The Tribeca Files 3: Of Monsters And Men...Who Will Soon Be Turned Into Monsters - FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY

FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY is the ultimate found footage horror film. It’s a straightforward, free-of-complications depiction of a Russian platoon’s rescue mission into a remote World War II era Nazi occupied village. What they, and by proxy we fortunate viewers, find in this presumably alternate history are monstrous amalgamations of man and machine that decimate their numbers until the film reel ends. But not before introducing us to a devilish take on the iconic pop culture figure with a god complex.   

One watches the Czech production with a sense that something impossibly esoteric has been unearthed; from the rubble of battle torn ruins or perhaps the bottom of drawer containing secreted away, classified files. This footage is imbued with an old stock quality that blankets us with a warm antiquated feeling.

It also makes the viewing feel closer to being a head on experience. It’s an inherent quality of found footage films that is all too often neglected. The lurching stops and starts create disorientation and a sense that physical harm is rapidly descending upon us. Kind of like the most incredibly conceived of concept for a haunted house attraction ever.

The monstrous creations enlisted in FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY are literally the stuff of nightmares. When my dreams go dark, they rarely contain easily identifiable figures. They tend to be distorted mixtures of various cultural reference points. That’s what director –‘s inventions are like, adding another layer to the experience not unlike feeling trapped in a helpless dream. Another great use of the found footage mode makes it so they do not ever feel neatly framed. There is no outward acknowledgment that this is a movie. Instead they lurch awkwardly about, sometimes not even aware of our presence. Threatening to notice and turn in our direction at any given moment.

Yet they are not without their vintage historic scifi (re: Steampunk) appeal. propeller blades, divers' helmets, and other mechanisms are repurposed in thrilling ways. Terror intersects astonishment.

Also of note is the brilliantly oppressive soundtrack. Between the fade in and out of thundering, militaristic propaganda dirges are dense walls of sound. The racket of a giant generator, for instance. When it fades momentarily, you feel like you’ve been given a reprieve. (You’ll also probably notice the enthusiastic applause of other viewers.)

Can it not be said that FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY is a powerful statement on the horrors of war? Sorry for getting serious while we’re all glazed over with thoughts of propeller-faced behemoths and other warped monstrosities, but the instances of anti-heroism in FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY seem to form a pretty blunt statement on the subject. There is bullying behavior and bloodthirsty intent in the part of the team we follow. Nobility appears more in the meek civilians encountered along the way. And the rescue mission itself is tainted by hidden agendas. Yes, while the film does operate as a tour of sensory delights, it does in fact have a plot worthy of keeping your attention on the interplay between characters.

That Raaphorst has acclaim as an ad director is no surprise. He has an obvious gift for animating scenes that will remain in viewers’ unconscious. This probably has a lot to do with FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY being a successful exercise in form as well as content. The movie is in fact a shot in the arm to the realm of creature design, giving recent forerunners in this twisted art like Yoshihiro Nakamura cause to up their game. His cult-worthy Tokyo Gore Police has nothing on FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY.

FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. Its future fate is of no small amount of intrigue.

Follow this link for some sketches of the creature designs. But make a point of seeing their blessedly CGI-less animated forms on a large screen.

Tweet-tivity: @mondocurry  

The Tribeca Files 2: Plenty of Bark and Bite in BIG BAD WOLVES

Is it just me or are two of the settings in BIG BAD WOLVES mirror images of Korean suspense films? A not at all by the book (unless referring to its use as a weapon) interrogation scene seems transported to the open air level of a building where black market organs are sold in Sympathy forMr. Vengeance. Later, a frantic search in a school’s empty lot (or is it a greenhouse?) is reminiscent of a field where a major confrontation in I Saw The Devil occurred. This is not snark, I genuinely want to know if any of these scenes ring familiar, or is it just me? The idea of Israeli directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado channeling imagery from these films, either unconsciously or not, is an interesting theory – to me, anyway. In recent years South Korea has certainly been a go to scene for technically adept and innovative examples of suspense thrillers, particularly those dealing critically with the idea of vengeance. And Keshales and Papushado seem determined to deliver a crowning achievement in that very field.

