Why 'The King and the Clown' director took on short-form dramas, often dismissed as cheap entertainment

When “My Father’s Table” opened at Lotte Cinema theaters nationwide Sept. 9, it filled only about a third of the screen, right down the middle.

Originally intended as a short-form drama for smartphones, the production was shot vertically from the outset. Its 61 episodes, each roughly two minutes long, were then assembled into a 146-minute feature. It marks the first theatrical release of a short-form drama in Korea, with no known precedent overseas.

Even more surprising is the name behind it: Lee Joon-ik, the director whose “The King and the Clown” drew more than 10 million moviegoers in 2005. How he came to make a film that occupies just a third of the screen is a story in itself.

For next generation of filmmakers

“To be honest, choosing to direct a short-form drama made me uncomfortable and a little afraid,” Lee said in an interview at Kidari Studio’s offices in Seoul’s Seongdong District on the film’s opening day.

Short-form dramas have taken off in North America and China over the past two or three years. In Korea, however, the format is still widely dismissed as lowbrow entertainment built around sensational plots involving affairs, revenge and secret parentage.

What convinced Lee to try the format was seeing younger filmmakers struggle through what is arguably the worst slump in the Korean film industry’s history. For aspiring directors, the chance to make a debut film had become almost impossible to secure.

Lee initially encouraged younger directors to make short-form dramas, telling them that creators had a duty to keep creating, regardless of the platform. Those who heeded his advice came back with a request.

“Short-form dramas are still looked down on,” they told him. “It would be a big help if someone with an established name made one.”

After some deliberation, Lee decided to do just that.

He chose a family drama adapted from the webtoon of the same name. “My Father’s Table” follows Ha-eung, played by Jung Jin-young, who has relied on his wife’s cooking for three meals a day for decades. He must take over the kitchen when Soon-ae, played by Lee Jung-eun, develops a condition that leaves her dizzy at the mere sight of a pot and unable to cook.

Through the meals shared by three generations, the story traces Korea’s growing pains during rapid modernization and helps viewers understand the experiences that shaped each generation.

“At a time when so much content constantly chases violence and shock value, I wanted family dramas to survive, even if only in short form,” Lee said.

Constraints, possibilities

Even for Lee, a veteran with over three decades of experience, making a short-form drama was unfamiliar territory. The scripts required a completely different approach because each two-minute episode had to contain a complete narrative arc.

The action was restricted to no more than four locations, while the vertical frame meant keeping the actors’ movements from side to side to a minimum. With too little room to fit the people speaking into the same shot, conversations required frequent cuts.

But Lee also found plenty of potential in the format.

“In a film shot horizontally, viewers follow only the protagonist’s inner thoughts and emotions. But in a vertical frame, everyone gets a solo shot, allowing viewers to explore the supporting characters’ inner lives just as deeply,” Lee said.

Reliable access to commercial funding, even on a smaller scale, is another major advantage. Lee shot “My Father’s Table” over a month with a crew of 33 and a budget of 500 million won (around $362,000). A conventional film shot horizontally would have required more than 100 crew members and at least five times the budget, he estimates.

“In the film industry, directors struggle to secure funding without drawing on their personal networks. Short-form dramas can give new filmmakers a chance to enter the commercial market,” Lee said.

The series was originally intended for release exclusively on the short-form platform Lezhin Snack. But the audience’s reaction at the 30th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in July, where it was screened as part of a program dedicated to platform content, changed those plans.

Not a single viewer left during the roughly two-and-a-half-hour screening, even as the screen went black every two minutes between episodes. The sound of sniffling filled the theater.

That response prompted the production team to pursue a theatrical release, removing the black intervals and reediting the episodes into a single film.

“I hope many people in their 60s, 70s and 80s, around the father’s age in the story, will come and see the film,” Lee said. “Older people don’t often get to see films at the cinema that speak to their age group.”

Meanwhile, Lee begins filming “Firefly,” a tentative English title, this month. It is his first conventional feature film in five years since “The Book of Fish” (2021).

Set during Korea’s dictatorship in the 1970s, the period drama follows a detective trying to escape a system that punishes people for their relatives’ political ties or activities. The cast includes Park Hae-il, Park Seo-joon and Choi Dae-hoon.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.