- Writer, Jean Mackenzie
- Name the person who wrote the story, Seoul correspondent
When I asked the director of ‘Squid Game’ (a Korean movie) about the reports that he lost six of his teeth as a result of the fatigue he faced during the filming of the first part of the movie, He quickly corrected me by saying, “It’s not six, it’s eight to nine,” and then he laughed.
Hwang Dong-hyuk is talking to me as he prepares to film the second episode of the hugely popular Netflix show, in which hundreds of children take part in a sports competition. different risks in order to get a monetary reward, by putting their lives in the risk of life or death.
But the second part is not like the last one. He had previously vowed never to do anything like it again.
Because of the hardships he went through in the past, I asked him what made him change his mind.
Then he said “Money”, without a month.
“Even though the first part of the film was well-received worldwide, to be honest, I didn’t make much money,” he explained to me. “So doing the second part will make me return my money and even make a profit.”
“And another reason is that I didn’t finish the story in the first part”, he said.
The first installment of the feature-length film was the most popular of any Netflix platform to date, which also released South Korean films on the platform. The way the film has been commented has greatly impressed the viewers around the world.
But since almost all the actors who appeared in the movie were killed from the first part, Hwang had to start from the beginning, with new faces and new games, and this time the audience will want to see what happened. the new program will come with it.
“The fatigue and suffering I am suffering now is even worse than before,” he said.
Three years after the release of the first film, Hwang does not expect the world to be better this time.
He explained reasons such as the current wars and the issue of climate change and the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
Conflict does not happen between the wealthy and the poor, but between different communities, or between genders or politicians, as he explained.
“New boundaries have been drawn. We are in the era between us and them. Who is right, who is wrong?
As I walked around the place where they were shooting the movie, which was very decorated, I understood what the director meant by the new things he would bring this time.
In this new program, the previous winner, Gi-hun, re-entered the games with the intention of returning to join the new division to compete.
Lee Jung-jae, who played the hero in the first installment, said that he is “stronger and ready and more confident” than before.
The bedroom, which the contestants used to sleep in, is divided into two parts.
The first part is decorated with an X symbol painted in red, and the other with a blue circle.
Now, after each match, the players must choose a side, depending on whether they want to leave the tournament early to rest, or continue playing, knowing that each of them will eventually die, if except one. Another step that the majority will take.
This I am told will create more divisiveness which in turn will lead to fights between the players.
It’s part of Hwang’s mission to explain the increased risk of having problems related to addiction.
A situation that forces people to take sides, which he sees as fueling the conflict.
Despite the fact that the movie ‘Squid Game’ caught people’s attention, especially the way the story was explained to people, but some people could not watch it because of the kind of sadness or enthusiasm it has.
But during our conversation with Hwang, he said that all these emotional things that were in the past have now been removed. He is a thoughtful person who cares about people’s feelings, and he works with what people want.
Hwang spent 10 years before completing the movie ‘Squid Game’, which caused him to take a lot of debt to support his family, before Netflix paid him.
They paid him before the pen, which caused him to fall short of the $650 million the film was estimated to generate at the box office.
This has further highlighted how filmmakers in South Korea are wary of the film screening platform.
In recent years, Netflix has invaded the South Korean film market, investing billions of dollars, which has further exposed the country’s film industry to the world, but still some owners The production of the films could not leave the body and the platform.
They accuse the forum of forcing them to give up the ownership rights when they signed the contract, and that makes them unable to retain the ownership rights of their films.
This is also a global problem.
The problem is complicated in South Korea, filmmakers say, because of antiquated copyright laws to combat monopolies.
This season, stars, writers, directors and filmmakers have joined forces to fight the same system.
“In Korea, being a film director is just a position, not a way to earn money,” as the director of the director’s guild, Oh Ki-hwan, told the audience at a festival in Seoul.
Some of his friends said they work part-time in warehouses or as taxi drivers.
Park Hae-young is a young writer, when Netflix bought her story, she said that she was happy that ‘her art was recognized’, and the world recognized her.
“I have spent my whole life writing, so to be able to participate in a competition with the best writers in the world is an honor and a blessing,” she said.
“I have spent five years writing the story of the drama hoping that if the film is successful, it will help my life in the future, because I will get a share of the profit, where I have not suffered for this.”
She and other writers are trying to get the South Korean government to change copyright laws to force movie companies to share the profits with them.
In a statement, the country’s government told the BBC that while it is considering changing copyright laws to make profits, it is up to the film industry to fix the problem. However, Netflix declined to comment on our request for comment.
The second season of Squid Game will be released on Netflix on December 26, 2024.