In many ways the makers of BIG BAD WOLVES seem like they are ‘going for it,’ treating suspense filmmaking as a contact sport they are playing to win. Going back to my ‘Korean idea,’ I would not be surprised if they were studious observers of the shining examples from throughout the realm of suspense and psychological thrillers. They are extremely fluent in the genre.

The tone is set in the film’s opening moments. Children play what seems like an innocent game, but a bombastic score screws up the tension around the slightest movement or expression. Shot in a highly stylized semi slow motion, their eyes and smiles suggest malice. And indeed many moments down the line will feel similarly spring-loaded with potential catastrophe just around the corner.

At the core of this story is grizzly serial child murder and the resulting vigilante-like intentions of two characters riding a very blurred line between protagonist/antagonist. Their motivations are driven by frustration with the perceived red tape of bureaucracy on one part; pure and simple vengeance on the other. 

An investigation into the crimes is joined midway, a suspect in the crosshairs of law enforcement, with details on how he came to be there pointedly lacking. There is scarcely little insight into these crimes from the killer’s or even a forensics expert’s point of view. Instead, we follow a cop who’s been taken off the case for his questionable methods, and the father of the latest victim as they engage in a bizarre and darkly comic trial of errors with the meek suspect.

The film is a very purposeful button pusher. There are probably very good cops in Israel but they are not depicted between the frames of this movie. Everyone who has any kind of serious impact in the male dominated cast is corrupt, operates above according to their own interpretation of the law, or is just plain inept. There are implications that suggest everyone in is a secret, or not so secret torturer. Yet, the movie‘s script is playful throughout, perhaps making the seriousness of the cultural satire go down a bit easier.

Humor takes a much larger role in the production than one might expect. The pair so doggedly out for blood show signs of being both believably vicious and at other times, laughably flawed. Enter the ‘cameo’ of a Palestinian, on horseback no less, whose presence plays ruthlessly with cultural stereotypes and drops a heaping load of hypocrisy right in our laps.

Things move nimbly from the comedic to cringe inducing gruesome acts, with no lack of the red stuff, when it counts.  It even includes a moment of the now timeworn tradition of depicting sinister doings set to misaligned cheerful music. In short, Keshales and Papushado seem to be having a blast flexing their skills of execution with this sort of filmmaking.

My one complaint is an unresolved feeling at the film’s conclusion. Some courses of action suggested an outcome that would make a more coherent critical statement, yet it seems to be dealing with something else. While it’s a mostly powerful indicting statement from start to finish, the final allotment of outcomes doesn’t quite put a fitting cap on these ideas in my view. Still confused is a much lesser offense worse than dull, and there were few moments I did not find myself inching toward or already at the edge of my seat.

Big Bad Wolves receives its world Premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Visit the festival website for more information.

Twitter: @mondocurry

The Tribeca Files 1: When a DARK TOUCH Falls on Deaf Ears

The Violent Eye, in collusion with Unseen Films, will be bringing you looks at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. In its first bit of festival coverage, the 'Eye will focus on genre films in the realms of crime and suspense, as well as all those in the Midnight category. So it begins with DARK TOUCH. Follow the exploits of Violent Eye conduit to the flesh world Mondocurry on twitter.

At various points in DARK TOUCH, you may find yourself wondering how people in the film can be so blind to what’s happening? Do they not know how this works? Have they not been to the movies before?

But then, characters, or more specifically, adults that populate the provincial Irish hamlet where the story takes place don’t really notice or listen to much of anything. This seems a major point of Marina De Van‘s stylized riff on classic horror, taking the ‘little girl besieged by paranormal activity’ formula and souping it up with a shot of social commentary, if not entirely turning it inside out.

