Director of 'Zero Conduct' reveals suspicion of Jang Hang-jun

Director Jo Geun-sik, well-known for the movie ‘Zero Conduct,’ exposed director Jang Hang-jun’s suspicions and made people laugh.

Recently, director Jo Geun-sik of the movies 'Zero Behavior' and 'That Summer' appeared on the YouTube channel 'Vivo TV'. Host Song Eun-i and director Jang Hang-jun were delighted with director Jo Geun-sik's appearance.

On this day, director Jang Hang-jun introduced himself as 'Chungmuro's cat', and Song Eun-i, who heard this, teased him by saying, "There is no film studio in Chungmuro these days," and "Jang Hang-jun is from the past."

Jang Hang-jun acknowledged this and introduced coach Jo Geun-sik and the so-called Hanshimi table tennis team. Director Jang said, “Cho Geun-sik, Kang Yi-gwan, Lee Hae-jun, and Kim Tae-yong go out to play table tennis,” adding, “We are a table tennis team.” Jo Geun-sik, who heard this, asked, “But why is Hanshim a table tennis team?” and Jang Hang-jun laughed, saying, “It wasn’t just me, almost all the coaches clicked their tongues and sighed.”

Still, Coach Jang spoke highly of Coach Cho’s table tennis skills. Jang Hang-jun said, "It's unrivaled. I've seen him coach a lot," and Jo Geun-sik said, "You might misunderstand that I'm really good at hitting, but it's only about 30cm." When Song Eun-i asked, "What's hot, (table tennis) Chae?", Coach Cho responded, "Bal-i" and made people laugh.

Director Cho Geun-sik recalled the past when he worked with writer Kim Eun-hee, director Jang Hang-jun's wife, on the movie 'That Summer'. Director Cho said that he was suspicious of Jang Hang-jun and said, "I work with writer Kim Eun-hee, and he calls me once every 10 minutes, asking, 'Why aren't you coming?' and 'What time are you coming?'" Jang Hang-jun said cutely, “No, I was supposed to come at that time, and I wanted to play with Eun-hee.”

He continued, "I had doubts, and it would be okay if it only lasted for a day or two, but it happened every night while I was working, so I said, 'Writer, please let me meet (director Jang Hang-jun). It will clear up any misunderstandings.' Directors Jang and Cho, who met through Kim Eun-hee's introduction, said they felt like an 'Avatar reunion' while looking at each other. Jo Geun-sik said, "Director Jang Hang-jun was walking towards me from afar, and when he saw me, his face lit up. He thought I was his compatriot." Jang Hang-jun nodded and commented, “It feels like an Avatar reunion?”

Next, we talked about director Jo Geun-sik's masterpiece 'Zero Conduct'. Director Cho said, “We released ‘Zero Behavior’ in the winter of 2002, and it did well belatedly due to word of mouth.” In response, Director Jang said, “Bong Tae-gyu came out and said that Director Jo Geun-sik is a wandering type,” and “If you say you like it after learning, he says okay, and if you ask him to film again, he says he will film again.”

Director Cho, who heard this, said, "That's right. I didn't graze because I'm the nomadic type, but the actors at the time were all inexperienced and untrained, so they were rigid. After thinking about it, I thought it wouldn't work, so I made them comfortable and said let's have fun." We also made the lights wide and made them move around everywhere. The actors walked around and asked us to chase them. Now they were excited and said, 'This is not right' and 'How about this?' He said, I didn't have much to do. 'Do you do it like this?' I said, ‘Try it like this,’ and I said, ‘Is that right?’ “Then I thought, ‘I guess that’s right,’” he said, laughing.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr