'Mogadishu''s leading role, Kim Yoon-seok, "Ordinary people's extraordinary moments"

연합뉴스 / 2021-07-26 18:30:37

▲ This photo, provided by Lotte Entertainment (a distribution company), shows actor Kim Yoon-seok. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) -- “This is not about a heroic person taking heroic actions to save the day. I think that the extraordinary moments the ordinary people make together to survive are what we should consider valuable.”

The leading actor for director Ryu Seung-wan’s new production, “Mogadishu”, Kim Yoon-seok (53) who is now facing the release of the film used the word ‘ordinary’ quite frequently in introducing or explaining the characters on an online interview on the 26th.

The movie is based on a true escape story of the South and North officials trapped in Mogadishu in 1991 during Somali’s civil war. The subject is not at all ordinary, however just like Kim’s words, the characters in the film struggle for their lives without any extraordinary physical power or practical information.

Kim took the role of Han Sin-seong, an ambassador running around to obtain the right to vote in Somali for South Korea’s UN joining. At the North’s interruptions he expresses frustration saying “Oi, really?” and leads his small gathering in the embassy soothing and persuading the staff.

“Ambassador Han Sin-seong is not extraordinarily smart and sometimes gets away with things like snakes quietly sliding away. He is rather shallow and changes his words or easily gets angry from time to time”, “Though in extreme situations he does not act on his own accordance but makes decisions after listening to all the others’ opinions. This is his strong and at the same time, weak points which makes him a human”, explained the actor.

Apart from Agui in “Tazza”, Kim has usually taken tough roles in “The Chaser”, “The Priests”, “The Fortress”, 1987” and “Dark Figure of Crime”, however, to become Han Sin-seong, he relieved some seriousness and leads the plot with a friendly atmosphere like a our neighbor living next door.

The story of the Southern and Northern ambassador crews gathering up for survival is touching but the actor added that they focused on not making it into a heavy topic of a collaboration between the two nations but on making it a story able to be sympathized by any human.

“The movie can be seen as conveying a collaboration and cooperation between the North and the South. But what’s more important is that this is a story of two groups, who are the only parties left in an unfamiliar land and can communicate with each other, attempting to escape for survival. It is true that the relationship between South and North Korea give many limitations and there are choices to make, conflicts stemmed from those limits, but these are all worthless in the verge of life or death.”

The movie actually does not use the relationship between the South and the North as a touching moment.

“There are no dramas of ‘like’s and ‘love’s with affectionate hugs after one day” and “in the process of getting out of the country, the ambassadors not only dispute with each other but also do not exchange any seriously deep emotions or values. This is the charming point of this movie, leaving it to the audiences to choose what emotions to feel from the story”, said Kim Yoon-seok.

He also shared his hardship shooting the intensive car-chasing scene. He said he had a hard time with the old model car with books and sandbags on his back because the car engine kept going off.

“The windows wouldn’t roll back up, and there was a spring sticking out beneath the seat. It was difficult getting the car and the crews preparing for the props had a lot of work to take care of. As I drove the vehicle, the sandbags leaked and the inside of the car was covered with sand. All these aspects appeared so vividly in the screen. I didn’t expect the scene to look so real.”

Including the car-chasing, the movie features, in a realistic scale, a mass protest and gun shootings which are all parts of the civil war which Kim Yoon-seok thanked to the production system.

“Frankly I thought the production would be impossible. I talked to the director saying that this maybe was a reckless challenge, but he answered that he was preparing for it step by step” and said “actors were cast from Europe and Africa, the props team set up the whole city. I was astonished at the entire production system form preparation to check-ups.”.

Also, he mentioned of director Ryu and actor Jo In-sung whom we co-worked with.

“The director, Ryu Seung-wan seems to live in the site 24 hours. Since the start of filming he never the left the place” and “he led the whole scene by matching the grand-scale preparation and the teams like matching pieces for puzzles but that skill cannot be attained in a day. It was remarkable.”

And about actor Jo In-sung, “I hoped for a chance to see him one day after seeing his “A Dirty Carnival”. He seemed to be acting with honesty without showing off. But when I met him for real, I thought that he was just an honest person and that his sincerity comes from his personality. I liked that”, he said with a laugh.

The movie will be released on the 28th.

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