On the afternoon of the 18th (local time), Jo In-sung sat down for an interview at the Majestic Hotel in Cannes, France, during the 79th Cannes Film Festival to share stories about the movie ‘HOPE’ (directed by Na Hong-jin). ‘HOPE’ follows Beom-seok, the chief of the Hopohang outpost in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), who receives news from local youths that a tiger has appeared. As the entire village goes into emergency mode, he is faced with an unbelievable reality.
Director Na Hong-jin’s ‘HOPE’, his first film in 10 years since ‘The Wailing’, had its world premiere at the Lumiere Grand Theatre on the 17th and received a standing ovation for about seven minutes. ‘HOPE’ has captivated global audiences as a thrilling blend of a suspenseful thriller and a sci-fi film featuring aliens.
Jo In-sung takes on the role of ‘Sung-gi’, a local youth in Hopohang who does any odd job that brings in money, showcasing a side of himself completely different from his previous image. Through ‘Sung-gi’, a character with an extraordinary survival instinct, Jo In-sung delivered a raw, wild charm and intense action scenes without holding back.
In the latter part of the movie, Jo In-sung lets out a stream of curses during an action sequence with aliens in the forest. The theater even burst into laughter as he repeatedly shouted “F***”. When asked if the cursing was part of the script or a natural reaction to the grueling shoot, Jo In-sung laughed and replied, “It was in the script. But the number of curses was actually much higher…”
Jo In-sung explained, “Those curses encompass so many different emotions. I felt there was no other way to express the situation. I tried to avoid cursing and even thought about meeting a Korean language teacher to learn other exclamations. I considered things like ‘Ah’ or ‘Oh my’, but in the end, that one word was the only thing that felt natural and universal. You can’t really call it cursing. While the word itself is a curse, emotionally, it’s not. I just couldn’t think of any other word.”
When asked about his first time working with director Na Hong-jin, Jo In-sung shared, “Director Na Hong-jin is incredibly persistent. Even though the movie is two months away from release and post-production is already finished, he called me back recently for recording. In my 28 years since debuting, this was a first for me.” He added, “I’m not saying it’s strange, but I want to emphasize that he is a total perfectionist. He will wait days for the perfect weather or lighting to get the scene he wants.”
Meanwhile, the Cannes Film Festival will announce the winners among this year’s competition entries at the closing ceremony on the 23rd. All eyes are on whether director Na Hong-jin’s new sci-fi film ‘HOPE’ will take home an award at the closing ceremony.
