My look at Choi Min-Sik’s films, outside of those being shown on a glorious big screen at the 12th New York Asian Film Festival, is completed in this edition with 2 more: LADY VENGEANCE (2005) and I SAW THE DEVIL (2010). They are a load of fun. In an excessively psychopathic murderous sort of way. This is said tongue in cheek, but then again maybe not entirely. This in fact may get at the establishment of The Violent Eye in the first place. To appreciate and explore the onscreen portrayal of violence. Appreciating its craft and what it has to say about ourselves as a society, yes, but also to acknowledge another aspect of it: that we love watching these artificially constructed acts of brutality so that we don’t have to create them - nor feel a desire to create - them in real life. Perhaps this is why Korean cinema, with its startlingly fresh and innovative production of filmed action, strikes so much of a cord, and why Choi Min-Sik, whose acting helps tremendously to pull off many of the most memorable moments of onscreen carnage, is our man of the moment.
These two movies are works that demand far more than a cursory look, as both of them deliver some of the attention demanding, visceral violent sequences while at the same time commenting on it, trying to say something new about it, or trying to say something about how we portray it. Let’s begin by looking at where these movies fit in the body of Choi Min-Sik’s acting work, and see how far we get.
Both movies mark the second time a prominent director would work with Min-Sik. LADY VENGEANCE is Park Chan-Wook’s third and final installment of his vengeance trilogy. Everyone widely regards OLDBOY as the one with Choi Min-Sik, however it’s one of the ones with him. The one he is featured in most prominently for sure, but he plays a major role in LADY VENGEANCE as well. I SAW THE DEVIL finds Min-Sik once again working with director Kim Jee-woon, whose film we looked at earlier, THE QUIET FAMILY, featured Choi in a supporting role. The similarities do not end quite there. For both films, the directors essentially had our man portray the ultimate embodiment of irredeemable evil filth. They knew who to go to. Park spoke on this to some extent, explaining that he wanted the antagonist to be this way so that there was no question of him deserving his comeuppance (he clearly does) at the hands of the families whose children he murdered. The question of morality then shifts entirely to those who would kill in the name of revenge -- if their actions are justified by their own merit. I am less clear on Jee-Woon’s intent on depicting unsophisticated pure evil. This may be what has gotten the film a bit less critical acclaim, or at the least a bit more of a raking over the coals among peers whose opinions I respect. I feel, though, it was something of an exercise on the part of Jee-Woon, to make something so extreme in its button-pushing that he was parodying the stuff we go to see, while at the same time delivering that stuff in spades. What I mean, I guess, is that he seems to be trying to have his cake and eat it too. If that is the case, I think he was successful. Whether or not that success makes the film a more praiseworthy critical work remains to be seen.
Other similarities pertaining to Choi Min-Sik: In both films he receives as much pain and suffering as he inflicts. In the case of LADY VENGEANCE, perhaps more even. He is made the proverbial whipping boy by the protagonist of both movies, emphasizing one of Min-Sik’s most brilliant feats: to convincingly portray both aggressive rage and harrowing suffering -- often in the same scene within seconds of one another. So, what do these two portrayals of unmoderated malevolence have in common? Eerily, both involve individuals who work with children. Min-Sik’s child killer in LADY VENGEANCE is an English teacher in prominent neighborhoods. In I SAW THE DEVIL, he portrays a more low profile busdriver.
Beyond that, there are differences that set Min-Sik’s roles in each film apart. While in LADY VENGEANCE, he more agreeably fits the profile of documented serial killers, the sociopath of I SAW THE DEVIL is a bit harder to swallow, an equal opportunity fountain of hate, spewing aggression on children and the elderly alike. He gets sexual gratification from intimidating women, attempting to rape two, while other female victims he seems content to dispatch with quickly and brutally, usually bludgeoning them to death. Males are not outside of his victim pool. They usually meet their ends due to unfortunate encounters with him, and are usually stabbed savagely. While LADY VENGEANCE posits Min-Sik as middle aged, out of shape, and more of a conniving villain, in I SAW THE DEVIL he seems older, more grizzled, yet a physical aggressor. His destructive path is indeed caricature-level superhuman, like when he disposes of a truck full of off duty soldiers.
