(Korean Movie) Phantom, 2022

1933. Japanese occupation. isolated space.
Suspects under the name of 'ghosts'. And, the designer of this trap.

Based on the traditional genre conventions of closed-room mystery dramas, I wanted to reverse the starting point. In other words, it is not a story to find out who the ghost is, but the movie starts from the point of view of the 'ghost', and after falling into a trap with the 'ghost', 'will the ghost be able to safely escape from this trap and carry out its mission? A story of running with a 'ghost' towards the goal of 'will it happen'.

Therefore, the beginning is an espionage play.

The beginning of the story, which claims to be in the spy genre, is static and cold.
However, as the story begins in earnest and intertwined with various characters, the film gradually becomes dynamic and hot, accelerating and overheating. And finally, at the peak moment of escaping from the framework of the genre and exploding, I dream of a sense of liberation that vomits the lion's roar toward the age of oppression.
In that sense, the genre of this movie is closer to 'intelligence-action' rather than 'intelligence-deduction'.
In addition, each person is remembered as a face that struggled to protect their own value,
I hope it remains as a 'character movie'.
So, I hope that it will be talked about as a story of hot people who faced the times in their own way.

Director Lee Hae-young

[ ABOUT MOVIE ]

A dynamic story of deep doubt, containment, and counterattack!
Started with espionage, broke the mystery genre and ran
<Ghost>, a spy action that finally goes to the 'ghost' mission and exhilaration

'Ghost' is a term used to refer to spies planted everywhere by the anti-Japanese organization, the Black Corps. Invisible, but wandering somewhere, the 'ghost' has infiltrated the Japanese Government-General of Korea in Gyeongseong in 1933.
The start of <Ghost> was director Lee Hae-young's wish to make an interesting genre film set during the Japanese colonial era. The story of <Ghost>, remembering the sacrifices of independence fighters and imagining what type of oppression they would overcome and how they played an active role, begins with the 'ghost''s attempt and failure in an assassination attempt on the new governor. This is also the point of declaring that <Ghost> is an espionage play that unfolds from the point of view of the 'ghost' who must inevitably succeed in the operation. Shortly thereafter, in <Ghost>, after the suspects who fell into a trap designed by 'Kaito' to find out the 'ghost' in the Government-General are brought to a remote hotel, the audience is confused as to who the 'ghost' is, adding to the tension of the closed-room mystery. The suspects, who must either prove themselves not ghosts or accuse others in order to survive, trust no one and suspect each other, trying to find clues. But who is the 'ghost'? This question is just one of the trajectories that the movie <Ghost> takes a turn along with the story development. And the movie breaks the initial setting, which was thought to be a 'closed room mystery', and rushes forward in a restless sense of tension. The real 'ghost' among them must overcome doubts, save their colleagues, and make the operation successful. And while the audience is curious about the identity of the 'ghost', the film jumps into the realm of spy action with the counterattack of the 'ghost'.

Can the 'ghost' survive in the tension at the hotel on the edge of the cliff? And, will the 'ghost' operation be successful? <Ghost> leads the audience into a unique fun of a complex genre that cannot take their eyes off until the end.

During the Japanese colonial era, a vivid personality that transcends the limits of the times!
Sol Kyung-gu – Lee Ha-nui – Park So-dam – Park Hae-soo – Seo Hyun-woo
Doubt endlessly, move forward in solidarity without fear!
Heart-throbbing character ensemble film <Ghost>

History is like a huge mural created by people who made different choices. The characters of <Ghost> go one step further from the dichotomy of nationality of Koreans and Japanese and anti-Japanese and pro-Japanese, and create a character ensemble that goes back and forth between doubt and check, confrontation and solidarity, and counterattack with their own reasons and distinct personalities that transcend the limits of the times. show the essence of
'Junji' is a soldier from a prestigious family, but he was dropped from the road to success and is dispatched as a superintendent in the Communications Division of the Police Department. Although he is Japanese, he is fluent in the Korean language, and his duplicity, which is a suspect and has the ambition to capture and return to the 'ghost', is a major axis that creates tension in <Ghost> along with curiosity about the reason for his demotion. 'Cha Kyung' is the daughter of the richest man in Joseon, and is a character who works as a cipher text recorder in the communications department of the Japanese Government General, raising questions about her unusual path. Even after being dragged to the hotel, Yuriko, the secretary under the direct control of the Prime Minister for Political Affairs, does not give up and always gives back what she suffered. Despite being a Korean, she is a person closest to the power and embarrasses everyone with her wild horse-like energy. 'Kaito', who sets the stage for the 'ghost' search operation, is a talented person who has stepped on the path to success as the new governor's bodyguard. However, his complex about 'Junji', one of the suspects and his competitor in the military, is one of the reasons why the story opens in a different direction. 'Cheongyejang', in charge of communication and decryption, has a brilliant brain that can decipher complex ciphertexts with different systems, but he gives <Ghost> a different rhythm by appearing confused about who to suspect even of the charges against him.

