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| yna@yna.co.kr 2025-05-02 09:47:07
SEOUL, May 2 (Yonhap) — South Korean actor Song Kang-ho praised Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda as a “great artist” who has dedicated decades to exploring the human condition through cinema, during a special film talk held in Seoul on Thursday.
“He’s a great artist who has consistently explored humanity through the medium of film for decades,” Song said at a CineTalk event following a screening of Koreeda’s Palme d’Or-winning film "Shoplifters" at CineCube Gwanghwamun. “All artists who examine humanity to the very end are great.”
Koreeda visited South Korea to attend the “25 Years with Hirokazu Koreeda” retrospective, commemorating the 25th anniversary of CineCube’s founding. After the screening of "Shoplifters," Song Kang-ho and actress Lee Joo-young, who starred in Koreeda’s 2022 Korean-language film "Broker," joined the director onstage for a conversation.
Song reflected on a question he was once asked during the press tour for "Broker" three years ago: Why did he call Koreeda a “great artist”? At the time, it had been a virtual interview, and Song felt he had been unable to articulate his thoughts clearly — so he had continued pondering the question for three years.
“I kept coming back to the thought that Koreeda’s core as a director is his exploration of humanity,” Song said, emphasizing that this is the very reason he considers the director’s work remarkable.
Among Koreeda’s filmography, Song singled out "Nobody Knows" as the most impactful for him — and also the first of the director’s films he had seen.
“I was shocked by how he portrayed human suffering and reality in such a stark, cold way, while still maintaining a warm gaze,” he recalled.
Regarding "Broker," Song said he first heard about the project from Koreeda at the 2016 Busan International Film Festival.
“Back then, I didn’t think much of it,” he said with a laugh, “but after I heard that 'Shoplifters' won the Palme d’Or, my opinion changed instantly.”
He also shared a behind-the-scenes anecdote involving actress Bae Doona, who is close with Koreeda and played a key role in Song’s casting in "Broker."
“After meeting with the director, I wasn’t sure if he was actually offering me the role,” Song said. “So I called Bae Doona on my way home and asked if the meeting meant anything. She just said, ‘It means he wants to do it.’” (laughs)
Koreeda, smiling, added, “Maybe it’s a Japanese thing — I thought I had made my intentions clear, but maybe I hadn’t. I should thank Bae Doona.”
The director explained that both "Shoplifters" and "Broker" were born out of his personal reflections on motherhood and his own misconceptions.
“I used to believe that when a woman has a child, maternal instinct naturally follows,” he said. “But a friend of mine called me out, saying, ‘There are so many who suffer because they don’t feel that instinct — that’s a male-centered bias.’ Her words made me reflect.”
When he decided to make "Shoplifters," Koreeda said his first casting decision was the late actress Kirin Kiki, widely revered in Japan as a national maternal figure. She played the grandmother Shibata in "Shoplifters" and had worked with the director over a span of 10 years.
“Working with her helped me develop my ability to observe people,” Koreeda said. “It’s already been seven years since she passed, but even now, when I write scripts, I often wonder what Kirin Kiki would have thought. She had an enormous influence on me.”
Song echoed the sentiment, saying, “The essence of 'Shoplifters' came from Kirin Kiki. She delivered a presence that was both there and not there — moments that can’t be described in terms of acting.”
Koreeda is known for adapting his scripts to suit his cast members. In "Shoplifters," he tailored the role of Aki Shibata to fit actress Mayu Matsuoka. He also values frequent communication with actors, sometimes sending them letters to explain script changes.
Lee Joo-young recalled, “For 'Broker,' the ending was slightly revised, and the director gave us a written explanation of why the change was made, along with his overall thoughts on the film. Every part of working with him was enjoyable.”
Koreeda said he always considers the lives of his characters to continue beyond the film’s ending, and he tries to create works that encourage audiences to imagine what happens next.
“I always keep in mind that while the movie ends, the characters’ lives go on,” he said. “I want to create stories that allow viewers to imagine what comes after.”
“And in that imagination,” he added, “you, the audience, are included. In 'Shoplifters,' the place Yuri looks at from the veranda — that’s where you all are.”
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