As an overall feature film, LADY VENGEANCE has an incredible level of quality. It shows director Park’s knack for so many things: creating memorable, humorous exchanges between characters, even in...perhaps especially in dire situations. Here, in his attempt to make a film that stands on its own and provide something of a conclusion to the trilogy, it was perhaps overly ambitious. I the theater on the first run, I was captivate through and through. Later on, some scenes do seem to run a bit long, overly drawn out and melodramatic, especially when it pertains to protagonist Geum-ja’s forcibly abandoned daughter. Still, the fact that there even is that aspect of the film gives it such an impressive mythology of connected characters and intersecting back stories. Park playfully cast some of the South Korean film industry’s best talent to reposition players from earlier works of the trilogy. The detailed sociological discussion that follows the killer’s capture amongst Geum-ja and the family members of his other victims, whom she assembled together does not only comment on the empty victory that is revenge, but shows the mentality of those who were the victims, the difficulty of actually rising above.
I SAW THE DEVIL is, again, a lot less philosophical. What I meant earlier by Jee-Woon having it both ways is that his film pushes too many buttons with too much ease to not be showing off an awareness of the beast he has constructed, and one that has been created many times before --- enough so to force the question ‘why do it again?’. It starts out with a girl on a snowy road, stranded, pregnant, and moments later, the victim of Min-Sik’s brutal character. She also happens to be the wife of a top level government agent. Imagine all the times in the movies we’ve complained of something being too unlikely. This turns rational probability on its head and says ‘screw it, this IS a movie.’ It’s not the only time during the film it happens.
The movie is also an amazing flipping around of the conventions of this sort of film. Starting with the most high stakes killing at the beginning, there is no longer a chase with any stakes in it. And when the serial killer is found by the protagonist (played by Lee Byung-hun who worked with Jee-Woon in A BITTERSWEET LIFE), the suspenseful chase is again over, with the agent very un-heroically technologically tracking him so that he can beat him senseless whenever he acts up again. Like Geum-ja, these characters are preoccupied with how to truly punish a monster for whom death does not seem enough.
Later, when Min-Sik’s killer emerges from near death, covered in filth, laughing, incredulous at We may forget it as Jee-woon messes with our notions of morality, but that larger than life action movie aesthetic is thrown right back at us in this final scene.
The title still interests me. In answer to the question, ‘who is the devil?’ for a while it seemed pretty simple: Min-Sik’s nihilistic murderer. Yet, a bit of doubt has crept back in. Is the devil in the agent, as perceived by Min-Sik? It is the only individual that, at some point, brings out a reaction of fear. And isn’t the agent’s intent to keep the killer in a kind of purgatory -- a perpetual hell, where momentary glimpses of pleasure are suddenly yanked away and replaced by pain? Another idea I have is that the devil is intangible, not in Min-sik necessarily, but in the capacity for evil that Ii Byun-hon’s anti-protagonist finds in the murderer and in himself. His crazed and perfectly rendered act ambiguously laughing and crying suggests the hell that he is in.
I hesitantly venture to suggest Min-Sik’s is a meta-performance. He takes all of the crazed, explosive performances of the past and amps them up a thousand times. Yet, there is no explanation, no experiences or insight to connect him to any kind of reality. The other only other reference point I would point to is De Niro’s crazed killer in Cape Fear. He laughs and enjoys the torment he inflicts on others with a joy that that spreads creepily, infectiously to us in the audience. Wearing a rugged ‘one of the guys’ flannel (like he did in THE QUIET FAMILY), smoking a casually tilted cigarette, and often hamming things up...His performance is cries out killer as rock star.
Min Sik was in other acting roles besides these two between his performance OLDBOY and latest work NAMELESS GANGSTER. They were either not as interesting or,in the case of CRYING FIST will be shown at NYAFF’s side panel on Min-sik. In the meantime, I look forward to his turn in NAMELESS GANGSTER, and seeing which aspects of the man’s previous work come out in this long awaited return.
SCHEDULE of Choi Min-Sik’s films screened at NYAFF 12 (he will be at all of them)
OLDBOY -- Saturday, 6/30 1 PM
NAMELESS GANGSTER - Saturday, 6/30 9:00 PM
FAILAIN - Monday, 7/1 1:00 PM
CRYING FIRST - Monday, 7/1 9:00 PM
Visit the Subway Cinema New York Asian Film Festival website for more details.
The next installment of this trip through the movies of Choi Min-Sik that are not being shown at the New York Asian Film Festival 2012 sidebar dedicated to him includes two very different dramatic works, HAPPY END (1999) and CHI-HWA-SEON: PAINTED FIRE (2002). They lead up to his international breakout role in OLDBOY. Between these two movies came FAILAN (2001), being shown at the festival, reportedly at the insistence of Mr. Min-Sik. You can read DBBorrough’s thoughts on FAILAN over at Unseen Films.
