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1
00:00:10,552 --> 00:00:11,761
That film...
2
00:00:14,472 --> 00:00:16,975
Looking for Paradise.
3
00:00:17,976 --> 00:00:22,105
It's a short, five-minute film
that was made by a student.
4
00:00:22,188 --> 00:00:26,067
Back then, Director Bong
was not the Director Bong he is now.
5
00:00:26,693 --> 00:00:28,778
When did you watch that film?
6
00:00:29,279 --> 00:00:35,118
Well, in terms
of the life span of Yellow Door,
7
00:00:35,201 --> 00:00:39,122
I'd say it was either the beginning
or the middle, not the latter years.
8
00:00:40,665 --> 00:00:43,334
One day, Director Bong...
9
00:00:43,418 --> 00:00:45,837
Back then, we just called him Joon Ho.
10
00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,424
He said he got some money
after working as a tutor.
11
00:00:49,507 --> 00:00:52,177
I think he had worked for a month or two.
12
00:00:52,260 --> 00:00:56,014
Anyway, he bought a camera with that money
13
00:00:56,097 --> 00:00:59,142
and made a film
using his living room as the backdrop.
14
00:00:59,225 --> 00:01:03,146
It was about a caterpillar
looking for its paradise.
15
00:01:03,813 --> 00:01:06,566
He made this tiny little caterpillar.
16
00:01:06,649 --> 00:01:12,113
And since it was a stop-motion animation,
he had to move it one cut at a time.
17
00:01:14,282 --> 00:01:19,037
At the end, the caterpillar fights
a stuffed monkey in the living room.
18
00:01:20,705 --> 00:01:24,000
And eventually,
it continues its journey to paradise.
19
00:01:25,752 --> 00:01:30,465
It was incredible. I was in shock.
I was so amazed by it back then.
20
00:01:32,509 --> 00:01:35,261
He didn't seem like the Joon Ho I knew.
21
00:01:35,345 --> 00:01:38,515
The film was about five minutes long.
22
00:01:39,599 --> 00:01:40,934
It was 23 minutes.
23
00:01:43,311 --> 00:01:46,898
And you got the protagonist
and the villain mixed up.
24
00:01:46,981 --> 00:01:48,024
I got them mixed up?
25
00:01:48,108 --> 00:01:49,067
VILLAIN - PROTAGONIST
26
00:01:49,150 --> 00:01:52,237
- Wasn't the caterpillar the protagonist?
- It was the gorilla.
27
00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:53,571
PROTAGONIST
28
00:01:54,697 --> 00:01:57,117
I thought it was the caterpillar.
29
00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,202
Oh, it was the gorilla?
30
00:02:00,787 --> 00:02:01,871
I see.
31
00:02:02,747 --> 00:02:05,500
{\an8}I found this wooden box
after a really long time.
32
00:02:05,583 --> 00:02:07,544
{\an8}About 20 years or so.
33
00:02:08,211 --> 00:02:10,672
{\an8}I used to store a lot of stuff in here.
34
00:02:11,339 --> 00:02:13,299
And here's something I found.
35
00:02:13,383 --> 00:02:14,634
Oh, 8 mm films?
36
00:02:14,717 --> 00:02:18,304
These are the 8 mm films
from our Yellow Door workshop.
37
00:02:18,388 --> 00:02:19,222
These are...
38
00:02:19,722 --> 00:02:21,558
- Wow!
- I have all of them here.
39
00:02:21,641 --> 00:02:23,143
- This many.
- Look at that!
40
00:02:23,226 --> 00:02:26,813
I got all kinds of stuff here.
I don't quite remember what we did.
41
00:02:27,397 --> 00:02:29,315
We filmed all kinds of nonsense.
42
00:02:30,358 --> 00:02:36,114
I hope these will help us
through this Rashomon situation.
43
00:02:36,197 --> 00:02:37,615
They are all here.
44
00:02:37,699 --> 00:02:39,701
You still have the gorilla, right?
45
00:02:39,784 --> 00:02:41,035
Yes, the gorilla.
46
00:02:41,119 --> 00:02:42,287
I do have it, but...
47
00:02:45,999 --> 00:02:48,168
Let's just say it's gone.
48
00:02:50,336 --> 00:02:52,797
It's embarrassing, you know.
49
00:03:46,643 --> 00:03:51,272
YELLOW DOOR: '90S LO-FI FILM CLUB
50
00:03:55,526 --> 00:03:59,530
"I'm reminded of my hidden debut film,
which I've never mentioned anywhere else."
51
00:04:01,407 --> 00:04:05,245
"Before I made my self-proclaimed
first short film, White Man,
52
00:04:05,328 --> 00:04:09,207
I once made a short animated film
entitled Looking for Paradise."
53
00:04:10,833 --> 00:04:12,043
{\an8}JU SUNG-CHUL
AUTHOR OF THE DEBUT
54
00:04:12,126 --> 00:04:13,836
{\an8}A COMPILATION OF INTERVIEWS
WITH RENOWNED KOREAN DIRECTORS
55
00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,674
{\an8}I interviewed Director Bong Joon Ho
while writing The Debut.
56
00:04:17,757 --> 00:04:21,427
He spoke as if he was a spy
sharing a secret.
57
00:04:22,095 --> 00:04:27,809
He glanced left and right as he said,
"Actually, I once made this other film."
58
00:04:27,892 --> 00:04:33,147
So I thought, "I should leave this out.
I guess I won't be able to use this."
59
00:04:33,231 --> 00:04:34,899
But the story was so interesting.
60
00:04:36,734 --> 00:04:41,072
"I invited 20 or so people
to the Yellow Door Christmas party
61
00:04:41,155 --> 00:04:45,326
and had my very first movie premiere
with a completely flushed face."
62
00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,958
"The only people on Earth
who have seen that movie
63
00:04:52,041 --> 00:04:55,003
are the people who were there that day."
64
00:05:07,974 --> 00:05:09,726
Jong-tae, can you hear me?
65
00:05:09,809 --> 00:05:11,311
Hey. Hi!
66
00:05:11,811 --> 00:05:12,729
Can you see me?
67
00:05:13,396 --> 00:05:14,564
Yes, I can see you.
68
00:05:14,647 --> 00:05:16,649
- You must be busy.
- Yes, I guess.
69
00:05:16,733 --> 00:05:19,152
Your film will be released in a few days.
70
00:05:19,235 --> 00:05:22,488
Yeah, I've been busier
because the production was small.
71
00:05:23,656 --> 00:05:25,325
I had to make some things happen.
72
00:05:26,242 --> 00:05:28,077
It looks like Se-bum dyed his hair.
73
00:05:31,205 --> 00:05:32,957
- It's been so long, Se-bum.
- Hey, Ban.
74
00:05:33,041 --> 00:05:35,043
Did you dye your hair? Your hair...
75
00:05:35,126 --> 00:05:36,377
Well, I have to.
76
00:05:37,211 --> 00:05:39,130
It's completely gray unless I dye it.
77
00:05:39,213 --> 00:05:41,799
He looks like a minister today.
78
00:05:41,883 --> 00:05:45,762
You know, like the Minister of Land,
Infrastructure, and Transport.
79
00:05:46,721 --> 00:05:48,765
- Oh, Byung-hoon.
- It's working.
80
00:05:48,848 --> 00:05:49,932
Hey!
81
00:05:51,100 --> 00:05:53,102
Is that Byung-hoon? Man.
82
00:05:53,186 --> 00:05:54,687
Wow, Byung-hoon.
83
00:05:54,771 --> 00:05:56,564
- Can you see us?
- Can't he see us?
84
00:05:56,647 --> 00:05:58,149
- I don't think he can.
- He can.
85
00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:01,361
- Hey.
- Can you hear us?
86
00:06:01,444 --> 00:06:02,487
- I see you.
- Okay.
87
00:06:03,696 --> 00:06:06,407
What time is it over there?
Is it after midnight?
88
00:06:06,491 --> 00:06:07,909
It's almost eleven o'clock.
89
00:06:07,992 --> 00:06:08,910
11:00 p.m.?
90
00:06:09,410 --> 00:06:11,079
- Yes.
- Gosh.
91
00:06:11,162 --> 00:06:14,082
Hey, your Korean has gotten
a bit awkward now.
92
00:06:18,002 --> 00:06:19,295
Oh, come on.
93
00:06:20,046 --> 00:06:22,799
Should we do this in English?
Byung-hoon, should we?
94
00:06:25,009 --> 00:06:27,220
- Hi. Oh my!
- Min-hyang!
95
00:06:28,012 --> 00:06:29,764
- Hi, there!
- Hey!
96
00:06:29,847 --> 00:06:30,681
Hi.
97
00:06:30,765 --> 00:06:31,766
Hey!
98
00:06:45,154 --> 00:06:47,281
- Oh my. Who are they?
- When was this?
99
00:06:47,365 --> 00:06:49,158
Oh my! Look at them.
100
00:06:50,827 --> 00:06:52,620
- Why is it so...
- Out of focus.
101
00:06:52,703 --> 00:06:55,289
I couldn't stand this kind of thing
back then.
102
00:06:56,666 --> 00:06:58,418
I mean, we were in a film club.
103
00:06:59,460 --> 00:07:00,920
But they're all out of focus.
104
00:07:01,421 --> 00:07:03,881
This is hilarious.
Seriously, who took these?
105
00:07:03,965 --> 00:07:05,341
Let's find the culprit.
106
00:07:05,425 --> 00:07:07,593
It wasn't me. I'm in the photo.
107
00:07:07,677 --> 00:07:08,845
I'm in it too.
108
00:07:08,928 --> 00:07:10,304
Wait, I'm not in the photo!
109
00:07:14,809 --> 00:07:15,768
Is that me?
110
00:07:16,561 --> 00:07:19,272
Why did we keep taking photos of gum?
111
00:07:20,064 --> 00:07:22,650
- It must've been a focus test.
- It was for a focus test.
112
00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:28,197
We didn't know
the basic mechanism of cameras.
113
00:07:28,281 --> 00:07:31,200
So, basic things like exposure, aperture...
114
00:07:31,284 --> 00:07:32,118
Yes, right.
115
00:07:32,201 --> 00:07:35,246
Shutter speed, focus, and other things.
116
00:07:35,329 --> 00:07:39,625
It was a workshop for us
to become familiar with those things.
117
00:07:39,709 --> 00:07:41,919
So these photos are far from art.
118
00:07:42,879 --> 00:07:45,173
It's just a parade of dull photos.
119
00:07:46,632 --> 00:07:48,551
Wasn't this Kim Hye-ja's house?
120
00:07:48,634 --> 00:07:50,553
Yes, it was Ms. Kim's house.
121
00:07:51,220 --> 00:07:53,723
When we looked out the window
of our office,
122
00:07:53,806 --> 00:07:56,559
we would see Ms. Kim's garden, you know.
123
00:07:56,642 --> 00:07:58,394
Yes, her front gate as well.
124
00:07:58,478 --> 00:08:01,814
We used to take a lot of pictures
in front of that stone wall
125
00:08:01,898 --> 00:08:03,149
because it was so pretty.
126
00:08:04,692 --> 00:08:06,986
Wow, look at Dae-yup's sexy pose.
127
00:08:12,283 --> 00:08:17,622
If I had known there was a club there,
I would've looked out a little more often.
128
00:08:17,705 --> 00:08:22,460
{\an8}All I ever thought at the time was,
"They can see my house from upstairs."
129
00:08:23,753 --> 00:08:27,715
So you never know
what will happen in life, right?
130
00:08:28,925 --> 00:08:33,679
The most heartwarming memory
I have of Joon Ho is this.
131
00:08:33,763 --> 00:08:36,098
After the release of Memories of Murder,
132
00:08:36,182 --> 00:08:41,020
you called me at night.
It must've been around 10:00 p.m.
133
00:08:41,103 --> 00:08:42,313
- Yes.
- And you said...
134
00:08:43,397 --> 00:08:47,568
"Jong-tae, do you know where I am?
I'm in front of Gyeongseo Building."
135
00:08:48,236 --> 00:08:50,571
- That's what you said on the phone.
- Right.
136
00:08:50,655 --> 00:08:53,991
I guess you were feeling good
about your film's success,
137
00:08:54,075 --> 00:08:58,287
and so you were reminiscing
about the rough old days.
138
00:08:58,371 --> 00:08:59,705
Gyeongseo Building. Yes.
139
00:09:01,165 --> 00:09:04,043
This was probably a private house,
but now it's changed.
140
00:09:04,126 --> 00:09:05,044
Right.
141
00:09:05,670 --> 00:09:07,213
It's been 30 years.
142
00:09:09,715 --> 00:09:12,635
This was our route
to the Yellow Door office.
143
00:09:13,302 --> 00:09:14,136
Yes.
144
00:09:15,137 --> 00:09:16,472
To be honest,
145
00:09:16,556 --> 00:09:19,809
it didn't feel like we were doing
anything particular at Yellow Door.
146
00:09:19,892 --> 00:09:22,353
It felt like a picnic
where we could hang out.
147
00:09:23,145 --> 00:09:25,481
But why were we in the Gyeongseo Building?
148
00:09:25,565 --> 00:09:28,484
Did Jong-tae already have an office there?
149
00:09:28,568 --> 00:09:32,989
Jong-tae was a graduate student
at Dongguk University at the time.
150
00:09:33,072 --> 00:09:35,992
He took some time off
and rented the office
151
00:09:36,075 --> 00:09:38,953
to start a modeling agency
with his friends.
152
00:09:40,288 --> 00:09:45,126
After my first day of grad school,
I was really disappointed.
153
00:09:45,209 --> 00:09:47,461
{\an8}It was supposed to be grad school,
154
00:09:49,046 --> 00:09:51,799
{\an8}but they didn't teach us much.
155
00:09:52,383 --> 00:09:56,721
I still remember this.
There was a 16 mm camera at the school.
156
00:09:56,804 --> 00:10:00,391
It would've been good
if they'd taught us how to use it.
157
00:10:00,474 --> 00:10:03,894
But they only showed it to us
and said, "This is a 16 mm camera."
158
00:10:03,978 --> 00:10:05,688
- And that was it?
- That was it.
159
00:10:08,649 --> 00:10:09,650
Around that time...
160
00:10:11,277 --> 00:10:13,738
Uh... Dong-hoon.
161
00:10:13,821 --> 00:10:16,532
That's when I met Lee Dong-hoon.
162
00:10:17,033 --> 00:10:18,701
{\an8}I was working part-time
163
00:10:18,784 --> 00:10:22,580
{\an8}at a bookshop called Today's Books
in front of Yonsei University.
164
00:10:22,663 --> 00:10:24,832
Cell phones and pagers didn't exist.
165
00:10:24,915 --> 00:10:27,668
So if you looked at the bulletin board
at Today's Books,
166
00:10:27,752 --> 00:10:31,088
there were notes saying where people were
and telling others to come.
