With his debut feature “Hopeless”, director Kim Chang-hoon tells a story about a 17-year-old highschooler Yeon-gyu (Xa Bing-hon) who seeks to escape domestic violence in a very wrong milieu, and a mid-level gang boss Chi-geon who (Joong-ki Soon), on the one hand comes to his rescue, and on the other – involuntarily drags him into a deeper abyss. This slow-pacing noir had its premiere towards the end of the festival in Un Certain Regard competition, in the presence of the jury consisting of John C. Reilly, Alice Winocour, Paula Beer, Davy Chou and Émilie Dequenne.
We met with Kim at the rooftop terrace of the festival Palais, a day after the premiere to inquire about the brutal milieu depicted in the movie, his impressions from Cannes and his methods. Since his biography is still a blank page that needs to be filled, we asked him to present himself in his own words, and here is what he said:
I've dreamt about becoming a film director since I was 8-years old because of my love for movies and in order to pursue this dream, lot of things happened in my life, and lots of obstacles were laid below my feet on my way to achieving it. But not even the hardest situations could stop me seizing from my dream.
Hopeless is screening at Cannes
You achieved something impressive landing in the Un Certain Regard competition of Cannes Film Festival. Could you even imagine coming here?
I didn't have any expectations before coming here. I felt an extreme pressure because I never gave an interview before. I was quite worried about it before coming to Cannes, but now that that particular part is almost over, everything is in the flow. Now I am living my dream.
When I started to study cinema in my youth, I read a lot about Cannes Film Festival, and I thought how great it would be of going there one day. Finally that day came, and when I was told about it I was tottaly thrilled, but at the same time very concerned. I felt pressure. As you mentioned previously, since it was a full house at yesterday's screening, I felt honoured not only because my film had its premiere, but also because it was watched by some of the most prominent international directors and actors. All of it seemed like a dream, and I was overwhelmed.
What attracted you to go into such a violent place with not one single safe space for your main protagonist ?
In my life I had several opportunities to observe diverse forms of violence, but fortunately not on my own skin, and I was always greatly interested in showing how domestic violence, for instance, influences the lives of individuals, especially of young people coming of age. My main character is kind of damaged through the heavy beatings by his alcoholic stepfather. I had to show his environment and the risks he is facing day to day on his path to adulthood. I also had to show the consequences of such an upbringing.
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In dealing with this type of environment, did you bring some of real experiences by people you spoke to, or is everything pure fiction?
As I previously mentioned, a huge part of my inspiration came from my personal experiences with direct- and indirect violence, but regarding the mobsters I neither spoke to someone who knew something about it, nor did I research. It's a completely fictive world, although I tried to make it feel real. The fact is that if I tried to present the real gangster milieu, my imagination would be blocked and that is something I didn't want to happen. Instead, I tried to get something very close to reality even if it was a complete fiction.
You chose very dark photography for your film, which enhances the sense of claustophobia. Can you tell us something about it?
Yes, of course. The relationship between the youngsters and their environment is very toxic, which is very important to underline and I needed to support that feeling with diverse technical decisions. One of the purposes of dark photography was to enhance the feeling of claustrophobia, and simply show how stuck he was in it.
Your character development turned interesting because your lead man isn't very likeable. He bursts with aggression. His language is abusive, and he falls more than once as he displays a very bad temper. And then, there is his immediate gangster boss who tries to shelter him from a man who controls the whole city, putting his own life at risk.
I am surprised that you see Yeon-gyu that way because he does good deeds more than once. If you look at the starting point of the movie, when he attacks the fellow student with a rock, it is not a type of violence that comes from nowhere since he is trying to protect his half-sister Hayan (Hyoung-seo Kim). He does have a kind of sympathy for her despite of the fact that she is treated completely differently at home as the legitimate daughter of his drunkard stepfather. He is also trying to protect a little boy whose father is a gambler and junkie. If you feel sympathy for Chi-geon (Song Joong-ki) is because he is very linked to Yeon-gyu. Their past and future are mixed. The present of Yeon-gyu is Chi-geon's past. And I have to say that before meeting the young gangster, my hero was only seen once displaying aggression. He is student, who is slowly getting dragged deeper into the world of violence. It is not something that he does consciously because it's his environment that forces him to become the same. I also showed the consequences and risks of certain decisions that he had made. When you are exposed to beatings, bullying and other forms of violence, you are doomed to become the same. Because he is young, and very low in the organization's structure, he has to obey those monsters. Let me remind you that he tried to save the life of his neighbour, when he prevented him from going to the police and report some crimes. He managed to prevent a larger evil.
How did you work with your actors?
While I was writing the scenario I didn't have anyone in particular in mind. Actually, the first to come on board was Song Joong-ki who loved the script, and as he was also one of the producers, he wanted to act in the film as well. It is really thanks to him that the film exists, and it is interesting that back home in Korea, he has an image of a nice guy which stands in stark contrast to his role. I was mostly attracted by that, as I was sure that he can present both sides. The rest was just a classical casting process.