The little girl in question is Neve, wide eyed and wearing an expression of perpetual unease. Child actress Missy Keating does a wonderful job channeling a forlorn sense of knowing into her frail form. She moves slowly, as if on brittle legs, suggesting she is aged beyond her years.

After the turmoil of a messy opening scene, we get hints of some kind of trauma. And then, things go ballistic. The film sets itself apart by not beating around the bush with typical shadowy appearances and slamming doors. Instead, furniture flies about, explodes, or shoots across rooms to pin people down, while sharp ends make savage incisions on their targets. It’s the first of a few impressively wrought and very bloody transgressions.

This incident leaves Neve an orphan, so naturally, a couple once close to her parents take her in while awaiting a more permanent arrangement. Remember the adage, ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’ In effect it is the small town itself with its quaint 1 room schoolhouse that adopts her.

Naturally things begin to go awry, but not with the usual plodding about as in your typical house horror film. It’s quite apparent to everyone in the audience, even to Neve herself who, in a moment of self-awareness, declares, “I’m the one that does all this.” Yet, it is the adults of the film who don’t notice because they are too busy being…adults.

Seen as a typical revenge of the abused against the abuser story, I could see this lacking excitement. But (and perhaps this is some recent sociocultural studies classes doing the talking) DARK TOUCH seems preoccupied with a more encompassing notion of how adults act toward children, which doesn’t end with physical abuse. The act of control, of assuming knowledge of what’s best without actually listening, seems just as much an affront. De Van suggests, and none too subtly, how the children here are being socialized to carry this same pattern out from generation to generation. This is shown in a (hopefully) soon to be classic “birthday” scene that I found playfully macabre.  As well as scenes where Neve, assuming an antagonistic role, begins mimicking the ‘adults talk’ she has been hearing around her.

Cataloging the aspects of DARK TOUCH’s production that I liked could be done routinely enough. Sinister soundtrack. Claustrophobic spaces. Children bearing creepily threatening likenesses. Checks all around.

Rather, it is the points where DARK TOUCH seems to go ‘off the rails’, like the aforementioned interior explosions, that I am most interested in. There is definitely a point where logic falls by the wayside and events lose their connectivity. A more dreamlike sensibility takes over, perhaps giving in fully to Neve’s wrathful state of mind. Visually arresting scenes of destruction more than make up for any loose ends or lacking explanations. As an impressionistic lashing out against a certain cultural phenomenon, it makes quite an impact.

DARK TOUCH receives its world premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. It plays. Visit the festival website for more details.

Korean High Kick Boys Bare FISTS OF LEGEND

                                       

Having seen FISTS OF LEGEND, the new martial arts film from South Korean hit director Kang Woo-Suk (Public Enemy, Moss), I’ve had it on the brain. My thoughts have now turned to imagining it as a gala musical production. It has the makings of: A lengthy running time of Bollywood epic proportions, atypical of the average martial arts competition story. An interweaving of long dramatic interludes that takes us through key moments in the main characters’ teen years up to their adult lives.  All that’s needed is some catchy tunes and choreographed dance numbers.

Fear not fight film fans, balking at the idea as being too camp. That’s all in my mental wanderings. FISTS OF LEGEND exists right now a mostly sober martial arts film.  And, along with its numerous depictions of hand to hand combat, it absolutely stretches, pulls, and reshapes the traditional genre beyond the usual conventions.

The story is built around the premise of a reality-based tv show bearing the same name, which invites average citizens preceded by reputations of great fighting prowess to prove their ability in MMA competition.  Their incentives are the chance to achieve newfound glory and significant sums of money for each match won.   Three of the contestants, all living unique but troubled lives independent of one another, happen to share a past connection, one steeped in violent strife that none of the three is eager to return to. The story shifts between the tragedy-lined past and the contestants’ current situations, with the Fists of Legends program beckoning them in.