167
00:10:31,172 --> 00:10:34,133
I asked to be introduced
to a film student,
168
00:10:34,216 --> 00:10:36,510
and I was introduced to Choi Jong-tae,
169
00:10:36,594 --> 00:10:40,431
a grad student who was taking time off
from his film studies.
170
00:10:40,514 --> 00:10:42,642
I was asked to teach him about film.
171
00:10:43,434 --> 00:10:46,687
So I just told them to send him over.
172
00:10:46,771 --> 00:10:48,439
It's interesting how it turned out.
173
00:10:49,398 --> 00:10:51,984
I mean, if it were now,
174
00:10:52,068 --> 00:10:55,655
I wouldn't have even considered
teaching a stranger about film.
175
00:10:56,405 --> 00:11:03,412
But back then, the universities
and the clubs had an innocence about them.
176
00:11:03,496 --> 00:11:05,706
So it was a very natural thing.
177
00:11:05,790 --> 00:11:09,794
If no one asked me
to teach them about film,
178
00:11:11,003 --> 00:11:14,674
my life would've been very different.
179
00:11:14,757 --> 00:11:18,511
It might've been different
in a good sense, or...
180
00:11:19,261 --> 00:11:21,931
Actually, it might've been much better.
181
00:11:22,431 --> 00:11:26,143
I wasn't looking to make
anything specific in particular.
182
00:11:26,686 --> 00:11:30,106
But I went anyway and poked around.
183
00:11:30,189 --> 00:11:34,318
Dong-hoon said there was a senior he knew
184
00:11:34,402 --> 00:11:37,446
and asked if he could bring him,
so I said yes.
185
00:11:37,530 --> 00:11:41,659
I thought I couldn't suffer alone,
so I dragged Director Bong into it.
186
00:11:46,789 --> 00:11:50,084
I've loved movies ever since
my elementary and middle school days,
187
00:11:50,167 --> 00:11:53,504
and I wanted to become a director.
188
00:11:54,213 --> 00:11:55,631
{\an8}I'm not sure why.
189
00:11:56,340 --> 00:12:00,344
{\an8}Maybe because all I ever did was watch TV.
My family never did anything.
190
00:12:00,928 --> 00:12:03,264
We didn't travel. We didn't play sports.
191
00:12:03,347 --> 00:12:05,933
The whole family just watched TV.
192
00:12:06,016 --> 00:12:09,770
There are things that come as a shock
when you watch a film without any context.
193
00:12:10,354 --> 00:12:12,606
{\an8}In elementary school,
I watched The Wages of Fear.
194
00:12:14,024 --> 00:12:16,026
{\an8}And The Bicycle Thieves too.
195
00:12:16,110 --> 00:12:18,612
{\an8}I had once lost my bicycle as a kid,
196
00:12:18,696 --> 00:12:22,908
{\an8}so I was overly immersed as I watched it.
197
00:12:22,992 --> 00:12:27,163
I watched it knowing nothing
about Vittorio De Sica or neorealism.
198
00:12:27,246 --> 00:12:29,165
That's why I was simply shocked.
199
00:12:29,999 --> 00:12:32,752
It was my chance, for the first time ever,
200
00:12:32,835 --> 00:12:35,546
to properly discuss and study film
as much as I wanted
201
00:12:36,213 --> 00:12:37,715
and watch them over and over.
202
00:12:38,424 --> 00:12:42,845
I didn't major in film studies.
I had never worked on a film set before.
203
00:12:43,637 --> 00:12:47,683
But for the first time,
I was able to do something with films.
204
00:12:47,767 --> 00:12:50,853
I sat Bong Joon Ho and Lee Dong-hoon down
205
00:12:50,936 --> 00:12:53,355
and started with Understanding Movies.
206
00:12:54,190 --> 00:12:57,443
That was when books about film
first began to come out.
207
00:12:57,526 --> 00:12:58,360
Right.
208
00:12:58,444 --> 00:13:02,114
Now there's a whole section of them
in the bookstore.
209
00:13:02,198 --> 00:13:06,577
But back then, just the idea
of books on film was so unfamiliar.
210
00:13:06,660 --> 00:13:09,830
There was Understanding Movies
by Louis D. Giannetti...
211
00:13:09,914 --> 00:13:12,541
Plus, A History of Film by Jack C. Ellis.
Only those two.
212
00:13:12,625 --> 00:13:14,543
- That was it.
- And others were...
213
00:13:14,627 --> 00:13:17,421
This was when we first began
to see convenience stores.
214
00:13:18,130 --> 00:13:19,465
So back then, I...
215
00:13:19,548 --> 00:13:23,177
Can you leave out what he said
about convenience stores?
216
00:13:23,260 --> 00:13:26,639
That's so... It totally sounds like...
217
00:13:26,722 --> 00:13:28,766
Were there really
no convenience stores then?
218
00:13:28,849 --> 00:13:29,767
There weren't.
219
00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:35,731
Right. We used to drink coffee
at places like Doutor.
220
00:13:35,815 --> 00:13:38,025
Right. Doutor. It's not around anymore.
221
00:13:38,692 --> 00:13:42,446
I had to teach them something,
but there was nothing I could do.
222
00:13:42,530 --> 00:13:47,201
Back then, Joon Ho had been working
as a part-time manager at a study room.
223
00:13:47,284 --> 00:13:50,496
He had a lot of free time.
224
00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,290
So I told him
to transcribe A History of Film
225
00:13:53,374 --> 00:13:55,459
instead of just sitting around.
226
00:13:55,543 --> 00:13:58,337
{\an8}But I never transcribed A History of Film.
227
00:13:58,420 --> 00:14:00,214
Director Bong would've done it.
228
00:14:00,297 --> 00:14:02,883
I'm sure he transcribed A History of Film.
229
00:14:02,967 --> 00:14:06,262
I didn't do it,
but I think he definitely would have.
230
00:14:06,345 --> 00:14:09,723
{\an8}This is the Rashomon effect.
231
00:14:09,807 --> 00:14:13,227
{\an8}How could I have transcribed
that huge book?
232
00:14:13,310 --> 00:14:16,063
{\an8}I don't understand.
I don't understand it at all.
233
00:14:16,647 --> 00:14:19,275
{\an8}I may finally lose my faith
in the human soul.
234
00:14:20,401 --> 00:14:22,278
Bong, don't you remember?
235
00:14:22,361 --> 00:14:26,907
I read it thoroughly since you told me to,
but I never transcribed it.
236
00:14:26,991 --> 00:14:29,702
I remember you showing me your notebook.
237
00:14:29,785 --> 00:14:32,580
- Really?
- Yeah, that's how I remember it.
238
00:14:32,663 --> 00:14:35,583
- One second.
- How else would I know?
239
00:14:42,214 --> 00:14:43,507
This is the book.
240
00:14:45,092 --> 00:14:47,845
- Right.
- A History of Film by Jack C. Ellis.
241
00:14:47,928 --> 00:14:50,931
So you did do it.
I remember your notebook.
242
00:14:51,015 --> 00:14:53,517
- I see.
- You probably quit after a few pages.
243
00:14:53,601 --> 00:14:56,520
Like the to-infinitive section
of an English grammar book.
244
00:14:56,604 --> 00:14:58,606
Yes, the to-infinitive section.
245
00:14:58,689 --> 00:15:00,399
You never get past the first chapter.
246
00:15:00,482 --> 00:15:03,193
That's why all Koreans
know about the to-infinitive.
247
00:15:04,194 --> 00:15:06,030
That was the beginning.
248
00:15:06,113 --> 00:15:10,451
Bong Joon Ho, Choi Jong-tae, and I
were there at the beginning, and then...
249
00:15:15,664 --> 00:15:18,042
One day, I was lying around at home,
250
00:15:18,584 --> 00:15:23,088
{\an8}and suddenly, I was engulfed
by this passion to study film.
251
00:15:23,172 --> 00:15:26,592
{\an8}It came out of nowhere.
I couldn't sleep from that day on.
252
00:15:26,675 --> 00:15:29,428
{\an8}- Hoon-a was one of the early members.
- Right.
253
00:15:29,511 --> 00:15:33,682
I had a friend, a psychology major
who loved music as much as I did.
254
00:15:33,766 --> 00:15:38,854
My friend said there was a guy named
Bong Joon Ho in sociology who likes films,
255
00:15:38,938 --> 00:15:41,065
so I should give him a call.
256
00:15:41,148 --> 00:15:43,400
"Bong Joon Ho? What a unique name."
257
00:15:43,484 --> 00:15:47,488
"I should memorize it as bonjour."
So that's what I did!
258
00:15:47,571 --> 00:15:51,992
When I called him, he told me
to come to a place in Hongdae.
259
00:15:52,076 --> 00:15:54,662
Jong-tae, you, me, and Hoon-a.
260
00:15:54,745 --> 00:15:57,957
Do you remember the first seminar
the four of us had?
261
00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,960
We said we'd each bring
a film of our choice.
262
00:16:01,585 --> 00:16:05,464
Jong-tae picked Theo Angelopoulos's
Landscape in the Mist.
263
00:16:05,547 --> 00:16:07,383
I picked François Truffaut's...
264
00:16:07,466 --> 00:16:10,219
- That one.
- Truffaut played the role of a director.
265
00:16:10,302 --> 00:16:11,804
- Day for Night.
- Day for Night!
266
00:16:11,887 --> 00:16:14,473
- What was yours?
- I didn't really study back then.
267
00:16:14,556 --> 00:16:17,059
- I don't remember!
- We watched four different films.
268
00:16:17,142 --> 00:16:17,977
Right.
269
00:16:18,060 --> 00:16:23,649
We watched the films we each picked,
and then we just talked about them.
270
00:16:23,732 --> 00:16:25,275
Yes, we did.
271
00:16:30,906 --> 00:16:34,159
One day, I was walking down Baekyang-ro.
272
00:16:34,702 --> 00:16:38,122
I ran into a friend of mine
I often used to bump into.
273
00:16:38,205 --> 00:16:42,501
She was walking down
the opposite side of the street.
274
00:16:43,502 --> 00:16:47,006
We started talking about movies.
Back then, I was into movies.
275
00:16:47,089 --> 00:16:50,175
{\an8}I told her I'd been into movies lately,
and she said,
276
00:16:50,259 --> 00:16:52,011
{\an8}"Really? I'm in this film group,
277
00:16:52,094 --> 00:16:54,638
{\an8}and we're going to watch
a Turkish film called Yol.
278
00:16:54,722 --> 00:16:56,724
Do you want to come?"
279
00:16:56,807 --> 00:17:00,352
So I said, "Okay, sure."
That's how I came to Yellow Door.
280
00:17:01,061 --> 00:17:03,772
That friend was Lim Hoon-a.
281
00:17:05,232 --> 00:17:06,692
Yes.
282
00:17:06,775 --> 00:17:10,362
Now that she mentions it,
I'm starting to remember.
283
00:17:10,446 --> 00:17:13,782
But actually,
I had known Min-hyang before then.
284
00:17:13,866 --> 00:17:17,036
The College of Liberal Arts put on a play,
285
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:22,541
and a very cool student
played the role of Jesus
286
00:17:22,624 --> 00:17:25,294
in a play called Jesus of Gold Crown.
287
00:17:25,377 --> 00:17:27,963
I was deeply impressed by it,
288
00:17:28,047 --> 00:17:31,050
and the student who played Jesus
was Min-hyang.
289
00:17:33,969 --> 00:17:37,973
{\an8}At the time,
our group didn't even have a structure.
290
00:17:38,724 --> 00:17:40,809
{\an8}But I remember that we all joined
291
00:17:40,893 --> 00:17:44,271
just because we loved films
and wanted to study them.
292
00:17:44,354 --> 00:17:46,815
When I think of Eun-sim,
I'm reminded of that day.
293
00:17:46,899 --> 00:17:51,487
She turned up with a male bust
that art students use to sketch.
294
00:17:51,570 --> 00:17:55,741
She said, "Let's start sketching now."
She suddenly wanted us to draw!
295
00:17:55,824 --> 00:17:57,076
It was so random.
296
00:17:57,159 --> 00:18:00,829
I thought, "Why did she bring
that plaster bust here?"
297
00:18:01,663 --> 00:18:03,832
But then, some of us started sketching.
298
00:18:03,916 --> 00:18:07,544
So there were
a lot of quirky people in the club.
299
00:18:08,253 --> 00:18:10,839
It was a tiny little space,
300
00:18:10,923 --> 00:18:14,760
and we had a round table there
that could fit about seven people.
301
00:18:14,843 --> 00:18:17,346
And we would just chat away.
302
00:18:17,429 --> 00:18:20,224
We'd watch a film
and chat about whatever we knew,
303
00:18:20,766 --> 00:18:23,936
share things we heard somewhere
and our thoughts too.
304
00:18:24,019 --> 00:18:26,105
That was the level we were at.
305
00:18:26,188 --> 00:18:29,441
Jong-tae was our leader,
and he had no plans at all.
306
00:18:29,525 --> 00:18:33,403
And we loved
that we had no plans or structure.
307
00:18:33,487 --> 00:18:35,405
A band of social misfits, so to speak.
308
00:18:37,533 --> 00:18:41,411
Yes, I give you
Choi Jong-tae and Five Kids.
309
00:18:42,538 --> 00:18:48,919
A group of fluid people
who got together to share dreams.
310
00:18:50,087 --> 00:18:54,341
I'm not sure why, but people studied film
like crazy in the early '90s.
311
00:18:54,424 --> 00:18:56,093
This is what I felt.
312
00:18:56,176 --> 00:19:00,264
Social movements were active back then,
yet we felt like we hit a wall.
313
00:19:00,347 --> 00:19:04,101
What with perestroika and glasnost,
and the Soviet Union coming down and all.
314
00:19:04,184 --> 00:19:06,061
- That's such a...
- Too much?
315
00:19:06,145 --> 00:19:08,480
- That's such a macroscopic analysis.
- But then...
316
00:19:08,564 --> 00:19:12,151
There were lots of clubs
that got together and studied film.
317
00:19:12,234 --> 00:19:13,694
I'm not exactly sure why.
318
00:19:14,403 --> 00:19:16,488
Well, in my case,
319
00:19:16,572 --> 00:19:19,950
I jumped in and studied film
to find myself.
320
00:19:20,033 --> 00:19:21,827
- To find yourself?
- Yes.
321
00:19:21,910 --> 00:19:25,414
I kind of wanted to find
something that I liked.
322
00:19:25,497 --> 00:19:29,001
Back then, we were all about
bringing down the dictatorship
323
00:19:29,084 --> 00:19:30,836
and repealing the Constitution.
324
00:19:30,919 --> 00:19:36,008
I think everyone felt despondent
after the party was over.
325
00:19:36,091 --> 00:19:38,927
Of course, it's not like
I did anything notable.
326
00:19:39,928 --> 00:19:42,890
So we didn't know where to go.
327
00:19:43,599 --> 00:19:48,270
We didn't know what to do
with all our energy.
328
00:19:48,353 --> 00:19:51,106
The student movements were already over.
329
00:19:51,190 --> 00:19:54,943
So we came together
like a cluster of dust.