HAPPY END End may be one of Choi Min-Sik’s most low key roles, along with THE QUIET FAMILY. However the length of time he spends in this subdued mode before the devious turn he takes in the film’s final movement is unsettling. In appearance, we have a Choi who resembles his role in OLDBOY before the legendary confinement sequence, but not ---ly drunk. He uncannily embodies a plain faced, burdened salary man (in this movie, a recently laid off one), which makes the dramatic turns his characters take all the more riveting. For much of the movie, he wallows about dejectedly, at first depressed about his unemployment and relative powerlessness in his relationship to his wife (played by Do-yeon Jean), the manager of an English school. Later on he is depressed by his growing awareness of an affair she has been having with a coworker.
It is a subtle portrayal, balanced by showing dutiful attention to the couple’s baby. He has a good natured resignation to his domestic role as he picks her up from daycare. Min-sik can also work with a scene to eschew deadpan humor, as when he whiles away time in a bookstore on romance and mystery novels, coyly aloof to the owner’s chiding that he might actually purchase one of the books. His sulky demeanor is a good counterbalance to Do-yeon’s more animated performance, as her emotional stability is in constant flux. She is frustrated with Seo’s (Min-Sik) despondency, conflicted by her acts of betrayal, and panicked by the discovery of an unexpected pregnancy. Near the end, when she exhaustedly suggests that she and her lover just commit suicide together, it is convincingly authentic appeal for escape.
Seo’s calm remains in effect until a heady steam releasing finale, which finds an indulgent self-absorption of the lovers to do things that callously threaten the infant’s life. This leads to Choi Min-Sik’s character to leap over the edge in an act that is in some part physical rage, but also cold calculation. It’s a move that is not so surprising to behold after some none too subtle hints dropped in earlier scenes. Still, having the range to transform from calm and docile to murderous is Choi Min-Sik’s game. He can do this like no other, making him an asset to this kind of film.
The movie on a whole is not such a memorable one. It starts out with a pretty explicit (as far as Korean films go) fling between Bora (Do-yeon Jean) and her lover, but there is no return to anything nearly as racy. If this movie was made more recently, the final act would have probably been made far more pointedly as a twist. And this might not have been such a bad thing. Much of the movie moves about in straightforward fashion with little art to it. The implications of the story’s final violent act, that life could calmly go on, is maybe even more unsettling than trying to dress things up in dramatic effect.
PAINTED FIRE is a historical drama, told epically, about real life 19th century sumi e ink painter Jang Seung-up. Choi-mink Sik anchors the film as he portrays the artist whose life was a constantly volatile journey. At first defensively combative owing to his lack of noble lineage, he went on to become a peerless talent who would be constantly tormented by desires to improve his artistic expression. Alcoholism, an abusive demeanor towards women, and an unrestrained manner would find him in and out of relationships, at times drifting penniless, at times raising the ire of those who would’ve studied his art with or under him.
The story opens with a Japanese journalist requesting to purchase one of Seung-up’s coveted pieces. For historical reference, this is at a moment of political turmoil as Chinese and Japanese forces battled for a foothold in their conflict, leaving a destitute Korea focusing on survival. After an insulting question about Seung-up’s background, we are brought back to his childhood, rescued from a beating by a master painter who would try to mentor Seung-up, but would prove to be inferior to Seung-up’s prodigious talent. Capturing his peers’ fascination with his ability, but spurring them with his crude manner, we follow as the artist rose in stature to the point where he could make demands to a prominent lord. Still, the state of upheaval along with his temperament would prevent Seung-up from any form of permanent inner peace.
It is hard to imagine another actor taking on this role with the same level of competence as Min-sik. He carries the gravity of an obstinate, yet philosophical, figure who is revered and feared by those around him. As drunkenness leads to out of control outbursts, we see the same kinds of raw emotional rages that he later delivers in OLDBOY.
To see Choi Min-sik’s range in dramatic situations, both films are worth taking a look at.
Next and last, before the festival kicks off, will be a look at two films, spread out over time, that lead up Choi Min-sik’s most recent NAMELESS GANGSTER. First is LADY VENGEANCE, followed by I SAW THE DEVIL. They both feature extreme depictions of madcap villainy, like only Choi Min-sik can do. Until then...
