Ahn Byung-Gi Talks 아파트 (A.P.T.)

Lee Jae-Yong's 다세포 소녀 (Dasepo Naughty Girls), adapted from the raunchy manhwa of the same title and starring a host of talented new faces like Kim Ok-Bin and Lee Kyun; Choi Dong-Hoon's 타짜 (The Master of Tricks), based on Heo Young-Man's exhilarating (print) manhwa, which already cast Baek Yoon-Shik, Jo Seung-Woo and Kim Hye-Soo in the leading roles, shaping up to be one of the most interesting films of 2006. But the man who's making waves in this trend is Kang Do-Young, better known to his fans as simply 강풀 (Kangpool). He's one of the most unique new voices in the manhwa world, with a very cinematic style, and a weird sense of humour. Even his nickname is curious: during Kang's college days, he'd often wear green or dark green clothes, so people started calling him 강풀 (풀, pul/pool means grass or weed), and that became his pen name.

Four of his most popular online manhwa will be adapted into films: 바보 (Fool), which already cast Cha Tae-Hyun and Ha Ji-Won in the leading roles; 타이밍 (Timing), directed by Park Ki-Hyung; and 순정만화 (Romance Comic) directed by Ryu Jang-Ha. Yet, the most interesting of them all might turn out to be 아파트 (A.P.T.), by 'Horror King' Ahn Byung-Gi. A '미스터리 심리썰렁물' (Chilly Mystery Psychological Thriller), as Kang calls it. Of course, the 'chilly' of the title refers to the comedy in the manhwa, a little like a fish out of water. Think Jang Jin meets 소름 (Sorum). But Ahn will change it, no comedy in the film, because he doesn't want another Scary Movie. A shame, because it could have been a great idea, but the film has still many interesting elements at play, finally deviating from the 'long haired ghost' and 'killer device' formula.

Horror fans in Korea must have a curse, as nowadays there's just a handful of directors genuinely interested in the genre, who can continue to shoot horror films one after the other. Although the Summer season has been over-saturated with horror films for the last 3-4 years, they're of a different nature. Mostly producer-driven fare by debut directors, watching those films you can often sense that this is simply a stepping stone to go on to better things for those directors. Most of them even deviate from the simple 'rules' of the genre, often turning into psychological thrillers about human weakness. And then those directors go out and make something entirely different. Want some examples? Kim Young-Gyun of 분홍신 is shooting 불꽃처럼 나비처럼 (Like Fireworks and Butterflies), an Historical Drama about Empress MyungSeong; Won Sin-Yeon of 가발 (The Wig) is working on black comedy 구타유발자들 (One Miserable Day), with Han Suk-Gyu and Lee Moon-Shik; both directors of 여고괴담 두번째 이야기 (Memento Mori) went on to direct melodramas and documentaries, and the list is long. Horror has become a quick way to prove your credentials as a director, as many of those films display sumptuous visuals, production and sound design. Yet, for the fan of straightforward horror films, Ahn Byung-Gi is probably a better choice.

Molded by nearly a decade of experience as assistant director, Ahn often worked for Jung Ji-Young, in his 1992 masterpiece 하얀전쟁 (White Badge), 헐리우드 키드의 생애 (Life and Death of the Hollywood Kid) and 1997's 블랙잭 (Blackjack). With the country in full teen slasher craze, he debuted with what was one of the few watchable films of the trend, 2000's 가위 (A Nightmare). Mixing 'J-Horror' tropes with some themes closer to Korean culture, his 2002 film 폰 (Phone) was a big success and continues to do well abroad. But his last film 분신사바 (Bunshinsaba), despite a few interesting ideas, failed to repeat the success of his previous works. The 13 Billion Won Spy Action film 왕조의 눈 (The Eye of The Dynasty) seems to have fallen into an infinite limbo, as it never started shooting in Summer 2004 as expected (funding problems?), so technically Director Ahn never went off his usual path. It'll be horror again, even if a little different from what we were used to. His new film 'A.P.T.' already cast Go So-Young and Kang Sung-Jin as the leads, and all it took to sign a 2 Million distribution rights contract with Japan was a mere synopsis.

It's a strange apartment complex, turning off all the lights every single night at 9:56 pm. She's never really paid attention to her neighbors, let alone people living in an adiacent apartment. Cold and indifferent, Se-Jin (Go So-Young) finds out by accident how strange that apartment sometimes can be. Because in the darkness, all sort of things can happen... like serial murders, for example. 'A.P.T.' will start shooting in the next few weeks, for a (guess when?) Summer release. Director Ahn recently sat down with Film2.0 to discuss the film, so here's some highlights:

Since it's the core of the film, are negotiations regarding the apartment shoot going well?
Director Ahn Byung-Gi: Because Kangpool's original manhwa had two apartments facing one another in two different buildings, we had to negotiate with both, and be able to use one fully. Violation of privacy in this case would be extreme, and we still have to turn the lights off on the entire apartment complex at the same time, in at least one cut. I've looked for something like that for six months, but couldn't find it. I couldn't help but ask the producers to get me one (laughs).

