‘Gyeongseong Creature’ Writer Kang Eun-kyung said, “I was proud of the direction of the director who hit the rising sun flag.” [Interview M]

We met director Jeong Dong-yoon, who directed Netflix’s ‘Gyeongseong Creature’, and writer Kang Eun-kyung, who wrote the screenplay. Director Jeong Dong-yoon said ‘It’s Okay to Not Be Okay’ Co-directed ‘Defendant”Stove League’ He directed ‘Fate and Fury’ and writer Kang Eun-kyung directed ‘Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim’ series and ‘Fox Stars’ ‘Why are you like this with your family?’ ‘Gu Family Book’ He wrote screenplays such as ‘Baker King Kim Takgu’

Writer Kang Eun-kyung expressed her feelings, saying, “I am grateful that not only Korean teenagers but also Japanese teenagers are Googling and looking for stories from those times, and that it has resonated with me, no matter how big or small.”

He said, “I tend to turn away without any regrets after finishing a work, but the way I work with Netflix is ​​different from before, so I thought it would be right to talk about the sensitive parts directly, so I came forward even though I had never done an interview before.”He expressed his willingness to provide a more detailed explanation.

Author Kang Eun-kyung said, “When it comes to the 1940s, it is approached in a dichotomous way: pro-Japanese and anti-Japanese. But what I focused on were the people who endured that era. Keywords considered important were disappearance and survival. “Disappearance became the force that drove the overall story, and survival was the main thing. Through the way people endured and survived, I wanted to tell the story of how they lived with the fundamental issues of justice and survival demanded by the times,” he said through the work. I defined the message I wanted to convey.

After the work was released, there was praise for bringing out the story of Unit 731, which has not been emphasized these days, or the miserable daily life during the Japanese invasion, but there were also many who expressed disappointment that the depiction of the independence army and the characters were not drawn too lightly.. Writer Kang Eun-kyung, as if she had carefully examined this, directly explained the parts that viewers misunderstood.

Writer Kang Eun-kyung said, “When I actually covered the atmosphere at the time, it was politically a colony, but culturally, modernization was taking place, so it was more prosperous, more colorful, and more exciting than I expected. There was a magazine called ‘Samchully’ that was popular in the 1940s, and it contained more content about incidents and accidents, such as who was having an affair with whom, rather than stories about anti-Japanese and independence. “I knew that they lived through difficult times in the same way as us, rather than the dichotomous world we see today, so I put that as the foundation,” he said, showing through ‘Gyeongseong Creature’ I talked about the atmosphere of Gyeongseong in the 1940s that I wanted to give.

This explanation included the reason why the main character, Jang Tae-sang, does not belong to the independence army but later works as one. “Jang Tae-sang was a borderline person. The main customers of the Bonjeonggeori Market people were Japanese, and they had to sell goods to the Japanese to survive, but when Japan needed something, the merchants would unite and close the market, so in a way, these people were living for the country. It was. “It was attractive that even if they were not members of the independence army, they all lived in some way while wishing for independence,” he said, revealing his intention to represent the people who lived at the time through Jang Tae-sang.

The reason why Part 1 was released was that there were criticisms that the plot was slow and that the inclusion of motherhood in the creature was boring. Writer Kang Eun-kyung, who carefully watched these reactions, said, “As I said before, the keyword missing was important. It was very important to see how many people were missing at the time, so the build-up to going to Ongseong Hospital to find the mother who was lost 10 years ago and her name was very important. The sense of speed is my homework. I’ve never heard director Jeong Dong-yoon say that he was slow while making dramas, but I thought that the build-up stages we had in mind must have felt that way to some people. “I think there may have been a gap when people expected this work to be a creature genre,” he said, expressing his thoughts on the sense of speed.

Regarding the setting of a monster with maternal love, “I was doing research on the experiment at the time and was so shocked to see that it was an experiment on maternal instinct. An experiment was conducted on her mother about whether she would sacrifice for her children or whether she would have fewer children, and she was so devastated. As a mother, I found it extremely difficult just to look at this material. The birth of the creature itself begins with tragedy. “I thought this was the distinguishing feature of this drama,” said writer Kang Eun-kyung, who explained, “I thought it could symbolically show the wounds caused by those in power under the New People’s Imperialism, and Seongsim became a creature, but in the end, it oppressed and assaulted the Korean people at that time. I thought that everyone I tried to tame was a creature. In fact, when I was thinking about ‘Gyeongseong Creature’, I had no calculation that it would be seen as a genre to this extent. I only expected that ‘Creature’ would be used ambiguously.’ We talked about the original meaning of the misunderstood creature.

