Interview with director Min Yong-geun of the movie ‘Soulmate’
Director Min Yong-geun, who directed the movie 'Soulmate', mentioned Byun Woo-seok, who played the character Jin-woo.
Director Min Yong-geun met with Ten Asia at the 'Soul Mate' pop-up store located in Seongdong-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 6th and told various stories related to the upcoming movie 'Soul Mate'.
'Soul Mate' is the story of two friends, Miso (played by Da-mi Kim), Ha-eun (played by So-ni Jeon), and Jin-woo (played by Woo-seok Byeon), who recognized each other from their first meeting and shared everything together, including joy, sadness, excitement, and longing.
Director Min Yong-geun, who made an impressive debut with the movie 'Hyehwa, Dong', returns with 'Soulmate' 10 years after 'A Certain Perspective - Ice River'. It sheds light on not only friendship but also individual life, and by bringing in the subject matter of painting, it not only raises emotions more dramatically, but also differentiates itself from the original work to stimulate interest.
On this day, director Min Yong-geun said about Byeon Woo-seok, "I met him while doing pre-production. My first impression was that he was 'tall.' He felt like a classic handsome man, like something out of Greek mythology. A man that Ha-eun is attracted to in our script and movie as well. “It wasn’t because I liked any part of the man, but the first thing he said was, ‘I want to draw him.’ I think I needed an external aura to do that.”
He continued, "In that respect, I'm not sure if actor Byun Woo-seok is like a Greek statue, but he's a classically handsome man. His eyes don't seem to change over time, and I felt like drawing him. That's what attracted me the most. I was most attracted to Jin-woo's character. “I think the character changes gradually,” he added.
Director Min Yong-geun said, "I think Jinwoo in high school is different from Jinwoo in his 20s and 30s. When he was in high school, he made me feel fresh and excited. He is a character who feels more emotionally biased," and added, "As he progresses into his 20s and 30s, the part about work changes. “I thought that as he grew up, he would turn into a rational person. I thought I would be able to express the two changes well,” he explained.
The original work of 'Soulmate' is the Chinese movie 'Hello, My Soulmate', released in 2017. Compared to the pseudonym in the original work, Jinwoo in 'Soulmate' was changed to fit Korean sentiment. Regarding this, director Min Yong-geun said, "I really wanted to keep the cliché parts of the love triangle from the original work from intruding too much into our movie. The original novel tells more of the story of the three. What I wanted to portray while making this movie was the story of the two women. “He said.
He also said, "It is a story about Miso and Ha-eun meeting each other and realizing what kind of person I am through the other person. I thought that alone could be enough to provide some kind of driving force for the movie. That element is reflected in the character of Jin-woo, played by actor Byun Woo-seok at the beginning of the movie. "It is revealed. However, I made it so that it was not expanded. Instead, I thought it would be good if Jinwoo's character was someone who changes into a more realistic character as he enters his 20s and gets married."
Director Min Yong-geun said, "In some ways, I thought that Jin-woo's character was a typical change of men around my age or juniors. When he was in his teens and 20s, he was immature, did things out of emotion, and was brave. He was fresh-faced, but he was also a character in the military. “After I went there and graduated, I started to become very realistic and scary. I thought that was where I was different from women.”
Not only that, "Since my field of work is in the film industry, I was able to step back a little and look at things changing realistically. As Jinwoo in his 20s and 30s became a person who was realistic and valued the work I do and realistic conditions, etc., he went from being the opposite to being a person of the opposite sex." “I thought it would be a driving force for Ha-eun to realize what kind of person she is when she sees that. I think it’s the influence of the opposite effect.”
Director Min Yong-geun said, "I thought that Jin-woo may have realized it himself at some point. I wanted to create a line like that. Jin-woo is not used as a consumable and discarded, but it is not expressed as a main focus, but the freshness and realistic character that makes him change. “I think it would be better to watch while imagining what Jinwoo realizes in this process of becoming,” he said.
Meanwhile, 'Soulmate' will be released on the 15th.
Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr