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Movie "My Heart" Focuses on Capturing Sentiments Native to Korea

Published: 04 Jan. 2003, 19:09

This is the interview with Bae Chang-ho, the director of the Korean movie "My Heart" (Korean name 'Chong').

-The story lacks tension, why?
"I tried to be faithful to the everyday life of a woman. I focused on creating a general and probable story, something likely to have happened in the generation before ours."

-Why did you choose the 1960s for the background?
"I wanted to capture the feeling of 'Chong' (a feeling of affetion that is difficult to define in English) that is native to our people, and their culture of marriage, funeral, and pottery. These beautiful customs were pushed out by materialism and have disappeared since the 1960s."

-What are the reactions of feminists?
"There are two reactions. Some applauded the main character's composed attitude in leaving her home and meeting a pottery merchant instead of spending her days in sorrow when her younger arranged-marriage husband brings home a new woman. On the other hand, some showed antipathy for the way she overcame this situation through 'Chong' instead of claiming her rights as the wife."

-It took a year and six months to finish filming and then the movie took another year to be released, why?
"We aimed for quality instead of brilliant technique. After submitting the film to France's Benodet Film Festival, the theme of which was the pursuit of the human soul, we redid the recording and editing based on the international evaluations."

-What are the differences between the present movie-making environment and that of the 1980s when you were most active?
"The production environment has seen great changes. As financial capital moved into Chungmuro, money is having a considerable influence on production. The movie has become more the work of the planner than the director."

-How are you going to cope with this situation?
"I will not join hands with commercialism, nevertheless will maintain an open mind."

-What do you think about today's young directors?
"They have both perceptiveness and talent. However, they seem to lack reflection on why they are making movies and what movies are. Movie-making is basically an art that draws out sympathy and emotion from the audience by creating life. There are many ways to approach this basic goal, but younger directors seem to be adhering to too many sensual factors.

by Chung Myung-jin