Netflix series 'Black Knight' to depict pursuit of utopia in dystopian society

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Mon, October 2, 2023 | 00:35

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Netflix series 'Black Knight' to depict pursuit of utopia in dystopian society

Posted : 2023-05-10 17:00

Updated : 2023-05-11 14:03

From left, actors Song Seung-heon, Kim Woo-bin, Esom, and Kang You-seok pose during the press conference for Netflix's original series "Black Knight," held in Yeongdeungpo District, Wednesday. Courtesy of Netflix

By Lee Gyu-lee

Netflix's much-anticipated blockbuster original series, "Black Knight," is finally set to roll out, Friday, telling the story of a vigilante man seeking changes to a dystopian world.

Director Cho Ui-seok / Courtesy of Netflix

Based on the webcomic named "Delivery Knight," the sci-fi, action series is set in dystopian Korea, disrupted by heavy air pollution, where people suffer from lack of oxygen. A former refugee, 5-8 (Kim Woo-bin), is a legendary courier who delivers oxygen and other necessity to the residents on the day. But at night, he leads a group of vigilante deliverymen, called Black Knight, who help other refugees.

Amid the devastating circumstances with brutal social hierarchy, the group goes against the ultimate ruler of the dystopia, Cheonmyeong Group, and its ruthless heir, Ryu Seok (Song Seung-heon) to save humanity.

The six-part series is created by filmmaker Cho Ui-seok, who previously helmed the action films "Master" (2016) and "Golden Slumber" (2018).

"In the series, 5-8 dreams of utopia although he's living in a dystopia. Like the character, I also hope for everyone in the world to be equal and happy, and (the series) underlies that hope," the director said during the press conference for the series, held in Yeongdeungpo District, Wednesday.

"When I first saw the webcomic, I liked the concept of couriers delivering oxygen and necessities and its cinematic universe. I've discussed with the original writer to make quite a change and thanks to his permission, I was able to write the interesting story."

A scene from the series "Black Knight" / Courtesy of Netflix

Kim shared that he was drawn to the plausible depiction of the dystopian future. "Until recently, we were in a situation where we had to wear masks. So when I read the scripts, I thought this could actually happen in real life," he said.

"So I was curious to know how the story would go, and seeing a variety of characters got me more interested, especially on my character 5-8."

The actor shared he had his own conundrum on happiness as he played his character.

"For every project, I look into the way a character thinks and reasons for his actions. And with this character, especially, I try to delve into what it would feel like to be abandoned and suffer just because he was born as a refugee. As I filmed the series, I tried to draw what would be a world where everyone is happy," he said.

The sci-fi series is laced with CGI and the actors created most of the scenes on a blue screen set. Kim shared his satisfaction with the outcome of its visual effects.

"My priority was on the quality of VFX. So I dedicated a lot of time and effort to visualize it and I'm very pleased," he said. "There have been several sci-fi works in Korea, like "Jung_E" and "Time to Hunt," but our series is different in that it has more entertaining elements. There are ups and downs and colorful action sequences."

gyulee@koreatimes.co.kr