Hwang Jung-min and Hyun Bin ‘the point men’, overseas location amid coronavirus

The behind-the-scenes production of the movie ‘Negotiation’ (directed by Lim Soon-rye) has been revealed.

On the 2nd, distributor PlusM Entertainment revealed the behind-the-scenes production of ‘Negotiation’. 'Negotiation' is a movie depicting the negotiation operation between a diplomat and a local National Intelligence Service agent who went to Afghanistan to rescue Koreans who were taken hostage by the Taliban in the worst kidnapping incident.

'Negotiation' is the first Korean film to show Afghanistan, an exotic and unfamiliar land of chaos but populated by people. As Dae-sik (played by Hyun Bin) says in the movie, "I feel like I'm the only one between heaven and earth," the scenery of Afghanistan, which is bleak and rough yet has its own unique vastness and beauty, is expected to arouse admiration from viewers.

Behind the scenes, there was the struggle of the production team who completed the impossible mission of filming on overseas locations in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Director Lim Sun-rye puts reality first, but filming on location in Afghanistan, where entry into the country is impossible, was impossible. Accordingly, we had to find an area that would satisfy various conditions, such as scenery and filming infrastructure most similar to Afghanistan.

As a result, they decided on the Wadi Rum Desert, which was the filming location for 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'The Martian', and 'Star Wars', and Jordan, which has an area similar to Afghanistan. However, just before the start of the filming, the coronavirus outbreak broke out and Jordan imposed a ban on foreigners entering the country, so the production team filmed in Korea first and used a two-track strategy to film indoor scenes in Korea and seek permission to enter Jordan at the same time. .

Finally, the Jordanian government granted entry permission to the Korean 'negotiation' filming team as an exception and entered Jordan, but the filming team overcame several obstacles in Jordan, including the quarantine period due to the coronavirus, food procurement, prop procurement, and special effects.

Director Im Sun-rye and Hwang Jung-min personally cooked and served food to the actors and staff who were suffering from homesickness, and the production team overcame all kinds of difficulties solely through teamwork. 'Negotiation', which was completed through these difficulties, plans to increase audience immersion by capturing Afghanistan with a production design so realistic that it is difficult to tell which part is Korean and which part is overseas.

Meanwhile, 'Negotiation' will be released on the 18th.

Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr