The two wives who play key roles in the original novel have disappeared in the film adaptation.
In the original novel, OH Young-je’s wife, Ha-young, plays a significant role in the last chapters. However, because I understood Young-je to be a man who would dictate his own destiny without someone else’s intervention, I decided it would be out of character for him to be influenced by his wife. For that reason, I did away with the character of Ha-young. On the other hand, I regret that I couldn’t fully explore the character of Eun-ju, CHOI Hyun-su’s wife. In the original novel, she is very attached to life and has an interesting storyline. But it would have taken another film altogether to deal with everything. Choosing what to keep and what to lose was a very difficult task.
The film tells a complex and vast story. The editing work must have been difficult.
Initially, the script was too long; it contained over 140 scenes. The first time I edited the film, it was nearly three hours long. I realized I couldn’t explain the characters’ past and emotions in every detail. Instead of explaining everything, I wanted to leave it to the audience to take it in and follow the story in their own way. My idea was to lead the spectator to construct a story of their own from diverse perspectives as if reading an epic novel.
How was your relationship with JEONG You-jeong, the author of the original novel?
We met and exchanged greetings before the shooting began but that was it. Her only request was that the title shouldn’t be changed, that and nothing else. Because of the book’s massive popularity, I was apprehensive about the author’s response to its film adaptation. She saw the film and found it to be rather good. She appreciates the visual depiction of the story, and even enjoys the changes made to the plot towards the end as part of the cinematic reinvention.