In addition, the characters of <Ghost>, each with a different reason and true intention, are expanded by showing another side that the audience has not seen before through the new appearances that the five actors Seol Kyung-gu, Lee Ha-nui, Park So-dam, Park Hae-soo, and Seo Hyun-woo drew from each other. . In addition, it presents a superb view of a character movie where the heart beats with suspicion and reversal, confrontation and solidarity between them.

[ Production Note ]

Gyeongseong Street and a hotel like a fortress on the edge of a cliff
Time and space and music of the unique 1930's!

The space of <Ghost> consists of a secluded Western-style hotel boasting intense colors and an overbearing majesty at the edge of a cliff. The space, props, and costumes of <Ghost>, which are more abundantly embodied with cinematic imagination, fill the background of a complex genre where espionage action, mystery, and character movies coexist with various visual elements.

Hwanggeumjeong (黃金町) Street, which is now Eulji-ro, and Hwanggeumgwan Theater, which rises in the rain, is a passage through which 'ghosts' transmit passwords. This double meaning of the splendor of the space and the secret hideout of the anti-Japanese organization will give the audience a different spectacle. The coastal cliffside hotel where the suspects of <Ghost> are taken and imprisoned is a space where you can know that it was a place for the highest class who enjoyed luxury during the Japanese colonial period, from the high floor height that is overwhelming from the moment you enter the lobby, to the small details such as structures and furniture. In addition, spaces such as the shrine on top of Namsan and the Japanese Government-General of Korea, which blocked the front of Gyeongbokgung Palace, show the historical background of <Ghost> in three dimensions and enhance the cinematic perfection.

With <Mogadishu>, he recreated Morocco, a location location, into a chaotic space in Somalia during the civil war in 1991, won the Blue Dragon Film Award and the Korean Film Producers Association Award, and in <Time to Hunt>, he portrayed the apocalypse at the end of the century, the chaos of anarchy, Art director Kim Bo-mook, who visually completed the desolation. As he said, “I was lucky to be able to design freely without circles, and I am grateful to director Lee Hae-young,” <Ghost> shows a space and props where the dual landscapes of an oppressive era coexist.

In addition, the music that reliably supports the hot 'ghost' strategy that goes back and forth between life and death is handled by the music director of 'Dalparan', such as <Assassination>, <The Wailing>, <Dokjeon>, and <Samjin Group English TOEIC Class>. With a variety of electronic melodies, we weave the emotions and moods of <Ghost>. Music director Dalparan and director Lee Hae-young, who won the Blue Dragon Film Awards music award for representing the different personalities of the characters who go back and forth between madness, cold-heartedness, and cruelty through music in <Dokjeon>, and injecting rhythm into their brisk war, collaborate once again. Shines.

A feast of various costumes that completed the character!
Bringing back 'color' and 'style' missing from black-and-white documentary photography

<Ghost> adopts bold colors that are missing in black and white documentary photography. This is a choice that enhances the character of the characters in <Ghost>, which transcended the limits of the era and was vibrant. It is a clear example that the style popular from the 1920s to the 1940s was widely applied to female characters.