There was always pressure about the topic of the Japanese military conducting biological experiments on Koreans. However, writer Kang Eun-kyung said, “I had a wish that many people would see this story, and I thought that if it included motherhood, this story could be more universal and easily conveyed to foreign people who are not interested in our country’s past history.” If we had global disclosure in mind, we couldn’t just complain about the times and history. “I thought that if I could draw viewers into the tragedy that happened to one family, it would be easy for people from any country in the world to sympathize and follow them because they would have a sense of solidarity as a family,” he said. Since this was a story that would be revealed to the world through global OTT, the keyword “motherly love” was used. He also added the reason for his choice.

Writer Kang Eun-kyung, who grew up listening to stories about the Japanese colonial era from her parents, said, “I have heard stories from that time, but director Jeong Dong-yoon is from a different generation. However, I liked that he was in charge of talking about and creating this work and showing the facts without forcing what the times were like. He revealed the reason why he liked director Jeong Dong-yoon’s directing, saying, “Some parts were directed realistically with the music restrained, but I really liked the director’s perspective in showing that era.”

Writer Kang Eun-kyung said, “I watched people who didn’t know the era study the era and create creatures, and director Jeong Dong-yoon paid so much attention to detail and thought about it that I thought that even if I were reborn, I would still be a writer. I was proud to see that. I really liked the director’s will to express that era, especially the scene where the Rising Sun flag was included in the beginning, as well as the part where he directed the torture scene. “To me, all the scenes seemed packed,” he said, picking out scenes that he personally liked.

He said, “When we made the story of Ongseong Hospital, it was too complicated and difficult. However, with the help of the art director, he divided the building into levels structurally and drew up drawings, so we moved according to the route, so the movement route and location movement became clear. “I only found out recently, but I heard that the art director loved the game so much that he came up with such a good strategy,” he said, adding that he was able to progress the story smoothly with the help of the production team.

They also talked about the underground laboratory space. “It seemed so real that I was naturally afraid of what kind of experiment I might be subjected to if I were trapped. An underground laboratory was created to express that fear, helplessness, and psychological feeling, and when I looked at the set, my heart sank. I was very grateful to the art director who expressed the space so well. There is also a scene where Chae-ok lights a candle and looks into the children’s eyes. That scene was an assistant director’s idea, and seeing the children’s eyes conveyed even more emotion.”He said, “In the process of making this work, all the staff came together and came up with ideas. He also expressed his gratitude for paying the fee and doing the work.

I also felt very grateful to the actors who decided to appear in this work. “As soon as the scenario was given, he was the number one actor, but both of them responded too early and I was worried that there might be a risk because they are global stars, but instead, they said with a sense of responsibility, saying, ‘Shouldn’t they do more of this as they are Korean Wave actors?’ He reassured us. I was so thankful and I thought MZ was this cool. Writer Kang Eun-kyung honestly expressed her feelings about Park Seo-joon and Han So-hee’s decision to appear, saying, “I felt that times have changed.”

Questions about Season 2 were also answered. Writer Kang Eun-kyung said, “Season 2 is a completely different color, so I’m curious how it will be received. Through this challenge, I studied hard and the weight of the times that hurt us came to me again, making me feel younger through this challenge. I was thankful for the people who watched it seriously, and I am thankful that I achieved a certain goal because so many people watched it. “I hope that more contemporary content will be created with free imagination by more creators in the future,” he said, talking about what he gained through this series.

Lastly, “The sense of speed will remain as the next homework for the director and me. “We will think of ways to narrow the gap between speed and speed with the public and tell our stories,” he said, expressing his determination that Season 2, which will be released this year, will reflect the public’s opinions as much as possible.

‘Gyeongseong Creature’ is a story of two young people whose only goal was survival, confronting a monster born of greed in the spring of 1945, when the darkness of the era was deepest. Season 1 is currently available on Netflix.

iMBC Kim Kyung-hee | Photo provided by Netflix