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| ▲ The photo, provided by Netflix on May 3, 2024, shows Kim Jin-min, the director of Netflix original series "Goodbye Earth." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- "To put it grandly, I think we delved into the issue of human dignity, why humans are dignified. To do that, I felt that we needed to take a somewhat slower breath and look at the characters with enough leisure."
The Netflix original series 'Goodbye Earth' depicts events unfolding 200 days before an asteroid collides with Earth, leading to the destruction of the Korean Peninsula. About one-third of the population has fled overseas, and a military coup has led to the partial paralysis of social functions.
With such a setting, one might expect a fierce survival struggle typical of dystopian or post-apocalyptic works, but 'Goodbye Earth' is closer to a human drama that portrays how various characters resign and accept the end.
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| ▲ A poster of Netflix's original series "Goodbye Earth," provided by the OTT video streamer on April 29, 2024. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
In a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where he met with reporters to commemorate the release of 'Goodbye Earth' on the 3rd, director Kim Jin-min explained, "If it were a narrative of survival competition or someone saving multiple people, it would have been a heroic tale, but that wasn't the direction of this work from the beginning."
Kim continued, "'Goodbye Earth' is a story about what kind of life people choose to lead when facing the end times, and how each character reflects on 'what kind of person I was' during their final moments." He added, "Among the dramas I've seen, there has been no such work."
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| ▲ A still photo of Netflix's original series "Goodbye Earth," provided by the OTT video streamer on April 29, 2024. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
'Goodbye Earth' deals with how residents of Wungcheon City, a fictional local area, including middle school teacher Jin Se-kyung (played by Ahn Eun-jin) and her boyfriend, life sciences researcher Ha Yoon-sang (Yoo Ah-in), face the end.
Se-kyung is a thoroughly altruistic character who struggles to condemn criminals preying on children, even knowing that the Korean Peninsula is about to perish.
Yoon-sang, who was on the verge of achieving significant research results in the United States, returns to Korea, which is about to perish, to take Se-kyung to safe America. However, when Se-kyung refuses and chooses to stay in Korea with the children, Yoon-sang also resigns to everything and stays in Korea.
Se-kyung and Yoon-sang's actions, choosing to forgo the chance to survive and selecting the person they love, are very moving but seem distant from reality.
Kim interpreted this, saying, "There is a saying, 'I can't live like this.' Se-kyung is a character who honestly answered the question of how she should live." He added, "Se-kyung is the most altruistic character among the various characters, and I think she thought that only by doing so could she be happy and live even for 200 days."
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| ▲ A still photo of Netflix's original series "Goodbye Earth," provided by the OTT video streamer on April 29, 2024. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Due to the development style that focuses on the emotions of the characters and has an unusually large number of flashback scenes, 'Goodbye Earth' has received mixed reviews among viewers. Some praise it for its freshness and empathy for the characters, while others criticize it for being confusing or too boring.
In an interview, Kim said, "Even before the release, there were concerns that the work might be confusing, and indeed, there were quite a few such reactions," adding, "The worrying reactions came because I was lacking, despite my efforts."
He revealed, "There were over twenty different versions during editing. There was even a version that simply told the story in chronological order," expressing his deliberations during the production process. He also added, "The version that was released was a summary of the content, which could have been more complicated than it is now."
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| ▲ The photo, provided by Netflix on May 3, 2024, shows Kim Jin-min, the director of Netflix original series "Goodbye Earth." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
'Goodbye Earth' had already finished filming in August 2022 and was expected to be released in 2023. However, due to the revelation of actor Yoo Ah-in's drug use allegations in the first half of last year, the meeting with viewers was delayed somewhat.
Director Kim and the production team edited out Yoo's scenes as much as possible and re-edited the work to minimize viewers' discomfort. However, they could not completely remove all of Yoo Ah-in's appearances, who played a central role.
Kim explained, "I edited in the direction of removing scenes with Yoo Ah-in if there were too many, even if he acted well," adding, "It was a decision made after a lot of consideration."
Kim has consecutively directed works that delve deep into human nature, such as 'My Name' (2021), which deals with a desperate revenge story, and 'Human Class' (2020), which tells the story of a high school student who chooses the path of crime. 'Goodbye Earth' also shows traces of his efforts to focus on the essence of humanity rather than flashy spectacles.
When asked about the reason for consecutively directing such works, Kim smiled and said, "I keep getting those kinds of works," explaining, "Actually, dramas dealing with human nature tend to be challenging or very traditional works," and "Dramas that are easy to watch don't often come to me for directing proposals."
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| ▲ A still photo of Netflix's original series "Goodbye Earth," provided by the OTT video streamer on April 29, 2024. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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