Na Hong-jin

Alan, you have got to see this movie, Hope.

Hope is director Na Hong-jin's film about a small town, small, uh, uh, South Korean town, taken over by something.

Some mysterious evil has killed people in this town, is hunting people down.

It's up to the police force, the cops in the town, to take care of whatever this thing is.

Yeah.

Th- this is the latest from writer director Na Hong-jin, who did movies like The Yellow Sea, The Wailing, The Chaser.

Um, so this marks his first movie that doesn't begin with a The.

Um, no, but this is, this is a, a new, uh...

Like, I get that.

But, um, but I, uh, you know, I, I can't, I can't do anything about that, so I'll take, I'll take what I can get from this guy, 'cause I think his movies are pretty incredible and...

But this is, this is, just to be clear, if you're a fan of, of this, of Na Hong-jin, this is a very different kind of film than what he's made, and yet it's, I think it will ultimately still fit pretty comfortably in his, in his filmography.

So-

Hi, and welcome to the Filmmaker Toolkit Podcast.

I'm Chris O'Fault of IndieWire, and my guest today is director Na Hong-Jin talking about his new film, which was 10 years in the making, Hope.

Hope is a South Korean film that got a rise out of the Cannes audience like few films ever have before, and that now Neon is putting into 1,500 screens this weekend in the United States.

And I don't really know how to describe Hope.

It's the most expensive film and it transformed this kind of formative national cinema to accommodate some of the things that The director here is trying to do and love it or hate it.

And I know people I respect many here at IndieWire who are on both sides of that fence.

It's hard to not see Na Hong-jin as some kind of mad genius who demands your attention.

And I was pleasantly surprised he was as willing to be as open and transparent about the making of this film.

Now let's dive into more headlines.

Director Na Hong-jin's sci-fi thriller Hope has taken North American audiences by storm, earning $14.8 million won on its opening day across 1,560 theaters.

The film achieved second place at the box office and ranked first in per-theater average revenue at $705.

outperforming major Hollywood blockbusters despite having half the number of screens.

Buy thanks to Na's masterful pacing and the breathtaking horse-centered action sequences.

Music

Director Na Hong-jin will headline the 31st Busan International Film Festival's Masterclass Series, appearing on October 8th at the Shinsegae Department Store Centum City Hall.

The festival, running from October 6th through 15th, will also feature renowned international directors, including the Philippines' Lav Diaz, France's Bertrand Mandico and Japan's Rintaro.

It's rated PG and wide release.

The South Korean action horror film Hope is written and directed by Na Hong-jin.

Christy.

This played at Cannes.

There are some A-list actors that eventually show up in ways that are hilarious and distracting and that is not what they were intended to be.

Clearly, there's a second film in the works based on the ending.

Hope is the South Korean release written and directed by Na Hong-jin.

Katie, what did you think?

Yes, it's a new Korean sci-fi action thriller.

It debuted at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and it's from director Na Hong-jin, who has made several films, but I've only seen the one he did last, before this film, which was from 2016, called The Wailing, which was quite an epic horror movie, but... set in a small village, very dark, very kind of sad, but also had that great element of some Korean filmmakers where there's a mixture of tones.

There's sometimes moments that are quite humorous and funny, and then ones that are quite, you know, cruel and mean.

And this film, Hope, is three hours long.

And in that regard, things start to really rev up.

It's directed by Na Hong-Jin.

He did a movie a couple of years ago called The Wailing, which was one of the scariest, most disturbing serial killer thrillers I've ever seen, with... which also sort of had tinges of monster movie elements to it.

In Hope, he does a couple of amazing things.

We are talking about Hope, the South Korean film directed by...

Na Hong-jin.

And that's the only Korean name we are going to try to pronounce on this podcast.

[laughs]