Indie film director to release first full length thriller

By Park Jin-hai

Lee Yo-sup, 33, director of the upcoming thriller “The Queen of Crime,” the third full-length film made by the production company Gwanghwamun Cinema, says that he feels more pressured than joyous ahead of its Aug. 25 premiere.

“I have been under great pressure to do well since it is my first full-length film,” said Lee during an interview with The Korea Times. “The directors before me have achieved great success, which opened the way for me to make this film. So while I was shooting, I was thinking that if this film can also be successful it would give the directors who will follow me the chance to put their work on screen.”

The graduate of Seoul National University’s School of the Arts who majored in animation and made short films, including the award-winning “Dirtyharry” and “Inspection of the Memory,” and six other young and aspiring directors and producers, established Gwanghwamun Cinema in 2012 with 10 million won.

This student club-like company armed with fresh ideas, creativity and a devotion to film has emerged as a small powerhouse in local cinema.

Lee’s new film “The Queen of Crime” is his third project following the “Sunshine Boys” (2012), an ultra low-budget film about two friends who came to visit their friend who was performing his military duty. The film was invited to the Busan International Film Festival, and received the best screenplay award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The second project “The King of Jokgu,” a coming-of-age movie made with a 50 million won budget, was a surprise commercial success, attracting 45,000 viewers.

“The Queen of Crime,” a thriller set in a gosiwon, a residence packed with small rooms that house students who enroll for cram schools to prepare for the national bar exam among others, was made with a budget of 400 million won, invested by Contents Panda, an affiliate of Next Entertainment World (NEW).

The film, starring actress Park Ji-young, tells the story of the mother of a student who receives a water bill of 1.2 million won, almost 120 times higher than average, so she starts her own investigation to find out why it is so high and that subsequently leads her to murder cases.

The film with its unique plot has been presold to six Asian countries.

“The story is not only an all-intense thriller but also tells about our mothers of the time. I wanted to portray the strong mother or woman image, a mother and a son rebuilding their relationship as well as the unique gosiwon setting.”

He said Gwanghwamun Cinema is like a family as all the members participate in writing screenplays or in filming.

“Being a director is a lonely job. For Gwanghwamun Cinema, writing the scenarios was not a struggle on my part. We shared painstaking moments in collaboration and I deeply appreciate that from my partners,” said Lee. “I hope I become the type of director who matures with age.”