Brussels 2024 Interview: 4PM Stars Oh Dal-su, Jang Young-nam and Director Jay Song Discuss New Korean Thriller

Last week, the 42nd Brussels International Film Festival played host to the world premiere of The Nightmare director Jay Song’s new South Korean thriller, 4PM. Inspired by the Belgian novel “Les Catilinaires”, from celebrated author Amélie Nothomb, which was published in English as The Stranger Next Door, Brussels was a fitting venue to debut this new interpretation. ScreenAnarchy sat down with actors Oh Dal-su, Jang Young-nam, Kim Hong-pa and Gong Jae-kyung, as well as the film's director, Jay Song, the morning after the film's premiere.

 

Renowned character actor Oh Dal-su lands a rare lead role as Jung-in, a philosophy professor who moves to the countryside on sabbatical with his wife Hyun-suk (Jang Young-nam). After settling into their new bucolic digs, the couple approach the only other house in the area, and leave a note inviting the occupant to pop round for a cup of tea. The following afternoon at precisely 4pm, Yuk-nam (Kim Hong-pa), an elderly retired doctor, appears at their door. Instead of welcoming the new tenants to the neighbourhood, however, Yuk-nam communicates only in short, curt responses, and offers nothing by way of conversation. The moment the clock strikes 6pm, he gets up and leaves. The next day, the exact same thing happens, and so begins an escalating mystery of increasingly absurd and unsettling interactions. 

 

“It’s a movie about taking off our masks,” Oh says. “These privileged elites, like my character, wear different masks and assume different personas. This movie forces them to remove them.”

 

The film definitely deals with the many facets of human nature, examining the different versions of ourselves we project publicly, and how we are perceived by those around us. Jung-in and Hyun-suk are introduced as friendly, educated people, while the mysterious doctor next door is presented as a potent threat right from the outset, but as the film unfolds, these roles start to shift.

 

The casting of Kim Hong-pa, a veteran performer known for his villainous roles as gangsters, politicians and military figures, immediately plays with the audience’s preconceptions about his character - a point not lost on the actor. 

 

“It’s true that the audience might consider my character to be a villain, because I’ve played a lot of bad guys in the past," Kim tells me. “But I never approach my characters that way. I always try to look at them as a real person and establish their motivations. Yuk-nam is a man with a lot of pain and his inability to talk about what has happened in the past has really crippled him.”

 

Without divulging too many spoilers about the film, Yuk-nam’s bristly demeanour is slowly revealed to be a coping mechanism for a past tragedy. Nevertheless, his curious behaviour proves increasingly frustrating for the newcomers. The situation is only exacerbated by the discovery that Yuk-nam has a wife at home, played by newcomer Gong Jae-kyung.

 

“We first hear a description of her from her husband,” Gong explains, “who says she is “kind and lovely”, but when we meet Sarah, the audience’s perception is different from what he described.” 

 

Sarah is much younger than her husband, and appears to have not left the house for some time. It is unclear whether she is voluntarily reclusive, or is being confined to her home against her will. After much persuasion from Jung-in and Hyun-suk, the doctor brings his wife over to dinner. She is dirty, unkempt, overweight and suffers from mobility issues. She refuses to speak, and feverishly devours the meal that is put in front of her, much to the horror of her hosts.

 

“There is a pain inside her,” Gong continues, “while what is shown externally is something the audience cannot see.” A tragedy has hit this couple, and effective communication between them has clearly broken down. Sarah’s emergence in the second half of the film provides an effective turning point in the narrative, fuelling our protagonists’ concerns about their mysterious neighbour. 

 

Because of her appearance and behaviour, Song’s film appears to be tackling bigger themes than those explicitly addressed in the narrative, specifically relating to society’s attitudes relating to mental health - something director Song agrees with. 

 

“Sarah can be seen as somewhat monstrous or threatening, but I wanted her eyes to express some humanity. I didn’t see this couple as villainous or evil, I wanted actors who could reveal that human side, especially Sarah.”

 

For Gong, whose background is in theatre, 4PM marks something of a big break. “Of the main cast I was the only one who auditioned for the role, because the other three are such huge actors already with a lot of experience. I’m actually the newbie here, so I was very happy when I got the part.” 

 

Indeed the film’s other actress, Jang Young-nam, has been a prominent performer on both the big and small screen for years. The Azooma star has appeared in a diverse range of roles recently, popping up in bloodthirsty action thrillers such as Project Wolf Hunting and Badland Hunters, as well as a memorable supporting turn in Kim Jee-woon’s Cobweb. In 4PM, Jang assumes the more traditional role of doting wife, determined to stand by her man even after his actions take a dark turn. 

 

When I suggest that her character provides an anchor for the audience, the 50-year-old veteran is clearly tickled.

 

“I’m going to use this in my later interviews,” she exclaims with a laugh and a ripple of applause. “I’m going to tell everyone that my role is so important, and the film’s anchor to reality…Actually, what appealed to me about this character is that she seems like somebody you could see on the street, without the crazy mood swings or extravagant personality of some of my other characters.”

 

It strikes me as curious that Jang would be attracted to the simplicity of the character, and she is quick to qualify her response. “As an actor, my only wish is to be different all the time. People always have the same concept of us, and offer us similar roles, but this experience was different. Nobody believes me, but I’m not very strong. So the character in this movie is more like the real me.”

 

Conversely, Oh Dal-su is playing deliberately against type. Audiences will be all-too-familiar with Oh’s impressive body of work, not least with his memorable debut as the custodian of Choi Min-sik’s incarcerated protagonist in Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy, who finds himself on the receiving end of some brutal dental reconstruction involving a claw hammer. He has worked with many of the industry’s best directors, including Bong Joon-ho, Ryoo Seung-wan, and Kim Jee-woon, although rarely gets the opportunity to play the lead.

 

“In the past, the role I would usually play would be the neighbour,” Oh says with a smile, “So when I first read the book I assumed that was the part the director wanted me to play.” Director Song, however, had other plans for the 55-year-old.

 

“Compared to other roles I’ve played this was very different. I was worried,” Oh admits, “because I really didn’t want the audience to laugh at me in this serious role, so I had to study more about human psychology. The director was really generous and gave us lots of opportunity to improvise together. So in the end I was very comfortable. At the screening yesterday I was really relieved. The audience just absorbed the movie on its own terms.”

 

While the local BIFFF audience might be familiar with the source material, director Song is convinced that 4PM can stand on its own. “What I realised when I read the novel is that no information is given about the backgrounds of the characters. So what we are discussing now was entirely created by us during our sessions. I never met the author, so in the end I had to interpret it my own way and make my own decisions. If I’d had the chance to meet her it’s possible that I would’ve made a totally different movie.”