(Korean Movies) THE WAILING, 2016

Official invitation to the 69th Cannes Film Festival
The whole world pays attention to <Wailing>!
The movie <Wailing> was invited to the non-competition section of the 69th Cannes Film Festival. The Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection is divided into Competition, Out of Competition, Midnight Projections, Un Certain Regard, and Special Screenings within the non-competition category. Special Screenings), Cinefondation, and Short Films. Of these, only the invited films from the competitive and non-competitive categories will be screened with a red carpet event at the Theater Lumiere, the symbol of the Cannes Film Festival. In addition, the opening/closing films of the Cannes Film Festival are also being selected from among the invited films in the non-competitive category.

In the non-competitive section, only about 5 films with strong artistic as well as commercial and genre characteristics are carefully selected from the official section where the Cannes Film Festival organizing committee selects and supervises works. It is considered as an introduction section. Existing non-competitive films invited include George Miller's <Mad Max: Fury Road>, <Inside Out> <The Great Gatsby> <Pirates of the Caribbean: Strange Tides> and <Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull>. Blockbusters who were evaluated as having everything up to now were the main ones. In the case of <The Wail>, it was the second Korean film to be invited to the non-competitive section of the Cannes Film Festival following director Kim Ji-woon's <The Good, the Bad, and the Weird>. including Steven Spielberg , shane black It has a special meaning as it stands shoulder to shoulder with the works of such great directors. In addition, director Na Hong-jin's debut film <The Chaser> was invited to Midnight Screening, one of the official sections of the 61st Cannes Film Festival, <The Yellow Sea> was selected in the Noteworthy Eyes section of the 64th Cannes Film Festival, and <The Wailing> was invited to the 69th Cannes Film Festival. It was invited to the non-competitive section of the annual Cannes Film Festival, and all three films in a row were invited to the Cannes Film Festival. The invitation to the Cannes Film Festival for <Wailing> is drawing attention from all over the world as it has been recognized for the film's intense and fresh fun as well as its perfection that will captivate both critics and audiences.

A new film directed by Na Hong-jin in 2016.
Curious, intense, and original!
In 2008, “The Chaser” opened a new chapter in the Korean movie thriller genre by drawing an audience of 5.07 million by depicting the story of a man chasing a rare serial killer with a breathtaking development and solid storyline. Director Na Hong-jin, who has been well-received by critics and audiences for “terrifyingly powerful” through <The Yellow Sea>, which intensely drove the audience with its overflowing development, is returning with the new work <The Wailing> after six years.

<The Wailing> is a film depicting the stories of people mysteriously entangled in strange rumors and mysterious incidents that began after an outsider appeared. If director Na Hong-jin's previous work <The Chaser> and <The Yellow Sea> delivered a thrilling thrill through fast-paced development, <Wailing> is a new style that has not been experienced before through a method that gradually tightens the breath and intensifies the thrill. It completes the tension. Police 'Jong-gu', who suspects that the cause is a foreigner through the mysterious incidents that started after the appearance of the foreigner, and the buzzing rumors. When his daughter shows the same symptoms as the victims, he becomes desperate and the witness 'Myeong-Myeong' and the shaman 'Il-Gwang' appear and tell the story, which turns suspicion into conviction and aggravates chaos. While the relationship between those involved in an unknown incident and the unknown person continues to build up curiosity and curiosity, <Wailing>, which reaches a climax and confirms the culmination of a solidly built thrill, is something that has never been experienced before. It provides a new cinematic fun and experience. <Wailing>, which is a combination of emotions and drama led by Jong-goo, an ordinary police officer and father, who is caught up in the crisis and chaos of losing his daughter, unpredictable development of events, and director Na Hong-jin's unique powerful directing power It will shake the audience with an intense and original work that was not in the movie.

Kwak Do-won, Hwang Jung-min, Kunimura Jun, Chun Woo-hee
Meet the explosive acting synergy!
<The Wailing> creates strong synergy with the meeting of Do-won Kwak, Jeong-min Hwang, Jun Kunimura, and Woo-hee Chun, who have overwhelmed the screen with their solid inner skills, proven acting skills, and strong presence, and a new combination with director Na Hong-jin. Kwak Do-won, who has shown a terrifying presence and strong character that dominates the screen through works such as <The Yellow Sea> and <War on Crime: The Golden Age of Bad Guys> <The Attorney> and <Tazza-God's Hand>, faces mysterious incidents. Tri-ta takes on the role of 'Jong-goo', a police officer. Kwak Do-won joined <The Wailing> with absolute confidence and trust from director Na Hong-jin, who was considered the most impressive actor during the filming of <The Yellow Sea>. Kwak Do-won, who plays 'Jong-goo', who falls into uncontrollable chaos when the same symptoms as the victims of serial incidents in the repeated rumors about strangers also appear on his daughter, tells the story of the complex and desperate feelings experienced by an ordinary policeman and father. He leads the center of the play with a passionate performance that does not spare his body while fully capturing it.