330
00:19:56,486 --> 00:20:00,490
To put it nicely,
we came together like a ripening grape.
331
00:20:00,574 --> 00:20:02,326
I think that's what happened.
332
00:20:02,409 --> 00:20:04,828
I used to be asked this
at foreign film festivals
333
00:20:04,912 --> 00:20:06,413
during the early to mid-2000s.
334
00:20:06,496 --> 00:20:08,332
How did Korean films suddenly...
335
00:20:08,415 --> 00:20:09,249
Get their break?
336
00:20:09,333 --> 00:20:13,670
We had films bursting out in the 2000s,
drawing attention at film festivals.
337
00:20:13,754 --> 00:20:16,423
"Where had these directors been
until then?"
338
00:20:16,506 --> 00:20:18,425
"What on earth had happened?"
339
00:20:19,426 --> 00:20:21,303
Then I'd bring up Yellow Door.
340
00:20:22,471 --> 00:20:23,722
For example, I'd say,
341
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,892
"We were the first cinephile generation."
342
00:20:26,975 --> 00:20:31,313
"My generation was probably the first
to actually study film."
343
00:20:31,396 --> 00:20:32,564
We were the first.
344
00:20:32,648 --> 00:20:37,486
"I think we were the first generation
to become filmmakers as cinephiles."
345
00:20:38,070 --> 00:20:41,823
I guess it makes it easier
to write articles.
346
00:20:41,907 --> 00:20:46,703
So that's why I told them
that we have this generation and so on.
347
00:20:47,829 --> 00:20:50,916
The Night Before Strike,
a low-budget 16 mm film
348
00:20:50,999 --> 00:20:52,417
that the government banned from screening...
349
00:20:52,501 --> 00:20:55,712
THE NIGHT BEFORE STRIKE
BY JANGSANGOT HAWKS PREMIERES NATIONWIDE
350
00:20:55,796 --> 00:20:58,966
Jangsangot Hawks
were superstars back then.
351
00:20:59,508 --> 00:21:04,221
There were many fans who waited
for their films every year.
352
00:21:05,264 --> 00:21:07,182
Youth was another solid team.
353
00:21:08,016 --> 00:21:09,434
CINEMATHEQUE 1895
354
00:21:09,518 --> 00:21:12,854
After Cinematheque 1895
changed its name to SA/sé,
355
00:21:12,938 --> 00:21:14,773
it became renowned
356
00:21:14,856 --> 00:21:17,943
as a private cinematheque
with the longest history.
357
00:21:18,026 --> 00:21:21,363
It was as if the cinephiles
who had been hiding
358
00:21:21,446 --> 00:21:24,074
were suddenly pouring out
onto the streets.
359
00:21:24,157 --> 00:21:26,702
{\an8}THE NIGHT BEFORE STRIKE
JANGSANGOT HAWKS, 1990
360
00:21:26,785 --> 00:21:29,329
{\an8}HOMO VIDEOCUS
BYUN HYUK, E J-YONG, 1990
361
00:21:30,163 --> 00:21:34,751
I think that was the crazy situation
in the '90s.
362
00:21:42,217 --> 00:21:43,593
This is what I think.
363
00:21:43,677 --> 00:21:46,888
The government must've drugged
the water supply back then.
364
00:21:47,514 --> 00:21:51,184
I think it was a nationwide project
to turn all citizens into cinephiles.
365
00:21:59,693 --> 00:22:01,611
JANGSANGOT HAWKS
366
00:22:02,654 --> 00:22:04,323
CINEMATHEQUE 1895
367
00:22:05,574 --> 00:22:11,496
Compared to these groups,
Yellow Door was a mysterious, peculiar...
368
00:22:11,997 --> 00:22:14,833
- Jangsangot Hawks was the Premier League.
- Yes.
369
00:22:15,667 --> 00:22:19,755
Jung Ji-woo's Youth was the Bundesliga.
We were like...
370
00:22:19,838 --> 00:22:22,758
- An amateur club.
- An amateur club compared to them.
371
00:22:23,842 --> 00:22:26,386
I had to pay my tuition
for the fourth semester,
372
00:22:27,346 --> 00:22:29,514
and it felt like such a waste!
373
00:22:30,724 --> 00:22:35,979
I realized I could buy
a lot of materials for the club
374
00:22:36,063 --> 00:22:38,065
with that money.
375
00:22:38,148 --> 00:22:43,111
I decided to get myself
in serious trouble, and so...
376
00:22:44,154 --> 00:22:45,739
HONGDAE
377
00:22:45,822 --> 00:22:47,949
I founded a film institute.
378
00:22:50,994 --> 00:22:53,330
Of course, my family had no idea.
379
00:23:01,797 --> 00:23:05,133
"YELLOW DOOR" FILM INSTITUTE, UNIT 202
SECOND FLOOR, GYEONGSEO BUILDING
380
00:23:05,217 --> 00:23:10,722
{\an8}Yellow Door was on the second floor
of a building in Seogyo-dong at the time.
381
00:23:11,598 --> 00:23:12,599
{\an8}And it was...
382
00:23:14,851 --> 00:23:17,229
a rectangular building, like this.
383
00:23:18,522 --> 00:23:20,273
There was a corridor in the middle.
384
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,904
And the door to the Yellow Door Institute
stood right here.
385
00:23:28,824 --> 00:23:30,742
When you opened the door,
386
00:23:31,701 --> 00:23:34,830
you'd see a round table on the left.
387
00:23:34,913 --> 00:23:38,500
Usually, Joon Ho would be studying there.
388
00:23:41,169 --> 00:23:45,841
In the front, there was a tiny television.
389
00:23:45,924 --> 00:23:49,177
I think we often watched
music videos and stuff.
390
00:23:50,137 --> 00:23:53,098
We painted all the furniture yellow.
391
00:23:53,181 --> 00:23:55,600
Didn't Dae-yup paint with us?
392
00:23:55,684 --> 00:23:58,854
From what I recall,
you and Jong-tae bought the paint.
393
00:23:58,937 --> 00:24:00,689
They weren't yellow at first,
394
00:24:00,772 --> 00:24:04,776
but you said, "We're going all yellow."
Then you painted everything, right?
395
00:24:09,239 --> 00:24:12,325
At the time,
I just liked yellow for some reason.
396
00:24:12,409 --> 00:24:14,327
Bright yellow, to be specific.
397
00:24:14,411 --> 00:24:16,621
{\an8}The color yellow
was just so beautiful to me.
398
00:24:16,705 --> 00:24:20,375
From what I remember,
we just had some yellow paint.
399
00:24:20,459 --> 00:24:24,296
{\an8}I did some construction work elsewhere
and had some paint left,
400
00:24:24,838 --> 00:24:27,007
which just happened to be yellow.
401
00:24:27,090 --> 00:24:29,092
I didn't see the need to buy more,
402
00:24:29,176 --> 00:24:32,971
so we just ended up using it.
It didn't mean anything, actually.
403
00:24:33,972 --> 00:24:36,057
At first, it wasn't called Yellow Door.
404
00:24:36,141 --> 00:24:36,975
No.
405
00:24:37,058 --> 00:24:40,103
- It was Film Institute something, and...
- Film Institute...
406
00:24:40,187 --> 00:24:44,274
Then we studied semiotics
and eventually ended up with Yellow Door.
407
00:24:44,357 --> 00:24:45,192
That's right.
408
00:24:45,275 --> 00:24:48,487
We would discuss things
like signifiant and signifié.
409
00:24:48,570 --> 00:24:51,114
Oh wow! This is embarrassing.
410
00:24:51,198 --> 00:24:52,866
We'd tack those words on.
411
00:24:54,451 --> 00:24:56,786
- We made it sound fancy like that.
- Yes.
412
00:24:57,704 --> 00:25:01,333
We only had scraped the surface
but dared to talk about it.
413
00:25:02,167 --> 00:25:04,085
"The signified and signifier don't match."
414
00:25:04,169 --> 00:25:06,838
"See, there's an actual yellow door."
We'd be like this.
415
00:25:07,339 --> 00:25:08,590
Right!
416
00:25:09,132 --> 00:25:12,969
{\an8}That must be why the critique department
was called "S-S."
417
00:25:13,053 --> 00:25:15,514
{\an8}- Signifiant, signifié.
- Yes, I think so.
418
00:25:15,597 --> 00:25:18,683
- The same goes for SA/sé.
- Yes, right.
419
00:25:18,767 --> 00:25:19,851
Signifiant, signifié.
420
00:25:19,935 --> 00:25:22,437
- A famous cinematheque in Daehak-ro.
- Yes.
421
00:25:22,521 --> 00:25:24,523
- That's what the name means.
- Yes.
422
00:25:24,606 --> 00:25:28,109
We brought up signifiant and signifié
in everything, didn't we?
423
00:25:28,193 --> 00:25:29,402
Yes, you're right.
424
00:25:29,486 --> 00:25:34,324
I mean, the words signifiant and signifié
were very unfamiliar to us.
425
00:25:34,407 --> 00:25:35,283
Yes.
426
00:25:35,367 --> 00:25:38,954
I guess we were proud of ourselves
for learning that concept.
427
00:25:39,037 --> 00:25:41,873
Why were we so obsessed
with semiotics back then?
428
00:25:41,957 --> 00:25:44,709
Semiology, postmodernism...
429
00:25:44,793 --> 00:25:45,794
Postmodernism.
430
00:25:45,877 --> 00:25:47,796
- And post-structuralism.
- Right.
431
00:25:47,879 --> 00:25:52,050
Back then, Roland Barthes
and such concepts were a fad.
432
00:25:52,133 --> 00:25:54,636
We barely understood them,
but still sat ourselves down
433
00:25:54,719 --> 00:25:56,471
and had seminars about them.
434
00:25:57,889 --> 00:26:02,477
I'm not sure if they still do this,
but in front of our schools, there were...
435
00:26:02,561 --> 00:26:04,396
- Copy places.
- Popular copy places.
436
00:26:04,479 --> 00:26:05,730
When you go there,
437
00:26:05,814 --> 00:26:09,985
they would have copies
of renowned original books on display.
438
00:26:10,068 --> 00:26:11,903
There were anthologies too.
439
00:26:11,987 --> 00:26:15,282
And Jong-tae would go,
"We have to read this and this."
440
00:26:15,365 --> 00:26:18,285
No. I didn't pick them out myself.
441
00:26:18,368 --> 00:26:21,329
I just got everything.
I didn't know what they were about!
442
00:26:22,706 --> 00:26:24,791
I just bought them in bulk.
443
00:26:24,874 --> 00:26:29,004
We picked out a few of them
and did stuff like...
444
00:26:29,087 --> 00:26:34,134
We studied Dudley Andrew's book together.
445
00:26:34,217 --> 00:26:35,385
Dudley Andrew!
446
00:26:35,468 --> 00:26:38,054
- Dudley Andrew.
- The man who gave us a tough time.
447
00:26:38,138 --> 00:26:40,140
Translating his book was a real pain.
448
00:26:41,349 --> 00:26:45,854
Min-hyang was good at English.
You majored in English Literature.
449
00:26:45,937 --> 00:26:48,690
But it was still gibberish to me.
450
00:26:48,773 --> 00:26:52,277
The other members' English was so-so.
451
00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:57,532
{\an8}Se-bum, when you were with us,
what year were you in your Ph.D. program?
452
00:26:58,116 --> 00:27:00,535
I was with you
right before I began my program.
453
00:27:00,619 --> 00:27:02,203
- It was right before?
- Yes.
454
00:27:02,287 --> 00:27:05,707
- But we all called you "Doctor." Dr. Ban.
- Yes, Dr. Ban.
455
00:27:06,374 --> 00:27:09,127
You knew I'd become one
before I even started.
456
00:27:10,086 --> 00:27:12,422
We gave you a weird nickname.
457
00:27:12,505 --> 00:27:15,300
- An exegetic.
- An exegetic scholar.
458
00:27:16,468 --> 00:27:18,053
- An exegetic!
- We would...
459
00:27:18,136 --> 00:27:20,764
I remember. When we had seminars,
460
00:27:20,847 --> 00:27:24,392
we'd divide pages and translate them.
461
00:27:24,476 --> 00:27:28,480
If there were any errors,
you would point them all out.
462
00:27:28,563 --> 00:27:30,899
I'd point out each word and its meaning,
463
00:27:30,982 --> 00:27:33,985
discussing how to translate them.
That earned me that nickname.
464
00:27:35,195 --> 00:27:38,573
Theoretical seminars seem great
when you do it,
465
00:27:38,657 --> 00:27:41,660
but you never remember anything
once you're done.
466
00:27:42,410 --> 00:27:47,666
{\an8}Were you working for Director Kim Sung-su
and his directing team at that time?
467
00:27:47,749 --> 00:27:50,960
{\an8}Yes, of course.
I worked on many short films.
468
00:27:51,044 --> 00:27:53,546
{\an8}Most of the 16 mm short films back then.
469
00:27:54,130 --> 00:27:56,883
Dae-yup, you know Beat, right?
Jung Woo-sung's Beat.
470
00:27:56,966 --> 00:27:58,718
- Yeah.
- Yes, I know it too.
471
00:27:58,802 --> 00:28:01,805
Seok-woo was the assistant director
for that film.
472
00:28:01,888 --> 00:28:02,722
{\an8}Oh, I see.
473
00:28:02,806 --> 00:28:06,559
{\an8}Back then, Director Kim Sung-su's team
was highly renowned.
474
00:28:06,643 --> 00:28:09,145
{\an8}They worked people hard over there.
475
00:28:09,229 --> 00:28:15,318
The people who survived through that
were pretty much...
476
00:28:15,402 --> 00:28:19,406
Then, out of the people we know,
Seok-woo was the first to work on sets.
477
00:28:19,489 --> 00:28:23,410
So, in your shoes,
it must've been interesting...
478
00:28:23,493 --> 00:28:25,745
Well, it'd be mean to say "funny."
479
00:28:25,829 --> 00:28:30,125
After working on actual sets,
you would come to Yellow Door
480
00:28:30,208 --> 00:28:34,754
and find us excited about studying books
in their original language.
481
00:28:34,838 --> 00:28:37,048
To put it nicely, we were academic.
482
00:28:37,132 --> 00:28:40,051
But to be frank,
didn't it seem funny to you?
483
00:28:40,135 --> 00:28:43,138
How did you feel about us
holding weird seminars,
484
00:28:43,221 --> 00:28:46,891
underlining and studying English books
with Se-bum?
485
00:28:46,975 --> 00:28:49,811
Well, at the time,
486
00:28:50,687 --> 00:28:52,731
it felt a bit amateurish.
487
00:28:52,814 --> 00:28:53,940
- Right?
- Yeah.
488
00:28:54,524 --> 00:28:57,402
I was too stuck-up back then.
489
00:28:59,988 --> 00:29:02,657
As I keep saying, sorry I was like that.
490
00:29:02,741 --> 00:29:04,743
No, that's not what I meant.