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New York Asian Film Festival Info: http://www.subwaycinema.com/nyaff12/
First things First: while it may out me as an unpedigreed Asian film fan, Choi Min Sik by far my most ideal guest from the realm of Asian film actors -- or maybe Asian film period -- that the New York Asian Film Festival could bring to New York. And bring him, they did. Since witnessing his gripping performance in OLDBOY, I have looked forward to the few but always high quality performances he puts into his roles. They are sometimes tortured, often sinister, and always impassioned. At the New York Asian Film Festival, Choi Min Sik will appear at screenings of four of his movies. I will attend all of them, starting with OLDBOY and continuing on with three movies I have not seen before: FAILAN, CRYING FIST, and his latest film from this past year NAMELESS GANGSTER.
In order to prepare for his appearance and perhaps inspire a bit of much deserved buzz, I will take a look at most of the movies Choi Min-Sik has appeared in that are not being shown at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival. You can read about those films elsewhere (I’d start by checking in on the many reviews at Unseen Films), and rather than watching them I hope all those in the New York City area will go right out to the theater screenings.
While OLDBOY was the first film to draw my attention to Choi Min-Sik, it was not the first movie I saw him in. Before that, there was SHIRI and THE QUIET FAMILY. These are the very first Korean movies I’ve seen, definite classics of South Korean cinema.
Although it came a year later, let’s begin with SHIRI since that was first in my rewatching sequence. It is an ambitious political thriller centered around the hot topic of South Korea-North Korea relations, and tells the tale of a North Korean para-military group’s attempt to blow a hole wide open in the already strained coexistence of the two independent nations.
Along with Choi Min-Sik is an incredible ensemble cast, one that moved on to a hugely impressive future body of work. The lead South Korean agent is played by Suk-Kyu Han, who plays a dejected cop facing demons of the past in WHITE NIGHT; his fiance/undercover North Korean assassin is played by none other than Yunjin Kim, who starred throughout all six seasons of LOST; and Song Kang-ho, playing another hotshot secret agent, who would later portray numerous flawed and unhinged characters in some of the most widely known and adored South Korean productions, among them: THE HOST, THIRST, & THE GOOD THE BAD THE WEIRD.
But going back to the man, Choi Min-Sik. Here, he plays an impenetrable lead agent carrying out the North Korean group’s operation. The movie begins with an uncharacteristically sleek and uniformed Choi leading a squad through routine exercises. It is a fast, disorienting sequence, and seems to have included murdering live targets. The next time he and his group will appear in the film is across the border between the two nations, impersonating South Korean soldiers in order to intercept a weapon of large scale destructive capacity.
For much of the movie, Choi is simply an ominous presence: killing with no remorse, barking out orders to his team. His range comes out in two scenes in particular: An emotional exchange between him and Yunjin Kim’s assassin character, shot at sharp angles and overwhelming closeups. As he questions her ability to maintain her cover and carry out their mission, he must also stop her from committing suicide with a handgun as she comes undone, having reached the breaking point in her life as a double agent. The other scene comes towards the climax, with an enraged Min-Sik revealing the true nature of his group’s intentions and giving an embittered rationalization of their cause. Here, as in other movies down the line, his voice goes from a growl into eerie high pitched yelps. He goes where other actors don’t with this ability to seem truly on the verge of losing control.
As for the movie on the whole, it is a solid thriller. Considering it was from a decade plus in the past, it has innovative ideas. The weapon stolen from the military and the means of spying on South Korean intelligence are impressive by today’s standards. And then there is a delirious death by suicide pill to look out for with its surprising results. SHIRI is definitely worth watching to see Choi Min Sik in one of his earlier dramatic roles.
THE QUIET FAMILY was made in 1998 and in it appears Choi in an uncharacteristically comedic supporting role. In fact here he is joined again by Song Kang-ho, playing the bumbling uncle and even more bumbling son of the titular family. It is amazing to see these two playing a pair of oafs together considering their future starring roles in such violent, psychodramatic films, perhaps beginning with their turns in Park Chan-Wook’s Vengeance trilogy: SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE (Kang-ho) and of course Choi in OLDBOY.
This movie was the debut feature of Kim Jee-woon, who would work again years later with Choi Min Sik on I SAW THE DEVIL. It is a fine example of black comedy about a traditional family unit running a failing inn in the middle of nowhere. When they cover up the death of a guest to avoid the bad light it would cast on business, they find their morality sliding down a slippery slope as a series of mishaps threaten to put them out of business.
This is rather subdued territory for Min-Sik, although we do get to see him chase a startled couple through the forest, waving a garden tool frantically. His most dramatic turn here is portraying a love struck middle aged man with less than stellar moves, as he tries to woo the daughter of a well off land developer to no avail. His infatuation even leads him to try to protect her from her selfish brother’s murderous scheme, putting him at odds with his brother, who is willing to look the other way for the sake of the family business.
