Kwak Do-won Risk → Explanation of his younger brother...Firefighter Kwak Kyung-taek has a lot of heartache (Roundup)

Dec 15, 2024

Photo provided=by4M Studio

Director Kwak Kyung-taek (58) expressed his feelings about presenting the movie Firefighter to the audience in four years, expressing his special feelings for the work.

The movie 'Firefighter', which was released on the 4th, was directly hit by '12.3 Emergency martial law situation'. It was the third bad news for the "Firefighter" but the box office fire is getting stronger as it has been constantly going viral. According to the Korea Film Council's integrated computer network on the 16th, 'Firefighters' has firmly secured the top of the box office, surpassing 1.76 million cumulative audiences in 12 days after its release.

'Firefighters' is a movie about firefighters who were put in with a single goal of extinguishing fire and saving power despite poor conditions during the 2001 Hongje-dong fire disaster. Kwak Kyung-taek, the director of the `Friend' series, took the megaphone.

'Firefighter' was being prepared for release after filming in 2020, but it was postponed when lead actor Kwak Do-won was caught drunk driving in September 2022. Kwak, who recently met with Sports Chosun, said, `I've done a lot of promotional marketing since I shot a movie, but I've never felt so shackled to my ankles. I was sensitive to all the questions and spoke carefully, so I had no choice but to resent the cause provider"I let off the rhyme.

Regarding Kwak Do-won's volume, "It's not that I didn't edit it at all. A fire official who was present at the time of the actual accident said 'I endure alcohol because it is a cure whenever I have a hard time', but if Kwak Do-won drinks in the movie, it would look different from the original purpose of the production. All the close-up scenes of Kwak Do-won drinking in the movie were excluded. Nevertheless, if you exclude (Kwak Do-won's) portion, doesn't the reaction of the other actor also go away. I didn't like it, so I tried to keep it as equitable as possible"As a person who should be in charge of the work, Kwak Do-won is not the only one, but also the staff and investors, so I decided to accurately talk about my thoughts and draw a line."

Still from the movie 'Firefighter". Photo courtesy = By4M Studio

Regarding the delay in the release period, "COVID-19 was the first, followed by Kwak Do-won's unsavory issue." Since then, four years have passed as investment distributors have changed and various situations have overlapped. It wasn't just Kwak Do-won that the release was delayed. "But I thought I might not be able to release it. The issue of drunk driving keeps coming up. Every time Kwak Do-won was summoned, I was going crazy. I had a lot of heartache by myself. In fact, those who invested in it must have lost more than me. What crime are they guilty of to go through such a difficult situation. It wasn't even a small production cost, but I didn't feel good." He said "Kwak Do-won wants to apologize and doesn't know where to put himself"I fully understand that feeling, but I have to be self-reflected now," he stressed.

Kwak also talked about why he cast Kwak Do-won as rescue team leader Jin-seop. He said "Kwak Do-won came to mind first" and "I gave only Kwak Do-won a scenario because he was good at acting, but he answered that he would do it right away. I thought it would go well with Kwak Do-won because I needed a single-minded personality that was stubborn and heavy."

Still from the movie 'Firefighter". Photo courtesy = By4M Studio

Finally, when asked about the meaning of the work, director Kwak said "The work that made me humble" No matter how hard you work as a director, it's the second time. It's lucky that it's originally a work. 'Firefighter' is a work that made me wait for four years and made my heart suffer in the middle. In a way, after 'Friend', I thought the director only had to shoot good works, but I came to reflect on everything I've interpreted subjectively so far."

Photo provided=by4M Studio

Director Kwak had to go through another crisis following the lead actor's risk. Kwak Kyu-taek, a member of the People's Power who did not attend the first impeachment vote of the president of Yoon Suk Yeol, was found to be his younger brother, which caused public anger. As the controversy intensified afterwards, director Kwak said in his official position on the 12th that there were so many twists and stories before "Firefighter" met the audience. COVID-19, the controversy over drunk driving by the leading actor, and this time even emergency martial law the day before its release. Honestly, my heart is still pounding when I think about the night of the last three days," he said with difficulty.

He said, `Some people think that even the 'firefighters' are the targets of criticism because Kwak Kyu-taek, the youngest member of my family, recently missed the impeachment vote according to the party platform`"I am also deeply disappointed and angry at the lawmakers who did not even participate in the vote as a group. To be honest, I think a president who caused havoc in the Republic of Korea and humiliated the whole world should step down on his own. If not, he should definitely be impeached."

Meanwhile, 'Firefighter' retook the top spot at the box office on the 16th, beating the Disney animated film 'Moana 2' which remained at the top for two consecutive weeks, and is expected to surpass 2 million this week.

antahn22@sportschosun.com

Kwak Do-won Risk → Explanation of his younger brother...Firefighter Kwak Kyung-taek has a lot of heartache (Roundup)

K-drama