The folks at the Tribeca Film Festival told me that they were very excited to have My Dear Enemy featured at this year’s festival.  There had been an absence of South Korean films the last few years and this film marks the return of South Korean filmmaking talent.  My Dear Enemy was  directed by Lee Yoon-Ki and the film pairs up two of the most popular actors in South Korea:  Jeon Do-Yeon, winner of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival best actress award for Secret Sunshine, and Ha Jung-Woo, who made his U.S. debut in Never Forever, and also stars in this year’s The Chaser.  We sat down with Director Lee Yoon-Ki and his music director Kim Jung Bum for a chat before the first screening of My Dear Enemy.  Before we get to the interview, here’s a quick synopsis of the film.

Lee Yoon-Ki’s (This Charming Girl) deadpan comedy trails a pair of former lovers—he’s a charismatic romantic and she’s a no-nonsense realist—who bump into each other one year down the road. Hee-su wants back a hunk of cash she lent him, but perpetually penniless Byung-woon is unable to settle his debt. Refusing to leave Hee-su in the lurch, he carts her around Seoul on a day-long urban road trip to borrow small amounts from various acquaintances. As both day and debt are whittled down, the pair fall back into old patterns, rehash unsettled gripes, and slowly come to see each other in a new light.

Based on the short novel by Taira Azuko, My Dear Enemy is an exercise in subtle comedy, anchored by the delightful chemistry of the pitch-perfect lead performers. Jeon Do-youn, as the sensible, even-tempered Hee-su counterbalances the hysterical mother of a murdered child she played in Secret Sunshine, for which she was named best actress at Cannes in 2007. Ha Jung-woo, too, is winning as the compulsively likeable, if unfailingly inept Byung-woon (a role also in stark opposition to his previous outing as the serial killer antagonist in Hong-jin Na’s The Chaser). During their day of piecemeal debt collection, they slowly unfold their characters’ nuanced relationship. Truly this is a romance for a recession age.

Korean Beacon (KB): So how does it feel to be at the Tribeca Film Festival?

Lee Yoon-Ki (LYK): Well, you know, this is actually my first time visiting New York City. I’ve always wanted to come visit New York when I was younger. However, there were no opportunities for me to visit during my youth. Then later in life, I just couldn’t find the time. Due to the fact that My Dear Enemy was going to be showcased at the Tribeca Film Festival, I was actually able to set aside and schedule the time for a visit. So it feels fantastic to be here.

KB: What is it like to have your film featured at the Tribeca Film Festival?

LYK: I just found out that it’s been five years since the festival featured a South Korean film. Tribeca Film Festival is quite a reputable film festival amongst many film directors. So I’m absolutely delighted and happy to know that my film is being featured here.

KB: What were some of the inspirations behind My Dear Enemy?

LYK: Well My Dear Enemy and my previous film, Ad Lib Night (Ahjoo Teukbyulhan Sohnim), were based on novels written by Azuko Taira. I picked up her novels while browsing through a bookstore one day. I really admired her writing because it was so simplistic, yet real.

KB: What were some of the challenges while making My Dear Enemy?

LYK: I would say location was the biggest challenge of them all. Each scene required a different location in Seoul. So the cast and crew all had to move around while shooting in different locations. It almost felt like we were journeying along with the characters of the film. And during shooting, we’d get some crazy, weird people that wanted attention.

KB: Crazy? Like what?

LYK: Oh you know, people screaming certain profanities or doing weird stunts to attract our attention. [Laughs, afterwards]

KB: Any other challenges besides location?

LYK: Well, there’s the typical problems one finds while shooting a film, such as weather. We shot My Dear Enemy during the winter. So it would either be windy, rainy, snowy, or sunny. The actors actually put up a lot while filming, so I give a lot of props to them for filming in such challenging conditions. Also, the film was in the low to mid-range budget. It wasn’t heavily commercialized in South Korea. So putting together the production was somewhat difficult. But I’m very satisfied with the results of the film. The cast, crew, production team, script, and music were all great to work with.

KB: How would you describe your style of film? Would you say it could fall under the independent film category?

LYK: I would say my films deals with a lot of humanism. What attracted me towards Azuko Taira’s work was that you felt a sense of warmth through her writing. Like I said before, her plots were always very simplistic, yet revealed a certain kind of truth behind her stories. That every day, nonchalant life that people always overlook is what I wanted to display onto film. There are no over-the-top dramatic scenes in any of my films – no intense action scenes, no bloody fights (and even if there are fights – nobody even finishes their fight before it gets ugly), no suspense, or vulgarity either. Just simple, realistic stories that people can relate to.
You know, as I read Azuko Taira’s stories, I got the sense that she had a great personality. And when I actually met her in person, she truly was a very charming character. She was really friendly and easy to get along with.

Part 2 of the interview will be coming soon, but watch the musical interlude below.

*Update: May 2, 2009*

Part II of My Dear Enemy Interview

I hope all of you enjoyed the music interlude. Most of the Part II is on the music portion of the film, interviewing the music director, Kim Jung Bum.

KB: Let’s move onto music, shall we?

Lee Yoon-KI & Kim Jung Bum (KJB): Sure.

KB: What was the inspiration for the music?

KJB: He [Lee Yoon-Ki] wanted to build music from the 1930s and 1940s, similar to Woody Allen’s films, so we went ahead and tried this particular style.

KB: [To Lee Yoon-Ki] So, would you say you were pleased with the results of the music?

LYK: Well, since the music director’s sitting right next to me, I should say I’m quite well pleased with it. [Laughter bursts for all]
But in all truthfulness, I was a bit worried in the beginning. Most of the music that Kim Jung Bum composed was very American. They were mostly from the 1930-40s American style of music. So I was wondering if that period’s music would fit well with the background of the film. That was actually another challenge that we had to face. But after discussing this with Kim Jung Bum, we just said to ourselves, “Let’s go for it.” And we feel that the music did indeed fit very well with the movie.

KB: What are you studying at NYU for graduate school?

KJB: Jazz studies.

KB: How did you meet the director?

KJB: A few years back, I was in a band called ‘Pudding’ in Seoul. The director had heard our music while I was studying at The Berkley College of Music in Boston. So he gave our managers at the office a call and had asked if I wanted to work together with him. So I began composing music for his film, Love Talk.

LYK: At that time, [Kim Jung Bum] was in Boston and I was in Korea. So we were mostly communicating via e-mail. I had already used his music for the trailer of my first film, This Charming Girl.

KB: What kind of emotions did you want to express through your music in My Dear Enemy?

KJB: Well, when I create music for the director, it isn’t about capturing emotions or certain feelings that are important to me. It’s mostly about going along with the director’s ideas and thoughts. In a film, ideas can change a lot. And so at times, it does get frustrating, even for music directors. What’s important is that we, as composers and music directors, need to know why those changes have been made, in order to change our music as well. That’s just my opinion.

LYK: So you’re basically saying, you do what is told of you? [Everyone laughs]

KJB: Pretty much, yeah. [Ha-ha]

* * * * * * * * *

So that’s the end of our interview, with film director Lee Yoon Ki, and his music director, Kim Jung Bum. We hope you’ve enjoyed the interview and hope that it gave you an insight into the world of film making in South Korea. Thanks for tuning in with Korean Beacon.

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