491
00:29:04,826 --> 00:29:08,747
I was dying to make a short film,
492
00:29:08,830 --> 00:29:11,833
but I didn't know anything
and I had no experience.
493
00:29:11,916 --> 00:29:16,504
So I thought,
"If I rely on Seok-woo and sponge off him,
494
00:29:16,588 --> 00:29:19,007
I might be able to start something."
495
00:29:19,090 --> 00:29:23,303
Yoon-a, were you already
in grad school at the time?
496
00:29:23,386 --> 00:29:27,474
{\an8}I was in my second semester
of grad school.
497
00:29:27,557 --> 00:29:30,351
Weren't you getting ready to study abroad?
498
00:29:30,435 --> 00:29:32,395
I was married by then, good sir.
499
00:29:33,563 --> 00:29:34,606
Oh, really?
500
00:29:36,691 --> 00:29:41,446
Actually, I had just gotten married,
so I couldn't participate much.
501
00:29:41,529 --> 00:29:44,365
Well, I was a diligent member,
but I couldn't do more.
502
00:29:44,949 --> 00:29:46,951
My life was too hectic.
503
00:29:47,035 --> 00:29:51,456
So you were like Dae-yup.
You were part of the grown-up group.
504
00:29:51,539 --> 00:29:56,461
If we had to divide the club into two,
we had the grown-ups and the kids.
505
00:29:56,544 --> 00:30:01,633
So when we talked,
I had to be formal with her.
506
00:30:01,716 --> 00:30:03,843
It didn't matter if we were close or not.
507
00:30:03,927 --> 00:30:05,595
She was a married woman,
508
00:30:05,678 --> 00:30:08,181
so I had to be respectful.
509
00:30:08,765 --> 00:30:09,933
What's with that?
510
00:30:11,601 --> 00:30:13,019
{\an8}- What is that?
- Go ahead.
511
00:30:13,102 --> 00:30:16,648
{\an8}I have a question.
Am I the only one who remembers this?
512
00:30:16,731 --> 00:30:19,859
We often ordered in for our meals.
513
00:30:19,943 --> 00:30:25,907
Yes, we first used the name "Yellow Door"
when we ordered Chinese food.
514
00:30:26,783 --> 00:30:29,327
We'd order food during construction
and say,
515
00:30:29,911 --> 00:30:33,748
"Yes, come to the unit
with the yellow door on the second floor."
516
00:30:33,832 --> 00:30:36,251
- That's how we got the name.
- Oh, that's why.
517
00:30:36,334 --> 00:30:39,337
Yes, if someone wanted to visit us,
we'd tell them,
518
00:30:39,420 --> 00:30:42,966
"You'll see a yellow door.
Come in that way."
519
00:30:43,049 --> 00:30:46,845
Then one day, Jong-tae said,
"Let's just call ourselves Yellow Door."
520
00:30:46,928 --> 00:30:48,763
And we added meaning to it.
521
00:30:51,766 --> 00:30:54,602
People would reference films,
522
00:30:54,686 --> 00:30:57,689
but we had never seen the films
that were being referenced,
523
00:30:57,772 --> 00:31:00,275
so we had no idea
what they were talking about.
524
00:31:00,358 --> 00:31:03,611
For example, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,
a German expressionist film.
525
00:31:03,695 --> 00:31:06,781
In the film history book,
there would be one still image.
526
00:31:07,365 --> 00:31:12,120
{\an8}But we couldn't watch it, so we'd just
imagine the film while studying it.
527
00:31:12,203 --> 00:31:15,623
To show The Arrival of a Train
to the students,
528
00:31:15,707 --> 00:31:19,586
we had to make copies on videotape.
There was no YouTube.
529
00:31:19,669 --> 00:31:21,004
{\an8}But now, we have everything.
530
00:31:21,087 --> 00:31:23,298
{\an8}THE ARRIVAL OF A TRAIN
THE LUMIÉRE BROTHERS, 1895
531
00:31:23,381 --> 00:31:26,676
Then what? We had to watch films.
532
00:31:26,759 --> 00:31:29,429
And obtaining those films
533
00:31:29,929 --> 00:31:32,640
was the greatest mission
of a film institute.
534
00:31:32,724 --> 00:31:35,059
Whenever we heard
someone had a copy of a film,
535
00:31:35,935 --> 00:31:38,813
we'd borrow it and make a copy of it.
536
00:31:38,897 --> 00:31:43,109
That was our main task,
537
00:31:43,192 --> 00:31:46,821
and Director Bong was in charge of that.
538
00:31:46,905 --> 00:31:50,617
Back in our day, there weren't many places
we could rent movies.
539
00:31:50,700 --> 00:31:54,245
You know, these so-called art films.
540
00:31:54,329 --> 00:31:57,415
But Director Bong had a knack
for finding them.
541
00:31:57,498 --> 00:32:01,586
Since things weren't digital back then,
when we made copies,
542
00:32:01,669 --> 00:32:04,589
we had to watch the film
until the copy was finished.
543
00:32:04,672 --> 00:32:06,466
We had no other choice.
544
00:32:06,549 --> 00:32:08,968
If we made two copies,
we had to watch it twice.
545
00:32:09,052 --> 00:32:11,638
We'd make three to four copies of a movie.
546
00:32:11,721 --> 00:32:15,308
Since we made multiple copies
of the original video,
547
00:32:15,391 --> 00:32:17,477
we would see interference
on all the copies.
548
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,146
If we copied a video from the US,
549
00:32:20,229 --> 00:32:23,066
it would start with an FBI warning.
550
00:32:23,149 --> 00:32:24,525
WHOLESOME VIDEOS
ARE LIKE GREAT ENVIRONMENTS
551
00:32:24,609 --> 00:32:27,153
Korean videos would mention
tigers and smallpox
552
00:32:27,236 --> 00:32:29,614
to discourage us
from making illegal copies.
553
00:32:29,697 --> 00:32:34,202
{\an8}A single video
may change a person's future.
554
00:32:34,285 --> 00:32:39,165
But making illegal copies
was the only way we could watch them.
555
00:32:43,586 --> 00:32:46,339
We'd write the title on the tape.
556
00:32:46,422 --> 00:32:49,342
We'd write the title on a sticker
and stick it on the tape.
557
00:32:49,425 --> 00:32:53,221
But it didn't seem cool
to see it handwritten.
558
00:32:53,304 --> 00:32:56,182
{\an8}BREATHLESS
JEAN-LUC GODARD, 1960
559
00:32:56,265 --> 00:32:59,519
So I'd write the title
of Godard's films in French.
560
00:32:59,602 --> 00:33:01,604
I could've written down the Korean title.
561
00:33:01,688 --> 00:33:04,107
The localized Korean title
would've been just fine.
562
00:33:04,190 --> 00:33:05,483
But I wrote it in French.
563
00:33:05,566 --> 00:33:06,943
I knew the spelling.
564
00:33:10,238 --> 00:33:13,324
I still don't know how to pronounce it.
565
00:33:13,408 --> 00:33:15,118
Those who speak French would know.
566
00:33:15,618 --> 00:33:18,287
I'd print the titles on an A4 sheet.
567
00:33:18,371 --> 00:33:23,251
Then I'd hold it up to a light
and put the videotape stickers on top,
568
00:33:23,835 --> 00:33:27,463
print the titles once again,
and they would be in the right spots.
569
00:33:27,547 --> 00:33:28,756
Then I'd stick those on.
570
00:33:29,298 --> 00:33:31,718
I put those little skills to use.
571
00:33:31,801 --> 00:33:35,888
You'll find handwritten titles
on some of the tapes,
572
00:33:35,972 --> 00:33:41,060
but after a certain point in time,
they'll be neatly printed on the stickers.
573
00:33:41,144 --> 00:33:44,522
Making copies of films
574
00:33:44,605 --> 00:33:47,900
and building our archive, tape by tape.
575
00:33:47,984 --> 00:33:50,653
We became very enthusiastic about it.
576
00:33:50,737 --> 00:33:53,489
Obsession is what gets enthusiasts going.
577
00:33:53,573 --> 00:33:57,285
The actions of an enthusiast
seem very weird to a non-enthusiast.
578
00:33:57,368 --> 00:34:02,540
But for the enthusiast,
their motivation comes quite naturally.
579
00:34:03,249 --> 00:34:04,834
I think our hunger
for film-related materials
580
00:34:04,917 --> 00:34:06,419
is what led to our obsession.
581
00:34:07,587 --> 00:34:10,840
We'd only need a spreadsheet nowadays.
582
00:34:10,923 --> 00:34:12,800
But we had to do everything by hand.
583
00:34:14,177 --> 00:34:15,219
I think...
584
00:34:15,720 --> 00:34:19,640
Yes, I think I learned how to use
a mouse from Joon Ho.
585
00:34:20,433 --> 00:34:23,061
"This is called a mouse
because it looks like one."
586
00:34:23,144 --> 00:34:24,812
That's how he taught me.
587
00:34:24,896 --> 00:34:26,981
- Since 1992.
- Yes, since 1992.
588
00:34:27,065 --> 00:34:28,691
"Video Library List."
589
00:34:29,317 --> 00:34:30,234
"Managed by Bong."
590
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,447
- Nice handwriting.
- What are the starred ones?
591
00:34:35,323 --> 00:34:36,949
- Perhaps...
- Ones we shouldn't lose?
592
00:34:37,033 --> 00:34:39,827
Maybe. Or else...
593
00:34:39,911 --> 00:34:41,245
Battleship Potemkin.
594
00:34:41,996 --> 00:34:44,082
Before the Revolution by Bertolucci.
595
00:34:44,165 --> 00:34:46,334
Maybe the starred ones are the ones...
596
00:34:46,918 --> 00:34:50,129
- Ones we couldn't check out?
- Right, something like that.
597
00:34:50,755 --> 00:34:53,341
The Conversation by Coppola.
We watched it together.
598
00:34:53,424 --> 00:34:54,550
Yes, we did.
599
00:34:55,051 --> 00:34:57,136
We bought some tapes too.
600
00:34:57,220 --> 00:34:59,138
- We went to Hwanghak-dong.
- Yes.
601
00:34:59,222 --> 00:35:01,474
- There were wholesale stores.
- Wholesale stores.
602
00:35:01,557 --> 00:35:04,185
Street vendors were selling cheap videos.
603
00:35:04,769 --> 00:35:08,106
- Those tapes were 2,500 won each.
- Oh, were they?
604
00:35:08,189 --> 00:35:10,775
- It was like a treasure hunt.
- Yes.
605
00:35:10,858 --> 00:35:14,695
Among these weird, lousy films,
we'd find films by Kim Ki-young.
606
00:35:14,779 --> 00:35:18,157
- Right. Yes.
- Or Dušan Makavejev.
607
00:35:18,241 --> 00:35:20,910
- Or something by Abel Ferrara.
- Andrzej Wajda.
608
00:35:20,993 --> 00:35:23,287
King of New York. Andrzej Wajda.
609
00:35:23,371 --> 00:35:25,456
They were hidden here and there,
610
00:35:25,540 --> 00:35:27,875
but the titles were oddly translated.
611
00:35:27,959 --> 00:35:30,461
- Exactly.
- So we needed to know how to find them.
612
00:35:31,045 --> 00:35:33,798
The person who often gave us
a list of new films,
613
00:35:33,881 --> 00:35:36,801
information, and tips
was Director Kim Hong-joon.
614
00:35:36,884 --> 00:35:39,345
- Oh, I see.
- One of the first-generation cinephiles.
615
00:35:39,428 --> 00:35:42,473
{\an8}He's now the director
of the Korean Film Archive.
616
00:35:42,557 --> 00:35:44,308
{\an8}He published a book too.
617
00:35:44,392 --> 00:35:46,310
{\an8}It had a long title. What was it?
618
00:35:46,394 --> 00:35:48,312
Two or Three Things I Know About Film.
619
00:35:48,396 --> 00:35:51,065
- It sold pretty well in the early '90s.
- It did.
620
00:35:51,149 --> 00:35:54,152
- Many people like us bought that book.
- Yes.
621
00:35:54,235 --> 00:35:55,987
If it was the '60s or '70s,
622
00:35:56,070 --> 00:35:58,865
when it was impossible to watch
any films mentioned in the book,
623
00:35:58,948 --> 00:36:02,618
the book would've been useless.
624
00:36:02,702 --> 00:36:04,537
If it was easy to watch films like now,
625
00:36:04,620 --> 00:36:09,208
all of the information in that book
wouldn't have been as useful.
626
00:36:09,292 --> 00:36:12,545
Only a limited number of films
were shown in theaters back then,
627
00:36:12,628 --> 00:36:16,841
but the videotapes were all around us.
So many films became available.
628
00:36:16,924 --> 00:36:20,011
The influx made it almost impossible
to tell the good ones from the bad.
629
00:36:24,432 --> 00:36:26,517
"You may not be aware,
630
00:36:26,601 --> 00:36:30,188
but this renowned director's work
was published under this title."
631
00:36:30,271 --> 00:36:32,273
"And the title is quite absurd."
632
00:36:32,356 --> 00:36:34,901
{\an8}For example, "Something of Love."
But the actual title...
633
00:36:34,984 --> 00:36:38,070
{\an8}So if we studied the book first...
634
00:36:38,154 --> 00:36:42,033
{\an8}- You'd know the basics.
- We could find the film in Hwanghak-dong.
635
00:36:42,116 --> 00:36:45,369
I believe Director Kim Hong-joon
used a pseudonym.
636
00:36:45,453 --> 00:36:47,121
- He didn't use his real name.
- No.
637
00:36:47,205 --> 00:36:48,206
- Right.
- It was Gu...
638
00:36:48,289 --> 00:36:49,624
- Gu Hoe-yeong.
- Gu Hoe-yeong!
639
00:36:49,707 --> 00:36:53,085
It means "a cinephile
who looks back on the '90s."
640
00:36:53,169 --> 00:36:57,506
It was my first time writing an article
about film for the mass media.
641
00:36:57,590 --> 00:37:02,011
I got a little scared
and didn't want to use my real name,
642
00:37:02,094 --> 00:37:05,139
so I made up a pseudonym.
That was Gu Hoe-yeong.
643
00:37:05,223 --> 00:37:09,644
Later, people said it meant
"a cinephile who looks back on the '90s,"
644
00:37:09,727 --> 00:37:12,897
and I thought it sounded cool,
but that's not true.
645
00:37:12,980 --> 00:37:15,316
I was just wondering
what name I should use
646
00:37:15,399 --> 00:37:18,736
and found a newspaper next to me.
The Hankyoreh, I think.
647
00:37:18,819 --> 00:37:22,990
In the obituaries,
I saw the name Gu Yeong-hoe,
648
00:37:23,074 --> 00:37:26,077
so I just changed it to Gu Hoe-yeong
for no reason.
649
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:31,374
Back then, the cultural status of film
in our society was very poor.
650
00:37:31,874 --> 00:37:36,128
It was a time
when having a job in the film industry
651
00:37:36,212 --> 00:37:39,173
was considered a disgrace to one's family.