 Front and center in the cast is Hwang Jung-Min playing Lim Deok-Yu, a one time Olympic boxing hopeful who now runs the family noodle shop while

raising his adolescent daughter as a single parent. The opportunity to see HWANG in a major role is not one to pass up. My admiration of this star on the rise stems from seeing him play a weary, corrupt detective in The Unjust and a flashy but formidable expatriate gangster of Chinese decent in the recent New World. And that’s far from the whole of his acting accomplishments. Here he gets to show off a more nuanced performance range, capturing the good natured humbleness of someone content to be alive and accepting of his lot in life, yet haunted by his troubled past. Frustration and even rage are added to his emotional palate while trying to take care of his rebellious daughter and finding himself overwhelmed by her social problems at school.

Another bit of interesting casting finds Lim’s teenage counterpart played by Park Jung-min, a young actor who delivered a riveting debut performance in indie film Bleak Night. That movie was a stunning exploration of the culture of violence surrounding adolescent teens. Park portrayed a victim of bullying; yet here he is the most dominant fighter of the area schools, modest at first, but soon showing signs of bravado and later, rage when his ambitions to fight nationally run afoul of corrupt powers that be.

As an interesting tradeoff to the competitive matches that take place in qualifying rounds and, eventually, a tournament spectacle, we see a lot of violent interactions involving the characters in their high school days. Fights occur between rival school gangs and, eventually, between the main characters and local gangsters. At times these make for some of the more dynamic battle scenes, especially a nightclub brawl in which the high kick boys, fraught with frustration and recklessness, engage in a frenzied over the top battle with an army of thugs on their own turf that soon attracts police into the fray as well.

The mixed martial arts sequences are no slouch either. In fact, it’s a feat to marvel at considering Hwang and his colleagues’ lack of prior training, all coming from backgrounds of playing dramatic roles. Matches are fast-paced with lots of striking blows. There are kicks that comes crashing down on opponents’ heads to look out for, and a wrestling style throw in the final fight shot from an incredible angle. Also worth noting is the fact that Lim and his peers have their own unique fighting styles portrayed consistently throughout the film.

While the story is a sound one, a few aspects left me a bit cold.  There is a certain pale vagueness about the venue where matches take place. It seems almost as though it could be part of an underground fighting circuit, or maybe the set of a low budget television production…the latter is in fact what I believe it’s supposed to be. The colorlessness about it makes some of the earlier fights seem a little too distant.

The film’s unconventional inclusion of characters’ detailed backstories along with their current dealings, while a daring move, can also take away a bit from the total impact of its parts. It feels like a lot to keep track of at times. There are antagonists, inside and out of the ring, but they lack the intensity one comes to expect in a fight-centric story.

At the same time, it marks an interesting shift from the typical, and perhaps dated goals of such films, which focus on the main character trying to best an archrival. Here, more socially conscious themes of salvaging damaged friendships and taking care of family take precedence.

Yet, society is a prominent character in most of South Korea’s compelling films, and here as well, it serves as a worthy adversary to the protagonists. School bullying, the allure of organized crime on a disenchanted and misdirected generation, and corruption all contribute significantly to their struggles. The end goal, while not the bashing in of a hated rival, involves a different set of values, coming together of friends despite past differences, and strengthening of family bonds.

Another curious aspect of Fists’ is its inclusion of various nods to American culture. From the sprinkling of one-word English phrases throughout the fictional program’s production, to the variation on ‘Eye of the Tiger’ that scores the big tournament. And there is the name of one of the commentators, ‘Jason,’ perhaps meant to reference him as a former competitor with a Korean American background. The show’s female producer and self-professed creator of the show promotes it aggressively and tries to wrangle the protagonists into the competition. Her manner seems far from the traditional modest disposition expected of women in Korean society. I would be very curious to learn if her dialogue contains uncharacteristic qualities, and if this just happens to be, or if it is in fact a challenge to old fashioned cultural norms.

Are these traits a sign of affection for Western culture? Or, in light of the prominent South Korean directors making recent English language film directing debuts, is it a call for more cultural exchanges and collaboration? Another hint of this comes by way of its release details:  FISTS OF LEGEND opens this weekend in select US theaters, including here in New York and New Jersey, just a few days after its debut in its native South Korea.