Meanwhile the flaws of other members of the family are played up to humorous effect: The son’s perversions, the older daughter’s flighty attempts to throw herself at any potential male companion, and of course the ruthlessness of the mother and father, whose little acts of deceit grow bigger and bigger until they literally can’t keep their misdeeds buried. It’s a tribute to the bonds of family that breathes fresh life into the oneliner ‘the family that slays together stays together,’ yet also offers sharp-toothed commentary on the malleable values of older generations. Few films have put their elderly protagonists through such physical trials as in this one.
While THE QUIET FAMILY is not such a Min Sik-centric movie, it is a hilarious example of Korean cinema’s knack for dark humor, and gives an early look at the talent of Kang-ho and Jee-woon before they moved on to act and direct in tremendous projects.
Next up, if things go according to plan, is a viewing of PAINTED FIRE and HAPPY END, two Choi Min-Sik films from the early ‘90s, followed by a look at the two movies right here.
I interviewed Jae-Ho Change and Tara Autovino, directors of the spirited documentary ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING for Unseen Films. I edited down quite a bit. Theirs is a truly fascinating story, though, and I feel all the details of the conversation illuminate the challenges of making the film, the unique nature of UCW, and a way of life unfamiliar to many. What follows below is a more complete transcript of the interview.
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MondoCurry: How did you discover UCW?
Jae-Ho: It was on the radio. I heard it one morning. During the sports section they were talking what happened that night, and then at the very end, as a joke they mentioned, ‘oh also there is this group that wrestles for Jesus.’ I thought that was a pretty bizarre concept. At that time we were both going to grad school. We worked on projects together and we had similar interests. So I ran it by Tara and she did some more research, found a couple of places, what was it, South Carolina….?
Tara: There’s one in North Carolina, one in Texas, and one in Georgia that we ended up following. I think we wanted to follow them for a couple of reasons. They weren’t too slick but they weren’t amateurs. They were definitely pro wrestlers. That was a nice place to be and then also when I called Rob who is the founder of UCW, he was so friendly and he was like ‘sure come on down’ and he had no idea who we were. We just told him we were grad students at NYU and interested in finding out more. He invited us down there and we went and we ended up spending 3 years of our lives off and on, shooting.
MC: What got you most interested in the subject? Have either of you ever been fans of wrestling or was it the religious aspect of what they were doing?
Jae-Ho: It was just this bizarre concept. We were both into that sort of subculture. That was kind of our initial attraction. Let’s try to capture this. Then after spending 3 years with them it became something different.
MC: Was it your first time spending a significant amount of time in the South?
Jae-Ho: First time for me.
Tara: Half my mother’s family is from the South so I spent a fair amount of time in Georgia when I was a kid but the South is very different now than how it was.
MC: The title of the film suggests something that could be very outlandish but the story you presented is pretty subdued one. Did your plan of approaching the subject change along the way?
Jae-Ho: We as filmmakers felt that it’s such a shallow film if you just focus on the bizarre concept, and you can’t really make a feature film just based on that. We wanted to make a film that people can relate to...Or even people like us coming from the metropolitan area having a preconceived notion of who these people are … And then when we got to know them we changed our perspective on who they are. We felt that as responsible filmmakers, that is the kind of film we want to make. It’s too easy to make fun of these people. It becomes like a reality show. We tried to present our experience of realizing wow, these people are not who we think they are. Let’s try to create a film where people have these expectations and then they would change their perspective. It’s almost like our personal journey of how we experienced hanging out with them for 3 years. It’s what we wanted to show on the big screen.
Tara: That’s pretty much why we kept the title of the film the way we kept it: Because when you hear that title, you have all sorts of notions of what kind of film that could be. Most of them are probably over the top or negative, and when we reveal the world slowly, it’s exactly how we experienced it. So there’s that title and the shows and then it starts getting into the details of how much we are actually like them.
Jae-Ho: People wanted us to change the title because they were like ‘we expected one thing and it wasn’t about that. Maybe call it Ultimate Christian Wrestlers…’ But we felt like the title sort of serves the same function as the film, as in people have these expectations of what it is going to be and then it’s something else.
Tara: And it’s very symbolic of people judging other people based on superficial observations, what they look like, where they’re from, how they sound, the title of something…It’s a very don’t judge a book by its cover sort of thing. I can judge people based on what they look like and this was very much a practice of learning to find the similarities between us and them. Instead of it being an us and them thing, it’s about what we have in common.