Was finding the right location that hard?
Ahn: We found a three building complex in Hongje-Dong (Seoul) which fit with our requirements, but because the administration and people living there didn't want us to shoot, negotiations broke down. Right now we're looking at a few spots in the 지방 (outside Seoul)... I guess we'll have to change the title to 빌라 (Villa) if this keeps up (laughs). Because of privacy problems, we couldn't use apartments with verandas, and that's something you can only do in the world of manhwa. Because of various little problems like that, we re-wrote the script many times.

I heard around 11 times?
Ahn: Actually now we're already at the 13th re-writing process. The original had a male main character, and at first we used his point of view as well. But then we decided to go with a female character, and various cosmetic changes in her point of view and situation forced us to rewrite several times. It's been the most difficult script I've worked on, and it's still not over. I'm giving parts of the script to Go So-Young like a TV Drama production, on the fly, and she joked that I'm trying too hard to look like Wong Kar-Wai (laughs). I think we're going to rewrite the ending until the shoot is over.

What were your reasons for changing from a male to a female protagonist?
Ahn: In terms of content, this film might be a little different compared to my previous works, but I tried to stay true to the core elements of the horror genre. No matter which horror film you're watching, if it's a man getting scared, it doesn't have the same impact on people. On a recent Korean horror film, there's a scene where a male character is scared, but people ended up laughing. It wasn't just the actor's fault, and on top of that, if I wanted a funny horror comedy, I'd cast a male protagonist. That's not my taste. I make horror films where female characters are individualistic and have a strong sense of maternity.

Did you even change the outline?
Ahn: What I used from the original manhwa was this idea that an apartment complex turns off the lights every night at the same time, and all the strange incidents that happen there. It's the most common kind of living space for Koreans, and something which inevitably involves many people today. More than trying something new, compared to my past works, I tried to make a traditional horror film, and will continue to do the same in the future (laughs). But the people in 'A.P.T.' are much more realistic than characters in my past films. Even when a murder case happens near your apartment, you keep living your life, it's not big deal. You can still hear people laugh, loud music and the sound of running water. That's exactly our story. When a couple start fighting in an apartment, the administration calls to stop making noises, not to stop them from fighting. That's why you see people throwing babies off verandas, committing suicide, and setting their apartments on fire. 'A.P.T.' is a film about this indifference, this sense of alienation which permeates our society. I think it will be much different from my past works.

What kind of horror image do you associate with the character, since Go So-Young is playing it?
Ahn: Cold hearted, dispassionate, indifferent, someone who you can't get close to, and doesn't want to socialize, that's the kind of image that fits with horror films. Se-Jin in this film is that kind of person. She's a displayer, and lives a very interesting life, but if you open her cellphone, you don't see any number in her outgoing messages, just those calls she received. There's many people like that today, people who like living alone, who don't like to socialize, worrying only about their own life. I think Go So-Young can give that kind of impression. Even if she was in a few successful films, and knew how hard producing and casting horror films can be, she happily agreed with our offer, so I'm thankful. Her beauty reminds of Nicole Kidman in The Hours, she has that cold yet charming image I think fits perfectly with this film.

As a director and producer of horror films, you've often hit the ball home, and seem to be lucky with box office results.
Ahn: Actually I'm more like one of those people who start as an outfielder, but are moved to hitter because they couldn't catch the ball well. I had no homeruns so far (laughs). That's why I feel bad. During the last 6 years I worked as Toilet Pictures' President, our motto was always that of becoming the most important company making horror films in the industry. I wanted this to become a place where other directors could get the chance to make more horror films, but nobody wants to work with me. In the past, I asked a director who debuted with an horror film to make his second projects with us, and he said he didn't want to do horror anymore. He said horror films were a quick way to show his directing skills, and that was it. In Chungmuro there's just a few people between directros and producers, who truly love the genre. On top of that, Toilet Pictures' films always do well in Japan, South East Asia and Europe, so when editing we always end up focusing on the 'shock effects' Japan and South East Asia want. I want to do something like The Sixth Sense one today, a top notch horror or mystery thriller like that. The fact I can't find people to help me with that is a shame. Oh... a while ago I looked at the ratings for 'A.P.T.'*, I think this film will do well.

*if you look at movie portals like Movist, Cine21, Naver and the like, netizens often rate films ahead of their release, just to indicate how much they're looking forward to them. Naver has it at 8.40/10 right now.

[Source: Film2.0]