The best actor, Hwang Jung-min, who became the 10 million actor in <International Market> and <Veteran>, followed by 4 consecutive hits in <The Himalayas> and <The Prosecutor's Gaiden>, started to transform into a new character through the role of the shaman, Il-gwang. Hwang Jung-min, who not only met real shamans for advice in order to fully digest the role, but also showed a high level of concentration by continuing to shoot a long take for about 15 minutes in the highlight good scene, made a deep impression on the minds of the audience through a different image than before. will leave In addition, Jun Kunimura, a famous Japanese actor, known for his strong presence and acting skills through a number of movies and dramas such as <Becoming a Father>, <Outrage> and <What's Wrong in Hell>, takes on the role of a foreigner, showing the intensity that cannot be taken away for a moment. will be presented Jun Kunimura, who plays the character of a foreigner who is the main character of a rumor that spreads out of control, will double the immersion of the audience by adding an uncompromising performance to the heavy eyes and expressions created by his long years of experience. Meanwhile, Chun Woo-hee, who won the Best Actress Award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards for <Han Gong-ju> and has established herself as an actress with a differentiated step in each work, adds tension to the play by playing the role of 'Mumyeong', a woman who witnessed the incident. Chun Woo-hee, who plays the role of 'Anonymous', who tells 'Jong-goo' what he witnessed at the scene of the incident and raises a mysterious curiosity, shows an overwhelming presence as soon as he appears. The explosive acting synergy of Kwak Do-won, Hwang Jung-min, Kunimura Jun, and Chun Woo-hee, who are fighting intensely with this new challenge, will fill the screen with the unique attractions of <Wailing> that cannot take your eyes off.

6 months of locations all over the country
Finding a space unique to <Wokseong> by hunting for perfection!
<The Wailing> is a work that puts great effort to improve the perfection of the script, which took about two years and eight months, filming for six months, and post-production for about a year. In particular, it was the location that the production team worked hard on the most. Director Na Hong-jin, who completed the urgency chase in the complicated alleys of downtown Seoul in <The Chaser>, and delivered a vivid sense of reality on the desolate beach in <The Yellow Sea>, said that <Wailing> is also a space. We focused on ourselves and focused on finding the most suitable place. Accordingly, <Gokseong>, which took 80% of the 121st episodes of filming, was filmed on location. It was completed after intense filming.

The production team has been selecting the best place through a hunting process that meticulously examines everything from the shape of the house to the shape and curve of the tree. In particular, the house of 'Jong-gu', which is the main space of the movie, was able to find a place that perfectly suited the movie, even the location and shape of the gate, after an effort to search for hanoks all over the country. In addition, the hiding place for foreigners was created by reorganizing an abandoned mountain house at an altitude of 400m above sea level, and it appears as a major space that adds to the atmosphere and tension of <Gokseong>. The crew, who filmed in rough terrain, such as the 336-meter-tall cliff of Seonunsan Mountain, national roads and waterfalls, as well as in the mountains where there was no road, repeated up and down the mountain road for several days with heavy filming equipment on its back. He did not hesitate to put in a lot of hard work and effort, such as transporting cranes along the narrow road to the waterfall on the mountain, which was difficult to pass through. The completed <Wailing> will add to the immersion of the play with the vivid mise-en-scène of the space itself that perfectly harmonizes with the characters, events, and atmosphere to the extent that it is impossible to ignore any one place.

Intense visuals and sights you can't take your eyes off of
Everything in <Wailing> is real!
Efforts to capture the high-quality visuals and a more realistic sense of presence in <Wailing> started with waiting for the time and weather that matched the actual film setting. Director Na Hong-jin, who wanted to create a cinematic tone and atmosphere suitable for the situation in the play, where mystery and chaos deepen due to an unknown incident. Unlike the city center where the skyline is generally high, the countryside where <Wokseong> is set was exposed to a lot of natural light due to the wide mountain ridges. Therefore, by waiting for cloudy weather and shooting by spraying rain with a sprinkler when it gets dark, or by choosing a day when it actually rains for important scenes, it was possible to shoot vivid and perfect scenes with a dark atmosphere covered with mountain fog. . In particular, the chase scene of 'Jong-gu' and his party, filmed on a mountain road, had to be filmed on a rainy day, so it was perfect to the extent that it started in autumn and finished filming in winter. Not only the weather, but also time was an important condition that the production team could not give up. The production team, who wanted to naturally capture the atmosphere of a specific time period given by Magic Hour, put so much effort and heart into shooting one or two cuts a day for several days in line with the short duration of dawn magic hour. .

