On Friday 10 October, we met with director Kim Seong-hoon, whose latest feature film, action-thriller A Hard Day, was receiving two screenings at the London BFI Film Festival (October 12 and 16). The film will also be screened at the London Korean Film Festival on November 9 and Leeds International Film Festival on November 14. StudioCanal UK is handling distribution and will be releasing the film in DVD on December 8.

Biography: Kim Seong-hoon

Kim Seong-hoon entered the world of film directing in 2003 at the age of 32 years old, working as an assitant director on romantic comedies Oh! Happy Day (오! 해피데이) and The Guy was Cool (그 놈은 멋있었다) – the latter which he also wrote. Then, he made his debut as a full grown director on How the Lack of Love Affects Two Men (애정결핍이 두 남자에게 미치는 영향), whose script he also wrote himself. The film was released by Lotte Entertainment on 16 November 2006, reaching 593,277 admissions (1) and a gross box office of $2,470,615. His second feature film, A Hard Day, premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival’s Director’s Fortnight in May, and is currently in it’s the middle of its festivals run.

Interview

DaehanDrama.com: Following Korean custom, I may start with your age. Your first credits as an assistant director date back to 2003. What were you doing before, and how did you come to directing?

Kim Seong-hoon: My first commercial film was when I was working as an assistant director in the 2003 film that you mentioned, and as a director my debut film was in 2006. A Hard Day is my second feature film. There is no particular reason why I became a director. It is just that when I was younger, cinema was like a playground for me, and as I grew up to become an adult I wanted to play a little bit further.

DaehanDrama.com: A Hard Day is the first action thriller film you work on. Your three previous films either as a director, screenwriter or assistant director were all in the romantic comedy/comedy field. Why, after 7 years, did you decide to switch radically to a totally new genre?

Kim Seong-hoon: Because the previous ones completely failed! (laughs)… Seriously, the film I made my debut with in 2006 was a romantic comedy as you mentioned, and now this film is a thriller. There is no particular reason why I switched genre. It is just that between the two films seven years and a half have passed, and of course during that time there would have been a change in me. I think simply at the time I wanted to make a romcom and now I wanted to make an action thriller.

DaehanDrama.com: As a “beginner” in the action thriller genre, it is quite impressive that you managed to convince a prestigious production company, Dasepo Club, that produced some big Korean films, including War of Arrows (2011) and more recently Roaring Currents (2014). You also convinced cinematographer Kim Tae-sung, who is actually a friend of Kim Nam-kyun (our cameraman), and worked on the films above mentioned. How did you manage to convince them despite your lack of experience in this genre? Can you explain us more about the pitching process and how you worked with the production company?

Kim Seong-hoon: Everything starts with scenario/script in film, and I guess they found the script satisfactory. This film was a coproduction between Dasepo Film and AD46.

DaehanDrama.com: We can feel your experience in the comedy genre by the way you tackle the thriller storyline in A Hard Day. What did you find more difficult: 1) adding comedy to the action-focused storyline without slowing down the overall pace? 2) adding enough action-thriller elements so that tension and surprise can prevail over the humorous moments? For sure, many Korean directors would have made this story look grittier, while you made it almost funny and ridiculous, even in the characters’ more tense moments. We can notice you play on situations to make people laugh, even though they can be pretty stressful for the characters within the context in which they are.

Kim Seong-hoon: In terms of humour, the protagonist in this film can be seen as immoral and unethical, as there are many illegal acts happening. In a way he is the anti-hero of the film. In order to be persuasive, for example, putting the corpse in his mother’s coffin, rather than having him doing something rather plain, I wanted the audience to feel there was something quite comfortable and natural, and I think that’s the role that humor plays in this film. Metaphorically speaking, when you have an action thriller that uses to maintain tension, suspense for two hours, just like in a fig where you have marbling and a bit of fat in it, you can swallow it better. I believe that in between the suspense, if you add in humour without interrupting the rhythm of the film, it would be better for the audience to swallow.

DaehanDrama.com: The lead in A Hard Day is actor Lee Sun-kyun, who is both experienced in dramas such as Coffee Prince, and independent feature films mainly with Hong Sang-soo, but also sometimes commercial films like romcom All About My Wife, which is popular here in the UK. How is it to work with an actor like him with experience across all those types of productions?

Kim Seong-hoon: More in terms of the results than of process of working on this film with the actor Lee Sun-kyun, it was an infinite honour and a real pleasure for me. As opposed to working in TV in which he is given a tight schedule and framework, with the need of working fast and flexibly, while working on this film, we were able to have lots of discussions and he was able to share his thoughts about the scenes. So, everyday, we had these conversations on set and found ourselves to be very compatible. I was very happy to be working with him and am very satisfied with the results as well.

DaehanDrama.com: Why did you think Lee was the most suitable actor for this role, despite being more experienced in romantic comedy TV series and other film genres, but not specifically in action thrillers?

Kim Seong-hoon: You gave two examples regarding the actor Lee Sun-kyun’s work, and I think the answer lies in both of them. The way he started was in romantic comedies, and in Korea he has an image of being a soft and gentle guy, and given that in this film he was not playing a kind character, we needed that soft image to persuade the audience how genuinely illegal the actions of his character were. You also mentioned he performed in director Hong Sang-soo’s films, which require very realistic acting and I now believe that actor Lee Sun-kyun is very good in that regard, and useful for our film not to appear like a fake. So yes his very subtle yet realistic acting are the two reasons I cast and I think that we had an excellent result.

DaehanDrama.com: As to close this interview, we would like to ask you about your future projects. Are you considering trying another new genre? Or is there any future project in film or TV in the pipeline?

Kim Seong-hoon: My next project has already been decided, and rather than attempting something new, it would be more trying another direction. In terms of working in TV dramas, if there is much later an opportunity, I am sure it would be a good experience to work in a different medium.

A Hard Day will screen at the Odeon West End cinema on Sunday 9 November from 2:00pm, during the London Korean Film Festival. You can book your tickets here. A video version of the interview will also be published later on our YouTube channel.