(Korean Movies) Crossing, 2008

After 1945,
divided into north and south
South Korea and North Korea, the only divided countries in the world

by 2008
'Half the land' North Korea
Perhaps it has become the closest but farthest country from Korea.

Since 1996, many North Koreans who have suffered from severe food shortages have
Witnessing the death of a family member, even crossing the line of death
One by one, they reach a situation where they have no choice but to leave the land they live in.

Korea today in 2008…
We do not know or are indifferent to the suffering and trials that half of the nation is experiencing.
Now we know how they live, why they had to leave… .
We must listen to their tears and stories.

After the tragic parting of the Korean people, we were terribly indifferent to what was happening there…
This is the beginning of <Crossing>!

Through the tragic separation of a family who had no choice but to part in order to live
I would like to tell the story and tears of those who live in 'Half the land, there'.

[ Director's comment ]

One unforgettable memory in my life
This is a documentary about North Korea I saw 10 years ago.

A place where children and the whole family gather together
I saw a very heartbreaking video on TV.

Five or six-year-old children called Kkotjebi
He was eating noodles that had fallen on the roadside, washing them in dirty gutter water.

I couldn't say anything. I felt a great skepticism about my existence and my life.
The things that are happening in a place that are so close, that you can get there
It was unbelievable, it was terrifying and embarrassing.

Since then, I have not forgotten the child's face in my head.
And now, 10 years later, <Crossing> has become a work that makes me rethink my life.
Maybe my life came all the way to make this movie?

That shame at that time was the strength that allowed me to endure the work of <Crossing> to the end.

Director Kim Tae-gyun

[ About movie ]

True Story_ A touching true story <Crossing>
In the recent rapidly difficult Korean film market, works that have been loved by audiences such as <Glamorous Vacation>, <The Best Moment of Our Life> and <The Chaser> have in common that they are reconstructed based on actual events, which is not only in terms of completeness but also in authenticity. It evoked sympathy and became a topic of discussion. The movie <Crossing> is based on the various true stories of North Korean defectors, starting from the incident of 25 North Korean defectors entering the Spanish embassy in Beijing in March 2002. As it took four years to plan and produce, <Crossing> was composed more realistically and solidly through extensive data research such as documentaries around the world and interviews with actual North Korean defectors, as well as screenplay inspection of North Korean defectors. In 2008, <Crossing>, a human touching true story that will breathe with the audience, will be released.

Real Story_ Present or Today's Story <Crossing>
There were various films with North Korean themes, such as <Shiri> <Joint Security Area JSA> <Taegeukgi Flying> <Typhoon> <South of the Border> <South and North Women> and <East Seawater and Mt. Baekdu>. Various works have talked about North Korea in terms of material and genre, but <Crossing> is the first Korean film to talk about ordinary people in North Korea living today in 2008. After the movie was released, the audience will feel sorry for the current state of North Korea that we have never seen with our own eyes, and the heartbreaking reality of North Koreans living in our time.

Crossing Story_ Cruel Crossing <Crossing>
The movie <Crossing> is a moving work depicting the sad difference between a father who has no choice but to leave North Korea to find medicine and food for his family, and an 11-year-old son who sets out to find him. A father and son who were forced to part. However, the more we try to meet again, the more uncontrollably the family is driven to death, and the sad situation of the family will be remembered as a sad movie full of regret for a long time in the hearts of the audience.

[ Production note ]

Secret locations in 3 countries! The 8,000km long journey following Korea, China and Mongolia
The film <Crossing>, which was thoroughly prepared secretly during the four years of planning and production, was not only kept private due to the nature of the work, but also had to be filmed overseas in China and Mongolia to capture the actual escape route. First of all, for the highlight scene of the movie <Crossing>, the production team flew to Mongolia's Gobi Desert for the first time in a Korean film. The Gobi Desert is the largest desert in Asia, spanning China and Mongolia, and it was a difficult and difficult place to use equipment and move due to its high altitude and extreme weather changes. It was a difficult filming day, but the vast Gobi desert and grasslands with no end in sight, the scenery of local villages, along with permission to shoot at the 'Ulaanbaatar' International Airport, provide a new scale and visual beauty never seen in any Korean movie. . In addition, in order to realistically express Juni and Yongsu's escape journey from North Korea, the expansive corn fields near Liaoning Province in China, a large logging farm, and the scenery inside the local train were added to add novelty. <Crossing>, a long journey of 8,000 km in total, going back and forth between Korea, China and Mongolia. Thanks to the production team who endured the arduous filming, the audience will be able to enjoy the overwhelming visual beauty of the vast location.

