(Korean Movies) Way Back Home, 2013

change of direction

The reality is that things happen more like movies than movies.

Here, on the other side of the globe, across the Atlantic Ocean, on a remote island in Martinique,
There is an ordinary housewife in Korea.

After two long years of nightmares, she
I didn't know the value of it because it was so close
I wanted to draw a journey to return to the arms of my family.

I can't see the family I want to see,
Perhaps it is the prison that cannot return to the arms of the beloved family.

Having a warm room where a family can laugh comfortably
I wanted to portray how precious and precious it is through this film.

– Director Bang Eun-jin

change of planning

In 2006, there was an incident that shook the Republic of Korea.

One year after that,
The main character of the case responded to an interview with a media outlet.

'Two years of nightmares spent by an ordinary Korean housewife in an Atlantic prison'
It was through this article that I first met her.

she heard,
The nightmarish time the whole family had to go through for two years was terrifying and sad.

The moment I finally set foot on Korean soil after two years,
She said that the first time she saw the words 'Rain.Sang.Gu', she burst into tears.

The little things that we, who are living in the present, took for granted or unimportant
Perhaps it is the source of great strength that sustains our lives.
I wanted to talk through this movie.

– Producer Seo Young-hee

[ Hot Issue ]

One moving true story this winter!
In 2004, he was mistaken for a drug dealer at Orly Airport, France.
A shocking 756-day film adaptation of an ordinary Korean housewife and her husband who appeals to save his wife!
Another movie, which continues the topic of work that delivered a genuine message and emotion to the audience based on true stories such as <You Are My Destiny>, <The Best Moment of Our Life> and <The Crucible>, is expected to capture the Republic of Korea intensely this winter. <Road Home>, which is about to be released in December, tells the true story of an ordinary Korean housewife who was mistaken for a drug transporter at Orly Airport in France on October 30, 2004 and imprisoned in Martinique Prison, a remote island across the Atlantic Ocean. The shocking incident experienced by a woman who spent two years without trial in a prison in a foreign country located on the other side of the globe, 22 hours away by plane from Korea and 12,400 km across the Atlantic Ocean, is enough to arouse the curiosity of the audience. do.
Director Bang Eun-jin said, “The reality is that more movie-like events are taking place than movies. At that time, I came across the story of the real main character through an article, and I was curious about what caused me to be imprisoned in a French prison.” Director Bang Eun-jin, who struggled to preserve the reality of the film by referring to the report documentary program dealing with the incident as well as the event chronology and the diary written by the main character of the true story, said, “The priority was to understand the feelings and backgrounds of the real people. And above all, how to express it by combining it with the social atmosphere of that time was the biggest task in making the event into a film.” Jeon Do-yeon, who plays the main character 'Jeong-yeon', also said, "When I first saw the script, the story of an ordinary housewife who had to spend a long time in a prison on a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean without knowing English was both very interesting and heartbreaking. It was especially shocking that it was a real event. This is not just the story of 'Song Jeong-yeon', but it can also be the story of all of us.
The only moving true story this winter, <Road Home>, tells the shocking record of 756 days of an ordinary housewife who is imprisoned in a prison on a remote island across the Atlantic and wants to return to the house where her family awaits, and a husband who desperately struggles to get his wife back. It will give the audience a warm impression and a heart-wrenching lingering aftertaste.