Also, in art and props, we put the most natural direction as our top priority, and instead of relying on CG and post-production, we chose the method of preparing and shooting most of the actual props on the spot. For 'Snapdragon,' which is said to wither in the shape of a skeleton, actually cultivated snapdragons were dried naturally several months before the filming, and among them, those closest to the skull shape were selected and used. , and props were implemented in a way of recombination. In this way, from the shooting time to the weather, art and props, with perfection in reality, <Wailing> will captivate the audience with its intense visuals and sights that you can't take your eyes off of for even a moment.

The best production crew in the Korean film industry
Focus on solid perfection!
The staff, who were recognized for their best skills in name and reality, gathered for <Wailing>. With the addition of cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo and producer Lim Min-seop, art director Lee Ho-kyung, who worked with director Na Hong-jin on <The Yellow Sea>, costume director Chae Kyung-wha, editorial director Kim Seon-min, and music director Jang Young-gyu and Dal Paran, <Wailing> is a more intense and original work. could be completed with

Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, who won the Korea Film Critics Association Award and the Korean Film Awards Cinematography Award, receiving favorable reviews for his delicate yet powerful camera work and heavy shooting such as <Snowpiercer>, <Mother> and <Sea Fog>, is the first to collaborate with director Na Hong-jin in <The Wailing>. > makes the viewer hold their breath, and at the same time gives a fresh shock with a video containing explosive energy. In <Mother>, cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, who introduced an anamorphic lens for the first time in Korea, changed the spatial expression through an anamorphic lens for some of the mysterious scenes in the play. The scene was shot with a total of 6 cameras, focusing on capturing the unique angle of <Wailing>. In addition, producer Lim Min-seop, who planned <The Gift of Room 7>, put a lot of effort so that director Na Hong-jin, actors, and staff could concentrate on filming at the scene where there was no time to catch their breath. In addition, art director Lee Hu-kyung, who showed realistic and intense production design in <The Yellow Sea>, increases immersion in art directing close to hyperrealism through <Wailing>. In addition, costume director Chae Kyung-wha, who participated in <The Yellow Sea> <The Terror Live> <God's Move> and <Tazza-God's Hand>, broke the existing stereotypes of shamans of 'Jonggu', the everyday clothes of villagers, and 'Ilgwang'. Kim Seon-min, who participated in <Memories of Murder>, <Monster> <The Chaser> and <Yellow Sea>, expressed the character's personality and situation with the costume itself, such as costumes, and unlike director Na Hong-jin's previous work, <Wailing>, which gradually heightened tension. It created a fresh thrill by capturing the breath of its own. In addition, music directors Jang Young-gyu and Dal Par-ran, who participated in works such as <Assassination> and <The Thieves>, focus on the tension created by <Wailing> through simple yet deep music completed by mixing various sounds. In this way, <Wailing>, with the best production team in each field, from photography, art, costumes, editing, and music, will overwhelm the screen with its flawless build.

[ Production Note ]

About shooting: focus on space
“One cut, one cut, the whole movie was shot with great care”
– Hong Kyung-pyo, Cinematographer
The most important thing to focus on in the filming of <Wailing> was to accurately capture the space and time of the event, and to maximize the sense of space of the scene as the space itself is important unlike other films. For this purpose, natural light and practical light (light that actually appears on the screen) were fully utilized for lighting, and the tone was adjusted while keeping the contrast at low contrast considering the overall image of the movie was strong. . In particular, the good scene of 'Daylight', which takes place at night, created a more dramatic atmosphere while maximizing the realism through the torch of the good scene instead of minimizing artificial lighting. In addition, we tried to emphasize the sense of space through the method of shooting with the camera fixed rather than handheld, and to capture the scene wider than close-up. An Anamorphic Lens was used, which can capture shots that are almost similar to those of the human eye. As such, <Wailing>, completed after extraordinary consideration and effort, will captivate the audience's eyes with an intense and realistic image that cannot be missed.

About Art: Reinvention in Reality
“It was a film that had to be based on reality. This required extraordinary observation and effort.”
– Lee Hu-kyung, Art Director
The production team worked hard to create as natural art as possible with realistic settings that meticulously calculated probabilities, including location hunting. However, the process of completing the good version of 'Ilgwang' and the space for foreigners at Jong-goo's house was another challenge. Therefore, from the pre-preparation stage, art director Lee Hu-kyung, who not only went to see various guts, researched materials, but also obtained advice from shamans, tried to produce a special gut unique to <Wokseong>, not just a reproduction. Usually, the props, decorations, and setting methods are set according to the purpose of the good, but they did not follow them as they are, but started recombining them according to the situation and atmosphere in the movie. Through this process, a good scene of a new and intense 'Daylight' that could not be seen anywhere was completed. On the other hand, the interior of the outsider's house also uses the basic structure of the abandoned hanok house, but in order to capture a new art setting that is mixed with various superstitious elements, from researching materials to preparing props and selecting works, each one went through a process of painstaking work. In this way, based on reality, the newly recreated art only for <The Wailing> will be a special viewing point that cannot be missed.