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Putting together a production is a collaborative effort involving a variety of different professions.

 
Directing, writing, visual effects and cinematography often attract much of the attention but behind the scenes there are also talented designers working in different capacities such as production design and costume design, while makeup artists are also important in bringing the films to life.

Costume design and makeup along with many of these different contributions to the filmmaking process are acknowledged each year at the Academy Awards, for instance, underscoring the significant role these artists have on how films are crafted.

In the Korean film industry as the bar is further raised with the high production values of films, the artistry of costume design and makeup continue to leave an indelible impression.

This week we highlight some of the achievements in these fields beginning with the makeup in transforming Park Hae-il into an elderly man in Eungyo (2012). We will also examine the contribution costume designer Cho Sang-gyeong has made on Korean cinema as we look at The Royal Tailor (2014) and Assassination (2015).

Makeup has been instrumental in constructing the world of zombies so we will then turn to Train to Busan (2016). We will then delve into 1987: When the Day Comes (2017) and The Spy Gone North (2018) that capture different periods and places through their costumes, while we will conclude with Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave (2022) that evokes an interesting ambience through its meticulous mise-en-scene.

Eungyo (2012)

Although much rides on a particular performance in making their characters believable, when a role looks radically different to the actor, makeup is crucial. This is often adopted when stars play significantly older roles as illustrated with Park Hae-il’s leading character in Eungyo where he plays a poet in his 70s.

Directed by Jung Ji-woo, it centers on a famous novelist, his protégé (Kim Mu-yeol) and a female high school student, Eungyo (Kim Go-eun), and the relations between them. As the older poet and the student become closer, he writes a story about the young woman titled Eungyo. It’s then stolen by the younger writer.

Dealing with lust and jealousy, the well-crafted feature drew praise for its performances, not least Kim Go-eun who launched her career with this breakout role. It also attracted notice for the talent involved in turning Park Hae-il into an elderly man with makeup artist, Song Jong-hee earning a Blue Dragon Award nomination for her work on the film. Ahead of each shoot, Park was sitting in the makeup chair for several hours.

It is not the only film to use special make-up with Jung Jae-young in Moss (2010), Sol Kyung-gu in My Dictator (2014) and Hwang Jung-min in both Ode to my Father (2014) and 12.12: the Day (2023) also undergoing significant transformations in portraying their characters.

The Royal Tailor (2014)

Akin to the British historical costume genre, the period film in Korea is synonymous with lavish costumes and visuals. It includes titles such as Untold Scandal (2003), The King and the Clown 

(2005), Masquerade (2012) and The Face Reader (2013).

Lee Won-suk brings his own character, charm and eccentricity to the genre in his second feature The Royal Tailor (2014) that follows two tailors during the Joseon Dynasty. Han Suk-kyu plays a more conservative tailor, while Go Soo is a younger designer brought in by the queen (Park Shin-hye) to save a dress that’s been damaged. He adopts a more unconventional approach. They both work in the Sanguiwon (the Korean title of the film) where the royal attire is designed and made.

The film’s elegant and stylish costumes that are key to the film’s sumptuous aesthetic and bring a contemporary flair to the feature were designed by Cho Sang-gyeong. Having worked on dozens of high-profile films including many of Park Chan-wook’s features The Handmaiden (2016), Thirst (2009), Oldboy (2003)) as well as other films New World (2013), The Host (2006), she’s one of the leading figures in her profession.

Assassination (2015)

Cho Sang-gyeong would win a Blue Dragon Award (along with fellow costume designer Son Na-ri) for her costumes in Choi Dong-hoon’s action-packed colonial-era epic Assassination (2015) that would sell over 12 million tickets.

The film’s ensemble cast: Jun Ji-hyun, Lee Jung-jae, Ha Jung-woo, Oh Dal-su and Cho Jin-woong do bring their own personas to the roles but it’s also the costumes that help bring out their characters as it follows a team of independence fighters who seek to eliminate a pro-Japanese group. From fedora hats to trench coats, the costumes also capture the 1930s – the period in which it was set marking a return to colonial era films that would come to dominate screens during the peak seasons over the next few years with titles such as The Age of Shadows (2016), The Battleship Island (2017) and more recently Harbin (2024).

Synthetic skin was also used on the old age version of Lee Jung-jae’s character that appears at the end of the film. This was done by the film’s VFX supervisor and prosthetic makeup artist Kwak Tae-yong who has worked on more than 100 films utilizing his skills in special effects makeup that incorporates prosthetic materials, creating dummies among other innovative techniques.

