(Korean Movies) The Closet, 2020

1) (noun) closet
2) (adjective) invisible, known only to oneself

[ ABOUT MOVIE ]

New material that could not be seen in existing Korean movies!
Exploring the reality of the 'closet' reborn as a secret space
The movie <Closet> is a work that started from the unique imagination that the closet door opened and the child disappeared. The movie begins when Sangwon and Ina, who lost their wife and mother in an accident one day, move into a new house. It tells the story of a daughter who suddenly shows abnormal symptoms, a father who suffers from nightmares, and the disappearance of her daughter a few days later. In this situation, a mysterious man who came to the Senate tells the unbelievable story that all these mysterious incidents started in the closet, and the two people digging into the mystery of the closet and the strange events surrounding them flow in an unpredictable direction, making the play full of tension. lead

<Closet>, which paid attention to the fresh material of the closet, which had not been seen in existing Korean films, started from the experience of director Kim Kwang-bin. “There was a time when I felt as if someone was staring through a gap in the slightly opened closet,” he said, reinventing an everyday space that can be seen anytime and anywhere into a mysterious space. In the film, the closet is a key space that saves a child who has disappeared without a trace and provides a clue to a series of bizarre events, and is the source of triggering a mystery. Director Kim Kwang-bin said, “I thought it would be interesting to add a Korean story to the western material of the closet,” and created a fresh mystery drama by combining fresh materials and imagination with Korean emotions. <Closet>, which will present a differentiated novelty that has never been seen before, will touch the hearts of the audience in 2020.

Director Ha Jung-woo X Kim Kwang-bin opens the door to a new story!

“A different kind of movie I have never seen before” (Kim Nam-gil)
There is a special relationship between director Kim Kwang-bin and Ha Jung-woo. The two of them were university alumni and co-recording staff in the movie <The Unforgiven>. After that, Ha Jung-woo was impressed by Kim Kwang-bin's short films and paid attention to his directing skills. In short films such as How to Open the Lock (2016) and Modern Family (2011), director Kim Gwang-bin showed his own worldview by varying the theme of family relationship into various genres. It has also been recognized for its talent by sweeping domestic and international film festivals. Ha Jung-woo said, “It is optimized for the mystery genre. It is a director who should pay attention in the future.” The two people who paid attention to each other met again through the movie <Closet>. Ha Jung-woo, who heard the story of <Closet> before the script was completed, was immediately fascinated by the film's original setting. Feeling thirsty for novel materials and genres, he willingly participated in the planning, saying, “It was interesting because Korean films had stories and colors that had not been introduced before.” During a scenario meeting with director Kim Kwang-bin for four months, he showed extraordinary enthusiasm, and presented a variety of ideas, from the character's job and props to the production concept, and filled the scenario with abundance. The story of <Closet>, in which director Kim Gwang-bin and Ha Jung-woo collaborated, was enough to captivate Kim Nam-gil. As Kim Nam-gil said, “How should I play the settings that were not in Korean movies? It’s the freshness that made me choose this movie.” Closet is a work that stands out for its novelty that breaks away from the typicality of dramas, characters, and visuals. A new story opens up that will captivate Ha Jung-woo and Kim Nam-gil in the movie <Closet>, in which a story that does not know where it will go through the closet and unexpected settings deviate from expectations and pierce the audience.

Ha Jung-Woo X Kim Nam-Gil and Heo Yul
The most anticipated meeting of 2020!

Ha Jung-woo X Kim Nam-gil, the first meeting of leading actors in name and reality!
Korea's leading actors Jung-woo Ha and Nam-gil Kim met on the screen.
Ha Jung-woo captured the hearts of 100 million viewers by mastering all genres such as crime, thriller, action, and disaster drama. After showing his unrivaled presence regardless of genre, he takes on the mystery genre for the first time in his life as Sang Sang, a father who searches for traces of his missing daughter. Ha Jung-woo, who said, “Since the point of view of the Senate is the point of view of the audience, I was worried about how the events would flow and how to convey the fear of a mysterious entity.” and increase immersion. In addition, from the father's father's loss of a child to the fear of facing a mysterious existence, he has digested a range of swirling emotions. Director Kim Kwang-bin foretells, "It's a different performance from what Ha Jung-woo has shown so far," adding anticipation to Ha Jung-woo's other face that will be revealed in a new genre.

Kim Nam-gil, who once again reached his heyday with the drama [The Fiery Priest] that calmed the first half of 2019, plays Kyung-hoon, a mysterious man who knows the secrets of the case. As the only person who knows where Ina disappeared, he adds tension to the drama and leads Sangwon and the audience into a mysterious world. Kim Nam-gil, who said, “I tried to express the conflicting feelings of the characters,” redefined the secret atmosphere unique to Kyung-hoon in his own way, which is usually pleasant but is more thorough and cool than anyone else when chasing the secrets of the closet. In addition, he breathed new life into the play by adding ideas for acting using wires as well as costumes and tattoos with his rich imagination.