652
00:37:41,259 --> 00:37:45,763
How do we still have this?
Count how many films we used to have.
653
00:37:45,846 --> 00:37:47,098
Right.
654
00:37:47,181 --> 00:37:49,016
You're good at counting.
655
00:37:49,517 --> 00:37:51,143
Yes, I just eyeballed it.
656
00:37:52,561 --> 00:37:54,230
About 300, 400 films?
657
00:37:54,313 --> 00:37:57,108
- About 427 films?
- Not as many as I thought.
658
00:37:58,567 --> 00:38:02,405
- How many lines are on a page?
- About 30 lines per page.
659
00:38:02,488 --> 00:38:05,783
- There are 26 letters in the alphabet.
- I have to count them.
660
00:38:05,866 --> 00:38:09,161
- Four, five.
- Let's say 20.
661
00:38:09,245 --> 00:38:10,162
Eight.
662
00:38:11,747 --> 00:38:12,581
Nine, ten.
663
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:15,626
Eleven and a half.
664
00:38:15,710 --> 00:38:18,337
- I think...
- About 17 pages. 17 times 3.
665
00:38:18,421 --> 00:38:20,256
- That would be 510.
- 510.
666
00:38:20,339 --> 00:38:22,967
- We had about 500 tapes.
- Yes.
667
00:38:23,050 --> 00:38:25,803
Only those on record.
But we stopped recording after a while.
668
00:38:25,886 --> 00:38:26,721
Right.
669
00:38:26,804 --> 00:38:29,640
When I first went to Yellow Door,
670
00:38:29,724 --> 00:38:33,269
you were drawing a table
on a huge piece of paper.
671
00:38:33,352 --> 00:38:34,520
- A table?
- Yes.
672
00:38:34,603 --> 00:38:36,814
You often wrote stuff on big sheets.
673
00:38:36,897 --> 00:38:38,149
Was it a list of late fees?
674
00:38:38,232 --> 00:38:43,529
I have a tendency to be obsessive,
so I was the perfect man for the job.
675
00:38:43,612 --> 00:38:46,866
How should I put it?
I was like the class monitor.
676
00:38:48,075 --> 00:38:50,077
On duty for the whole year.
677
00:38:50,161 --> 00:38:50,995
Yes, sort of.
678
00:38:51,078 --> 00:38:54,206
A student who keeps track
of those who chatted during class.
679
00:38:54,290 --> 00:38:56,292
Those who didn't return the videotapes.
680
00:38:56,375 --> 00:38:58,210
"If you don't manage the tapes well,
681
00:38:58,961 --> 00:39:02,798
you might lose in less than a month
what took a year to collect."
682
00:39:02,882 --> 00:39:06,510
Someone told me that,
so I began to chase people around.
683
00:39:07,178 --> 00:39:08,763
I asked, with a scary face,
684
00:39:08,846 --> 00:39:11,849
"Why won't you return
the Godard film you borrowed?"
685
00:39:11,932 --> 00:39:13,517
That's what I did!
686
00:39:17,855 --> 00:39:20,858
"Return the video.
I know you took it two weeks ago."
687
00:39:20,941 --> 00:39:22,568
You really are despicable.
688
00:39:24,362 --> 00:39:28,032
I was serious
about protecting the collection.
689
00:39:28,115 --> 00:39:29,867
What do you mean by "despicable"?
690
00:39:38,918 --> 00:39:39,835
What's that?
691
00:39:39,919 --> 00:39:44,131
{\an8}DIRECTING DEPT. "SHOCK"
THE 1ST TEXT ANALYSIS SEMINAR
692
00:39:44,215 --> 00:39:45,966
Wow. My gosh.
693
00:39:48,886 --> 00:39:54,475
This was when we watched films
and analyzed them.
694
00:39:56,352 --> 00:39:58,771
"Detailed scene analysis."
695
00:39:58,854 --> 00:40:04,235
"Apply the analysis framework
by genre, scriptwriter, and movement."
696
00:40:05,152 --> 00:40:07,988
As if we could actually do these things!
697
00:40:09,073 --> 00:40:11,992
We didn't know much,
but we wrote it down anyway.
698
00:40:12,076 --> 00:40:15,037
It says, "Analyze a film by scene."
699
00:40:16,831 --> 00:40:18,624
It says, "Analyze a film by scene."
700
00:40:20,084 --> 00:40:21,919
Jog Shuttle VTR.
701
00:40:22,002 --> 00:40:23,129
Safe! Out!
702
00:40:23,212 --> 00:40:24,463
- Safe!
- It's out!
703
00:40:24,547 --> 00:40:26,132
Let's check with the Jog Shuttle.
704
00:40:26,215 --> 00:40:28,801
{\an8}The Jog Shuttle catches every action.
705
00:40:30,428 --> 00:40:33,305
- The jog dial was released.
- Right.
706
00:40:33,389 --> 00:40:34,390
Nowadays,
707
00:40:35,141 --> 00:40:39,979
we can use iPhone apps
or other mobile apps to edit videos
708
00:40:40,813 --> 00:40:44,400
and even add visual effects,
so this may sound too primitive.
709
00:40:44,483 --> 00:40:47,153
But when the jog dial was released,
we were thrilled.
710
00:40:47,236 --> 00:40:48,237
Right, yes.
711
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:53,784
We could fast-forward and rewind movies
and analyze scenes frame by frame.
712
00:40:53,868 --> 00:40:58,247
We could check how it was edited
and how the double actions were done.
713
00:40:58,831 --> 00:41:00,916
The cinephiles just before our generation,
714
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:03,919
such as Mr. Jung Sung-il,
Director Kim Hong-joon,
715
00:41:04,462 --> 00:41:08,382
they had to go to Goethe-Institut
or Institut Français to watch films.
716
00:41:08,466 --> 00:41:11,552
- And they couldn't rewind them.
- Right.
717
00:41:11,635 --> 00:41:16,891
But we got to analyze films
using jog dials for the first time.
718
00:41:16,974 --> 00:41:18,392
I remember this.
719
00:41:18,476 --> 00:41:21,312
We decided to hold
the first text analysis seminar.
720
00:41:21,395 --> 00:41:25,399
Wait, did I analyze Raging Bull?
And Citizen Kane?
721
00:41:25,483 --> 00:41:29,737
I did watch all of these films.
City Lights, The Sacrifice.
722
00:41:32,198 --> 00:41:35,534
{\an8}I probably did analyze them.
Do you have the materials?
723
00:41:35,618 --> 00:41:37,411
{\an8}- Yes, we have them.
- Really?
724
00:41:37,495 --> 00:41:39,622
That's how we came to publish this.
725
00:41:39,705 --> 00:41:42,750
YELLOW DOOR, 1ST ISSUE
SPRING 1993
726
00:41:42,833 --> 00:41:44,376
I didn't do it by myself.
727
00:41:44,460 --> 00:41:49,131
{\an8}All the departments wrote the analyses
and put them together.
728
00:41:49,215 --> 00:41:50,883
{\an8}It wasn't much, but we did it.
729
00:41:50,966 --> 00:41:54,261
I think the first issue
was the most important one,
730
00:41:54,345 --> 00:41:56,764
but we couldn't keep this going.
731
00:41:56,847 --> 00:41:58,265
{\an8}Man, this is...
732
00:41:59,892 --> 00:42:02,561
{\an8}I went through so much
trying to find this.
733
00:42:02,645 --> 00:42:04,647
- Where did you get this?
- From Yoon-a.
734
00:42:04,730 --> 00:42:07,191
- Oh, so Yoon-a had it.
- Yes.
735
00:42:07,274 --> 00:42:10,361
There's an analysis
of Coppola's The Godfather in here.
736
00:42:10,444 --> 00:42:12,029
I drew these.
737
00:42:13,113 --> 00:42:18,202
"The Godfather is a rigid, textbook film
in terms of formatting."
738
00:42:20,412 --> 00:42:23,040
I wrote all kinds of nonsense
as if I knew stuff.
739
00:42:26,043 --> 00:42:28,170
This was from our seminar, right?
740
00:42:28,254 --> 00:42:29,213
Yes.
741
00:42:30,172 --> 00:42:32,424
I see I worked very hard on this one.
742
00:42:42,518 --> 00:42:45,437
{\an8}THE GODFATHER
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, 1972
743
00:43:01,161 --> 00:43:02,121
Thanks.
744
00:43:17,219 --> 00:43:18,887
The suspense.
745
00:43:20,180 --> 00:43:22,933
This is what you just mentioned,
Director Lee.
746
00:43:23,017 --> 00:43:25,144
The control of information.
747
00:43:25,227 --> 00:43:28,480
The information in this view
is only available to the audience.
748
00:43:28,564 --> 00:43:31,942
- That's how suspense is created.
- Suspense is created.
749
00:43:32,026 --> 00:43:37,448
VIEW, SUSPENSE, CONTROL OF INFORMATION
750
00:43:50,252 --> 00:43:52,880
I should have shown this
to Coppola when I met him,
751
00:43:52,963 --> 00:43:54,632
but I only told him about it.
752
00:43:58,677 --> 00:44:01,889
There's a film festival held in Lyon.
753
00:44:02,556 --> 00:44:04,975
Every year, the main event of the festival
754
00:44:05,643 --> 00:44:11,649
is to invite big industry names
and pay tribute to them.
755
00:44:11,732 --> 00:44:13,484
That year, Coppola was the main guest.
756
00:44:15,277 --> 00:44:18,030
They were going to present him
with an achievement award,
757
00:44:18,113 --> 00:44:19,865
and I was told to be the presenter.
758
00:44:20,866 --> 00:44:22,785
So I went upstage and said this...
759
00:44:22,868 --> 00:44:27,831
"Back when I was a university student,
I also studied your films."
760
00:44:28,415 --> 00:44:30,959
"I analyzed this scene
from The Godfather."
761
00:44:31,043 --> 00:44:33,462
I said something like that.
762
00:44:34,254 --> 00:44:38,967
"Why was the camera there?
Why did the shot change there?"
763
00:44:39,051 --> 00:44:41,637
Why did this scene
have to follow this one?
764
00:44:43,764 --> 00:44:46,600
Why does the actor look that way
at this moment?
765
00:44:49,395 --> 00:44:50,771
I asked myself these questions
766
00:44:50,854 --> 00:44:54,900
and drew the scenes from The Godfather
one by one.
767
00:44:57,736 --> 00:45:00,030
My heart still pounds at this moment.
768
00:45:01,532 --> 00:45:06,328
It hit me differently when I got to meet
him in person up on the same stage,
769
00:45:06,829 --> 00:45:08,747
sharing that story with him.
770
00:45:08,831 --> 00:45:11,917
It felt marvelous and surreal.
771
00:45:12,501 --> 00:45:18,507
Since then, even to this day,
I watch films in units of cuts and shots.
772
00:45:18,590 --> 00:45:21,218
In those shots,
I look for the light sources,
773
00:45:21,301 --> 00:45:25,764
{\an8}the mise-en-scène,
and all the details as I watch the film.
774
00:45:25,848 --> 00:45:30,269
{\an8}I loved what we did at first,
but later on, it wasn't so great.
775
00:45:30,352 --> 00:45:31,687
{\an8}I began to wonder,
776
00:45:31,770 --> 00:45:34,857
"Do I have to study languages
and analyze each scene?"
777
00:45:34,940 --> 00:45:38,444
"No way. This is so boring."
That's what happened to me.
778
00:45:38,527 --> 00:45:43,991
I realized it didn't sit well with me
to analyze every single piece of a film.
779
00:45:44,074 --> 00:45:48,162
That's the power of a film.
It captures you without you knowing it.
780
00:45:48,245 --> 00:45:51,665
I enjoyed watching films together
since it was nice to know
781
00:45:51,749 --> 00:45:55,794
that I had friends
who also wanted to watch these films.
782
00:45:55,878 --> 00:45:58,630
Yellow Door was a place
where we gathered and talked
783
00:45:58,714 --> 00:46:01,383
and learned things we didn't know before.
784
00:46:01,467 --> 00:46:03,886
This just occurred to me.
785
00:46:03,969 --> 00:46:09,850
{\an8}In this movie, the actor lights a candle
and then covers it as he walks,
786
00:46:10,350 --> 00:46:13,228
trying to make sure it doesn't go out.
787
00:46:14,271 --> 00:46:17,191
{\an8}NOSTALGHIA
ANDREI TARKOVSKY, 1983
788
00:46:31,622 --> 00:46:35,501
It was a film by Tarkovsky
which I would find boring now.
789
00:46:35,584 --> 00:46:38,587
{\an8}I have no idea why I was so hooked on it.
790
00:46:38,670 --> 00:46:41,507
As I watched it,
I realized that film was art,
791
00:46:41,590 --> 00:46:43,634
that I could dedicate my life to it.
792
00:46:50,808 --> 00:46:53,811
I think that scene went on
for over five minutes.
793
00:46:54,812 --> 00:46:58,065
"What the heck?
Is this what they call a film?"
794
00:46:58,148 --> 00:47:00,567
Back then, that's what I thought.
795
00:47:03,153 --> 00:47:08,408
{\an8}Joon Ho really loved Martin Scorsese.
796
00:47:10,369 --> 00:47:12,704
Its original title was Raging Bull.
797
00:47:12,788 --> 00:47:16,959
But weirdly, the video company released it
as The Fist of Fury.
798
00:47:17,042 --> 00:47:18,460
THE FIST OF FURY
RAGING BULL
799
00:47:18,544 --> 00:47:21,380
The Korean subtitles on that video
had so many problems.
800
00:47:21,463 --> 00:47:25,843
{\an8}But despite that,
the boxing sequence and everything
801
00:47:25,926 --> 00:47:28,095
was just overwhelming,
802
00:47:28,178 --> 00:47:30,973
so I remember us going crazy
as we watched it.
803
00:47:31,056 --> 00:47:35,602
Director Lee, you also talked a lot
about the editing and camerawork.
804
00:47:35,686 --> 00:47:38,397
I was in my early days of studying film.
805
00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:45,279
I used to think that complicated cuts
and camerawork made good scenes.
806
00:47:47,155 --> 00:47:50,534
But as you know,
that scene is extremely simple.
807
00:47:59,710 --> 00:48:04,047
It's simple, chilling, and funny,
and you feel very sad once the scene ends.
808
00:48:08,176 --> 00:48:12,055
You see Joe Pesci's face,
and then a few more shots.
809
00:48:12,139 --> 00:48:14,057
Then the camera pans just once.
810
00:48:14,141 --> 00:48:17,978
When De Niro walks up the stairs,
it's very scary.
811
00:48:18,061 --> 00:48:23,525
After he walks up,
we see this crazy, wild violence.
812
00:48:25,485 --> 00:48:27,988
- It's terrifying.
- I remember something else you said.
813
00:48:28,739 --> 00:48:30,657
- That scene begins with a broken TV.
- Yes.
814
00:48:30,741 --> 00:48:32,576
De Niro is fixing the TV.
