ENTERTAINMENT
‘Ransom’ writer Kwak Jae-min says, “Please view the profanity as oral action.”
On the 4th, I met director and writer Jeon Woo-sung, Kwak Jae-min, and Choi Byeong-yoon of TV's original series 'Ransom' at a cafe in Sogyeok-dong, Seoul.
'Ransom' won the Best Screenplay award in the feature film competition at the closing ceremony of the 6th Cannes International Series Festival held at the Grand Theater Lumière in Cannes, France last month. As a result, 'Ransom' became the first Korean drama and the first domestic OTT original series to win the Cannes Series.
'Ransom' is the story of three people who were bargaining over each other's 'ransom' and become trapped in a building that collapsed due to an earthquake, and each engages in a mad struggle to seize their last chance by making a dangerous deal. It depicts the desperate struggle of humans to survive in the chaos created by disconnection from the outside world.
The original work is a short film of the same name by director Lee Chung-hyun. The original story is about a middle-aged man who wants a virgin, enters a motel room with a high school girl and bargains over a flower stand. The TV series ‘Ransom’ depicts what happened after that.
When asked if he had looked at viewer reactions, writer Choi said, "There was a response that there was too much profanity." Director Jeon said, "I think the actors came out naturally as we were filming in one take with a sense of reality. We also gave feedback in the middle and there was a part where they said there was a lot of swearing. It may be different for each person, but the characters here are villains, so the actors have those characteristics. “There are parts where emotions are expressed without restraint,” he explained.
Regarding the disappointing parts while working on the script, writer Choi said, "I had put in a more hideous character in the beginning a few times, but it was disappointing that it was omitted." Writer Kwak added, “It was a choice I made because I had to control the water level anyway.” He continued, “It may be possible to create a spectacular scene in one take, but I think the charm of ‘Ransom’ is the oral action. Because ‘Ransom’ follows the characters in one take, it continues like a comical conversation without silence. That part is “I think it came out in a fun way. There was a lot of profanity in the process, so I think it would be better to think of it as a kind of oral action,” he said.
As of the first week of its release in October last year, 'Ransom' had the highest viewership UV among all TVing originals, and ranked first in the number of weekly paid subscriber contributors to TVING for two consecutive weeks. It received favorable reviews for its directing that capitalized on the unconventional nature of the original short film, immersive one-take filming, and the passionate performances of actors such as Jin Seon-gyu, Jeon Jong-seo, and Jang Ryul.
'Ransom' is a partnership between TVING and Paramount+, and will be released globally through Paramount+ this summer.
Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr
