Director Kim Seong-hoon of the movie 'Unofficial Operation' explained the difference from other works. Recently, films dealing with similar subjects such as 'Mogadishu' and 'Negotiation' are coming out. Will it be a movie full of pleasure, as director Kim Seong-hoon said, "the pleasure of saving each other" as a differentiating point?
On the 4th, the production report of the movie 'Unofficial Operation' (director Kim Seong-hun) was held at CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Actors Ha Jung-woo and Ju Ji-hoon, and director Kim Seong-hoon attended.
'Unofficial Operation' is a buddy action movie between 'Min-jun', a diplomat who leaves for Lebanon to rescue a missing colleague, and 'Pan-su', a local taxi driver. Director Kim Seong-hun of the movies 'Going to the End', 'Tunnel' and the Netflix series 'Kingdom' took charge of directing.
Actor Ha Jung-woo played the role of 'Min-jun', a dirt spoon diplomat with nothing but guts, and actor Ju Ji-hoon played the role of 'Pan-su', a local taxi driver with a temperamental swindler.
As they deal with heavy topics, director Kim Seong-hoon said, "Even the previous films 'Going to the End' and 'Tunnel' are heavy stories in terms of material. I wanted to maximize the cinematic pleasure. The goal was to make a movie worth watching," he explained the intention of directing the film.
Regarding the casting of Ha Jung-woo and Ju Ji-hoon, who appeared in 'Unofficial Operation', director Kim Seong-hoon said, "I had a lot of desire to do a movie, but there was a lot of pressure. I needed a colleague to share that burden. I showed actor Ha Jung-woo under the guise of a monitor. It was around Chuseok, but actor Ha Jung-woo called. He said, 'I haven't read the book, but let's just go. Let's go like we did in 'Tunnel',' so we decided to do it together." Next, Ha Jung-woo explained, "I was also grateful for the opportunity given to me. It was based on trust and faith."
In addition, director Kim Seong-hoon said, "I sang with actor Joo Ji-hoon after the 'Kingdom 1' Singapore Premium preview. I quietly called him and said, 'There is a director who wants to hand over a scenario to Ju Ji-hoon. It's okay.' We did it together," he said with a laugh.
Director Kim Seong-hoon, who showed infinite affection for the two actors, said, "The combination the two actors showed was more than two. Looking at the two actors' acting on the set, they dragged and pulled as if giving a Latin dance. Raise the rhythm to a creative sum. When I see it, I feel a sense of pleasure that it would be a waste to see it alone. It seems that such power is transferred to the staff around me, including me."
Regarding the reason for changing the original title from 'Kidnapped' to 'Unofficial Operation', he said, "I have been preparing this work since 2018. I have maintained the title of 'Kidnapped' for more than 4 years. The title was changed during post-production editing. Words I thought that the weight given by '' could weigh down the work itself. While editing, I wondered if this title was appropriate. So I replaced it with 'Unofficial Operation'. Looking at this work, the title appears at the end, but the changed title makes sense. I think it will go," he explained.
Ha Jung-woo, who worked together with director Kim Seong-hoon in the movie 'Tunnel'. Regarding the reason for choosing the work, he said, "'Unofficial Operation' has a heavy feel. The previous work 'Tunnel' is also about the survival of a man trapped in a tunnel due to an accident. However, I was interested in the comical and ironic directing. The work was also three-dimensional like 'Tunnel', so I chose it."
Next, Ha Jeong-woo explained the point he was worried about while playing the role of 'Min-jun'. He added, "There are endless action scenes in this movie. If it was a specialized agent, it would have been easy, but Min-joon is just an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was difficult to react in it."
70% of 'Unofficial Operation' was filmed overseas in Morocco. Ha Jung-woo revealed an anecdote in which a pandemic overlapped with an uncontrollable situation. He said, "At that point, I had to finish filming in the Dominican Republic, the location of 'Suriname', and leave in 10 days. When I arrived the next day, I felt more comfortable than I thought. There was nothing to worry about. The city itself. It was cozy. The first feeling seems to have continued well to the end. It was regrettable that the beef was stiff because there was no marbling."
Ha Jung-woo, the head of mukbang and the prince, is also famous for his potato mukbang in 'The Yellow Sea'. In response to a question about junior Lim Ji-yeon, who is now becoming a hot topic for her jajangmyeon mukbang in 'House with a yard', she said, "I'm watching closely. I say that I'm the head of mukbang, but I'm satisfied if I gave a good influence to my juniors. I try various foods. I feel proud and alive when my juniors do mukbang through it. If I get a chance, I plan to eat everything that I can eat."
When asked if there were any memorable scenes while filming in Morocco, Ha Jung-woo said, "The director is a very unique and interesting person. There is a scene where you are chased by wild dogs, and from the second day the wild dogs became ferocious. They weren't the kids I saw yesterday. I could hear screams. As the episode went on, the wild dogs became more aggressive. I couldn't help but feel natural emotions while acting."
Ju Ji-hoon also worked with director Kim Seong-hoon in the Netflix series 'Kingdom'. Regarding his successive appearances, he explained behind the scenes, "I received this script when I went to an event in Singapore for 'Kingdom'. Ha Jung-woo was already nominated. I didn't even report the script." He added, "I wanted to regret seeing the script. The director said it was an extreme story of two men, but Ha Jung-woo and Ju Ji-hoon's extreme survival period."
Joo Ji-hoon played the role of 'Pansu', a local taxi driver in Lebanon, and had to speak various languages including Arabic and French. He said, "I'm not familiar with Arabic. I don't know how to speak English, but I've heard it a lot. It felt like an alien language. I had to put emotion into it, but in fact, I stayed up two nights to memorize it, but I forgot everything. Even now, I can't remember a single word." revealed and burst into laughter.
Regarding the filming in Morocco, Joo Ji-hoon added, "It's Africa, so I only brought shorts and short sleeves. I remember being trembling because it was colder than I thought." As it was a local shoot, he also revealed an anecdote about making his own food when he couldn't eat Korean food. Ha Jung-woo burst out laughing, saying, “Jang Jo-rim, actor Joo Ji-hoon, is his specialty. I think he weighed about 1 ton.”
Recently, similar subjects such as 'Mogadishu', 'Suriname', and 'Negotiation' are emerging in the film industry. Regarding this concern, director Kim Seong-hoon explained the difference between 'unofficial operations'. He expressed his confidence, saying, "Just as different dishes come out when you cook differently, 'Informal Operation' has a difference in that the pleasure is absolutely conveyed to the audience through the story of saving each other."
'Unofficial Operation' will be released on August 2nd.
Reporter Lee Ha-neul, Ten Asia greenworld@tenasia.co.kr