Me on twitter = @mondocurry

Kitano Takeshi Takes the Lethal Gangster Lifestyle One Step Beyond: Outrage Beyond (アウトレイジ ビヨンド) review

                       
After flooring audiences with OUTRAGE a Yakuza film that walked a fine line between traditional gangster tale and modern, perhaps even critically aware, storytelling, Takeshi Kitano has returned to take things a step further with followup OUTRAGE: BEYOND. I had the good fortune to get an early look at this second chapter when it was included in a select but powerful Midnight Movie sidebar in this year’s New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. Should the series extend to a third installment, which I highly anticipate being the case, this may very well be series’ ‘Empire (Strikes Back),’ a more somber, downbeat followup to its action-packed precursor.

But don’t be mistaken; the first OUTRAGE is nothing less than grim. It took viewers on a deliberately paced tour of shady deals, heated arguments, and acts of intimidation, all adhering to a code with an inner logic nearly impossible for outsiders to fully comprehend. The further the film progressed, acts of violence became more frequent and more brutal, particularly those carried out against Otomo (played by Kitano) and his gang, the Otomo group, whose prowess made them both a weapon and a target of the most powerful Sanno Kai Yakuza clan. As each member fell like dominoes, those waiting for a burst of retaliation would be left cold. The string of violence was presented in bleak business-like fashion, with one betrayal leading to another to another until a new regime would be left calling shots from the inner circle.

The violence here is also colder, more functional. There are less of the morbidly inventive, cringe inducing scenes of violence that pepper the first movie (though a few will brand themselves upon the brain, one of particular nastiness involving a batting range). But they are just as savage. This serves to breathe an even greater sense of realism and for that it is all the more ominous.   

Part 2 also arguably trims some of the fat found in the first movie. Take for instance, its segments where the Otomo group tricks and blackmails an African diplomat into doing their bidding and essentially being under their thumb. They may add some humor and may even be based on real life events. But for the most part, they distract from the rising tensions between the various players as they jockey for positions of power. There is nothing like that in ‘BEYOND. Instead it maintains a sustained note of dread and build up to the grisly fates that await much of the cast.  

Without a doubt, Keiichi Suzuki’s ice cold original soundtrack score drives home this sense of uneasiness. Used to even greater effect than in the first Outrage, it feels as though it could have been lifted from an ‘80s horror film. It will no doubt tickle the fancy of those who appreciated the retro leaning soundtracks of films like Drive and Beyond the Black Rainbow.   

If the first Outrage was an elegy on disloyalty, then Outrage: Beyond is a steely eyed vision of comeuppance, the wheel of karma turning to crush those who would discard honor to feed one’s own greedy ambitions. This could not have been made any clearer than in the film’s startlingly abrupt, head on conclusion. Characters, both new and familiar from the first film are faced with the seeds sown by their treachery, as all the while a new power structure is brought into the picture in the form of a rival criminal organization based in Osaka.

As before, Otomo stands out as an anomaly. Dirt in the eye of the established power structures, causing them to rub and scratch in irritation.  Unlike the first film, where this was caused by his over the top viciousness and flouting of typical mobster ambition, ‘BEYOND finds an Otomo that is weary of the game and unwilling to play the pawn-like role other powers that be have in mind for him. He is introduced into the sequel, having been believed to be dead after a vicious stabbing, being released from prison early. This arrangement is made by returning police officer specializing in organized crime Kataoka, whose plans for Otomo are no less manipulative or acidic than the criminal organizations rankled by the fact of his existence. He hopes that Otomo’s release will lead him to lash out against those forces that had led to his downfall, as well as those who are vying for control of the local crime syndicates. Otomo has other ideas on his mind, though.

