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| ▲This photo, provided by Wave, shows director Yoo Soo-min. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲This photo, provided by Wave, shows 'Weak hero.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲This photo, provided by Wave, shows director Yoo Soo-min. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- The school drama in which new directors and new actors worked hard together made a hit. Viewers are enthusiastic about the original wave drama "Weak Hero Class 1," which tells the story of high school students who are exposed to school violence.
The drama, Immediately after its release on Nov. 18, became the most watched drama among paid subscribers this year, and it is also maintaining a high rating of 9 out of 10 on overseas online video service platforms such as Rakuten Viki.
Director Yoo Soo-min, who met at cafe in Samcheong-dong on Wednesday, said, "I'm bewildered because you like my work more than I thought."
Director Yoo is a talented rookie director who won the grand prize at the Evergreen Digilog World Film Festival for his short film "Silver Bell" and won the best picture award at the Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival for "40,000 blows" (translated). "Weak Hero" is his full-length debut work.
Based on the webtoon of the same name which director Yoo considers as his life webtoon, the drama depicts A-student Yeon Si-eun (Park Ji-hoon) confronting numerous fights after making new friends Ahn Soo-ho (Choi Hyun-wook) and Oh Beom-seok (Hong Kyung).
Although main characters are high-schoolers, the drama displays violence without hesitation to the point it is R-rated. But following the detailed story-line and their delicate emotional lines, there is no wonder they keep using violence.
Director Yoo said, "We tried to go hard without adjusting the violence level," adding, "But we also tired to avoid scenes that make viewers frown or are unnecessarily cruel."
Yoo also said, "What is important in Action is emotion," adding, "Instead of fancy videos, 'why they are fighting' is important, and I thought expressing those well would hit viewers deeper."
Yeon Si-eun eventually outbursts when he fails exam because of disruption from Jeon Young-bin (Kim Su-gyeom) who has been constantly bullying him. Originally interested in studying and nothing else, he engages in violence more as he becomes close with An Soo-ho, who seems to be left alone like him, and new student Oh Beom-seok.
Director Yoo said, "Si-eun fights for himself at first, but increasingly fights for others," adding, "In the first episode, he explodes with anger for getting one answer wrong, but in the episode 8, he uses violence for a friend, caring nothing about the test."
Yoo continued, "Si-eun, so insensible that he lost appetite, laughs, cries, and even tries to protect someone after becoming intimate with Soo-ho and Beom-seok," adding, "I made the work hoping that Si-eun can become little tougher."
"Since the protagonist is a teenager, the story is about growing up. I felt like I have grown to be an adult little when I failed and was sad. I wished that in the process of making friends, and sometimes growing apart, Si-eun wil become a little stronger. Not to become stronger physically, but to become more hard-hearted."
The discovery of three rookie actors, Park Ji-hoon, Choi Hyun-wook and Hong Kyung, also made headlines. Yoo director said that he did not feel nervous because actors were rookies, but rather believed in their potential.
He put a lot of work so that three characters can show their unique characteristics.
The director depicted Yeon Si-eun as a character who looks weak but fights smart using law of physics, An Soo-ho who was once a martial artist as a fighter since birth, and Oh Beom-seok as who feels inferior to his friends while also admiring them.
Director said, "Like how a simple curiosity like 'Which will win if tiger and lion fights' is more fun, I wanted to give different periods to each characters," adding, "I interpreted that they became closer because they were curious about each other who are so different."
Yoo also said, "I believe that the prerequisite of being a hero is self-sacrifice," adding, "All three of them are 'weak' heroes with confused emotions as teenagers, but they also have heroic sides."
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Jiwon Woo.)
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