"Lee Chang Dong Retrospective 4K" Directed by Lee Chang Dong I want you to feel what you can't see on the screen [Director's Interview Vol.344]

I want you to feel what you can't see on the screen.

Q: Another common motif in your works is "religion" and "God." However, the director doesn't necessarily depict religion as something that can save people. Is there an intention to cast doubt on religion or faith? Or is there another purpose?

I: Well...I want to ask the audience what meaning religion has in their lives. I want everyone to take that question home and ask themselves. However, I have no intention of giving you that answer, and I don't think I'm qualified to do so in the first place. In other words, I'm "just asking questions."

In Korea and Japan, I think the influence of Christianity as the only God is probably stronger in Korea. However, the "God" I am talking about does not necessarily refer only to the God of Christianity, but rather to God as a transcendent being, regardless of religion. Does something like Logos really exist that transcends our daily lives? If it really exists, what meaning does our life have? With these questions in mind, I incorporate religion and God into my works.

“Burning Movie 4K” (C)2018 PinehouseFilm Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Q: Comparing the director's novel and the movie, the movie has a slightly catchier impression, while the novel has a harder style. Do you think the difference is due to the difference in the media of movies and novels, or is it due to your own age and experience?

Lee: There could be various reasons, but I think there is an essential difference between the media of literature and film. Literature and novels are not only completed by the work itself, but also by the imagination of the reader. Therefore, how a work is completed depends on one's imagination, and at the same time, I think that an excellent literary work uses the power of words to make the reader imagine many things.

Movies, on the other hand, show everything to the audience. However, when you watch my work, I want you to think that you have seen everything, but also to realize that there is something you haven't seen yet. I also want you, as the director, to think about the existence of things that I myself cannot yet see. It's not just what you see on the screen in front of you, but there's a lot more beyond that...I want to make works that make you feel that way, and I think that's what movie makers should do. . I always worry about how to make such a movie when I make a film.

Lee Chang-dong thinks of “a story that needs to be told”