The shifty cop Kataoka has a more prominent role than in the first OUTRAGE. He and other returning characters, as well as a few new ones have caricature-like personas that would fit perfectly into a Coen Brothers film. Standing out most, perhaps, are the Osaka-based crime boss Fuse’s two right hand men, Nishino and Nakata. The intensity of their pronounced speech as they bully about those that come before Fuse has an offbeat comedic element, something that is probably a hallmark of Kitano being at the helm of the production.

Also noteworthy is the stark absence of female roles in the film (the poster above gives an accurate sense of this). Even the first had very few women, and then they were placed in only the most cursory supporting roles. But I do not think I would be off in my estimation that female characters have less than a minute total onscreen time in ‘BEYOND. Here it is as if Kitano wants to increase the authenticity of his product. This Yakuza world is ruled and kept running by old, provincial men and, like it or not, that is exactly what we are getting with Kitano’s film. Or perhaps it is an insistence on distilling only the most essential components of this karmic tale. This stands in contrast to a vast collection of Yakuza tales directed by Takashi Miike, whose films include female characters as little more than victims and sexual objects, yet do little to evoke empathy or call for a critical look at the situation.

A standout feature of both OUTRAGE films, but especially ‘BEYOND, is that they in no way glamorize this violent lifestyle or make it seem cool. Not even a little. Those in power are calculating, lacking in empathy, and seem immobile, as if they’ve burrowed themselves into their powerful seats and are too set in their ways, or fearful of their downfall, to move. At the outset Kato (usurper of the Sanno Kai) and his number two, Ishihara (who betrayed the Otomo group in the first film) in control, the direct result of their double crossing transgressions in OUTRAGE’s conclusion. Any so-called honor or respect goes out the window as they are shown putting the older members of the group on notice: if they do not get with the times and learn the ways of the modern (re: economic) con, their days are numbered. It adds an interesting theme of generational conflict to the already blackened vision of a landscape where there is virtually no honor amongst thieves.

With this festival screening coming right around the same time as the film’s native Japanese release date, there is no telling its future quite yet. Let’s hope the success of the first film and fresh take on a classic genre will add some speed to OUTRAGE BEYOND’s path toward these shores.

A Man Rode Into Town 2: interview with JI Ha-Jean director of BLOODY FIGHT IN IRON ROCK VALLEY

During the summer, with images from the New York Asian Film Festival still seared into my brain, I hoped to learn more about one of the festival's less heralded yet highly impressionable films BLOODY FIGHT IN IRON ROCK VALLEY. Shot on a shoestring budget, it's a modern take on the classic Western with a main protagonist driven by revenge (reviewed here). I sought out an interview with the South Korean film's newcomer director JI Ha-Jean. He graciously answered my questions via email, giving thorough insight into his vision and the trials of making a low budget action film.

Q: I have come across many independent films from South Korea that are dramas or horror films, but not so many action. Bloody Fight In Iron Rock Valley is a very skillfully made action film. What drew you to making a feature in this genre?

JI Ha-Jean: Personally I love Western and Crime movies. I especially like the directors Sergio Leone and Jean-Pierre Melville, so I made my film with the idea of learning and practicing their cinematographic heritages in mind.

I decided to make this film after reading the book ‘Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player’ by Robert Rodriguez. It’s like the bible of making action films with a micro budget. The reason I chose the Western genre especially is that it suits low budget filmmaking. Following the simple rule, which is ‘a mysterious man visits an isolated village and wipes out all the bad people,’ and shooting well crafted minimal action scenes, I expected the film to come out great even though it was made on a very low budget.

Q: Considering the minimal budget you had to shoot on, were there concessions or improvisations to your plans that you knew you would have to make before shooting started?

JH: The costumes were the hardest part. The extra pieces of clothing are very important for making this kind of movie, in which 17 people die, and most characters get injured or are intensely chased. However, we didn’t have a big enough budget for all the costumes, so most of the characters wore only one outfit until the end of shooting. So I tried to shoot the film in sequential order, but it was difficult. You might have noticed that, repeatedly, characters’ clothes are dirty and later changed to clean; torn and later they look like new. Also, I had to lower my expectations for the blood explosion scenes.  There was only one chance, so even though I was not fully satisfied with it, I had to say OK.

