Interview with Im Kwon-taek
I was very grateful to be able to have an interview with Im Kwon-taek, which was only made possible through the help of the PIFF international press team, so thank you very much indeed. Im Kwon-taek was also very generous with his time and I have to say, extremely humble even though he has made more films than any than any other Korean director. So, Im Kwon-taek, thank you very much.I would also like to thank the superb translator, Jenny who was a real legend, both during and after the interview - thank you!
I really like Beyond the Years – it seems to appeal to a younger audience – was this your intention?
Not really, Beyond The Years was not aiming for the younger generation nor for the older generation; it was a film that was aimed for everyone. So by reflecting Pansori (판소리) and Korean culture through Beyond The Years, Seopyeonje, and Chihwaseon I really wanted to show the life of the Korean people and the Korean culture. I also think that Koreans have very uniqueness within their culture and its character so my purpose was to show the international audience the duty of Pansori (판소리) and I wanted everyone to share the Pansori (판소리) and Korean culture.
Your films seem to want to remind views of traditional culture – is this your intention?
He nods his head - yes absolutely. Pansori (판소리) and Korean culture is very unique and beautiful, however not many people know about it, especially the International audience. If I put this into the image in the film, then it will be appealing to the International audience and they can have a better understanding of the Korean culture. I wanted everyone to share this culture, including the International audiences.
What kind of messages do you convey in your films and has this changed over the 100 films you have made?
The majority of the films I have made have contained humanism so I really want to make a film that is focussed on the people and respecting each other. And recently through Pansori (판소리), which was selected as one of the heritage of the UNESCO, I wanted the International audience to share the importance of it. The first 50 of my films had no messages (first 10 years of his career), but now the films have the message of human respect. During the periods of the Japanese colonialism the Korean War, and the subsequent autocratic state, which was at time where it was very hard to pick special topics such as socialism, democracy or something against the government, I was unable to freely choose the subject of my films. But now I am able to choose any film I want, which allows me to give the films diversity.
Would you say distances yourself from the younger generation of filmmakers such as Park Chan-wook and even the younger generation of film directors such as Han Jae-min?
I don’t really watch other Korean films and the younger generation is really tamed towards Hollywood films – fast and quick – and lots of Korean directors have made that kind of film, so it is very Hollywood like. However I want to express the uniqueness of Korean culture to the audience. Although I have made 100 films, I am still not satisfied. I am not special or unique but I still want to continue to make Korean culture films that are appealing to the audience.
I would also add that younger audiences are very tamed at the Hollywood films and people don’t want to think when they see a film. If people have to think when they see a film, they don’t like it. So the younger generation tend to enjoy films that are focussed more on the entertainment aspect so you don’t really have to think about the film, but I think it is not right to make a film that is made exclusively for entertainment. People should have to think when they watch a film. One of the reasons Beyond The Years wasn’t so successful at the Korean box office; was because the film contains a lot of meanings and the characters didn’t have a description. People should really think about what was going on. But the Korean audiences don’t really like it now - that was one of the reasons it failed. So before, I was more direct and straightforward, but now I am not - I like to make a film that people can think about.
When asking Koreans about Korean films, people often refer to han and chung which lie at the heart of the films - is this true?
Yes indeed, but since they are very emotional concepts, it is difficult to put them into words. But Han is something like ‘sympathy’, but it is really hard to explain. And Chung; if defined very simply, it is a warm heart that Western people define as a warm heart, but it is really different from a warm heart. It is really hard to explain.
How would you compare Korean films to other cinemas?
The style is very different. Because I grew up in Korea and I have lived in Korea all of my life, I can see that they are the sentiment that can be reflected from the Korean life. But Western people are more focussed on busy and fast lives but Korean culture is well known for its slowness and culture of sentiments. And Koreans have its own sentiments and beauty of its culture, so if I reflect this within a film, it will be different.