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Interview with Jae-eun
Jeong (Kino, October, 2001) The Road that Crosses the World, Children
Who Leave Home
Q: A captivating aspect of
the film is the solid presence of Inchon as a place, both as a backdrop
of the film and the way it connects to the characters. The film richly
portrays the implicated meanings of Inchon, the port city that was one
of the first to open its doors to foreign culture and is declining
now.
A: What do I reveal about
the city? When I shoot the city of Inchon, what method do I use and what
story do I tell through it? Then is it parallel to the way I am
developing the characters? These were the thoughts that often crossed my
mind regarding Inchon. First, Inchon is on the outskirts of Seoul, the
capital city. I felt that this matched my characters who are also
outsiders. Second, compared to Jeollado and Kyungsangdo, provinces with
native settlers, Inchon, an old open port, is a city with many
immigrants who came during the war or in the 70s during
industrialization. It is a city full of wanderers. Therefore, I was
attracted to the fact that the city has less regional color.
Q: In the film, the girls
are mostly walking or taking the bus or roaming on the streets. And the
places the girls go to - the Inchon Airport, Inchon Harbor, subway
stations, etc. - are all places of motion. These things continuously
bring one word to mind. It is 'nomad.'
A: It was the word that I
thought most of while I was filming. I wanted my characters to be girls
who possessed nothing permanent and therefore were able to leave. Their
relationships change and the girls continue to walk. I believe that if
something is not moving, the energy weakens and it needs to be filled
with things that are moving. I intentionally wrote the screenplay in
accordance to the space.
Q: In a way, these girls
are all leaving. Haejoo leaves Inchon for Seoul, making a new home for
herself there. Taehee tries to leave home and Jiyoung has nowhere to go.
Biryu and Ohnjo have a Chinese mother so their nationalities are
ambiguous. Where did you come up with such characters?
A: If the main idea is
'nomad' then Taehee is a child who has a home but her heart is not
there; Haejoo wants to live in the middle of a cosmopolitan so she lives
life as a city nomad; Biryu and Ohnjo always exist as still objects on
the street so they place no meaning at home; and Jiyoung is under the
pressure of the home but becomes free. The characters were set up in
this manner so this is a very configured film. (smiles)
Q: Why a cat?
A: First of all, I
personally like cats. Also, it is because cats are neglected over dogs.
I believe that Korea is a dog-oriented society. (laughs) I think that
cats are a bit taboo. In that way, I thought it would be good to connect
cats to 20-year-old girls. I had hoped for the girls to be like cats -
flexible, independent, complex, to have the tendency to leave if they
are not happy with their ownerÉ However, I do not like humanizing
certain aspects of animals as it is often the case in nature
documentaries. I dislike stories and tales about dogs such as the dog
who finds his way home after being sold to a new owner.
Q: In many parts of the
film, text plays a part in the images. The text messages and Joosang's
poems present a new aesthetic beyond just captions.
A: From the beginning, I
wanted a lot of text on screen. Personally, I like words very much. When
people think of images, they usually think of pictures. But I think that
words are images, too. When beepers were commonly used in the past, I
would feel as if a mixture of numbers were floating in the air, going
from person to person in the city. In recent years, text messages are in
use a lot. Say there's a large globe. I keep picturing words flying here
and there and words floating around as they meet and part. To me, words
are the most abstract 'images.'
Q: What was your rule of
editing? I would think that it was a tough job with the multiple
characters and the fact that it is not one big narrative. I also got the
impression that the scenes were very tight.
A: Because the perspective
changes and the characters develop in groups like two, three, or five, I
did not necessarily add more to the beginnings or ends. When I looked at
all the footage after the shoot was over, I did feel the beginnings or
ends of certain scenes were a little rushed. In any case, I tried to
apply the principle of movement by moving things along. I try not to be
tricked by certain things such as new ways of creating transitions or
cuts. I do not enjoy thinking of things like that nor is it my style.
Maybe that is why I prefer very simple storyboarding because as I draw
them, I can not help thinking in that manner. I do not know how I will
be in the future but for now, my definition of editing is to acknowledge
unique things from each scene and to put these two distinctive scenes
together.
Q: What is your concept
regarding music?
A: I thought that it would
be hard to maintain a fresh feeling if there was one theme song
summarizing the whole story. From the beginning, I was going to use an
electronic-based sound and I wanted the music to have its own mood
rather than to direct how one should feel. Then I heard some music by 'Byul
(star)' which I liked very much. His deep voice sings lyrics not quite
clear to the ear and his sounds are electronic yet there is a power that
creates an emotional and dreamy feeling through those electronic notes.
The peculiar thing was that even though Byul and I were in different
places, how do I say, our directions were similar. Like our paths in
life and emotions. In this way, there was something that let us
understand each other beyond words.
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