The birth of a new box office in Chungmuro!
'Jeon Do-yeon' at its peak of acting and 'Go-su' with appealing appeal to the public
And the fateful meeting of Korea's representative female director 'Bang Eun-jin'!
Jeon Do-yeon, a world-recognized actress who swept the leading domestic film awards for Best Actress through various works such as <You Are My Destiny>, <Miryang> and <The Maid>, and won the Best Actress Award at the 2007 Cannes International Film Festival, was loved by critics and audiences. As a treasure of the Korean film industry, she is once again showing deep inner acting through <The Way Home>. Jeon Do-yeon, who plays Jeong-yeon, an ordinary housewife who is mistaken for a drug dealer in France, who does not know English and cannot speak a word, is imprisoned in Martinique, a secluded island across the Atlantic Ocean. As a person of the people, there was a deep resonance in my heart.” “I tried to fully immerse myself in the character to realistically portray the difficult journey that I had to go through in an unfamiliar place where no words were spoken, so I had to feel the mental and physical pain myself throughout the filming.” said.
Debuting with <Some>, which won the Best New Actor award at the 2004 Daejong Film Festival, <Superpower> <Kojijeon> <Banchangko> and the recently popular drama [Empire of Gold], through various works, appealing eyes and charismatic acting skills Go Soo, who captivated the public with 'On the Way Home', attempted a dramatic change in acting. Go Soo, who plays the role of 'Jong-bae' who desperately appeals to the world to save his wife who is imprisoned in a prison on a remote island across the Atlantic Ocean, which is difficult to find even on a map, is purposely overweight and rough to express the appearance of any ordinary householder in Korea. He took off the image of a handsome sculptor and perfectly expressed the unadorned appearance of a small citizen. Go Soo said, "Jeong-yeon and Jong-bae in the movie are separated from each other for a long time, so there are not many opportunities to be together on the set, so they worked together by monitoring each other's filming in their spare time." During the long journey of eliciting the extreme feelings of a servant who cannot even communicate with his wife where he is, I also felt the extremes of emotions and had to overcome them.” Director Bang Eun-jin, who was named Korea's leading female director for <Princess Aurora> and <Suspect X>, caught the megaphone of <Road Home>, and through her unique and delicate psychological description, the heartbreaking experience that an ordinary housewife experiences. The itinerary was detailed. Director Bang Eun-jin said about the two actors they met for the first time through <On the Way Home>, "Gosu perfectly portrayed the naive and desperate family man, which is 180 degrees different from the refined charm he has shown before." He expressed satisfaction by saying, “I have drawn the character of my husband that I can never hate while trying it out.” On the other hand, he said, “I was preparing for a work called <Road Home> for over a year, and would I have been able to film this movie without the actress Jeon Do-yeon? The role of 'Song Jeong-yeon' has become the role itself to the point of wanting to do it."
Jeon Do-yeon, who showed off her culmination of her acting skills, Go Soo, who has a popular appeal, and Bang Eun-jin, the representative female director of Korea, who had a fateful meeting through <Road to Home> went to theaters this winter, heralding the birth of a new box office in Chungmuro, the most powerful this winter. It is attracting attention.

A super luxurious location that connects Korea, France, and the Dominican Republic!
For the first time in Korean film history, 'Caribbean' is captured on the screen!
<Road Home>, which tells the true story of a Korean housewife who was mistaken for a drug dealer and imprisoned in Martinique Prison on a remote island across the Atlantic Ocean, was the first Korean film to be located in the 'Caribbean' in order to maximize the reality of the case. Through a location tour that spans three countries, including Korea, France, and the Dominican Republic, you can not only try unprecedented filming at Orly Airport in France, the Embassy of France in France, and the Dominican Naayayo Women's Prison, but also capture the dazzling scenery of the Caribbean Sea. to present
The production team of <On the Way Home> invested a long time from extensive location hunting before filming to getting permission to shoot. Director Bang Eun-jin, who aimed to shoot at the location where the actual incident took place, said, "In order to capture the situation of 'Jeong-yeon', who was arrested as a drug criminal in an unfamiliar foreign country without knowing the English language, France's Orly Airport was a necessary place." stated the reason. Production Producer Kang Myung-chan of <Road Home> said, “It took six months just to work on the paperwork to get permission to shoot at Orly Airport, and a year and a half to prepare and meet with airport officials in advance for the actual filming. On the day of filming, we had to create an optimized environment by coordinating all flight schedules at the airport with more than 200 planes and 20,000 people passing in and out,” he said. Orly Airport, which is operated in accordance with international law, places very strict restrictions on filming due to the risk of terrorism and the import and export of drugs. <Road Home> is the first Korean film to capture the entire interior of the airport, from the concourse to the boarding gate, through immigration and security screening. In addition, through the detailed spaces of the airport, such as immigration and baggage claim, it more effectively expressed the anxious psychology that an ordinary housewife 'Jeongyeon' experiences in a strange country where she first set foot in her life. The most important place to culminate in the luxurious location of <On the Way Home> is Martinique Ducot Prison, where Jeongyeon in the play had to fight loneliness alone in an unfamiliar land away from her family. This place was reproduced in the facilities of the Nayayo Women's Prison in the Dominican Republic. To this end, it took about two years to complete a lot of paperwork, notarization, and translation. The prison filming, which took place over a total of 6 days, was done through a tight security process within a limited time from 6 am to 6 pm.

