Song Kang-ho reunites with director Kim Jee-woon in comedy film 'Cobweb'

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Entertainment & Arts

Sat, September 23, 2023 | 04:29

Films

Song Kang-ho reunites with director Kim Jee-woon in comedy film 'Cobweb'

Posted : 2023-09-19 08:24

Updated : 2023-09-19 08:24

Actor Song Kang-ho, left, speaks during a press conference for the upcoming comedy film "Cobweb," held in Yongsan District, Tuesday. Courtesy of Barunson E&A

By Lee Gyu-lee

Veteran actor Song Kang-ho and director Kim Jee-won are collaborating for the fifth time with the upcoming comedy film, "Cobweb."

"Director Kim's films always surprise me with (the story) based on his refreshing creativity," Song said during a press conference for the film, held in Yongsan District. "I've always admired and respected his works, but the sentiment he showed in the film, 'The Quiet Family,' was really one-of-a-kind. And I was happy to see 'Cobweb' which had that similar creativity. I deeply fell for it."

The comedy movie, which premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, revolves around a director, Kim Ki-yeol (Song), from the 1970s who has just finished filming his latest work. When he decides to re-shoot the last part of the film, haunted by a strong desire to change the ending, he sets himself out on a misadventure and chaos to convince the actors or producers.

"The film is about mayhem and chaos filled with wild and crazy situations. It follows the funny but also sad production journey of director Kim's films as he collides with the unstoppable characters around him," the director said.

The actor and director worked together on four films so far. They were the 1998 dark comedy, "The Quiet Family," the 2000 comedy movie, "The Foul King," the 2008 action film, "The Good, the Bad, the Weird," and the 2016 thriller, "The Age of Shadows."

Kim said Song has an irresistible charm that perfects his work.

"He is a one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable actor. When you take a close-up shot of Song, it completes the movie. That's how charming he is," he said.

A scene from the film "Cobweb" / Courtesy of Barunson E&A

The actor shared that the film will explore human desire in a comical tone.

"(The movie) portrays human desire in a light-hearted, funny way. (The character) has a deep eagerness to make a masterpiece even amid the chaos and conflicts," he said.

"As an artist, I felt the way he has desires and talents entangled in him and how he doesn't know what to do to release it all was relatable," Song added.

The director said the film's key is in the ensemble of the cast members.

"What I considered the most important is ensemble comedy … There are so many lines that the characters need to exchange so I tried to look for actors who are good at playing around with the lines," he said.

"I wanted to portray an ensemble comedy and a refreshing and unique style of humor that comes from (the characters) exchanging tones and I think it came out well … This movie shows the power of actors who show ensemble comedy."

Actress Im Soo-jung plays the veteran actress who is the female lead of Kim Ki-yeol's movie. She referred to this movie as a challenge.

"It was my first time doing such a concept and it was a new challenge. From the script, there was an interesting point … It was really fortunate to play an actor, which is my real job. I've really enjoyed creating funny scenes with such great actors on screen and outside the screen," she said.

"Cobweb" will hit local theaters in September.

gyulee@koreatimes.co.kr