Director Kim Sung-su returns with 12.12: THE DAY

Director Kim Sung-su returned with a film that seemed like a destiny. 12.12: The Day tracks what really happened that day with Kim – who has a real memory of Coup d'état of December Twelfth. From stateless driven Annam city from Asura: The City of Madness, Director Kim turned his eyes to Seoul in 1979, proactively striving for another level of reality with Cinematographer Lee Mo-gae’s scrutinizing eyes and Art Director JANG Geun-yeong’s detailed touch. Hwang Jung-min takes a challenging task to play the role of Chun Do-gwang. Portraying a strongly driven soldier, Jung Woo-sung returns to the universe of Kim Sung-su once again – their history goes long back as Jung played the role of Min, a boy with no aspiration in Beat (1999), The two actor square up against each other, maximizing the audiences’ satisfaction. Joined with his dream team of Asura: The City of Madness, Kim reflected how precious it is to create a story with colleague that shares camaraderie. 

Kim Sung-su (Photo: Oh Kye-ok)

What was the deep-rooted question about 12.12 Military Insurrection, after first-handedly experiencing it when you were 19?

“On December 12th, 1979, I was living where I could see the official residence of the Army Chief of Staff in Hannam dong. I was out that day and witness an armored car going towards the residence. As a curious boy, I went to an overpass to look at it more closely. There I heard a gunshot. The soldiers on the overpass jostled me away, but I was too curious to go home. So I went to the rooftop of my friend’s house where I could hear sporadic firing of guns. Oddly that moment was stamped in my mind, and I was always curious about what happened that day. Long after the incident, in 2003 when I became a director, the truth of that night unveiled. I searched for more information and imagined the soldiers’ action in that situation.” 

Were you surprised when CEO of Hybe Media Corp, Kim Won-kook handed you the scenario of 12.12:The Day in 2019?

“I didn’t show it, but I felt destined when I got the proposal. The incident stayed in my mind so long. I turned it down at first, but I still thought I might have to direct the film. 10 months later, in the summer of 2020 the final decision was made. Then I knew that this wasn’t something I could say no to.” 

You also adapted the scenario. What was your biggest concern? 

“I put a lot of effort in the first part of the film – 50 days from the assassination of Park Chung Hee to the coup of December 12. This story that I first-handedly experience might be unfamiliar to the young generation. So it was important to attract them from the start. For the second act, which is the 9 hours from the gunshot followed by the kidnapping of the Army Chief of Staff at 8 P.M. to 5:10 next morning when the President – Chun Doo-gwang, approves the arrest of Chief of Staff, I wanted the audiences to to relate to the journalists who implement intense investigation. The drama I wanted to emphasize lies in the progress of the character taking every step solely by desire and conviction of in an unpredictable situation where he doesn’t even know what’s going to happen next.  

Was there any image that set the tone of the film?

“There were abundant existing archives of the incidents. So, I didn’t have to scavenge for more. Putting the existing records together was enough.” 

Soldiers ceaselessly moving by the situation and the orders shows how magnificent Cinematographer Lee is. 

“Even during the production of Asura: The City of Madness, I realized that Cinematographer Lee not just sets the angle of the camera but captures the fluid emotion. This time, he even captured the sedentary soldier who just answers the phone. Just like in Ausra: The City of Madness, Lee and my objective was to seize the animal movement, to arouse the sense of natural witnessing of the characters continuously talking in the touch-and-go situation, as if the audiences are the camera operator catching up with brisk politicians. Achieving that tone and manner would invigorate the film, representation, and the realness of the situation.” 

Art Director JANG Geun-yeong from Asura: The City of Madness designed the production. The bunker in the Army headquarters, the official residence of the prime minister, the operation center of 30th Security Battalion and other various interior designs reflecting the era and the characters immersed the audiences.

“Everything in the scene had to look real because most of the shots are extreme close-ups. In my opinion, the best cinematic art should show the era and space intact. However, that’s practically impossible. So I asked Director Jang to discard anything that looked artificial. Even if I haven’t made the request, I’m sure he would have done a sublime job as he feels the most joy when he creates a place that captures time.” 

We cannot leave out another key staff from Asura: The City of Madness- Editor Kim Sang-bum. The genre specific spectacles of 12.12: The Day is maximized thanks to the editing. In particular, the cross cutting magnified the tension of Lee Tae-shin (played by Jung Woo-sung) and Chun Doo-gwang (Hwang Jung-min) confronting each other on the verge of firing guns on Sejongno. 