A perfect reproduction of a simple rural village in North Korea!
The part that I paid more attention to in the movie <Crossing>, which deals with the present of North Korea, was the reproduction of the rural village of Hamgyeong-do where ordinary North Koreans live, not the streets of Pyongyang, which is well known to us. Since the actual location in a North Korean village is unimaginable, the production team recreated the North Korean village by moving it to Mongolia and Gangwon Province through careful preliminary research. In addition to various materials and videos, he recreated North Korea based on all the information he had interviewed and interviewed people who had recently escaped from North Korea. In the 'North Korea Village' open set made in 'Machari' in Yeongwol, Gangwon-do, meticulous art work was carried out without missing a single one of the gates, windows, and exterior walls of the North Korean village, and wooden fences and corn fields were made, and the pavement was replaced with soil. In the movie, Juni's house, Miseon's house, village neighborhood street, Yongsu and Juni's bicycle path, village feasts, and streams were filmed, which are the happy backgrounds of Jun's family in the movie.

In addition, the atmosphere and appearance of the Mongolian people are strangely similar to those of the North Koreans, so the production team decided to shoot a scene in which a large part of the North Koreans appeared in Mongolia. The village of 'Biyo' in Mongolia was transformed into the countryside of North Korea, and the empty lot near 'Ulaanbaatar', Mongolia, which was a wasteland, was completely transformed into a North Korean country market by mobilizing all art and props equipment despite the difficult conditions. Thanks to this, scenes from the North Korean market in the North Korean market, the scene where Yongsu sells TV to buy food before leaving for China, and the scene where Juni gets noodles from the children of Kkotjebi for the first time were captured realistically.

Unfamiliar but friendly Hamgyeong-do dialect
Most of the nuances of the North Korean language appearing in most movies about North Korea are those used in 'Pyongyang'. However, the movie <Crossing>
It is set in North Hamgyong Province and North Hamgyong Province, where the number of North Korean defectors is the highest in North Korea and they often come and go to China. The Hamgyeong-do dialect, which is different from Pyongyang, which is perceived as the North Korean language, was a very difficult task for the actors. In order to understand the subtle differences in speech and to make the dialect stick to the lips, the two actors, In-pyo Cha and Myeong-cheol Shin, stayed with two North Korean teachers before and throughout the filming, and received advice on how to adjust the intonation and tone of each scene. .

Shin Myung-cheol, a 'shooting actor' who broke the 600:1 competition ratio, was born
'North Korea' was not the only difficulty in the production process of the movie <Crossing>. The main character of the movie, 'Jun-yi', had a skinny appearance like North Korean children, but had to act as a suction power. It is no exaggeration to say that over the past five months, the production team has been looking for children in all fields, including movies, dramas, and CF models. A total of 600 children went through one-on-one interviews and auditions, but no one was chosen. One day as the audition continued, director Kim Tae-gyun had a face that was particularly indelible. The face of a child named 'Shin Myung-cheol', who had failed the audition three times, kept coming to mind. Immediately, director Kim Tae-gyun decides to give 'Shin Myung-cheol' one last chance. That day, Myung-cheol became a real 'Jun-i' at the final audition site. Just before Myeong-cheol was decided as Jun-yi, the audition scene was hot due to Myeong-cheol's heartbreaking tearful performance, and the eyes of director Kim Tae-gyun, who looked at Myeong-cheol, were also wet. Myung-cheol's extraordinary sincere acting, which was unusual from the start, went straight to the scene. A small boy in the mountains who is quiet and naive, if only a shot sign falls throughout the filming, he transforms into a perfect 'Jun-i' and shows the talent to receive OK at once. Having earned the nickname 'Shooting Actor' by the staff, he performed a heart-wrenching performance and is another pride found in the movie <Crossing>.

Cha In-pyo, a warm father, returns to the screen after 2 years
Cha In-pyo returned to the screen after two years with the movie <Crossing>. For the role of Yongsu, who currently lives in North Hamgyong Province, he learned the Hamgyeong dialect from two North Korean defectors from two months before filming, and at the same time, he learned the atmosphere of North Korea by listening to and talking to the vivid stories of those who lived there. In addition, in order to express the water more realistically, all exercise was stopped for ten months, the muscles of the body were reduced, and the weight was reduced by about 4 kilograms. Cha In-pyo, who played the role of an ordinary father, said that while acting Yong-su, he felt the sincerity of Yong-su, who struggles to save his family, radiating from the depths of his heart. Through <Crossing>, you can see the sincerity of the father Cha In-pyo, who is trying to meet an ordinary father who lives for his family and his son.