The best ensemble implementation that makes use of the reality of the true story!
Local actors, real prison inmates, and even prison officers are dispatched!
<Road Home> not only casts a local French actor to reproduce the prison life in a prison in a foreign land where Jeongyeon cannot speak a word, but also a female inmate who was incarcerated at Nayayo Prison in the Dominican Republic, and By mobilizing the guards as extras, the reality of the true story was saved. Director Bang Eun-jin said, “It was shocking that the filming was allowed for a long period of time in a real prison. In addition, the prisoners had to be moved somewhere to shoot in prison rooms, restaurants, and playgrounds, but it was a formidable task, so I encouraged them to appear. Some prisoners dreamed of becoming an actor. Also, in the Dominican prison, prisoners are classified by the color of their clothes, so it is forbidden to wear green clothes, as well as hats or sunglasses under the scorching sun.” At the filming site of <Road Home>, where actors from various nationalities, including Korea, France, Poland, and Dominicans, appeared, a unique landscape with five languages was spread out. Jeon Do-yeon, who had to act with foreign actors who did not speak the language, especially with real prisoners, said, "The burden was extremely high because it was an important sequence in which the character Song Jeong-yeon had to show the desperate struggles to escape the prison life on a remote island. Also, I was really afraid at first that I had to act with local actors in a foreign country. However, such feelings helped a lot in acting out Jeongyeon's desperate inner side."

[ PRODUCTION NOTE ]

On the other side of the world, depict the psychology of a person who is at the polar opposite!
Created by the best staff in Chungmuro
The perfect harmony of space, color and music!
<Road Home>, which captures the pitiful feelings of wife 'Jeong-yeon' and husband 'Jong-bae', who are struggling to regain their beloved family on the other side of the world, was born through large-scale locations across three countries, including Korea, France, and the Dominican Republic. , each space, color and music are perfectly harmonized to further enhance the level of perfection. Art director Nae-kyung Nae-kyung, in order to find the tone and mood that suits the movie, took a big concept with photos of artists who approached cities and beaches in various countries such as the Caribbean, Martinique, and the Dominican Republic from various perspectives. He said that he was able to capture new scenery through the conversation. First, 'Seoul' in Korea is the place where 'Jongbae', a husband who desperately appeals to the world to get his wife back, and 'Hyerin', a daughter who lost her mother in an instant, are left behind. Art director Nae-kyung Nae-kyung, who wanted to see the dark side of the rapidly changing city 'Seoul', said, "We used locations such as alleys tangled like spider webs and precarious stairs, It expresses the frustration of being a 'servant' who can't do anything," said director Lee Mo-gae. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic, which is the background of Martinique in the movie, emphasizes the loneliness of 'Jeongyeon', who is isolated in the space by utilizing the original primary colors of the region. This emanating emotion captured the feeling of frustration. Also, in the case of France, where 'Jeongyeon' was mistaken for a drug dealer and arrested as an active criminal, it looks very clean, but it is expressed in achromatic colors so as not to feel human. In this way, <Road to Home>, which takes place in three countries, brings out the emotions of the film more abundantly as the magnificent and mournful music that suits each space and situation is spread on the screen. Music director Kim Jun-seong said, "The concept of beautiful and free music is the opposite of the stuffy situation the protagonist is in. I wanted to show their feelings more dramatically by playing the most beautiful music in the most difficult situations."

[ Epilogue ]

# On October 30, 2004, a Korean housewife was arrested as a drug dealer at Orly Airport, France.
How am I now? How long will you be here?
I'm sorry, but I'm really sorry. If I had known it was a drug, I wouldn't have done that…

# Transferred to Martinique prison on January 31, 2005
Hyerin's dad… are you okay? Is Hyerin okay?
Obviously, you said you were going to have a trial in Paris in 4 months… Why did you come all the way here?
There's nothing I can do. So the day doesn't go too far.

The trial has been delayed by another four months.
The lawyer didn't come to this judge's hearing… Every day… I have the same dream.
To dream of being trapped in a room with no entrance or exit.

#July 29, 2005 Seomun-do trial, simple participant testimony by Song Jeong-yeon
Respected Consul, my husband said that Seomundo was arrested.
Why can't I still go to trial?
Please, after 4 months, get Seo Mun-do's trial documents and an interpreter. I beg you earnestly.

#Public release on February 14, 2006, pending trial without detention under probation
My husband who lost his wife, my daughter who had to grow up without a mother,
Now I want to go back and pay for my sins.
please give my wife back mom to my family

3 months in Paris detention center, 1 year in Martinique prison, and 9 months on parole.
22 hours by plane from Korea, spent 12,400 km across the Atlantic in an unfamiliar place
756 days of nightmares…

I… want to go home.