MC: Do you have any religious experiences or beliefs that you were reminded of? Were any of them challenged by what you experienced when making the film?
Tara: I think one of the strengths of working on this project together is that we both come from very different religious backgrounds, both Christian based but very different. I had a very negative experience growing up and was mainly dismissive as a teenager. I wanted to study philosophy and I was really anti-religion when I was in my early 20’s.
Jae-Ho: For me, growing up being Korean I was pretty much born into Christianity. I had a good experience growing up being Christian. It was not a choice so it was a natural thing for me to go to Church on Sundays with my family. When I was in college, I felt like I could make a choice now if I want to go or believe these things. So it was a good thing when we were filming that we had these opposite points of view. That helped to balance the context of what we have in the film.
MC: When you saw the live events did anything strike you as offensive or go against your sensibilities on Christianity?
Jae Ho: In the beginning it was really bizarre because of the fact that it’s a very violent sport and with Christianity, you don’t think of that. Once I got over that, it was pretty inspiring. I think they do a really smart thing because when you watch these wrestling shows, you get really revved up when you’re watching, and that continues with the whole religious aspect of it. And they use the people’s emotions to channel that into Christianity and try to convert people. I can see why people get so into it because they’re really passionate about wrestling in the South and then also Christianity and just combining those two and taking advantage of those emotions people are feeling at a wrestling show…I can see the direction that they’re going. And Rob is such a cult of personality and very convincing when he talks. To me it was very inspiring in a way.
MC: The film tells some very personal stories. I wondered if there was any one wrestler or one of the families in the film that you felt particularly invested in emotionally?
Tara: We followed around a lot of wrestlers, not just the three that ended up in the film. I think the ones in the film are the ones that touched us the most, particularly Billy Jack, the one with the son Cody. And Justin and his brother… Seeing that struggle, it was hard to have a relationship with them because we had friendships with all of these people. Watching them go through what they go through and not being able to do anything about it and just sort of sitting there with their pain…I’m grateful for the experience, that they let us in for that, but those are why those stories ended up making the film in the end.
MC: Both Billy Jack and Justin always appear very positive in dealing with their struggles. Did they always have such a strong optimism when you were around them?
Tara: Throughout the film they did. They attribute it to their faith and I attribute it to their faith. No matter what we agree or disagree on in terms of belief systems, they have something that gets them up in the morning and motivates them to make positive changes in their lives and for other people. All they want to do is help other people and so you can’t really judge people if they’re trying to do good. Who am I to say what’s right or what’s wrong. It’s really moving to me when people are able to go through hardship and have faith that it’s going to change and that it’s going to get better. It’s really inspiring.
Jae-Ho: Going back to your previous question, because I used to live in Korea, and then in high school I came here and moved in with my aunt, I could relate to what Justin was going through...Living with another family and you kind of have to watch your behavior, tiptoe around because they’re doing you a favor. Also what I’d like to talk about is the theme of what I have discovered through the film is people who take chances to better their lives, which is something we all strive to do. For me that is the biggest fear of trying something out: Watching it fail. For them to do that is very inspirational to me. That for me was the personal journey I went through when I watch the film. I’m exorcising my demons through them as they’re taking these chances.
Tara: And it’s not like these chances all turned out so great. It’s not like they necessarily knew where they were going to end up by this point in the film. Justin had different or higher hopes. They all had higher hopes. I think Jae-Ho’s pointing to the most important thing, which is that they took the chance, that they’re trying and they’ll continue to try. Dreams don’t always look the way you think they’re going to when you arrive at them. Once you achieve them, usually they don’t feel the way you think they’re going to feel.
Jae-Ho: Like you said, because they’re religious they can put a positive spin on these situations.
Tara: Right, like Rob when he says ‘I guess this is not what we’re supposed to be doing anymore.’ That’s such a great way to look at things instead of wallowing in the negative. He’s just living his life to the fullest, which is inspiring.
MC: Were there aspects of their personal stories that you wanted to show more of but were, for whatever reason, prevented from doing?
Tara: That’s hard to answer because, since this was a documentary, we don’t really know what we’re following when we’re following it. In the end we look at all this footage and it is what it is. That’s just how life went. And I could probably think of things where it’s like “wouldn’t it be cool if this happened,” but I think we did a pretty good job. There’s plenty of other stuff we chose to omit based on privacy out of respect for the wrestlers, so I think what we have I’m pretty satisfied with.
