Jo Eun-ji is a South Korean actress and director. She debuted in the gritty Im Sang-soo film “Tears”, and has since become better known for her supporting roles on film and television, such as in “The President's Last Bang”, “My Scary Girl”, “Forever the Moment”, “The Concubine” and “The Villainess”. She was also the leading actress in the indies “Driving with My Wife's Lover”, and “Sunshine Love”. “Perhaps Love” is her debut feature film on the director chair.
“Perhaps Love” screened at Udine Far East Film Festival
I loved the convoluted and ingenious stories and the complicated lives of all the characters in your film and I was wondering if you participated to the script and how.
There was already a script in place, and I was revising that script but the original script was very much focused on the character of Hyun and Yu-jin, so I developed all the other stories to bring them to life in full.
Actor Ryu Seung-ryong was great at embodying a kind of vulnerable masculinity. Did you have him in mind from the start, or was it the result of a long casting process?
In the process of revising the screenplay, various actors came to my mind to play the characters, particularly the character of Hyun, and Ryu Seung-ryong was so much on the front of my mind. I felt that no other actor would be suitable for this role to the point I also felt that if he had turned it down, I wouldn't have the confidence to go ahead with the project. But luckily, he read the screenplay and liked it very much and was very positive about taking part and everything came together.
In which way being an experienced actress yourself, affected your work of directing other actors?
It is a big challenge communicating with the actors and getting the exact point across of what I am looking for in each role. That was a challenge for me. The emotional cue-line of the performances is extremely important and for that, lots of communication is needed, but the actors understood the script quite well and had an idea on how to approach it
Several Korean films have used, as a narrative starting point, a writer or a scriptwriter experiencing a block. I have been pondering if this reflects the pressure that a cultural-booming Koreas is putting on creative people and artists. Did you experience any pressure as a first-time feature director or as a woman in the industry?
Actually, in the making of this film I didn't feel a lot of direct pressure. In fact, I felt confident because it was very clear to me what I wanted to accomplish. And that was to make a film that, on one hand, goes against the dominant sensibility and potentially makes some viewers uncomfortable about the issues that are raised, but on the other hand, in terms of the style and storytelling, I wanted a comedy and I wanted to make the film in a way that wouldn't make audiences reject it, but make them comfortable and accept and enjoy the story through this kind of warm, comedy tone, and reach the audience in that way. So, in that sense, I felt comfortable about the approach taken in the film and didn't feel pressured. Regarding directing as a woman, in a general sense I try not to distinguish too much and to think a female director is not fundamentally different from a male director. It's the position as “director” that is most important. So, to answer your question, that didn't give me any added pressure.
Have you been thinking if you want to carry on being a director or an actress? Or both?
I wish I could find more opportunities to direct and continue doing it, but at the same time I still have a lot of motivation and passion for acting as well, so the goal is to keep them as parallel tracks to keep doing both.
So, from your answer I get you don't have already a directing project in the pipeline?
In terms of acting, I am working on a drama coming up soon; in term of directing, it still not confirmed but there is a project on the way, in the developing stage.
Has “Perhaps Love” been released in Korea?
Yes, it was released in November 2021.
And what was the general reaction of the public?
It was released in theatres in a bad time unfortunately, because of the pandemic, so commercially it performed below expectations. Then, since the possibilities with streaming services became more widely available and broadened the audience, I found out the reviews and responses to the movie were quite positive and that the people really connected with the film. Of course, there were some people who felt uncomfortable and weren't ready to accept the story, but that wasn't unexpected.