At last, we had to finish the shooting within 25 days, so we were always in a rush. We had to revise lots of scenes in order to shoot the action sequences. Especially for the scene where the character ‘AX’ is killed, it was a very complicated scene using wire action, but we finished it within 3 hours. We had to give up lots of details that were in the original plan.

However, with this restriction, the making of the film had a more frenetic vibe, so I think it is not too bad. 
Q: I’ve read that it took something like 2 months to shoot the movie -- incredibly fast! How did you make that happen?

JH: I will correct you here; it took just 1 month! It was very important for the staff and actors to get along with each other well in order to finish the film in such a short period. The shooting was done using hand-held filming techniques without any lights. We were always on stand-by. 100% of the sound was done in post synchronization. Actors were very well aware of each roll’s characteristics.

There was different theme music for each character, which we made before the shooting. We used it while shooting and it was very helpful for the actors to keep their emotions on the spot.

Also we had very few members on the staff. This was also helped to make things go fast. It’s also written about in Rodriguez’s book. The staff was made up of 7 people on site. We were always shorthanded, but they were professionals in their fields, which accelerated the process. Also, we knew very well know what we were going to do. We pursued what we could, and quickly decided to give up what was impossible at that moment.   

Q: The time and place that the movie is set does not seem clearly defined. It appears like it could be in the present, but not shown in exact detail. Is it meant to be open to interpretation? Did you have a particular time and place in mind?

JH: There is a particular time in the movie. The main character has been released from prison 12 years after 1998, so the background is in 2010.

However, in general I wanted the time to be not defined. In the films of Kurosawa Kiyoshi or Sergio Leone, the era is not clearly defined. So the story in their films has a universal context beyond the particular era.

Korea’s development has been very fast and highly compressed within the last 60 years after the Korean War. There has always been huge demolition and reconstruction in our history, so the tragic story inside ‘Bloody Fight in Iron-Rock Valley’ is quite common in our society. If the background of this movie was not the mining village in Gangwon province, it would have been difficult to blur the time. Because Korea is changing so fast, the old things are vanishing very quickly. However, the mining village of Gangwon province has stayed the same over decades. If we say it is the 1970s, people can still believe it. You could say another main character of this film is ‘space’, so it was very important to establish the atmosphere of the place.

Q: There is a very interesting use of space, for instance, the gang’s base. It seems like it was created using old machinery, other unusual props. How did you give the space the look you wanted?

JH: We didn’t have enough time or budget for designing the setting more. We had to use the location as it was, so we made a big effort while location hunting. The gang’s base is also shot at the location exactly as we found it. There are many abandoned buildings in Gangwon province. So we believed we would be able to find a great spot after checking places carefully.

After confirming the location, we revised the scenario to be suitable for it. I brought pictures of the places home and adapted the scenario and the characters’ moves to the place’s atmosphere.

Q: Several of the actors in the movie, I’m thinking particularly of LEE Moo-Saeng, YUN Sang-Wha, and CHOI Je-un have a very bold/striking look. How did you go about casting and selecting them for the role? Did they agree to work on the movie right away.


JH: I was very lucky with the casting. There are many great actors in the films of Sergio Leone, Howard Hawks and Sam Peckinpah. In their movies, the actor’s face is the characters itself. I especially like Walter Brennan, Charles Bronson, and Warren Oates.

For the ideas, I tried to find the answers within the actors’ faces. For instance, LEE Moo-saeng, his face is very bold, has a striking appearance and his eyes express quite a gloomy feeling. When I shot extreme close-ups of his eyes, I could see a sad man with a big hurt memory. However, he also looks very strong and restrained.

YUN Sang-hwa looks very violent, but also exhausted from the wrinkles on his face. In the movie, there is only one time his hat is taken off, and that is where he looks the shabbiest. Also, he shows different aspects of his look in the flashback scenes.