The color palette was chosen as the main color suitable for the personality of the character, and the relationship between the characters was reflected in complementary colors, while the color arrangement with the space was also considered in collaboration with the art team. As a result, 'Junji' (Seol Gyeong-gu), who wants to regain his lost honor by any means and methods, reflects his complex intentions and wears a lizard-like green color, a slippery leather coat as the main costume, a khaki military uniform, and dark navy wool. put on a coat 'Cha Kyung', who has a strong personality that goes beyond the limits of the role given to women at the time, is a style that removes the natural splendor of actress Lee Ha-nui, but with a stable burgundy color for the conflicting purpose of having a sense of color. She wore coats and jackets, long skirts, and walker-style shoes. On the other hand, 'Yuriko', who has risen to the top of power even though she is a Korean, reflects her unstoppable personality and changes into colorful clothes that other characters cannot wear. Red, blue, black, gray, gold, colorful outfits, handbags and hats, bold fur materials and lace, corsets, suits and even dresses. Park So-dam's 'Yuriko' shows 'fun to watch' as much as a costume drama. 'Kaito' (Park Hae-soo), the head of the bodyguard who sets traps to catch 'ghosts', wears a military uniform except for one occasion. In order to show that he is from an aristocratic family, the family's 'deer crest' was placed next to the rank insignia on the military uniform, and ruthlessness was expressed with intense orange-colored leather gloves, while 'Junji''s 'green' and complementary color contrast were used to show the soldier's days. It expressed the relationship that stimulated each other's complex as a competitor. 'Cheon Gye-jang' (Seo Hyeon-woo), a cryptography expert who possesses both high intellectual ability and a human side, expressed his personality with a dandy 'modern boy' suit, fedora, and glasses.

Following director Lee Hae-young and <Kyungsung School: The Disappearing Girls>, the second project, Ham Hyun-joo, head of the costume department, said about <Ghost>, which produced more than a thousand costumes, “I use colors that are not in documentary photographs, and look like carnivores that cannot coexist. It was fun to be able to express the characters' personalities, and I'm grateful to the actors who pulled off the costumes so nicely," adding to the expectations for the costumes in <Ghost>.

Desperately fight with strength and will at the risk of life and death!
Pleasure of dynamic action that clashes, shoots, and explodes
Everything you see is dynamic! Spy Action <Ghost>

<Ghost> may look like a psychology-oriented spy movie, where suspicion and checks are the main points, but it is a multi-character movie driven by dynamic action. The person you want to catch, the person you shouldn't get caught, the person you doubt, the person you don't want to be caught. Even the person who must break through and make the operation successful. Conflicting wills inevitably lead to actions in which life and death are fought. Among the main characters, 'Kaito' has to catch the 'ghost', an anti-Japanese spy who thought he was only in Shanghai, and the rest of the suspects must survive unconditionally. In order not to be broken, to defeat the opponent, the main characters of <Ghost> each have their own action scenes.

Park Hae-soo, who plays 'Kaito', relentlessly oppresses 'Junji', a former competitor, when he enters his trap. Not to mention the other suspects. Seol Kyung-gu, who plays the role of 'Junji' of the police department, who wants to get rid of the suspicion of 'ghost' and return to the frontline command again with splendor, and another prime suspect, 'Cha Kyung', who is in charge of communication and cipher text recording. Lee Ha-nui transcends the difference between men and women and directly clashes with body to body. And the hand-to-hand combat between the two conveys the realism of real action that transcends gender, with a sense of impact that does not feel the power gap. Park So-dam, who plays the role of 'Yuriko', who can attack anyone if he has to live, also shows various actions such as shooting.

From <The Good, the Bad, and the Weird> to <New World>, <Train to Busan>, <Kingdom> and <Crime City>, directing Korean action movies through Western, Noir, Zombie, and full-scale action movies with different genres and feelings. Martial arts director Heo Myung-haeng, who is making the genealogy of <Crime City 4> as well as martial arts director. Regarding the action of <Ghost>, he said, “Because it was during the Japanese colonial era, I focused on the urgency and reasons of the characters rather than the times, except that I applied ‘karate’, a traditional Japanese martial art, to actor Seol Gyeong-gu, who plays ‘Junji’, a former Japanese soldier. I went beyond the stereotypes of action that could come out at the time, such as guns, explosives, and cars, and went out more boldly,” conveying the dynamic nature of <Ghost> action. Also, as a unique feature of <Ghost>, “I thought about it with director Lee Hae-young so that the impact of the confrontation could come closer than gender. It is the result of the breathing of the actors who worked hard in rehearsal and training, such as the changed sum and movement according to the moving of the camera in the pre-training and on-site.”