Jae-Ho: Yeah some stuff we were like, it’s great, and it’s controversial and people are gonna like it or be interested in it, but we didn’t want to exploit these characters. I don’t think that’s the kind of film we want to make.
Tara: There are certain things that, as documentary filmmakers following people’s very personal moments, we feel like we’re crossing a boundary. Even though that boundary has been signed away in writing, it’s our personal belief that everyone deserves the right to privacy…Even if they are participating in a documentary.
Jae-Ho: We didn’t want to sensationalize some of that stuff. It’s the easy way to go if you go that way but we chose not to.
Tara: and it’s definitely the harder way to go. Which we’re very happy with, but it’s a very subtle film. It’s kind of intentionally subtle.
MC: You met and filmed a lot of different wrestlers who probably weren’t used to being in front of a camera. What were the various reactions to being filmed?
Jae-Ho: We knew that coming from NY, they were going to be very guarded because they’re doing such a bizarre thing. And they were in the beginning. But Tara and I knew it was going to be a process if you want to make a great film about these people’s lives. So we would go there, not always with a camera, and hang out with them, spend holidays with them, eat with them, and that’s how you slowly build the trust. That we knew going into this project. It was hard. There were moments where they didn’t owe us anything so they would completely not even call us back. So, we would have to wait around. We would have to convince them: Hey we’re doing this thing, please let us in to what you’re doing. There were struggles. We lucked out that they were into it and eventually felt natural in front of the camera.
Tara: That process took nine months of interacting with them and having the camera in front of them until they really started to let down their guard.
Jae-Ho: Thank God we had the wrestling to shoot because we were focusing on that in the beginning and then we had the behind the scenes stuff. And that’s a gradual process and they get used to that. And then we go ‘can we come to your home and shoot some of that?’ It’s kind of apparent in the film where we talk to Cody, when he talks about his mom.
Tara: When he’s sitting on Billy’s lap. They are so stiff.
Jae-Ho: That’s very early on.
Tara: But that’s great because it kind of follows…It does follow the structure of the film: The emotional progress of the story.
MC: The film makes it clear that the shows were all done for free and not for any kind of profit. How did they manage to fund things?
Jae-Ho: Was it donations? They had a concession stand…
Tara: There were donations. They had a concession stand. For a time they were getting some funding from various churches in the area who thought what they were doing was interesting so they got some support from that. But ultimately, that’s why they had to stop: Because financially, they couldn’t keep it together.
MC: We see them do some sophisticated professional wrestling techniques. How did they learn them?
Jae-Ho: They used to wrestle in independent leagues in Georgia down South. And, because of those experiences of drugs and a lot of alcohol behind the scenes…That’s what they got sick of and created this league where they could have a family friendly show, have wrestling and have Christianity. So they’ve been in the industry for a while.
MC: Over the course of three years, do you know how many of the live events you went to?
Jae-Ho: We were all over Georgia, then Alabama…ten...
MC: Was that all of the live events that they had during that time?
Jae-Ho: They had more. They had one every weekend.
Tara: We followed their shows and then, when some of them went on the indie circuit, we would follow that. If there was nothing going on some of them would go to the indie circuit.
Jae-Ho: Secular shows. That’s what surprised us because they would go to these shows that would take about 2 hours to drive to and they would be in this match for about ten minutes and that’s it. And they would still love doing it. They were really passionate about wrestling.
MC: Some of the sequences of things that happen around the matches, before and after, get shown pretty quickly. Some it is easy to place in a context but some if it seemed very confusing. Did you find that, watching the events from beginning to end, there was a clear narrative? Did you ask the guys to explain certain aspects of the shows they put on?
Jae-Ho: It was confusing for us too and I think that is the beauty of it. And that’s what we tried to portray in the film as well. We could’ve easily said, ‘hey could you explain to us what today’s theme is?’ but I think that’s the beauty of UCW and what we’re trying to portray is: it’s kind of confusing and it’s not a perfect show…
Tara: It’s not a perfect system, but they definitely got the passion.
Jae-Ho: Yeah, it’s about the passion.
MC: This is a question more for you, Jae-Ho. As you watch the film it seems like it’s not an ethnically diverse area you are shooting in. Did your being Korean American cause any guarded otherwise unusual reactions at first?
Jae-Ho: I think I would get more racial comments here than there. Because people are very polite there…Well, one kid called me ‘Jap’ there. But not like in an offensive way. I think that’s just what he had heard at home. But being a minority, it was OK. I feel like Asians are nonthreatening to the people, right? Asians as a race are like perceived as nonthreatening, docile people.
