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| ▲ This photo, provided by Barunson Enter & Arts, shows director Jang Hang-joon. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Apr. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean filmmaker-cum-screenwriter Jang Hang-jun, who marked his screen debut in 2002 with “Break Out,” is a multi-faceted artist who has credits not only in producing the film but also in screenwriting and acting across diverse genres including comedy, drama, and mystery.
His upcoming sports film “Rebound,” which will be released six years after his latest feature “Night of Memory” (2017), will follow a struggling under-sized and under-skilled high school basketball team writing the legend by defying the naysayers and making it through the finals of the national high school basketball league.
Loosely based on the true story of the JungAng High School basketball team in Busan, the feature will also reflect director Jang’s witty banter and sense to have viewers burst out laughing.
During an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency last Friday, the filmmaker was literally full of joy. He said with a smile, “Many say that filmmakers come to an end when they reach my age. Looking back, I realized that I have made it through without having a big hit.”
Jang is also fairly well known as the husband of the highly acclaimed screenwriter Kim Eun-hee, who has credits for writing the scripts for a slew of mega-hit television series including Netflix’s “Kingdom,” “Signal,” and “Sign.” Kim is known to have given a hand to her husband and participated in writing the scenario for his forthcoming feature.
“My wife gave me a lot of emotional support. She reassured me that I must make sure to produce ‘Rebound,’ saying that even if I do not bring this to the theater, someone else will. After watching the edited version of ‘Rebound,’ she then told me that this will be my new representative work.”
The filmmaker then complimented actor Ahn Jae-hong, who plays the lead role of coach Kang Yang-hyun of the basketball team, saying, “He has his own details and characters.”
By referring back to Ahn’s previous work “Foot Volleyball King” (2014), Jang said, “Even actors Song Kang-ho and Lee Sung-min will not be able to play his role,” adding, “I personally believe that Ahn’s attitude toward his work and modesty were a perfect match with mine.”
“I like Ahn’s work, and I like his character too. I gave him the scenario, and he responded with a ‘yes’ only after three days,” he said.
“Rebound” features quite a few scenes of basketball games, which implies that actors also had to play basketball themselves. Actors Lee Shin-young, Jung Jin-woon, and Kim Taek, who all play the highschool basketball players, have in fact started training two months prior to shooting.
“The actors are the ones who had a hard time. We spent days and nights together practicing. It came to a point where I could notice how they improved their basketball skills and lost weight as if they were real players,” the director said.
The filmmaker then explained what he meant to say in his favorite line “Even if we stop playing basketball, our life won’t stop,” which Coach Kang Yang-hyun says to his team ahead of the second half of the game. He intends to encourage the team to enjoy the game itself rather than being obsessed over winning the game.
“I wrote that line. Only about 3% of professional athletes enter the Korean elite sports system. Even though they pour everything to play in that field, everything from money to their youth. The line implies that there is always something else to consider, and there is no such thing as ‘everything.’ You may not live on what you do now. No one knows what his/her last job will be.”
Director Jang’s basketball film will hit local theaters on April 5.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)
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