815
00:48:32,659 --> 00:48:36,788
You said the broken TV
sets the overall tone of the scene,
816
00:48:36,872 --> 00:48:39,625
and I remember realizing that then.
817
00:48:39,708 --> 00:48:41,501
- We said stuff like that?
- No, well...
818
00:48:41,585 --> 00:48:42,920
You did!
819
00:48:43,003 --> 00:48:46,173
I don't remember a thing,
not even what happened yesterday.
820
00:48:47,132 --> 00:48:50,052
{\an8}THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES
FRÉDÉRIC BACK, 1987
821
00:48:50,552 --> 00:48:54,514
There was an animated film entitled
The Man Who Planted Trees.
822
00:48:55,766 --> 00:49:00,562
{\an8}I guess I seemed miserable back then.
823
00:49:01,313 --> 00:49:02,564
Hoon-a said to me,
824
00:49:03,273 --> 00:49:07,402
"Jong-tae, when life is hard
and you feel overwhelmed,
825
00:49:08,528 --> 00:49:12,991
you should watch films like this.
It will help you."
826
00:49:13,492 --> 00:49:14,993
It was so nice.
827
00:49:17,329 --> 00:49:20,499
{\an8}I guess I was rather impudent
with my words.
828
00:49:20,582 --> 00:49:23,794
I thought Jong-tae was the one
who told me to watch it.
829
00:49:27,005 --> 00:49:30,425
I thought, "He introduced me
to such a great film."
830
00:49:30,509 --> 00:49:35,138
It really is a wonderful film.
I watched it many more times after that.
831
00:49:36,056 --> 00:49:37,891
It's the best film for me.
832
00:49:37,975 --> 00:49:41,770
Oh, I'm not crying.
My eyes are teary because they're old!
833
00:49:41,853 --> 00:49:43,855
The two of you have different memories.
834
00:49:43,939 --> 00:49:45,774
Yes, this is just like Rashomon.
835
00:49:51,738 --> 00:49:53,782
- I see the yellow door.
- That's the door.
836
00:49:53,865 --> 00:49:55,117
Yes, you're right.
837
00:49:56,284 --> 00:49:58,620
- Someone's directing.
- We're doing something.
838
00:49:58,704 --> 00:50:00,956
She's repeating her stiff performance.
839
00:50:02,708 --> 00:50:04,459
These are the 8 mm films.
840
00:50:05,210 --> 00:50:08,714
These were at home for the last 30 years
in the wooden box.
841
00:50:08,797 --> 00:50:10,298
You can see everything.
842
00:50:11,758 --> 00:50:13,927
Cameras were not easy to come by.
843
00:50:14,011 --> 00:50:15,137
Yes.
844
00:50:15,220 --> 00:50:17,848
Especially video cameras.
The films were too expensive.
845
00:50:17,931 --> 00:50:20,767
- Right.
- Our hands would shake as we filmed.
846
00:50:20,851 --> 00:50:25,063
It was frightening to use up
24 frames in a mere second.
847
00:50:34,406 --> 00:50:38,410
It was probably around 1992.
848
00:50:38,493 --> 00:50:41,163
I had to save up the money.
849
00:50:45,542 --> 00:50:48,587
{\an8}He saved up the money
from working at the study room.
850
00:50:48,670 --> 00:50:52,507
{\an8}I think he was paid
300,000 won a month.
851
00:50:54,009 --> 00:50:58,388
{\an8}He asked me if he could get
a decent camera with that money.
852
00:50:58,472 --> 00:51:03,852
{\an8}You could find all kinds of electronics
in Sewoon Plaza and Cheonggyecheon.
853
00:51:03,935 --> 00:51:08,023
It was an expensive camera at the time.
Hitachi 8200 Super VHS.
854
00:51:09,024 --> 00:51:12,944
I bought it
and took it to Yellow Door the next day.
855
00:51:13,653 --> 00:51:16,740
I held it in my arms like this
during the seminar.
856
00:51:16,823 --> 00:51:18,492
It was huge too.
857
00:51:19,951 --> 00:51:25,040
I'd flip the pages with the camera
in my arms, patting it.
858
00:51:25,749 --> 00:51:27,501
Nervous, should I say?
859
00:51:28,251 --> 00:51:31,505
It was our first piece of equipment,
so we were pleasantly nervous about it.
860
00:51:49,564 --> 00:51:53,485
I did all my part-time jobs with the 8200,
such as filming wedding videos.
861
00:51:54,486 --> 00:51:56,905
I'd get all kinds of filming gigs
862
00:51:56,988 --> 00:51:59,991
at all sorts of family events
from birthday parties to weddings.
863
00:52:12,087 --> 00:52:13,338
- Everyone's here.
- This one.
864
00:52:13,421 --> 00:52:15,423
We look great in this photo. It's nice.
865
00:52:16,216 --> 00:52:19,386
Byung-hoon and Seok-woo
are right next to each other.
866
00:52:19,970 --> 00:52:23,014
{\an8}There's a rumor that Byung-hoon
left the industry because of me.
867
00:52:24,141 --> 00:52:26,268
{\an8}Seok-woo feels bad for you, Byung-hoon.
868
00:52:26,351 --> 00:52:27,435
{\an8}Why? What for?
869
00:52:27,519 --> 00:52:31,022
Because he yelled at you so much
while shooting short films.
870
00:52:33,441 --> 00:52:35,652
Joon Ho is hiding back there.
871
00:52:35,735 --> 00:52:37,112
- Yes.
- What is he up to?
872
00:52:39,114 --> 00:52:40,949
I have no idea when this was taken.
873
00:52:41,032 --> 00:52:44,703
I'm not really sure either.
How did we end up taking this photo?
874
00:52:44,786 --> 00:52:47,205
A spur-of-the-moment thing, maybe?
875
00:52:47,289 --> 00:52:50,876
But we're all too dressed up.
876
00:52:51,418 --> 00:52:52,627
Gosh, Hoon-a!
877
00:52:54,212 --> 00:52:56,047
- Yes, it's the same day.
- Right.
878
00:52:56,840 --> 00:52:58,925
Am I bowing to someone here?
879
00:52:59,009 --> 00:53:00,927
- I think it's a rite.
- Yeah.
880
00:53:01,011 --> 00:53:04,472
I see the head
of the Hitachi 8200 over there.
881
00:53:06,141 --> 00:53:08,059
- It's our opening ceremony!
- It is!
882
00:53:08,143 --> 00:53:10,187
- It says so right there.
- That's it.
883
00:53:11,188 --> 00:53:13,607
- I think so.
- I remember that pig's head!
884
00:53:16,026 --> 00:53:19,988
We couldn't afford an actual pig's head,
so I drew that on paper.
885
00:53:20,071 --> 00:53:23,033
- That's my drawing.
- Yes, Joon Ho drew that.
886
00:53:23,116 --> 00:53:26,203
I wrote the order of events
on that huge sheet of paper.
887
00:53:26,286 --> 00:53:28,371
- Really?
- So that was your handwriting.
888
00:53:28,455 --> 00:53:29,706
- The handwriting here?
- Yes.
889
00:53:29,789 --> 00:53:31,041
That's not my handwriting.
890
00:53:31,124 --> 00:53:33,543
I can see Gorilla written on it.
891
00:53:33,627 --> 00:53:34,836
- Two. Yes, Gorilla 2.
- Yes.
892
00:53:34,920 --> 00:53:35,754
Gorilla 2.
893
00:53:35,837 --> 00:53:37,172
- That was Gorilla 2?
- Yes.
894
00:53:37,255 --> 00:53:40,592
- Is that Looking for Paradise?
- Yes, Looking for Paradise.
895
00:53:40,675 --> 00:53:44,930
Gorilla 2, as if it was an actual series.
How embarrassing.
896
00:53:48,433 --> 00:53:50,018
Director Choi Jong-tae formed this club
897
00:53:50,101 --> 00:53:53,772
with a few younger people
who were passionate about film.
898
00:53:54,731 --> 00:53:57,317
They said they were having
an end-of-year screening.
899
00:53:59,569 --> 00:54:01,905
Choi Jong-tae, Woo Hyun, and Ahn Nae-sang.
900
00:54:01,988 --> 00:54:05,283
Hyun and Nae-sang
are very busy actors now.
901
00:54:05,825 --> 00:54:07,494
The three of them were a trio.
902
00:54:07,577 --> 00:54:11,915
So Hyun and Nae-sang
often came to Yellow Door.
903
00:54:11,998 --> 00:54:13,875
We had lots of drinks too.
904
00:54:14,918 --> 00:54:15,752
Yes.
905
00:54:16,670 --> 00:54:17,671
A screening?
906
00:54:17,754 --> 00:54:20,423
{\an8}I thought it would be grandiose and fancy.
907
00:54:20,507 --> 00:54:24,261
{\an8}But it was held in a tiny room,
a tiny office.
908
00:54:24,344 --> 00:54:27,305
I remember attending the event.
909
00:54:27,389 --> 00:54:31,226
It was kind of boring. Rather tedious.
I thought, "Yeah, I didn't expect much."
910
00:54:31,309 --> 00:54:34,896
So I wasn't really interested, and then...
911
00:54:38,441 --> 00:54:42,696
As soon as Joon Ho's film started playing,
I thought,
912
00:54:42,779 --> 00:54:45,657
"What is this?"
And I was completely sucked in.
913
00:54:46,449 --> 00:54:48,868
I really want to watch it again.
I mean it.
914
00:54:51,871 --> 00:54:54,124
{\an8}What did you do for the animated film?
915
00:54:54,624 --> 00:54:56,167
{\an8}Do you mean Gorilla?
916
00:54:56,251 --> 00:54:59,337
- Were you controlling the stuffed toys?
- We took turns.
917
00:54:59,421 --> 00:55:01,298
Or were you handling the camera?
918
00:55:01,381 --> 00:55:06,344
No, whoever got tired
was in charge of the camera.
919
00:55:06,428 --> 00:55:09,472
- Whoever had more energy moved the toys.
- That's you, right?
920
00:55:09,556 --> 00:55:12,309
Then we had to go up the ladders
and hang it up high too.
921
00:55:12,392 --> 00:55:14,769
- Yes, you did the dangerous stuff.
- I did those.
922
00:55:15,770 --> 00:55:17,480
- Hang it off the pipes.
- Yes.
923
00:55:17,564 --> 00:55:20,317
I thought it'd be really fun.
924
00:55:20,400 --> 00:55:21,985
- At first?
- Yes, at first.
925
00:55:22,068 --> 00:55:24,904
For about two days,
926
00:55:24,988 --> 00:55:28,074
we shot in the basement
of Daerim Apartment,
927
00:55:28,158 --> 00:55:31,161
the place with the pipes
in Barking Dogs Never Bite.
928
00:55:31,244 --> 00:55:34,581
There, we moved the stuffed gorilla
little by little to shoot the film.
929
00:55:34,664 --> 00:55:35,749
It was really tough.
930
00:55:47,552 --> 00:55:50,930
The Hitachi 8200 offered many features.
931
00:55:51,014 --> 00:55:53,641
I used it to shoot and edit the film.
932
00:55:53,725 --> 00:55:56,227
And I could also insert subtitles,
933
00:55:56,770 --> 00:56:00,857
{\an8}not in Korean, but in English.
934
00:56:01,358 --> 00:56:06,237
{\an8}I had no choice but to make it silent
and add English subtitles at the bottom.
935
00:56:14,454 --> 00:56:19,250
The main character, Gorilla,
goes up on a stone and poops.
936
00:56:20,460 --> 00:56:22,128
- Yes, we had a stone.
- Right?
937
00:56:22,212 --> 00:56:24,130
It poops on top of the stone.
938
00:56:25,298 --> 00:56:28,885
{\an8}That voice was Director Bong's.
The grunting as it poops.
939
00:56:37,143 --> 00:56:40,563
The poop turns into a poop worm
and attacks the gorilla.
940
00:56:42,232 --> 00:56:43,358
And then...
941
00:56:43,441 --> 00:56:45,819
It's embarrassing just to hear this.
942
00:56:51,449 --> 00:56:55,954
In a way, it was also a monster flick.
A mysterious creature appears in it.
943
00:56:56,037 --> 00:57:01,709
{\an8}We made those monster worms
with white clay.
944
00:57:01,793 --> 00:57:05,171
{\an8}I thought it would be too gross
to use brown clay.
945
00:57:05,255 --> 00:57:06,256
{\an8}Too disgusting.
946
00:57:06,339 --> 00:57:10,051
{\an8}The monsters attack the gorilla,
and they start a fight.
947
00:57:14,305 --> 00:57:18,685
{\an8}The story was about the gorilla
trying to get to a place without monsters.
948
00:57:21,646 --> 00:57:25,775
A gorilla that lives
in a dark, dirty basement
949
00:57:25,859 --> 00:57:29,529
escapes to find its paradise.
950
00:57:29,612 --> 00:57:32,949
Hence the childish title,
Looking for Paradise.
951
00:57:35,285 --> 00:57:38,204
There was a lush tree
in the middle of a field.
952
00:57:38,288 --> 00:57:39,372
The gorilla starts dreaming
953
00:57:39,456 --> 00:57:43,960
of picking fresh bananas off the tree
and eating them.
954
00:57:45,044 --> 00:57:47,630
A gorilla is supposed to climb trees,
955
00:57:47,714 --> 00:57:54,554
but this one climbs up the gray pipes
on the ceiling of the basement instead,
956
00:57:54,637 --> 00:57:55,930
dreaming of its escape.
957
00:57:59,184 --> 00:58:05,732
{\an8}When the gorilla began to move
and make an effort to achieve its goal,
958
00:58:05,815 --> 00:58:10,570
I thought, "How strange.
This is a simple plot, a simple story."
959
00:58:10,653 --> 00:58:15,074
"But when it's combined
with cinematic imagination,
960
00:58:15,158 --> 00:58:18,495
one can create something amazing."
961
00:58:30,006 --> 00:58:33,426
Maybe it was because
I wasn't a part of the production.
962
00:58:33,510 --> 00:58:38,556
I didn't understand how hard it was
to make a film like that.
963
00:58:38,640 --> 00:58:42,227
I couldn't just say,
"I don't think it's that great."
964
00:58:42,310 --> 00:58:46,314
{\an8}All the members who studied film
gave him good reviews,
965
00:58:46,397 --> 00:58:48,650
{\an8}so I couldn't say otherwise.
966
00:58:48,733 --> 00:58:51,277
So I just said, "Oh, nicely done."
967
00:58:51,361 --> 00:58:55,281
That was about the only critique
I could give regarding that film.
968
00:58:55,365 --> 00:58:59,619
{\an8}Having said that,
I was stuck-up back then,
969
00:59:00,537 --> 00:59:02,705
I didn't think much of the film.
970
00:59:02,789 --> 00:59:06,459
{\an8}It's called stop-motion animation, right?
971
00:59:06,543 --> 00:59:08,545
{\an8}It's also called "release shooting."
