've been making such male-oriented films? I don't share many things with men, most of my friends are women, I empathise more with women, so why have I been making these man-oriented films?' At the end of 'Oldboy', the film finished without the girl knowing the truth. I didn't like that, so I thought that with my next film I'd make a film where the woman is the main character.

The other origin came from a crime that was committed a long time ago in Korea, when a child was kidnapped and found dead on the roof of a high-rise building in a water tank. Everybody was very angry wanting to catch the murderer. Then everybody was shocked when the perpetrator was caught and turned out to be a young pregnant woman. Like everybody, I was very curious – she was tried in a court of law while she was pregnant. How could a mother who has a life within herself commit such a murder? She would have been jailed and would have given birth to the child in prison, so what would happen to the child? That was in my mind when I started the film. It's not a story where the woman goes to jail pregnant, but that's where it began.

Does this trilogy of films come from any personal experiences or demons that you have?

It's never so. The characters or the films I make have no direct relationship with my personal desires, experiences or life. It's just a film; a created story. It's difficult to say that it has no relationship whatsoever if you go to the deepest level, but then again everyone has that desire for revenge. If you go deep enough, it's the same for everybody.

At what point in the process did you decide to distort the narrative and move back and forth in time?

You will probably find my answer unexpected but it has something to do with Young-ae as an actress. She is very famous in Asia and her image is that she is good, docile and intelligent – the typical, traditional image of what a Korean woman should be. If you can make a list of actresses too use as a protagonist in a revenge story, then she would probably come at the end of that list. It is like Audrey Hepburn playing a serial killer. There's a great dichotomy between the image of Young-ae when she is in jail and when she is out of jail. When she's in jail it's the familiar image of Young-ae – she's kind to everyone and she smiles a lot. But when she's out of jail her expression changes completely and she's like a goddess of revenge. The juxtaposition of the two images – where one is familiar and the other is very unfamiliar – to combine them makes it a very interesting story.

The film is very colourful, so much so that at times it looks like a beautiful fairytale – where did the inspiration for this come from?

From the beginning I considered this story to be a fairytale. 'Sympathy for Mr Vengeance' is based on hard-boiled reality and 'Oldboy' is mythical, like a legend, and 'Lady Vengeance' is like a fairytale. A lot of fairytales, before Disney, tended to depict the dark side of life. In fact, when we were making this film, people thought it was like 'Alice in Wonderland' in that she meets a lot of people and then she parts from them. So yes, it does have a strong fairytale element, and I used the visual style to emphasise that. To create a world that is dreamy and surreal.

Do you think that you have improved as a filmmaker over the course of the three revenge films?

I don't know if I've improved artistically because when I look back sometimes I think that 'Mr Vengeance' is the best of the three, and sometimes 'Lady Vengeance' is the best. But I'm very proud of the fact that I've made a film in which the woman is the main protagonist.

Is your wife still your biggest and most important critic?

Not only is she my greatest critic, but she's also my greatest helper, creatively. She's not been able to help on all my films because of our child, but when the child grows up, I'd like to get her help as much as Hitchcock got help from his wife, Alma. So much so that she will be credited on the films.

Which films and filmmakers have influenced you over the years?

When I started studying film I was totally under the influence of Alfred Hitchcock, though since I've become a film director I feel like I've graduated from that. But there are so many directors that have influenced me and that I like. It's been a long time since I've watched a new film because there are so many good old films, it's just endless. I recently held an event in Korea at an arthouse cinema where filmmakers introduce their favourite film to the audience and then we have a Q&A session after as if it's his or her own film. That was a very special event – Kim Ji-yong introduced 'Spirit of the Beehive' and I introduced Don Siegel's 'The Killers'.
It's difficult for me to say one director, but I can say one actor – Lee Marvin.

He would have been great in one of the vengeance films.

Definitely.

How do you feel about the proposed remake of 'JSA' set on the Mexican border, and the American version of 'Oldboy' that's being discussed at the moment?

Frankly I don't know much about them because I can't influence them. We sold the rights and they are going to do it by themselves – they don't report to us. It's going to be good for them because 'Oldboy' was based on a Japanese manga, and the author didn't say anything to me, so I won't put my nose into their business. Even if I had the power to influence them, I don't want to do that. I hope they make good films because the fans of the Korean film laugh at the thought of these remakes, so I hope they are good to prove them wrong.

Are you pleased with the impact that Korean cinema is having on western audiences?

I'm happy about it but I hope it will appeal to a broader audience than just students or intellectuals with exotic tastes and inclinations.

Have you got any interest in making a film in English in the future?

The difficulty is the language barrier. There have been lots of suggestions from Hollywood, and if I was a filmmaker who made action films it may be possible, but I'm not. And communication between me and the actors is so important – I find it difficult even in Korean – but in English it would be even harder.
If there is a wonderful script I will do my utmost to learn English or use an interpreter, but I haven't seen such a script yet. The upside might be that when I communicate with Korean people, they get unintentionally offended by little remarks I make without thinking. But if I use an interpreter, I can blame them!

Are you done with the theme of revenge now?

For the time being, but you never know about the future. The next film is not like this but the one after is a vampire story and is ultra-violent, so there may be an element of vengeance in that film.

Are you ever worried about the amount of violence in your films?

I think violence is unavoidable in my films because I talk about violent relationships. And I think violence is a form of communication.

Can you tell us anything about the vampire film?

I can't say any more because nothing has been decided, other than the fact that Song Kang-Ho from 'Sympathy for Mr Vengeance' will play the lead vampire. And it will be very dark – my darkest film yet. The English title is 'Evil Live' – the inverse of the word evil. American people have said that it sounds like a heavy metal band though.

And what about your next film?

It's called 'I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK', but I must emphasise that it's not a sci-fi film. It's a love story about a girl who imagines she's a cyborg, and a young man in his early 20s with a compulsive theft disorder, and he begins to think that that she can steal the abilities and personalities of other people. But I'm worried that the title is too long. What do you think?

Well it's quite long, but it made me smile when you said it.

That's good, because it is a romantic comedy. We start work in late March and I hope to release it in November.

Have you cast it yet?

The lead male will be played by a Korean singer called Rain, and the female character will be played by Im Soo-Jung, who played the elder sister in 'A Tale of Two Sisters'. That was just agreed two days ago and this is the first time I've told anyone, so you've got an exclusive there!

'Lady Vengeance' is released tomorrow (February 10).