Director Kim Gwang-bin, who is proud of himself as “a casting that anyone who writes a screenplay would have dreamed of”, chose the perfect tiki-taka of Ha Jung-woo and Kim Nam-gil, who are reborn as irreplaceable partners, as a point to watch. “Kim Nam-gil is a flexible actor. It was very reassuring and fun to act together” (Ha Jung-woo), “Ha Jung-woo is an actor who looks at the whole thing. It would be good to expect a fantastic ensemble of two people who did not spare much praise for each other, saying, “I liked the exchange of acting and breathing” (Kim Nam-gil).

“Excellent concentration and various expressions”
Acting genius Heo Yul makes her first screen debut with a unique presence!
Heo Yul, an acting genius, was selected for the role of Ina, which signals the start of a mysterious case. Heo-yul, who won the youngest new actor award at the Baeksang Arts Awards in the drama [Mother], broke through the 500 to 1 competition rate and confidently joined <Closet> and perfectly portrayed Ina, who suddenly disappeared from her new house. Heo-yul catches the audience's attention in an instant by delicately depicting the change in Ina, who shows a cold and eerie face with abnormal symptoms even after showing an innocent smile. Heo-yul, who says “I have assimilated with Ina’s heart,” becomes Ina herself and is responsible for the tension in the beginning of the film. “A brilliant actor who changes and acts at the same time as he shoots” (Director Kim Kwang-bin), “I am amazed at his excellent concentration and various expressive abilities. Heo-yul's unparalleled presence will shine once again on the screen, receiving lavish praise, saying, "I have a good feeling to grow into a good actor" (Ha Jung-woo).

[ PRODUCTION NOTE ]

“The audience’s imagination is made out of the invisible”
A behind-the-scenes film that elevates the mystery to the extreme!
Director Kim Kwang-bin said that “a visual that stimulates the imagination” was the key to <Closet>. As it was important to build up the unrealistic tension about the upcoming event at every moment, cinematographer Choi Chan-min said, “The characters and the space I hoped that the strange aura that surrounds it would be transmitted to the audience throughout.” Therefore, I had to capture the characters in the space walking around the new house to stand out on the screen. I took full shots rather than tight angles to capture the cold and bizarre air surrounding the main characters on the screen. It was also important to genuinely capture the struggle between two men chasing after their daughter. With a camera filter that is not excessive and refined camera movements, she approached the drama and added a sense of immersion to the characters' emotions. Also, "the imagination of the audience is invisible. Choe Chan-min, cinematographer said that he chose bold contrast with the idea that “it is made from parts.” In other words, when it was dark, he used dark lighting more daringly to create a video that maximized the contrast between darkness and light. Behind the scenes, your imagination is stimulated and you feel a greater fear. In particular, in the scene where you encounter a mysterious entity for the first time, the contrast between the blue light descending in the room and the white light used by Kyung Hoon maximizes the mysterious atmosphere and tension. made it

Complete the world beyond the closet!
Behind-the-scenes art with the characters alive!
Art director Park Il-hyeon, who said, “I worked hard on an unexpected genre expression,” tried not to miss the fun of the genre while fully reflecting the character’s personality in the space.

First of all, Sangwon and Ina's house, which started with Ha Jung-woo's idea, is imbued with Sang Sang's occupation and personality. The art director, who wanted the house to feel like it was somewhere in Northern Europe, created the exterior and interior structure of the house without being bound by Korean things. The hard and cold atmosphere thus completed shows the indifferent character of Sangwon, who was a competent architectural designer but neglected his family. On the other hand, the new house, which is the starting point of all the incidents, has a bizarre atmosphere as a whole, which also has a western atmosphere borrowed from the Nordic style. In addition, oriental accessories such as wood and bricks on the stairs in the house are placed in various places, adding to the delicacy of finishing the space as an unfamiliar space.

The exaggeratedly large space of Ina and Sangwon expresses the lonely feelings of the characters. In the room where Ina spends a lot of time alone, the closet stands out, raising curiosity and tension about future events surrounding the closet. Numerous dolls who become Ina's friends, the dark colors of the room, and details such as window designs are added, adding to the bizarre atmosphere. The space of the Senate is also exaggerated and represents his empty and empty feelings, who lost both his family and his career in an instant. The production team, who prioritized genre trials over reality, created a set with moving walls and ceilings to realistically express Sang Sang, who suffers from auditory hallucinations. With the efforts of the production team who are willing to take risks, this scene was able to be born as a powerful scene that maximized the confusion and the coming anxiety of the Senate, who sensed the unusual atmosphere of the house.

The other world, which Kyung-hoon points to where the missing children are beyond the closet, is one of the core spaces of <Closet>. The key was how to visualize and complete the foreign world with an unfamiliar and bizarre atmosphere that had not been seen in Korean films. During the three-month pre-production period, the production team worked hard to create a space that resembles reality but is exaggeratedly twisted, without distinguishing parts such as art, shooting, lighting, and CG, to create an unfamiliar atmosphere unique to Lee Gye. Using various devices such as burnt marks, exaggerated colors, distorted and deformed rides, barren land, and bare trees, the minds of children living in another world are portrayed. In addition, by using smog, which can be enjoyed in the genre, <Closet>'s unique attractions were completed.