3 years, 1095 days. That's how long it took for Yoon Jong-Chan's 청연 (Blue Swallow) to materialize, how much of his life he spent pursuing that dream. Some directors make 10 films a year, quickly forgetting how painful and hard shooting one can be, leaving behind all the experiences they made, and just seeing the time spent on the film as just work that had to be done. But it will all be different for Yoon, who just completed a journey he will probably never forget. And 'different' is a word which fits Yoon's career perfectly, as his life has been full of very dramatic events, things which shaped the way he makes films.
His professional life in Chungmuro started in the early 90s, a strange period for Korean Cinema, when some extremely important changes were taking place in the industry, but the audience was slowly and inexorably avoiding theaters, especially when Korean films were shown. He worked as assistant director for Kim Ok-Bin in 비상구가 없다 (No Exit), a 1993 drama starring Shim Hye-Jin and Moon Sung-Geun which took all of two years to release in theaters, in a period when Chaebols would rather give films like those a token releases of a few days and dump them in the lucrative VHS market right after, since all they cared about were profits from videotapes, not the film industry itself. Yoon built enough confidence to believe he could become a director himself, and finally decided: he would move to the US to study film, come back and make it big. Only a few weeks were left before his departure, everything was set. But that day something Yoon could never possibly expect happened, and changed his life forever.
That evening, on June 29 1995, over a thousand people were inside a huge mall in Seoul, one of the most popular in the capital. But the mall's legacy changed forever that evening, when it collapsed to the ground, injuring over 900 people and killing 502. One of those victims was Yoon's wife, an event which had a marked effect on everything Yoon made after that. Most of his films feature a very intense darkness, an impending sense of doom which he paints his characters with. But Yoon gathered his strength once again, and went to Syracuse, where his three short films -- 플레이백 (Playback) in 1996, 메멘토 (Memento) in 1997 and 풍경 (Views) in 1999 -- were well received, both at home and abroad. The three shorts (available in the first pressing of the 소름 (Sorum) DVD) were all about memory and fate, themes which Yoon will return to frequently in the future. His long struggle seemed to end that year, when he was about to start shooting 수호戰 (Friendly War), but it would end up as one of the lost projects of the new Chungmuro, because of several different issues. Yoon was left with a reputation from his Syracuse days, but he still hadn't done anything in particular in Korea, so he started working at Hoseo University in the film department. It was 2001, one of the most important years in Yoon's career.
Horror films in the early years of this decade were taking a worrying turn in Korea, with more and more lame teen slashers born out of the Scream craze. Completely different from the psychological thrillers that fill theaters in Summer nowadays, films like 가위 (A Nightmare), 해변으로 가다 (Bloody Beach) and 찍히면 죽는다 (Record) brought the genre to the bottom of the barrel, with the only 하피 (Harpy) showing a minimum of creativity. But then came 소름 (Sorum), and although Korean horror might have changed direction anyway, it was the first real breeze of fresh air for the genre since 99's 'non-horror' 여고괴담 두번째 이야기 (Memento Mori).
Yoon risked a lot with the film, casting super talented and equally unknown Kim Myung-Min in a leading role, and completely transforming Jang Jin-Young, who had a very sweet and innocent image in her past TV Dramas and films, with an haircut and the kind of role she had never played before. The film had an incredible atmosphere, set in a deserted apartment complex which looked tailor made for horror films, and was one of the most acclaimed films of the year (and I'd certainly say one of the best). It was with that film that Jang Jin-Young could finally prove she was an extremely talented actress, and finally move out of the 'pretty face' roles she was typecast with in the past.
Which brings us to 'Blue Swallow', its 10 Billion Won budget, and a new challenge for both Yoon Jong-Chan and Jang Jin-Young. Despite receiving excellent reviews, the film met with political controversy, something Yoon never intended to exploit while making the film. Eventually, the film was hurt by these complaints, which have become quite violent in tone since the film's opening on December 29. Some even started a rumour arguing Japanese companies invested in the film to make propaganda, which almost forced the distributors to start defending themselves against such claims. At the end of the day, 'Blue Swallow' has become a scapegoat for another game of rethorics by a certain facets of Korean politics and society, innocent victim -- just like Im Sang-Soo's 그때 그사람들 (The President's Last Bang) -- of becoming guilty in the eyes of people who would turn even things like the Teletubbies into a starting point to push their agenda, and do some propaganda of their own. Guilty of trying to give a solid background to its melodrama, 'Blue Swallow' has become an object of alleged propaganda itself, its makers unable to show the public all they wanted to do was tell the story of a woman who had a dream.
It's still not sure how the film will end up in the following weeks, after its decent but disappointing (considering the season) opening weekend of 340,000 tickets sold. But Yoon Jong-Chan is the one who will be hurt the most out of all this, especially if plans for his next projects have even a minimum of ambition in terms of scale. So, with that in mind, here's a few highlights from a recent interview Director Yoon had for the print version of Cine21:
You once said with 'Blue Swallow' you wanted to tell a story about 'people pursuing a dream'. Park Kyung-Won is an historical figure, and we already know her fate. So what becomes of people's dreams, looking at where her journey leads to?
Yoon Jong-Chan: Since 'Blue Swallow' is set in the Japanese Colonial period, there's two sides to her dream. One is that there were no airplane companies in Korea, so she was forced to go to Japan to learn how to fly one. Back then Koreans would just get their certificate in Japan and come back to their homeland, but Park Kyung-Won had something else in mind: that of participating in an air parade, and complete a long range flight. That was her dream, and since a long range flight needed a great amount of money and confidence, she needed approval by Japan. And that's why her dream had elements of tragedy right from the beginning. The closer she got to fulfilling her dream, the more distant she became towards her country. And even knowing fulfilling her dream would have alienated Park from her fellow countrymen even more, she went to the end to do it.
