Broker director Hirokazu Kore-eda says actor Song Kang-ho inspired him
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South Korean actor Song Kang-ho (left) with director Hirokazu Kore-eda at a press conference for the film Broker in Seoul.
PHOTO: AFP
SEOUL - Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda has credited South Korean actor Song Kang-ho with inspiring him during the making of Broker.
Song, 55, took home the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival last month, the first South Korean actor to do so.
"During filming, I thought he was more than just an actor of high calibre. For a scene, he came up with different, fresh performances, even in repetitive takes," the director said in an interview with South Korean media which was reported by Yonhap News Agency. He added that if his movie is released later on DVD, he wanted to include all the takes of that particular scene, which involved an orphan trying to hitch a ride.
"I've never experienced this kind of actor before. I was amazed by his performance and curious about how that is possible."
The movie, the film-maker's first in South Korea, stars other big names such as actress Bae Doona and K-pop idol Lee Ji-eun, better known as IU. It centres on relationships formed through "baby boxes" installed at churches or institutions in South Korea, where desperate parents can leave their newborn babies anonymously.
In an article in The Korea Herald, Kore-eda said: "A scene of Song Kang-ho gently talking to a baby in the baby box and also selling babies came to my mind. I thought about Song playing a character that has both good and evil sides and that's where I started from."
It was the veteran actor's first Cannes prize, although he has appeared in several Cannes-winning titles by acclaimed directors, including Bong Joon-ho's Parasite (2019) and Park Chan-wook's Thirst (2009).
"I think Song won the award not because I did something right; it was due to the accumulation of all the work that he has done. I could not believe that he had not received any awards previously," said Kore-eda, who won the top Cannes prize of Palme d'Or in 2018 for his Japanese film Shoplifters.
"I feel sorry that he is receiving it (belatedly) with my project and I am so happy. It is the best award that my movie Broker can receive."