972
00:59:08,628 --> 00:59:12,507
I think I simply thought,
"Well, if the camera has the function,
973
00:59:12,590 --> 00:59:15,301
anyone can shoot it."
974
00:59:15,385 --> 00:59:19,305
I was so embarrassed
when I played it at the year-end party.
975
00:59:19,389 --> 00:59:22,475
I remember my face going red.
976
00:59:22,559 --> 00:59:26,396
I think it was the first time
I created something with a narrative.
977
00:59:26,479 --> 00:59:31,067
And there were
about 15 to 20 people there too.
978
00:59:31,150 --> 00:59:33,486
So they were like an audience.
979
00:59:33,570 --> 00:59:36,114
It was just another year-end party,
so everyone was like,
980
00:59:36,197 --> 00:59:40,618
"Let's watch it already.
Get it over with and start drinking."
981
00:59:40,702 --> 00:59:43,496
But I was very nervous.
982
00:59:43,580 --> 00:59:46,499
I remember turning completely red
up to my ears.
983
00:59:47,750 --> 00:59:51,254
That's when I decided to give up
on animated films
984
00:59:51,337 --> 00:59:54,048
and turn to live-action.
985
00:59:54,132 --> 00:59:57,176
I had to move the toys
a tiny bit at a time,
986
00:59:57,260 --> 01:00:02,473
so later on, I began to have
this animosity toward the main character.
987
01:00:03,474 --> 01:00:06,227
I kept thinking,
"Can you please move an inch by yourself?"
988
01:00:06,311 --> 01:00:09,647
Naturally, I turned to live-action
where the actors move on their own.
989
01:00:09,731 --> 01:00:10,857
- Yes.
- That's why.
990
01:00:10,940 --> 01:00:15,737
But if you think back on it now,
don't you think we were kind of insane?
991
01:00:15,820 --> 01:00:19,198
The fact that we stayed up
all night shooting it.
992
01:00:19,282 --> 01:00:21,367
We set up at around eight o'clock.
993
01:00:21,451 --> 01:00:22,869
Was the weather cold or hot?
994
01:00:23,828 --> 01:00:26,873
I don't remember that.
I was so focused, I forgot about it.
995
01:00:27,749 --> 01:00:29,667
- No, I think it was cold.
- It was chilly.
996
01:00:29,751 --> 01:00:31,419
I think we had coats on.
997
01:00:31,502 --> 01:00:34,672
- At that time, your mother...
- Yes, my mom came downstairs.
998
01:00:34,756 --> 01:00:38,593
She came downstairs late at night
and looked at us with pity in her eyes.
999
01:00:38,676 --> 01:00:40,928
- She asked if we were done yet.
- She did.
1000
01:00:41,012 --> 01:00:44,432
At that time,
I was already discharged from the army.
1001
01:00:44,515 --> 01:00:45,516
Yes, right.
1002
01:00:46,100 --> 01:00:47,852
Her grown-up son was in the basement
1003
01:00:47,935 --> 01:00:50,855
with a stuffed gorilla
in the middle of the night.
1004
01:00:50,938 --> 01:00:53,191
- Right.
- It must've upset her so much.
1005
01:00:53,274 --> 01:00:56,527
She must've been really frustrated.
1006
01:00:57,278 --> 01:01:03,618
{\an8}I believe the essential components
of Director Bong's current films
1007
01:01:04,452 --> 01:01:06,537
were already established in Gorilla.
1008
01:01:07,997 --> 01:01:08,915
{\an8}INCOHERENCE
BONG JOON HO, 1994
1009
01:01:08,998 --> 01:01:12,919
{\an8}Most of his films have scenes
shot in the basement.
1010
01:01:13,586 --> 01:01:18,299
Oh, you can go down to the basement
and do your business.
1011
01:01:24,722 --> 01:01:29,143
The restroom in the maintenance office
is too far from here.
1012
01:01:32,689 --> 01:01:34,941
{\an8}This is the story
from when this apartment was built.
1013
01:01:35,441 --> 01:01:39,946
{\an8}Back in 1988,
when apartment construction was booming...
1014
01:01:40,029 --> 01:01:44,200
{\an8}Since you got discharged from the army
and came to the factory in this town,
1015
01:01:44,867 --> 01:01:47,787
{\an8}there have been a series of incidents.
1016
01:01:47,870 --> 01:01:50,373
{\an8}I don't think this is forgery or crime.
1017
01:01:51,207 --> 01:01:53,209
{\an8}I'm going to this university next year.
1018
01:01:53,292 --> 01:01:56,337
Oh, you had everything planned out!
1019
01:01:59,257 --> 01:02:01,467
- "He's going to make it."
- Yes.
1020
01:02:01,968 --> 01:02:05,054
That I knew,
but not that he'd make it this big.
1021
01:02:07,014 --> 01:02:09,475
You know, Hyun is...
1022
01:02:09,559 --> 01:02:13,521
He's very quick with numbers.
He never wastes money on anything.
1023
01:02:13,604 --> 01:02:20,403
This guy funded
Director Bong's first short film,
1024
01:02:20,945 --> 01:02:22,071
White Man.
1025
01:02:22,780 --> 01:02:24,949
I thought you gave him
about three million won.
1026
01:02:25,032 --> 01:02:26,534
- No.
- How much did you give him?
1027
01:02:26,617 --> 01:02:29,287
- No, I barely remember.
- Is that so?
1028
01:02:29,370 --> 01:02:30,788
A portion.
1029
01:02:30,872 --> 01:02:33,583
That's how I remember it,
but he recorded the actual amount.
1030
01:02:33,666 --> 01:02:35,418
- 500,000 won. Yeah.
- Is he sure?
1031
01:02:35,501 --> 01:02:37,587
You told me it was three million won.
1032
01:02:37,670 --> 01:02:39,172
- I did?
- You lied to me.
1033
01:02:39,255 --> 01:02:44,260
Hyun was there at the year-end party,
and he watched my animated film.
1034
01:02:44,886 --> 01:02:47,305
Thanks to that,
when I was shooting White Man,
1035
01:02:47,388 --> 01:02:50,516
{\an8}he made a partial investment, so to speak.
1036
01:02:51,476 --> 01:02:53,978
He gave me some money
when I shot the short film.
1037
01:02:56,481 --> 01:02:58,274
PRODUCTION FUNDING: WOO HYUN-HUI
1038
01:02:58,357 --> 01:03:01,861
Woo Hyun-hui?
Apparently, Joon Ho didn't know my name.
1039
01:03:03,404 --> 01:03:05,865
Does he still think...
No, he must know your name now.
1040
01:03:06,449 --> 01:03:09,368
This might sound kind of awkward,
1041
01:03:09,452 --> 01:03:12,789
but this is the first time
I've ever helped someone
1042
01:03:12,872 --> 01:03:14,999
and regretted it.
1043
01:03:15,833 --> 01:03:17,168
I didn't regret it back then.
1044
01:03:18,336 --> 01:03:20,671
But after a few years...
1045
01:03:23,090 --> 01:03:24,467
{\an8}he made Memories of Murder.
1046
01:03:24,550 --> 01:03:26,010
{\an8}MEMORIES OF MURDER
BONG JOON HO, 2003
1047
01:03:26,093 --> 01:03:28,179
When I walked out after watching the film,
1048
01:03:28,262 --> 01:03:32,099
my heart felt heavy and stunned.
1049
01:03:32,183 --> 01:03:35,353
I was engulfed in deep emotions.
1050
01:03:36,521 --> 01:03:37,522
I said to myself,
1051
01:03:39,148 --> 01:03:40,525
"I should've paid for all of it."
1052
01:03:44,320 --> 01:03:45,530
"The entire production."
1053
01:03:46,322 --> 01:03:50,159
"Why was I so stingy
and only paid for some of it?"
1054
01:03:50,243 --> 01:03:51,828
That's what I actually thought.
1055
01:04:02,463 --> 01:04:06,342
At the very end of the film,
there was a single tree.
1056
01:04:06,425 --> 01:04:08,928
The film was entitled
Looking for Paradise.
1057
01:04:09,512 --> 01:04:10,930
Now that I think about it,
1058
01:04:11,722 --> 01:04:14,767
I guess everyone wanted to find something.
1059
01:04:14,851 --> 01:04:16,477
I'm having such thoughts.
1060
01:04:19,897 --> 01:04:24,360
At the end, the gorilla reaches the tree
and stands in front of it.
1061
01:04:24,443 --> 01:04:29,115
We're looking at the gorilla from behind,
but as the camera slowly zooms out...
1062
01:04:33,119 --> 01:04:38,708
it turns out that the banana tree
is actually inside a television.
1063
01:04:44,964 --> 01:04:47,633
I think I teared up at the end.
1064
01:04:48,384 --> 01:04:53,806
It was put together so well
that you can relate to the gorilla.
1065
01:04:57,602 --> 01:05:02,565
Back then, I was still
hanging around the school.
1066
01:05:03,774 --> 01:05:06,986
I was unemployed, not making any money.
1067
01:05:08,154 --> 01:05:11,574
I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do
1068
01:05:11,657 --> 01:05:14,368
or what I was supposed to do,
1069
01:05:14,869 --> 01:05:17,997
but I was certain
about what I didn't want to do.
1070
01:05:21,500 --> 01:05:23,252
So, in a way,
1071
01:05:24,712 --> 01:05:26,505
I was like the gorilla.
1072
01:05:27,214 --> 01:05:28,382
Yes, I was.
1073
01:05:37,433 --> 01:05:39,352
When you consider video culture,
1074
01:05:39,435 --> 01:05:44,190
the new theater opening tomorrow
will bring a wonderful revolution.
1075
01:05:44,273 --> 01:05:45,858
I actually paid a visit first.
1076
01:05:46,484 --> 01:05:50,321
Everything explodes around 1995,
in the 100th year of cinema.
1077
01:05:50,404 --> 01:05:54,742
{\an8}The very first art film theater in Korea
will open tomorrow.
1078
01:05:58,704 --> 01:06:04,627
After Russia, Tarkovsky's Nostalghia
probably performed best in Korea.
1079
01:06:04,710 --> 01:06:07,380
And about 60,000 people
watched The Sacrifice.
1080
01:06:08,255 --> 01:06:11,258
Everyone would go
and watch films like that, and...
1081
01:06:12,677 --> 01:06:14,804
then they would get a headache.
1082
01:06:15,888 --> 01:06:19,725
Countless magazines like Cine 21 and Kino
were publishing their first issues.
1083
01:06:20,893 --> 01:06:25,773
They all read Mr. Jung Sung-il's articles
in magazines. It was all the rage.
1084
01:06:26,357 --> 01:06:30,361
Statistics showed that what Jurassic Park,
an American film, earned a few years ago
1085
01:06:30,444 --> 01:06:34,031
was more than the total annual exports
of all Korean automobiles.
1086
01:06:34,115 --> 01:06:35,074
I think,
1087
01:06:35,157 --> 01:06:41,288
{\an8}as we went through the mid to late '90s,
the film industry started to take shape.
1088
01:06:41,372 --> 01:06:43,165
Some people suddenly became famous.
1089
01:06:43,249 --> 01:06:46,335
Some suddenly became
the chief editor of a magazine.
1090
01:06:46,419 --> 01:06:48,170
Conglomerates have joined
the film industry...
1091
01:06:48,254 --> 01:06:53,509
I think we were also motivated
as we watched everything unfold.
1092
01:06:54,260 --> 01:06:56,095
Back in the '70s and '80s,
1093
01:06:56,178 --> 01:06:59,515
{\an8}young people from my generation
who loved movies used to get together
1094
01:06:59,598 --> 01:07:01,600
and complain about the industry.
1095
01:07:01,684 --> 01:07:04,687
"Why doesn't Korea have a film festival?"
1096
01:07:04,770 --> 01:07:07,440
{\an8}"Why doesn't Korea have a film school?"
1097
01:07:09,108 --> 01:07:12,194
{\an8}"Why doesn't Korea financially support
short film productions?"
1098
01:07:13,738 --> 01:07:18,325
"I'm sure there's a paradise for film
somewhere outside this country."
1099
01:07:18,409 --> 01:07:20,286
"I hope to go there someday."
1100
01:07:20,369 --> 01:07:22,788
{\an8}The first-ever
international film festival in Korea,
1101
01:07:22,872 --> 01:07:24,999
{\an8}the Pusan International Film Festival,
1102
01:07:25,082 --> 01:07:27,793
{\an8}kicked off splendidly tonight
for its nine-day run.
1103
01:07:35,551 --> 01:07:36,469
One day...
1104
01:07:37,470 --> 01:07:41,640
I was busy writing my thesis
for grad school at the time.
1105
01:07:41,724 --> 01:07:43,851
I wrote my thesis about film.
1106
01:07:44,477 --> 01:07:47,021
And I bumped into Joon Ho
at Gangnam Station one day.
1107
01:07:47,104 --> 01:07:48,856
I asked him what he was doing there.
1108
01:07:48,939 --> 01:07:52,693
It felt really odd to see him there
since we always met in Hongdae.
1109
01:07:52,777 --> 01:07:57,114
He told me that he was trying
to get into a film academy.
1110
01:07:57,656 --> 01:08:00,534
He had to take an English test to get in,
1111
01:08:00,618 --> 01:08:03,204
so he was on his way
to an English academy.
1112
01:08:03,287 --> 01:08:06,123
That's what he was doing at the time,
studying English.
1113
01:08:06,207 --> 01:08:09,460
So I was surprised at that time.
I was young too, so I thought,
1114
01:08:09,543 --> 01:08:13,923
"Joon Ho really takes film seriously."
1115
01:08:14,006 --> 01:08:17,885
To me, it was an escape from reality,
1116
01:08:18,594 --> 01:08:20,846
but to him, it was a career path.
1117
01:08:20,930 --> 01:08:23,766
I only realized this
after looking back at that time.
1118
01:08:23,849 --> 01:08:30,189
Watching films and talking about them
at the Yellow Door Film Institute,
1119
01:08:30,272 --> 01:08:33,651
I just thought that was enough.
1120
01:08:33,734 --> 01:08:36,821
I didn't know what the members wanted.
1121
01:08:36,904 --> 01:08:40,866
The biggest thing that I missed
was that they wanted to make films.
1122
01:08:40,950 --> 01:08:43,202
They wanted to shoot films.
1123
01:08:43,786 --> 01:08:49,875
I guess the members
had different expectations for the club.
1124
01:08:49,959 --> 01:08:53,629
There were discrepancies
in the curriculum and the direction
1125
01:08:53,712 --> 01:08:56,340
that the members wanted to take.
1126
01:08:56,423 --> 01:08:59,593
Because of these discrepancies,
there came a moment
1127
01:08:59,677 --> 01:09:02,179
when we felt uncomfortable
with one another.
1128
01:09:02,263 --> 01:09:04,765
Whatever it may be,
1129
01:09:05,266 --> 01:09:09,687
it's heartbreaking to watch something
that has passed its prime.