'Sorum' was a story about people unable to strip themselves of their tragic fate, but there's a similar element at play in 'Blue Swallow' too.
Yoon: In 'Blue Swallow's case, there was a major difference, that of historical truths. The biggest, most striking of them being about Park Kyung-Won participating in pro-Japanese flights. But my intention wasn't of evoking her feats and making her an example. When she was flying, Park Kyung-Won was neither a Japanese nor a Korean, she never thought of that, she was just a pilot who thought about flying. But eventually she could never get rid of the hold that period had on her. Giving up, or just doing everything possible to fulfill your dreams is simply a choice she had to make, and according to the research I made, she followed her dreams to the end, even if that meant becoming a traitor. And that's the tragedy of it all, really. She wasn't able to get hold of all that historical indulgence, and since that sense of tragedy was embed in her fate from the beginning, as a director this was the kind of story I wanted to focus on. Using the tragedy of our history under Japanese rule, I wanted to draw a picture of people who only had two ways to survive: either heroically dying with the Independence Movement, or just abandoning themselves after losing all desires. I shot a lot of films like that, but as a director I wanted to go one step further, add a layer of historical significance to that sense of tragedy.
Park Kyung-Won's longtime dream was a double-edged sword. While being condemned as a traitor to her country, she went on to fulfill her dreams. But then no matter which way she went, catastrophe would be just behind the corner.
Yoon: A lot of films set in the Japanese Colonial period focus the drama on people like Kim Sang-Soo [a fictitious character added to the film]. This friend of Han Ji-Hyeok, who kills Japanese and commits various heroic acts gives viewers a sense of catharsis, so as a director focusing the story on someone like Park Kyung-Won was a big risk, I was always very careful. It took a year to write the script, and I struggled a lot with it. While people where dying in Manchuria helping the Independence Movement, she went to Japan just to fulfill her dreams, so even the thought of her being selfish came to mind. But then again, not every single Korean was involved in the Independence Movement. I just thought there would be a lot of people willing to leave the country, if that meant learning a craft and putting food on the table, saving her family. That's the story of average Koreans during those days, I think.
Just like in 'Sorum', the most tragic aspects of 'Blue Swallow' deal with the characters' relationship with their fathers: both Park Kyung-Won [Jang Jin-Young] and Han Ji-Hyeok [Kim Ju-Hyeok].
Yoon: While doing research, I found Park Kyung-Won's relationship with her father was at a critical stage. He was the stubborn type, someone who only cared about sons. Since he kept only having daughters, he nicknamed his fourth daughter 섭섭이 (Seopseop, disappointment), and his fifth daughter Kyung-Won 원통이 (Wontong, resentment). So that's why Park Kyung-Won's nickname became 'Park Won-Tong', why she was never sent to school, and grew up gathering firewood in the mountains, just like in the movies. Park studied by herself, and when she went to High School she changed her name back to Kyung-Won by herself. She went to Japan, paying the tuition thanks to her own sacrifices, and after that tried to become a pilot, and get a license. She had mastered enough know how to become a pilot, but it took her 5 years to get that license. It was something which would take a mere months for rich kids, but she went through all that by herself, and it took such a long time because she had to earn all that money alone.
What do you feel is the major limitation of making a 10 Billion Won blockbuster in Korea?
Yoon: It's just really hard finding producers used to this environment and these costs, who can work in an efficient way. There's really no PDs available with experience in this type of film, since when they do well with one blockbuster, many of them just build their own film company. And it's the same for script writers, as the moment they do well, they turn into directors. That's why there's no infrastructure for this to happen. The bigger the budget gets, the more efficient the work of the PD in collecting data should be, as he has to move accordingly. They should have a budget plan A, plan B, plan C, and even back up plans on top of that, but every time things turn into a guessing game here. Actually, we spent almost 10 Billion Won on 'Blue Swallow', but because of several trial and errors in terms of expenses, the staff felt like they could only use 7-8 of that. On top of that, this was the kind of film which can make or break a director's career. The fact witch hunting started right after the release of the film is something I can't really control. Once witch hunting starts on the Internet, no matter what you say it's impossible to talk with them.
[Source: Cine21]
You can also read our Press Screening Report, and a Preview of the film.
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청연 (靑燕, Blue Swallow)
Director: 윤종찬 (Yoon Jong-Chan)
Cast: 장진영 (Jang Jin-Young), 김주혁 (Kim Joo-Hyeok), 유민 (Yoo Min), 한지민 (Han Ji-Min)
Press Screening Report
Official Website
Theatrical Trailer (Streaming, 700k, Windows Media)
Teaser Trailer (Streaming, 300k, Windows Media)
Teaser Trailer (Streaming, 700k, Windows Media)
Teaser Trailer (Streaming, Real Media)
Making Of Mini-Documentary (Streaming, 500k, Windows Media)
Making Of Mini-Documentary 2 (Streaming, 500k, Windows Media)
Making Of (Streaming, 300k, Windows Media)
Music Video (Streaming, 500k, Windows Media) [Lee Seung-Cheol - 서쪽 하늘]
Movie Stills/Posters
Produced By: 코리아 픽쳐스 (Korea Pictures)
Rating: 12 and Over
RELEASE: December 29