On the occasion of the retrospective of the work of Kim Ki-young at the Cinémathèque Française, Aurélien and Gilles of Cinémasie had the good luck to meet once more with Bong Joon-ho, one of the participants of a round table discussion about the director on December 2nd -- an opportunity to talk about Korean society of the 1970s, to discuss the work of Kim Ki-young and his impact on Korean cinema today.
Aurélien: First of all, would you care to recall the time when you discovered the films of Kim Ki-young and what your impressions were of his work?
In Korea, the situation was very different: we didn't have a cinématheque like Paris. I envy the French... It is only since the middle of the nineties that the first cinématheques appeared in Korea. I discovered the films of Kim Ki-young before the beginning of the nineties. When I was at the university, I spent a lot of time in a neighborhood where there were many stores selling used videotapes. I would rummage through the tapes and that is how I discovered a film by Kim Ki-young, The Woman of Fire (1982). The cover on the cassette wasn't the film's poster, but an erotic picture. In any case, after watching this film, I began to search everywhere for other of his films.
Gilles: At the time, in the nineties, Kim Ki-young was considered a B-film director. What was your opinion of his work at the time you discovered it?
For a long while Kim Ki-young's films were forgotten by the public. But since the retrospective of his work at the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) and the showing of some of his films on satellite television, his work has undergone a reappraisal and his films have since attained cult status. The grotesque side of Kim Ki-young's work attracted many young viewers at the time. In spite of which, the scope of his repertory is very large, extending from magnificently realised works to B-films. Among Kim Ki-young's films, Killer Butterfly (1978) is perhaps the most grotesque and is closer to a B-film. It's a film which I recommend that you go see (laughs).
Aurélien: In 1980, Ban Gum-yon (1975) was censored. Could you talk a little about this period, censorship and Korean society overall?
Certainly, Ban Gum-yon wasn't the only film to suffer at the hands of the censors, it was an extremely common practise at the time. But it's true that Kim Ki-young's films were very affected by it. There were many problems as Kim Ki-young often described the repressed desires of people at the time, often sexual in nature. This made his films a natural target of censorship. Back then, censorship did not take place after a film was finished, but even before shooting began, during the writing of the screenplay. Certain scenes were cut and only afterward could actual shooting begin. Moreover, filmmakers had to make films made-to-order. Often, these were propoganda films for the government. Kim Ki-young had to make these types of films, too. In spite of the particular atmosphere of the 70s, Kim Ki-young was able to make subversive films, which still manages to surprise me.
Gilles: Kim Ki-young asserted that he was the greatest of the independent filmmakers working in Korea. Is there a filmmaker working in Korea today who can claim the same status?
Perhaps, but I can't give you any names. (laughs) Kim Ki-young produced his own films, he was truly an independent filmmaker. But he was a filmmaker who managed to achieve a good deal of success in his day, whose films have their own color. So it might be difficult to find someone like that among today's filmmakers.
Aurélien: Some people consider Kim Ki-duk a successor to Kim Ki-young. Kim Ki-duk himself said that "only Kim Ki-young could have made a film like The Isle. " Who do you think are the successors to Kim Ki-young? and what is his legacy to Korean cinema?
Kim Ki-young, contrary to other filmmakers of his day, very literary, did not have this bent. Perhaps that is what has influenced many Korean filmmakers. In his films, there is a strong cinematographic aspect which is very original. Kim Ki-duk is not a filmmaker who could be considered a movie buff, unlike Park Chan-wook or Kim Jee-woon. Kim Ki-duk is rather a filmmaker who makes his films from his own experiences.
Aurélien: Im Sang-soo comes to mind as well, with his A Good Lawyer's Wife, a film where the wife is a bastion and where the family ties fly into pieces. What is your opinion of his work, and who else do you see as inheriting the legacy of Kim Ki-young?
There are a lot of strong similarities between the two filmmakers. In fact, Im Sang-soo often concerns himself with the subject of repressed desire of women and problems within the family circle, just like Kim Ki-young. There really is a connection between the two. Nevertheless, I don't think that Im Sang-soo's work has achieved the level of Kim Ki-young. (laughs)
Aurélien: What influence has Kim Ki-young's work had on you?
In Kim Ki-young's films, there is always this very inappropriate aspect: a sort of irruption of suspense, of tension in the film. And after directing my latest film [The Host], I find that side in my work, too.
Aurélien: During that time period when censorship was so strong, what about Korean society left the most lasting impression on you?
At the time I was a teenager, then I enrolled at the university. I was very aware of social oppression. Censorship made me see another face of Korean society, the oppressed freedom of expression. When I began to work, censorship had disappeared from Korea. I never had the least pressure from either producers or from the State. And I derive the greatest pleasure from making films how I see fit.
Gilles: Between 1985 and 1995, Kim Ki-young didn't shoot any films. What made him decide to make another film?
In fact, he shot his last film in 1988. But his films came out much later, for various reasons. After the retrospective of his work at PIFF in 1997, he wanted to make more films, but he died in a fire. The film he had started was "The Diabolical Woman".
Aurélien: Kim Ki-young mixed satire and horror, sometimes comedy and melodrama. Is there any relationship between this mixing of genres and what is found in the films of Park Chan-wook and your own?
In fact, Korean directors were more interested in social realism, and Kim Ki-young tended more toward genre films. Perhaps that is what interests Park Chan-wook and myself the most. Without any constraints imposed by realism, I saw a sort of freedom of imagination in the work of Kim Ki-young which takes off in every direction.
Aurélien: At our last meeting, you mentioned a project you are working on involving a legendary screen actress. At the time, I wondered whether it might be Lee Hwa-si [star in several of Kim Ki-young's films]. She confided in me that she would be overjoyed to work on another film. Would you be ready to cast her in a role?
It's not her, but someone else.
Aurélien: Who is this legendary actress, then?
(Laughs) It's a secret.
Aurélien: Thank you very much.
(In French) Merci [Thank you].
Translated from the French by Jon Pais
[Source: Cinémasie]