Train to Busan (2016)

Kwak’s skills were also evident in Yeon Sang-ho’s seminal feature Train to Busan (2016) that kicked off the now iconic k-zombie sub-genre when an infected zombie boards a KTX train bound to Busan at Seoul station. What happens next would turn the film into a local and global hit after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2016 where it received a rapturous response. The film stars Gong Yoo, Don Lee, Jung Yu-mi and Kim Su-an.

Kwak together with Hwang Hyo-kyun founded Technical Art Studio Cell in 2003 that began as a company working in special effects makeup before moving into VFX. It was instrumental in creating the Korean zombies in Train to Busan that are different compared to zombies seen in much of the content in Hollywood and the West – both in their speed but also how they look with swollen eyelids and noses.

The company was also involved in the special effects for the Netflix series Kingdom (2019) and its spin-off Kingdom: Ashin of the North (2021) that brought together tropes of the period genre with its palace intrigue, and then mixing it with zombies.

1987: When the Day Comes (2017)

As seen with features like Assassination and The Royal Tailer, costumes can signify a particular period. This is also true of Jang Joon-hwan’s 1987: When the Day Comes (2017) that is set in the 1980s during the June Democracy Movement of 1987 when a prosecutor, journalist, prison guard and others seek to expose what really happened to a student protester who died during a police interrogation. Akin to Assassination, it features a number of high-profile stars including Ha Jung-woo, Kim Tae-ri and Kim Yoon-seok.

Coming thirty years after the June Democracy movement and despite having completed its production just months before its release, there was a remarkable sense of detail to the film capturing the era – from the costumes and dreary mise-en-scene that reflect the oppression of the period through to the film’s locations that encompass university hospitals, churches, homes and offices.

But as the narrative progresses, Kim Tae-ri dressed in a red coat as she takes important information to a man wanted for his role in democratization movements (Sol Kyung-gu) is a symbol of a young generation that proved pivotal in Korea’s transition towards a democracy.  

The film’s costume designers Chae Gyeong-hwa and Lee Eun-yi were nominated for the Blue Dragon Technical Award for their work on the production.

The Spy Gone North (2018)

Notable for its high production values is The Spy Gone North (2018) that is not only visible through its cinematography and set design but is also illustrated through its costumes and makeup. Directed by Yoon Jong-bin, it stars Hwang Jung-min as a spy who infiltrates a North Korean nuclear facility posing as a businessman. The film also features Lee Sung-min, Cho Jin-woong and Ju Ji-hoon.

One of the standout characters in the film is Gi Ju-bong who plays the former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. In what was a significant achievement in makeup and practical effects, the actor looks very much like him echoing how the film is able to capture the streets of Pyongyang in the 1990s.

The spy drama premiered in the Midnight Section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018 before its release in Korea later in the summer that year where it sold close to 5 million tickets. It was also one of several films that year dealing with inter-Korean relations Take Point (2018), Illang: The Wolf Brigade (2018) and Swing Kids (2018)), while Steel Rain (2017) came a year earlier.

Decision to Leave (2022)

The films of Park Chan-wook invariably leave a lasting impact on Korean cinema and in differing ways. Decision to Leave (2022) might seem a departure from his explicit violence and sex in titles like Oldboy (2003), Thirst (2009) and The Handmaiden (2016) but it was nonetheless layered with meaning in every scene through his exquisite mis-en-scene.

Central to this as always is Ryu Seong-hee’s production design but also important are the intriguing costume choices by Jung Ae-kwak that differentiates it from other Korean crime dramas. Park Hae-il plays a detective who investigates the death of a man in the mountains and develops a relationship with the dead man’s mysterious wife (Tang Wei). The detective clothed in a suit and tie pointing to affluence is not typical of a film from this genre with detectives often wearing jeans and trainers, while Tang Wei’s mysterious and evolving character is portrayed as one with a strong sense of fashion wearing different colors as she seeks to attract the attention of the detective.

Jung Ae-kwak recently was the costume designer on Woo Min-ho’s biographical period drama Harbin that is also visually alluring through its production design, cinematography and costume design. Jung’s other credits include 12.12: The Day, The Man Standing Next (2019) and The Host (2006).  

Written by Jason Bechervaise

Editted by kofic