1130
01:09:10,479 --> 01:09:12,773
Although Yellow Door
wasn't something alive,
1131
01:09:13,816 --> 01:09:17,153
it had its decline
like every living thing.
1132
01:09:17,236 --> 01:09:19,029
And I watched that process.
1133
01:09:19,947 --> 01:09:23,159
Everyone had different preferences
and tastes.
1134
01:09:23,242 --> 01:09:25,202
We may have been one group,
1135
01:09:25,286 --> 01:09:29,248
but I think it's also true
that we each had different dreams.
1136
01:09:29,331 --> 01:09:32,668
There was definitely something
that couldn't bring us together.
1137
01:09:49,351 --> 01:09:53,814
{\an8}And so, we decided to dissolve the club.
1138
01:09:54,857 --> 01:09:56,525
But after that,
1139
01:09:58,319 --> 01:09:59,570
I felt a little empty.
1140
01:09:59,653 --> 01:10:04,325
We dreamed together so passionately
and achieved many other things too.
1141
01:10:05,034 --> 01:10:06,452
That's what we were,
1142
01:10:06,535 --> 01:10:09,330
but it only took a moment
for us to fall apart.
1143
01:10:09,413 --> 01:10:11,624
And when it fell apart,
1144
01:10:12,708 --> 01:10:15,544
it instantly disappeared,
like the tide going out.
1145
01:10:18,756 --> 01:10:21,383
And then there was the trip.
1146
01:10:22,343 --> 01:10:23,844
We decided to go on a trip.
1147
01:10:23,928 --> 01:10:27,431
So we went somewhere
in Gangwon-do by the East Sea.
1148
01:10:28,724 --> 01:10:34,563
{\an8}Those who wished to join
got together at Cheongnyangni Station.
1149
01:10:34,647 --> 01:10:37,233
{\an8}It was a fabulous trip.
1150
01:10:38,317 --> 01:10:41,612
{\an8}I still remember it like it was yesterday.
1151
01:10:41,695 --> 01:10:45,908
{\an8}Just as we were passing Jeongdongjin
and the sun was about to rise,
1152
01:10:45,991 --> 01:10:49,578
{\an8}the train began playing
"Moonlight Sonata."
1153
01:10:49,662 --> 01:10:51,330
{\an8}It was wonderful.
1154
01:10:51,413 --> 01:10:54,208
{\an8}The announcement was telling us
the last stop was near.
1155
01:10:54,291 --> 01:10:56,669
{\an8}As "Moonlight Sonata" kept playing,
1156
01:10:56,752 --> 01:10:59,672
{\an8}the train slid alongside the beach.
1157
01:11:03,634 --> 01:11:06,178
{\an8}I think our time with Yellow Door
1158
01:11:06,971 --> 01:11:10,599
{\an8}was like an act of a play.
1159
01:11:10,683 --> 01:11:15,771
So in whatever way,
the act needed to come to an end
1160
01:11:16,272 --> 01:11:21,986
so that the play could go on
to the second, third, and fourth acts.
1161
01:11:22,069 --> 01:11:24,571
As we went on with our lives
for the next 30 years,
1162
01:11:25,239 --> 01:11:28,909
we continued to move on to the next acts.
1163
01:11:29,493 --> 01:11:32,955
{\an8}We learned from what we lacked
in the first act
1164
01:11:33,497 --> 01:11:35,958
{\an8}and utilized what we learned
in different ways.
1165
01:11:36,041 --> 01:11:38,460
{\an8}That's how I think
we were able to move forward.
1166
01:11:38,961 --> 01:11:40,671
{\an8}The same applied to my life too.
1167
01:11:42,923 --> 01:11:44,508
{\an8}Do you know that feeling?
1168
01:11:44,591 --> 01:11:49,346
Let's say you had a person dear to you.
Everything was great.
1169
01:11:49,430 --> 01:11:53,058
You walked holding their hand,
but it couldn't last forever.
1170
01:11:53,142 --> 01:11:56,854
{\an8}You have to let go at some point,
but when you do, it's very awkward.
1171
01:11:56,937 --> 01:11:58,939
{\an8}I think that's how I felt.
1172
01:11:59,481 --> 01:12:00,691
Me, personally,
1173
01:12:01,775 --> 01:12:04,403
I think it was for the best
that we split up.
1174
01:12:04,486 --> 01:12:06,822
I mean, it was born out of
our pure passion for film.
1175
01:12:06,905 --> 01:12:10,868
If we stayed together
for a financial purpose or a clear goal,
1176
01:12:11,952 --> 01:12:15,664
we would've restructured the club
to pursue something new.
1177
01:12:26,759 --> 01:12:29,178
{\an8}I stopped watching movies soon after that.
1178
01:12:29,261 --> 01:12:30,721
{\an8}LIM HOON-A
MEMBER OF YELLOW DOOR
1179
01:12:30,804 --> 01:12:33,057
{\an8}The films I watched at Yellow Door
1180
01:12:33,140 --> 01:12:36,310
felt completely different
from the films I watched outside.
1181
01:12:37,061 --> 01:12:40,230
I even asked myself
if I really used to like those films.
1182
01:12:40,314 --> 01:12:42,858
Strangely, the films I watched
at Yellow Door
1183
01:12:42,941 --> 01:12:45,986
felt like they meant more
than what they seemed on the surface.
1184
01:12:46,487 --> 01:12:50,866
Once I returned to reality and bought
tickets to watch films in the theater,
1185
01:12:50,949 --> 01:12:53,452
I no longer felt that way about them.
1186
01:12:54,578 --> 01:12:58,332
At the time,
I was really saddened by its end.
1187
01:12:58,415 --> 01:13:02,920
And for a long time after that,
I couldn't stop missing the old days.
1188
01:13:03,003 --> 01:13:09,009
{\an8}But now, I think it's become
an old but good memory of mine.
1189
01:13:10,344 --> 01:13:12,513
As I entered middle age,
1190
01:13:13,222 --> 01:13:14,890
I became very disheartened by it.
1191
01:13:15,474 --> 01:13:16,392
Yes.
1192
01:13:17,184 --> 01:13:21,939
By how it all became nothing but a memory.
1193
01:13:23,065 --> 01:13:27,236
Film has been my path for a long time.
1194
01:13:27,319 --> 01:13:29,822
For a long time ever since,
even until now.
1195
01:13:32,032 --> 01:13:34,701
I still think the search
for one's path is meaningful,
1196
01:13:34,785 --> 01:13:37,871
even if it leads to a banana
inside the TV.
1197
01:13:37,955 --> 01:13:43,544
I mean, that might be
a process of self-realization.
1198
01:13:43,627 --> 01:13:47,589
Those who haven't begun their journey
would be in the basement,
1199
01:13:47,673 --> 01:13:49,675
believing that there are bananas up there.
1200
01:13:49,758 --> 01:13:52,761
In a way, there are moments
1201
01:13:54,054 --> 01:13:57,182
when I think I can see the tree
that was on the screen.
1202
01:13:58,267 --> 01:14:00,269
{\an8}ROAD FEVER
KIM MIN-HYANG (2014)
1203
01:14:00,394 --> 01:14:03,897
{\an8}I'm not sure how much time I have left,
1204
01:14:03,981 --> 01:14:08,944
but I have a feeling that I can get close
to the tree and finally touch it.
1205
01:14:09,027 --> 01:14:10,821
I think I can do that now.
1206
01:14:10,904 --> 01:14:14,366
It's embarrassing to say this,
but when I began to paint,
1207
01:14:14,450 --> 01:14:17,870
I found myself painting something close
1208
01:14:17,953 --> 01:14:24,251
to the last scene of Looking for Paradise
without even realizing it.
1209
01:14:25,043 --> 01:14:28,672
It was an image of a young girl
looking for something.
1210
01:14:28,755 --> 01:14:31,758
I wasn't thinking about Yellow Door
when I painted it.
1211
01:14:32,926 --> 01:14:34,595
But when I think about it today,
1212
01:14:34,678 --> 01:14:41,685
I must have painted my desire
to look for something new.
1213
01:14:42,060 --> 01:14:47,107
The fact that we made a lot of memories
together 30 years ago,
1214
01:14:47,691 --> 01:14:49,693
{\an8}and that for a brief moment,
1215
01:14:50,486 --> 01:14:55,657
{\an8}we had fun just hanging out
with no worries about the future.
1216
01:14:55,741 --> 01:14:58,202
It feels like a piece of a puzzle.
1217
01:14:58,285 --> 01:15:01,371
Everything I shared until now
1218
01:15:02,372 --> 01:15:04,833
are stories from about 30 years ago.
1219
01:15:05,501 --> 01:15:10,464
But to think that 30 years have passed,
1220
01:15:11,465 --> 01:15:14,218
I just can't believe it.
1221
01:15:16,261 --> 01:15:20,432
{\an8}We lit up like a flame in 1992 and 1993.
1222
01:15:20,516 --> 01:15:24,102
{\an8}I'm sure we all have
different memories from that time.
1223
01:15:24,186 --> 01:15:28,774
Some were there only briefly.
Some stayed for a long time.
1224
01:15:28,857 --> 01:15:32,611
And there's Jong-tae,
who was in the eye of the storm.
1225
01:15:33,111 --> 01:15:35,864
I'm sure the memory
is different for all of us.
1226
01:15:37,199 --> 01:15:40,035
When I look back on it,
1227
01:15:41,203 --> 01:15:42,538
I don't think
1228
01:15:43,497 --> 01:15:48,335
I have ever been as passionate
about film as I was then.
1229
01:15:48,418 --> 01:15:51,713
They are the times
that made me who I am today,
1230
01:15:52,214 --> 01:15:54,091
and the times I want to remember.
1231
01:15:54,800 --> 01:15:57,177
And even after leaving the club,
1232
01:15:58,220 --> 01:16:02,057
it showed me the path
for me to follow afterward.
1233
01:16:02,558 --> 01:16:04,059
It was my beginning.
1234
01:16:05,018 --> 01:16:06,061
Yellow Door.
1235
01:16:14,278 --> 01:16:16,905
Do you think we'd do a good job
if we did it again now?
1236
01:16:53,942 --> 01:16:55,902
"About the Yellow Door Film Institute."
1237
01:16:56,820 --> 01:17:00,991
"The Yellow Door Film Institute is a group
of people who assembled to study film."
1238
01:17:01,074 --> 01:17:05,537
"We don't think studying film
is something one can do on one's own."
1239
01:17:06,121 --> 01:17:10,208
"As we shared information and materials,
the group gradually got bigger."
1240
01:17:10,292 --> 01:17:12,377
"Now there are more than 30 of us."
1241
01:17:12,461 --> 01:17:18,091
"Although we still have a long way to go,
we have named ourselves a film institute."
1242
01:17:18,884 --> 01:17:21,470
"According to the cinematic path
of our choice,
1243
01:17:21,553 --> 01:17:24,973
we are divided into departments for
critique, directing, and screenwriting."
1244
01:17:25,057 --> 01:17:30,020
"These departments each conduct
their own various activities."
1245
01:17:30,103 --> 01:17:32,773
"The members of the film institute
include a variety of people,
1246
01:17:32,856 --> 01:17:37,569
from those who were just introduced
to film studies, to graduate students,
1247
01:17:37,653 --> 01:17:41,573
as well as other graduate
and doctorate students of humanities."
1248
01:17:42,157 --> 01:17:44,493
"But we all have one thing in common."
1249
01:17:44,576 --> 01:17:49,247
"We wish to unfold our life's journey
through the medium of film."
1250
01:17:50,040 --> 01:17:53,460
"The institute provides suitable programs
to meet the needs
1251
01:17:53,543 --> 01:17:58,048
of members of different levels."
1252
01:17:58,674 --> 01:18:03,011
"We believe this is a good place
for those who wish to begin their studies
1253
01:18:03,095 --> 01:18:05,180
with a theoretical approach."
1254
01:18:05,263 --> 01:18:08,350
"Of course, each department also provides
1255
01:18:08,433 --> 01:18:12,854
a training program for creative projects."
1256
01:18:13,438 --> 01:18:15,190
"The Yellow Door Film Institute
1257
01:18:15,273 --> 01:18:19,861
awaits young, enthusiastic,
and talented film students."
1258
01:18:20,862 --> 01:18:26,702
"Knock on the yellow door of the institute
and push that hefty door open,
1259
01:18:26,785 --> 01:18:31,206
leading you to your life with film
and the Korean film industry."
1260
01:18:36,670 --> 01:18:38,296
That was grandiose.
1261
01:18:38,380 --> 01:18:39,965
Talk about grandiosity!
1262
01:18:41,550 --> 01:18:42,634
It's well-written.
1263
01:18:45,053 --> 01:18:46,555
Wow, this is cool.
1264
01:19:04,072 --> 01:19:09,077
{\an8}KIM DAE-YUP RUNS
AN INTERIOR DESIGN BUSINESS.
1265
01:19:14,833 --> 01:19:19,171
{\an8}KIM MIN-HYANG SECRETLY WRITES, DRAWS,
AND TAKES PHOTOGRAPHS.
1266
01:19:24,843 --> 01:19:29,181
{\an8}KIM SEOK-WOO LOVES MOUNTAINS AND CANOEING,
AND RUNS AN ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS.
1267
01:19:34,895 --> 01:19:39,357
{\an8}KIM YOON-A TEACHES FILM AND STORYTELLING
AT UNIVERSITY.
1268
01:19:44,863 --> 01:19:49,117
{\an8}KIM HYUNG-OAK WORKS AS A FILMMAKER.
1269
01:19:54,956 --> 01:19:57,167
{\an8}BAN SE-BUM TEACHES PSYCHOLOGY
AT UNIVERSITY
1270
01:19:57,250 --> 01:19:59,377
{\an8}AND TAKES PHOTOGRAPHS IN HIS SPARE TIME.
1271
01:20:05,258 --> 01:20:09,387
{\an8}BONG JOON HO JUST FINISHED SHOOTING
HIS EIGHTH FEATURE FILM.
1272
01:20:14,893 --> 01:20:19,064
{\an8}LEE DONG-HOON RUNS
A CHESS-TEACHING BUSINESS.
1273
01:20:25,153 --> 01:20:29,491
{\an8}LEE BYUNG-HOON RUNS
A MEDICAL APPLIANCES BUSINESS IN THE US.
1274
01:20:35,247 --> 01:20:39,584
{\an8}LIM HOON-A WORKS AS A SPEECH THERAPIST
FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.
1275
01:20:45,006 --> 01:20:49,302
{\an8}CHANG EUN-SIM TEACHES MATH TO STUDENTS.
1276
01:20:53,473 --> 01:20:59,437
{\an8}CHOI JONG-TAE RELEASED FIVE FEATURE FILMS
AND IS WORKING ON HIS FOURTH NOVEL.
1277
01:21:03,817 --> 01:21:10,824
{\an8}KIM HYE-JA, KIM HONG-JOON,
AHN NAE-SANG, WOO HYUN, JU SUNG-CHUL
1278
01:23:52,986 --> 01:23:57,991
Subtitle translation by: Daham Yoon
108645
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