Tara: That’s the stereotype. But I would just say in the defense of the South, Atlanta is an extremely diverse city. I was shocked at how cosmopolitan it has become and how racially diverse it has become. So, at least flying into Atlanta I almost felt like it was more mixed down there than up here.
MC: How far out from Atlanta were you staying or were the wrestlers mostly based?
Tara: We were all over Georgia. I think the only area we didn’t cover was the Savannah area. But we were in Macon and Rome and way up in LJ in the mountains, Athens. We covered pretty much everywhere in Georgia, with the exception of the South East.
MC: Did you set some rules for yourselves, being away from the usual comforts of home? Did you want to force yourselves to stick certain parts of the experience out?
Tara: We spent the summer of 2007 there completely living out of extended stay hotels.
Jae: It was more budgetary reasons that forced us to do that. Remember we got that cabin in the mountains?
Tara: We got this cabin in the mountains which was a little bit too remote for us. We had to do things like…We had to get a gym membership because you don’t walk at all. You drive everywhere. Especially in the more suburban areas, it’s not set up for walking so we had to get exercise…
Jae-Ho: Because of the food you eat. All the iced tea.
Tara: Yeah, so we had to make some lifestyle adjustments while we were there. Although we were thoroughly enjoying the cuisine while we were there.
Jae-Ho: They don’t drink water there. It’s iced tea.
Tara: And it’s sweetened ice tea. So much sugar. The eating part was pretty shocking and the lack of mobility was kind of hard to adjust to.
MC: Have you kept in touch with the guys in the film and do you know what any of them are up to now?
Jae-Ho: On and off. Facebook helps. Cody is in high school. He’s still wrestling. Billy Jack retired and he became a nurse. He’s always changing his occupation. He studied to become a nurse and he became a nurse. Then he went back to wrestling. And now he’s into car racing. Justin is overseas a lot. He’s on a boat a lot because he’s in the Navy. Rob, I believe he’s still teaching. He’s a special ed teacher.
MC: Did having this experience affect your future plans? Do you feel like there is more to this story, or some theme from this story, you’d like to explore further or are you ready to close the chapter on Ultimate Christian Wrestling?
Tara: I’m ready to do something else and my tendency is always to go towards more rural areas and Christian related themes. But before I do that, I’m going to try and challenge myself with something else.
Jae-Ho: To me I like Asian American stories and this is more outside of what I usually do. I would never go down to Georgia and film in rural areas, but it was a great experience. But it’s been 7 years so it’s probably time to do something else.
MC: Did doing this film leave you wanting to do more documentary work?
Jae-Ho: This is our first feature and we’re both trained narrative fiction film makers. Since this is our first feature, we’re kind of perceived as documentary filmmakers. I realize it’s the same thing. You’re still telling stories. I like docs because writing is really painful for me and lonely. Documentaries are great because you go and you start shooting and you’re part of the environment. Like I said, you get to go to new places. I’d like to continue to do both…And it’s all about creating compassionate characters… and docs are great. It’s almost like you do research when you shoot docs. You get to go live in places and hang out with people that you don’t know and you get to see how they behave. And that all feeds into if you’re going to write for a character. Those experiences all help. I’m afraid to be pigeonholed as a documentary filmmaker but I want to pursue both.
MC: As far as topics for another documentary, do any jump to your mind?
Jae-Ho: There are so many. When I read the newspaper I like to save certain articles that seem like they will be great stories. The one I want…I don’t know if I have the guts to do it yet…is about the hazing in the army. I think there were two Korean Americans, or they were Asian American soldiers who got hazed, and ended up committing suicide. It happened twice. If they were not Asian Americans, would I have done it? Probably not. Something about a person being Asian American, being bullied, there is a kind of emotional attachment that I feel when I hear that story. So that is something I’m kind of toying with…If I am going to do something next for documentary.
A problem is it kind of happened already. All the press. I’d rather make films about things that are happening now. Cinema verite style instead of a lot of talking heads. And so that’s something I’m worried about too. And also the responsibility of portraying the story is a lot of responsibility when you make something like that. That’s something I need to conquer in a way, the fear of how it’s going to be perceived, how it might get criticized for being this way or that way. But all that kind of stuff is something that I really need to work out before I dive into something serious like this.
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Ultimate Christian Wrestling was screened at the 2012 Korean American Film Festival in NY. For more information visit KAFFNY.com
Me on twitter = @mondocurry
