Director Woo Min-ho e-ttended the Glasgow Film Festival, which featured his work, "The Man Standing Next," in a section called "Focus on South Korea."
Additionally, he took the time to share some insight into creating the film, working with Lee Byung Hun, and what's next in the pipeline.
Director Woo's 'The Man Standing Next' (Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+), was released inJanuary 2020 in both Korea and the US to awards for both Lee Byung Hun and Lee Sung Min. It brings to life the 1979 assassination of then-South Korean President Park Chung Hee (Lee Sung Min) by his Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) Director Kim Gyu Pyeong (Lee Byung Hun).
The action centers around the 40 days leading up to the slaying by his own man.
KL (writer): Firstly, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us, Director Woo. I loved your film, The Man Standing Next, and am excited to hear about your experiences. I'll dive straight in and ask about Lee Byung Hun. He is an amazing actor, of course. As Director, how did you coach him to get the 'Director Kim' you envisioned? What specific things did youask of him?
WMH: "It was most important to keep the continuous psychological tension that is on theedge of bursting. To help this, we intentionally created an environment where Lee Byung Hun could feel Kim Gyu Pyeong's loneliness, such as treating him without the usual friendliness while shooting. Being the professional he is, he well understood the intentionand expressed the lonely and anxious Kim Gyu Pyeong much better than we expected."
(Photo : Man Standing NExt)
Along the lines of immersion, I read that you went to great lengths to make Lee Sung Min look like President Park in the film. But also changed the names of some of the characters. Why are both of those things important in telling the story?
WMH: "For a film based on a real-life figure, the physical resemblance between the real-life figure and the actor is very important. This is because if appearances do not match to some extent, it is difficult for the audiences to immerse themselves into the film, or it takes some time to do so. However, as you know, many bereaved families of the real-life figures that the characters are based on are still alive, and cinematic dramatization was needed. So, I thought it would be better to change the names to avoid unnecessary issues rising over the authenticity of some scenes in the film."
You've been quoted as saying this is a film you wanted to do, even though it might be difficult to make for political reasons. What part of the subject matter spoke to you? Why did you want/need to make it?
WMH: "I've long had the thought of bringing the story of President Park's death to the screen. While the event is one of the most dramatic incidents in modern Korean history, it has been made into a film only once and it went through hardships in release. So, it was a theme that filmmakers could not approach easily. I felt that the event should be re-examined from morevarious angles."
In re-examining, did your story connect to any previous work you've seen or worked on(other than the source material) - perhaps as inspiration?
WMH: "I was influenced quite a lot by Jean-Pierre Melville's films of cold noir and theespionage novels of John le Carré, and tried to bring such atmosphere and form in 'The Man Standing Next.'"
With all the challenges around abig story, multiple locations, historic detail and the pressure of big-name actors, what werethe difficulties in making this film? Did anything go wrong?
WMH: "It was February of 2019 when we went to Paris to shoot the scene of Park Yong-gak's assassination. We expected the French noir's gloomy atmosphere as it was February,but were stunned by the bright and sunny weather. We had no choice but to embark onshooting, but sunny weather was charming in its own way on screen, so we were satisfied with it."
How rigorously did youstick to the script throughout the film? Was there a lot of ad-libbing by actors or contributionfrom others on your team?
WMH: "The screenplay was co-written with the screenwriter [Lee Jimin, with whom] I'vepreviously worked together. I actively accepted actors' ad-libs in previous films, but completely excluded the ad-libs in The Man Standing Next, and proceeded based on thescenario. Thinking of the film's nature, I decided that it is right to plan the details thoroughly and implement them accurately."
Continuing with your role as screenwriter, what characters resonate with you personally? In what way?
WMH: "It is most probably Kim Gyu Pyeong. It is not difficult to understand and sympathizewith the mind of the person who is betrayed by the one he loved and served with loyalty."
You can visibly see his struggle between loyalty and doing theright thing coupled with, as you mentioned, the loneliness of his position. I'm so curious about your process. Can you tell me a secret about this film - something you haven't shared with other interviewers?
WMH: "In the scene where Kim Gyu Pyeong secretly taps President Park's phone call at thesafe house, you can see water drops on his glasses as if they are tears or raindrops. It is a factor that shows the psyche of Kim Gyu Pyeong, who is wailing internally. It was not easy tocatch the scene where the water drop is just about to fall. And after several trials and errors, we finally succeeded in creating the scene we wanted using sugar water."
There are so many great details in this movie. Are there any Easter eggs viewers should watch for?
WMH: "I think it would be General Chun appearing in the last scene. It was the moment thatIago's identity, which Kim Gyu Pyeong tried to track down the whole time, but lost track of atsome point, is revealed. There seem to be many audiences who didn't recognize it."
You've been wonderful sharing your thoughts with us and tipping off some special points. One last question for you. What's next? What kind of movie do you want to make next? Horror movies seem to be making it big atthe moment.
WMH: "Currently, I'm working on a project based on a real-life figure who is thought to bevery important in Korea. I'm also thinking of a black comedy project about modern capitalismand media. Wow, sounds great. We look forward to them both. When you're ready, we'd love to chat about it!"
Thank you to the Glasgow Film Festival for assistance in scheduling this interview. The Man Standing Next can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV+.
Interested inmore of Woo Min-ho's works? Check out The Drug King (Netflix) or Inside Men (Viki).
