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Hwang Jeong-min / Plus M Entertainment

"We had to express the message of the film through action rather than dialogue or clear explanations."

Director Na Hong-jin explained the direction of the film as such during a press preview and press conference for the movie 'HOPE' held at Megabox COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of July 6. Director Na and actors Hwang Jung-min, Jo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon attended the event to share insights about the work.

Set to be released on July 15, 'HOPE' depicts the story of Beom-seok, the head of the Hopo Port branch office located in the Demilitarized Zone, who receives news from local youths that a tiger has appeared, throwing the entire village into an emergency. This is director Na Hong-jin's first new work in 10 years since 'The Wailing', and stars Hwang Jung-min, Jo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon, alongside Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton.

Director Na focused heavily on delivering the story through action in this project. "I thought that some audiences would perceive this film through visuals and sounds, while others would try to take it in through text," he said. "This time, we had to express the message the movie conveys through action rather than dialogue or clear explanations."

The firearms and music were also designed with cinematic effects in mind. Director Na revealed, "We filmed in Romania, but there were constraints as we couldn't bring in firearms the way we had originally planned," adding, "There were many instances where we didn't use the actual gun sounds as they were. We created them by combining sounds that would be cinematically most effective."

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Jo In-sung / Plus M Entertainment

Safety was the top priority in action scenes. "We started aligning shots and creating storyboards a year before filming, and then spent a long time discussing with the staff how to bring those storyboards to life on set," Director Na said. "We focused most of our energy on the preparation stage to ensure the actors could execute the filming exactly as planned in the storyboards."

Questions regarding the existence of aliens and the ending style followed. "I wrote the script thinking that the alien is an element where audiences can project various situations," Director Na said. "I believed that each audience member could imagine something different after the movie ends." He further explained, "Showing any more felt like it would become repetitive. In my own way, I thought this story had a sense of completeness."

He also mentioned the post-production process after the Cannes Film Festival. "The editing has changed. In practice, about 5 minutes were cut and another 3 to 4 minutes were added, leading to the final changes," Director Na stated. Regarding specific cuts, he explained, "There were nearly 100 different versions. What mattered was which version would appear most effective in theaters."

Lastly, Director Na shared, "This moment is the one I want to experience least in life. As a director, I feel immense pressure and anxiety," adding, "A movie can only exist when there is a theater, and it exists because the audience is in that theater. I will do my absolute best until the very end to ensure a great viewing experience."

'HOPE' will be released on July 15.

                                                                                                             Lee Da-hye