'Money Heist' art director takes inspiration from original, but not too much

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'Money Heist' art director takes inspiration from original, but not too much

Published: 11 Jul. 2022, 15:39 Updated: 12 Jul. 2022, 13:47

A band of thieves, fully clad in red suits and hahoetal (traditional Korean masks) take over the mint of a unified Korean Peninsula in an attempt to steal 4 trillion won ($3 billion) in “Money Heist: Korea — Joint Economic Area.” [NETFLIX]

In the Netflix Korea version of “Money Heist,” the iconic Salvador Dali-inspired masks worn by the thieves have been replaced with hahoetal, or traditional Korean masks, from Hahoe Folk Village in North Gyeongsang, a choice that has been applauded by viewers.

The storyline of “Money Heist: Korea — Joint Economic Area” closely resembles that of the Spanish original. The biggest difference is the Korean thieves take over the mint of a unified Korea.

Art director Seo Sung-kyung and her team racked their brains to come up with the perfect adaptations for the Korean remake.

“Because the original Dali mask was so powerfully impressive, we had to give ours just as much thought,” Seo said via email interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily. “Dali is an artist deemed as the Freud of the art world. His wit and cleverness can be found through deceptions and trickery he often hid in his works, and he even showed his literary ingeniousness through the Spanish novel ‘Hidden Faces.’ The novel, coincidentally, was a love story between two protagonists who hid their faces and deceived one another during the era of apprehension and contradiction of World War II. Could we actually find an adequate substitute for Dali? We weren’t sure. We were thinking of hahoetal from the several options we thought of, and it is the most representative mask any Korean would think of. But we were also hesitant because of the very fact that it was maybe too obvious. However, we arrived to a conclusion that it was the most familiar mask that could represent us well, fueled by the fact that it was traditionally used by commoners [which date back to mid-Goryeo period from 918 to 1392] to satirize aristocrats.”

The element of the mask's design that Seo paid extra care to were the eyes.

One of the thieves dons hahoetal and a red jumpsuit in “Money Heist: Korea — Joint Economic Area” [NETFLIX]

“Especially to accentuate their smiles,” she explained. “There are many expressions and forms of hahoetal and we set the standard to be one which emphasized the curves of the laughing streaks around the eyes, to highlight the goodness [of its facial features].”

Another interesting element were the money bills used in the unified Korea. To make it plausible that the thieves could physically load 4 trillion won ($3 billion) worth of money and get away, 100,000 won bills appear featuring the portrait of independent activist Yu Gwan-sun (1902-1920). On the 50,000 won bill, independent activist Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910) takes the place of Shin Saimdang (1504-1551), an artist of the Joseon Dyansty, whose face graces the real bill.

“Several candidates for the bill were actual candidates announced by the Bank of Korea for high-denomination bills,” Seo said. “Other candidates included Kim Gu [1876-1949], Yu, Ahn Chang-ho [1878-1938], Ju Si-gyeong [1876-1914] and Jang Yeong-sil [date of birth and death unknown]. Yu wasn’t initially included on the list but I heard that she became a finalist after we took advice from experts and surveys. We designed the 100,000 bill based on her portrait.”

It is widely understood in Korea that the best-known photograph of the teenage independent fighter is not an accurate depiction because it is presumed that it was taken not long after she was tortured at Seodaemun Prision.

“We designed the bill based on a portrait that professor Yoon Yeo-hwan [of Chungnam National University] drew and the few photographs we have of her, and recollections of Yu’s friends,” Seo explained.

The roof of the mint of the unified Korea where the thieves hold their heist is hanok (traditional Korean house) style — an attempt to fuse the antiquity of hanok with the contemporary city where the series is set.

“Director Kim Hong-sun wanted the exterior image of the mint to be closed, shut off from the rest of the city so we thought of ramparts and castle gates, and designed the appearance to look like Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, Gyeonggi.”

All the interiors of the mint, the brief glimpses of North Korea and streets of the city were minutely thought through by Seo and her team.

“The biggest pressure was that it was a remake of a global hit,” she said. “Because a wonderful original and its fans already existed, we weren’t sure how much we should reference the original and how much we should alter it to make it our own. When I first came across this project, I was interested in the setting of a city where North and South Korea could freely interact [...] The idea of a city where both countries existed felt fresh to me. With this kind of background, I became confident that we could develop the story and make it into our own unique show based on the superb original.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]