The spectacular action film, “Into the Fire”, which is based on a true story about a 17-year-old student soldier who died at war and his letter that he wrote to his mother, will be in cinemas soon. Lee Jae Han, director of this film, and Choi Seung-hyun (BIGBANG’s T.O.P) were here in Japan for the promotions, so I had the chance to interview the two.
The film drew more than 3,500,000 audiences in South Korea alone and was a huge topic in the media. In this film, it pictures how the brave 71 student soldiers fought without giving up their hopes and dreams.
Lee Jae Han talks about the appeal of Seung-hyun, who also played a mysterious assassin in the popular drama “IRIS”. He says, “Seung-hyun has all the talent an actor needs. He is able to imagine, concentrate, observe and he also has this explosive energy that even himself can’t handle”. After hearing that from Jae Han, with his face turning red, Seung-hyun said, “I’m embarrassed”. Then he thanked the director by saying, “Director is such a passionate worker, he always takes his work very seriously. Sometimes, he would have this very strong scary look in his eyes that made him look like a different person, but he is very kind. He always cheered me up and gave me confidence by saying, ‘you can do it’”.
Those films that Jae Han directed such as “A Moment to Remember” and “Sayonaraituka” have been acknowledged for the beautiful images. However, this film includes cruel battle and bombing scenes. About shooting the action scenes he says, “It took us a long and hard time to shoot. It was both physically and mentally challenging. There were times where we had to shoot in winter and it was minus 20 degrees Celsius. It took a lot of strength to get out of bed in the morning.” He says that in those harsh environments, the cast and the staff worked as one to get through.
Seung-hyun chose the action scene in the begging of the film as his memorable scene. “It was the scene, which it was the first time for Jang-bum to go into the battlefield. The boxes of bullets and the cylinder that I was carrying at the time, probably weighed over 10kg. It was the heaviest thing that I’ve felt in my life.”, he says. Not only that, he says that he also had to run through the field without knowing where the explosives were set. He says that experiencing bombs were more shocking than scary.
Jae Han director says, “That action scene is about 10 minutes long and 70% of it is Seung-hyun’s part. He had to do action and the air was filled with murder at the time, but he really worked hard and did a great job.”
In this film, Jae Han was able to bring out Seung-hyun’s talent as an actor. Will there be another collaboration between these two? “I want to make Seung-hyun the James Dean of Asia. I want him to play the kind of role that James Dean played in ‘Rebel Without a Cause’.”
Seung-hyun showed his great trust for Jae Han by saying, “Working with Jae Han was one of the biggest things in my life. Even after the shooting, we still see each other and he gives me great advice. Whatever clothes he puts on me is the most suitable for me”.
The letter starts with this shocking line, “Mother I killed people”. By seeing this film, I want you to listen to the voice, the student soldier’s heart, and to see for yourself the unreasonable side of war.
Source: hollywood-ch.com
Translated by: Nanz @ 21bangs.com
Post a Comment