CHOI Je-un is a sassy girl working in the gambling house. But she is also a sweet girl, going to her father’s temple every day. Ms. CHOI has a proper look in that aspect. Also she knows how to handle guns very well.

The western genre is very rare in Korean cinema, so most of the actors were intrigued by that. I also persuaded them with my convictions to make a great western film. It helped them to get on board the project.

Q: The movie is notable for action sequences and use of different weapons (a torch, nail gun, shotgun, etc.) Were there any particular influences on directing the action/violence in the movie? Any interesting stories/challenges about doing scenes with that type of equipment?

JH: There are particular muggers who carry out orders of others in Korea. They use those kinds of tools to control people. One day, there was an event that influenced the story of this movie: a mugger blasted fire into a woman’s mouth and damaged her throat.

Korea strictly prohibits guns. This movie is a western, but if the characters were fighting with guns, it would turn into a 100% fantasy movie. No possibility at all. I wanted to have some plausibility in the film, so I decided to work with the tools that these muggers usually use.

I shot double the number of nail-gun scenes that end up appearing in the film. But it made the main character seem too violent, so I deleted half of them.

The last fight between Chul-ki and Ghost Face (Gyee-myeon) is the most important part of the film, so I tried to make the rest of action scenes less violent.

Also, when Chul-ki killed the AX, the fact that he is killed by the amulet which he was always attached to was more important than the manner of killing itself.

I incorporated the back stories into every action scene. Making the audience think of Chul-ki’s sadness was more important than the action itself.

We used a real ax in the film. We couldn’t make the fake ax, so we used a real one, which is very heavy and sharp.

When we shot the scene in which AX tries to kill Chul-ki lying down on the ground using an ax, it could have been a major accident. Mr. LEE refused to shoot the scene anymore because it was too dangerous. He felt threatened.

So the action choreographer make-up director and Mr. LEE tried to make a fake ax midway through shooting. It was made of PVC pipes and Styrofoam, but it looked really good, just like a real one. It looked so real that I was so surprised and felt guilty for the actors because I couldn’t think of making one at the beginning.

As a result, we could make a strong scene using that model. Thanks to their passion and affection for the film, we could get great results.   

Q: The movie tells a very straightforward revenge story, but you also incorporated issues of corruption and greed into it - a developer trying to force people out of their land to build something more profitable. How did you decide to make this part of the story? Was it an issue of particular importance to you?

JH: I think I already gave you the answer to this above. Korea has developed very rapidly, so people these days are living in more prosperous and convenient times. On the other hand, people in this society just keep going without consideration for others who are isolated and ignored.

This movie is fictional, but it also points out some of the problems in this society.
Just 4 years ago, 6 laborers were burned to death during a fight with policemen in Seoul. The labors wanted to keep living in their area, so they fought with the policemen who tried to remove them. However, it caused too much harm. This was a very violent event, but a new building was constructed on the spot where it happened. And people seemed to have forgotten the event very fast.

Gangwon province has such a beautiful landscape and great natural resources underground, so similar things easily happen. The people who have lived there are kicked out, and developing facilities are occupying those places.

I started developing this film with the idea that among these many victims, there might be a personal story about one individual who tries to get revenge. This movie is for entertainment, of course, but I thought that it could gain the sympathy of the audience as long as it is based in reality.

Also, it addresses the eternal theme of the ‘revisionist western’.

Q: The ending has a somewhat serial-like feeling to it? Do you have interest in developing a sequel? If not, what type of project are you interested in taking on next?

JH: You’ve got the idea correctly, but I don’t have a plan for a sequel. When the main character ‘Chul-ki’ disappeared at the end, I hoped he wouldn’t get into any more trouble afterwards.

However, I have a plan for a bigger western movie in the future. The time of the film would be further in the past. The background would be the era when the train railroad was constructed for the first time in Korea. The ‘Mr. No Name’ will appear again and he will fight with a harsher enemy.

The project I am currently working on is a horror film. I will bring forth a great horror film with lots of blood, mixed with action and adventure. Please don’t miss it!