Mystery thriller 'Diva' transforms Shin Min-a
From left, actors Lee You-young and Shin Min-a, director Cho Seul-ye and actor Lee Kyu-hyung at an online press conference for “Diva.” / Courtesy of Megabox Plus M
By Kwak Yeon-soo
“Diva” is a disturbing, breath-taking thriller that combines mystery with the subject of diving.
Shin Min-a, who won hearts in sweetheart roles from previous works, plays Yi-young, an athlete whose life is consumed with diving.
One day, she is involved in a car accident with her best friend/rival Soo-jin (Lee You-young). Soo-jin goes missing and Yi-young has to cope with the stress and trauma to win the next competition.
However, rumors swirl about Soo-jin, and Yi-young realizes her best friend might not be who she originally thought she was. Yi-young struggles to delve deeper into her friend's well-hidden dark side that threatens to destroy her.
Shin said she was excited about returning to the screen after six years since appearing in “My Love, My Bride.”
“The script was intense and fascinating,” Shin said during an online press conference in Seoul on Thursday. “I knew from the start that it would be challenging to learn diving and express Yi-young's complex emotions, but I accepted the role because the character was so compelling,”
The actress, 36, said expressing Yi-young, the type of person who will do anything to get that passion out of her, helped her discover a new side of herself.
“When I saw the teaser images, posters and preview clips, I hardly recognized myself,” she said. “I'm sure the audience will see a completely different side of me, which they may find unfamiliar but refreshing.”
Lee, who plays Soo-jin in “Diva,” said she chose the female-led film to break the boundaries of female characters.
“Soo-jin is an unreadable character,” Lee said. “I wanted to portray a complicated and mysterious character so audiences would be confused about which is her true self. The challenge in acting was to maintain that balance.”
Shin Min-a in a scene from “Diva.” / Courtesy of Megabox Plus M
The two female leads spent four months in daily diving training and filming “Diva.” They trained out of the water for two hours and learned to dive for 90 minutes each day to build muscle mass so they could play professional divers.
“For me, the most difficult thing about diving was overcoming my fear of heights,” Lee said. “Thankfully, Shin was always willing to dive in first.”
Cho Seul-ye, who is making her directorial debut with “Diva,” explained she wanted to tell a tale of a successful diver's downfall after descending into madness. She previously wrote “Vanishing Time: A Boy who Returned” and adapted the screenplay of smash hit “A Taxi Driver.”
“Because diving is considered an unpopular sport in Korea I thought it could be difficult for audiences to understand fully Yi-young's position as a champion diver. That's why a lot of the scenes depended on actors.”
The filmmaker also hinted that director Park Chan-wook suggested the film title “Diva.”
“I asked Park to review my script, and after reading it, he came up with the title Diva,” she said. “I looked up the word and found that diva means goddess in Italian, but demon in Arabic. I thought the double meaning goes well with the story.”