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| yna@yna.co.kr 2024-05-22 16:32:22
SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- In a gripping and brutal show where participants accumulate a massive fortune simply by surviving, eight contestants find themselves distinctly divided based on the levels they are assigned.
The wealthy on the upper levels exploit the lower levels through all manner of vile means, while the desperate struggle of the lower levels is easily quashed under the overwhelming power of the upper levels.
Director Han Jae-rim, who helmed the newly released Netflix series 'The Eight Show,' stated in an interview on the 22nd at a café in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, "This work was not made to make the audience feel good."
'The Eight Show' tells the story of eight participants in a show where they can earn money as time goes by. The contestants realize that the show's duration extends whenever they provide entertainment to the mysterious organizers who are observing them, prompting them to engage in increasingly extreme actions to capture their interest.
Han explained, "The appearance of characters trying to entertain the organizers in the show overlapped with my own experience, leading me to question 'What is entertainment?' as a central theme."
In the early stages of the show, participants draw the organizers' attention by singing, dancing, or performing trivial talents such as playing a recorder with their nostrils. However, as the organizers' interest and rewards wane, they resort to more shocking forms of entertainment.
The '8th Floor' (played by Chun Woo-hee) engages in sexual acts with a chosen man and forces two participants into a brutal fight until one is bloodied. Eventually, they even use electric shocks to torture contestants to prolong their time.
Han emphasized, "I infused my own creative struggles into the work. In the past, viewers sought meaning and reflective questions in content and praised such works as good, but nowadays, pure entertainment content is also well-received and preferred. As a creator, I questioned where I should stand in an era addicted to dopamine-driven entertainment."
He continued, "I, too, have become accustomed to short and provocative video clips. Even as a film director, I sometimes find it hard to sit through a movie in a theater. Observing these changes in myself led me to ponder what kind of entertainment I should deliver. Should I provide the fun that audiences want, or should I create works that pose questions worth contemplating? These are questions I still haven't answered and will continue to grapple with as a creator."
'The Eight Show' features characters symbolizing various social strata from the 1st to the 8th floors. Earnings vary from 10,000 KRW per minute on the 1st floor to 340,000 KRW per minute on the top 8th floor. Han hoped viewers would perceive the story differently depending on which level they identified with, noting, "To my knowledge, this is the only series with a different opening for each episode, and we tried to give equal focus to all characters."
"We minimized individual backstories to make the characters more relatable as representatives of their strata, allowing viewers' interpretations to shape them," Han added.
As of the 22nd, 'The Eight Show' ranks first in the domestic Top 10 series and reached seventh in the non-English TV series category globally within a week of its release. While the show's multi-dimensional characters and intense clashes have garnered praise, it has also faced criticism for its excessive violence and provocative scenes.
Han revealed, "I wanted to convey that, at the extreme end of entertainment, only pain and disgust might remain."
"In typical survival genres, the organizers are clearly depicted as evil, easing viewers' guilt. In 'The Eight Show,' I wanted the viewers to feel like they were the organizers."
"I believe people are fundamentally good. Scenes like the lower levels eating ramen or refraining from violence even after being mistreated reflect our nature. However, viewers might have wanted to see the lower levels exact satisfying revenge, which is a form of gratification. The show explores what gratification is and whether it's right to provide the gratification that audiences desire."
Debuting with the film 'Rules of Dating' in 2005, Han has directed films such as 'The Show Must Go On' (2007), 'The Face Reader' (2013), 'The King' (2016), and 'Emergency Declaration' (2022). With 'The Eight Show,' he ventured into his first series, and his next project will also be a series, adapting the webtoon 'Seduction.'
Han concluded with a laugh, "Unlike this project, the next one won't delve into deep reflections. It's a pure melodrama about vampires. I just want to make it fun, but who knows? I might end up incorporating some serious thoughts again."
[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]