“He is the master of editing in Korea. He edited every oeuvre of Director Park Chan-wook. I intervene a lot during the editing process, but I actually learned a lot from Director Kim. The confrontation scene set in Sejongno had to look intense, so we edited it multiple times. We wanted to emphasize the irony and feeling of the impasse as they had no other way to block the counterparts other than firing at each other, which would evidently cause civilian casualties.” 

Engaging the audience in the tragedy

In every role he takes, Hwang Jung-min makes it into his own, which is his strong point. In every film, he looks just like him. Were you concerned about whether the audiences would accept him purely as Chun Doo-gwang? 

“Casting Hwang Jung-min and then expecting him not to absorb the character to his own is totally a wrongdoing. I think his ability to interpret the role and deliver the story to audience with his body language is immaculate. I watched the play Richard III where he played King Richard twice in 2018 and in 2022. He expressed the cruel and twisted character with bombing energy. It was obvious for me to cast such actor as Chun Doo-gwang. Yet I knew that he couldn’t go with his natural look. He also agreed and said it would be more comfortable for him to act as a known figure if he looked different. We were motivated to create Chun Doo-gwang’s appearance. So we had a meeting with CEO Hwang Hyo-gyoon of CELL, a special makeup company, where he told us he couldn’t realize to the extent of such grand imagination. (with laughter) So I encouraged him to take up the challenge so that the audience would wonder about the process. After we sealed the deal, we created all types of wig after many mistakes and R&D process. Hwang Jung-min had to sit for 4 hours every time we shoot, so I thank him for his hard work.” 

The film doesn’t hesitate to close-up to Chun Doo-gwang’s bare face. Some audience might feel uneasy.

12.12: The Day is the story about how Chun Doo-gwang takes next step. He started the coup and ends the coups. We had to show the whole tragedy came from him.

The most surprising part is that 12.12: The Day is not a biographical film. Chun Doo-gwang’s character was meticulously controlled so that the madness of the villain won’t dominate the film. 

We knew Chun Doo-gwang would grab the whole attention. If the movie followed his point of view, it would be dangerous as well as would not go with the original purpose of the story. In order to keenly look into Chun Doo-gwang, we needed someone – the eyes of the audience, the antagonist who will prove that Chun forgot his duty and committed unthinkable thing for the sake of his greed and ambition. That created Lee Tae-shin, a responsible general who stand by his post and unveil Chun as a lawbreaker and a serious offender.

Jung Woo-sung once again stars as another protector, even now in 12.12: The Day.

Jung and I have a long history. We met in 1997 for the film Beat as a young director and a young actor and have been developing ever since. We’ve been close for a long time and now that I can proudly say I know him to some extent, Jung resembles Lee a lot: they both have something that transcend the belief and they are very motivated. That’s why I thought Jung was best for the role.

For some audience who watched 12.12: The Day, the story’s focus might be on Major Oh Jin-ho (by Jung Hae-in) who was sacrificed when he stood up against the mutineers to unlawfully arrest Major General Gong Soo-hyuk (played by Jung Man-sik).  The two characters also contribute for dispersing Chun Doo-gwang’s dominance in the film. Were you determined to put the real story of Commander of the Army Special Forces Command, Jeong Byeong-ju, and Lieutenant Colonel Kim Oh-rang from the beginning? 

Yes.  To clarify, their story doesn’t take up a big part in the whole film. Yet this 8-minute episode puts this incident in a nutshell. In the narrative, the troops arresting Major General Gong betrayed the major because they were persuaded by the new military government. In the process, General Oh gets shot protecting Major General Gong. The scene was symbolic as it encompasses the sacrifice and the shock that come from a rebellion— in other words, betrayal from the same side. That is why the sequence was not split and was delivered as a whole, even if the main characters didn’t appear for a long time, and even if the unity in film was at stake. We even wished for audiences to look up the two real figures, the admirable and ideal soldiers in history.

In an interview, you showed your aspiration to continue to unfold the stories of men clashing and forging relationship. Is it still your goal?

I’ve studied and worked in film industry my whole life and now, I came to know what story I want to tell and what’ I’m good at – the story of men clashing and conflicting with one another. I owe it to the Korean film industry, so I want to be better at telling stories. At the same time, any media or platform will serve as an opportunity for me as long as the narratives are good. Storytellers should care about the stories they tell not about where they will tell the stories on. 

By Lee Yoo Chae