Playing a somewhat deranged director in 'Cobweb' was something that Song Kang-ho says he enjoyed. Photo: AFP
In 2019, the world got acquainted with Korean actor Song Kang-ho when Parasite became the most celebrated film at every awards ceremony, including the 2020 Oscars, where it won six awards, nabbing the top prizes Best Picture and Best International Feature Film.
Song’s international success continued as he was named Best Actor at last year’s Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Broker, directed by Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda.
This year, the 56-year-old’s new film Cobweb made its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, marking the eighth time Song visited the prestigious festival held annually in the south of France. Cobweb – directed by Kim Jee-woon – was screened in the non-competitive Un Certain Regard section, where it received a 12-minute standing ovation.
In a career that started in 1991 as a stage actor and then a film actor with the 1996 The Day A Pig Fell Into The Well, Song has worked with some of South Korea’s top directors like Park Chan-wook, Lee Chang-dong and Bong Joon-ho.
He attributes his success with these directors to not being conventionally “handsome”.
“You may look at me and think that I represent the face or look of a Korean male actor. But I have to say I’m the least good-looking actor out there. There are so many good-looking Korean actors.
“But, I think it’s because I don’t have a handsome face that I am able to appear like an everyday man,” he said at a virtual global press conference for the film Cobweb that StarLifestyle was invited to.
That everyday quality, he adds, is what lets him connect with the audience emotionally in a believable and relatable manner.
The cast of 'Parasite' after winning the Best Picture Award at the Oscars in 2020. Photo: AFP
Song considers this relatability a reason why Cobweb director Kim has repeatedly chosen to collaborate with him.
The two first worked together in the 1998 film The Quiet Family, where Song took on a dramatic role after mostly playing roles of bullies and gangsters.
The director subsequently cast Song as the lead in his 2000 film, The Foul King.
They also collaborated on The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008) and The Age Of Shadows (2016).
“To me, Song is an irreplaceable, one and only actor. He completes my film; he owns that kind of presence and power in my film,” Kim, 59, said of their professional relationship.
Song shared his thought: “Over the past 25 years, we have done five films together. And every time, I feel like I am going on a journey of cinema with Director Kim.
“I always partake in that journey with a mix of excitement and fear.”
According to him, Kim remains the same as when they began their very first project, The Quiet Family, which he described as a simple yet charming start.
“I feel like, throughout our journey, the world has broadened to become more experimental, more provocative, more innovative, and it has led us to experience a lot more adventures along the way.
“This is the essence of the amazing and surprising world of cinema created by Director Kim.
“So, I always look forward to what kind of journey he will create when we do a project together. That level of anticipation, of course, always ends with excitement.”
Yeol (Song, centre) is convinced that a new ending would transform his film into a masterpiece. Photo: Handout
Aptly enough, their latest film, Cobweb – a “metafictional drama” set in the 1970s – delves into the essence of cinema.
The story revolves around Director Kim Yeol (played by Song), who’s absolutely convinced that an alternative ending to his already-filmed movie will transform it into a “masterpiece”.
Yeol is particularly obsessed with this vision, as he has struggled to match the success of his directorial debut.
The only problem with his intent to re-shoot the ending is that no one is interested – not his fussy actors (Lim Soo-jung, Oh Jung-se, Krystal Jung), not the crew, and definitely not the head of the production company.
Furthermore, a re-shoot will have to involve the censorship board, which regulated content in the 1970s.
Nonetheless, Yeol pushes ahead amidst censorship and a chaotic set even as no one else understands this new ending of his. The only person in his corner is a young producer (Jeon Yeo-bin), an ardent fan of Yeol.
Song (right) with Hong Kong director Anthony Pun, actor Chow Yun-fat and his wife Jasmine Tan at the opening ceremony of the 28th Busan International Film Festival last month. Photo: AP
In an interview with The Korea Herald, Song said he was intrigued with Cobweb because “it was not a typical genre film”.
“The movie is about a director making a movie, which is a very new topic, not just for me but also for the audience. I found it very interesting,” he said.
One of the exciting elements in the film is how it switches back and forth between the black-and-white film Yeol is making and the “reality” involving the film cast and crew on a film set that’s about to be demolished for a new project.
The Cobweb director explained that the idea for the film started during the pandemic when the whole entertainment industry came to a halt.
During that lull period, Kim thought a lot about filmmaking, as well as those moments when he first fell in love with cinema and wanted to become a filmmaker himself.
Kim said at the virtual press conference: “I’m sure that all filmmakers have gone through experiences where they met with obstacles and hindrances. And we had to overcome them.
“I wanted Cobweb to be sort of an encouragement to carry on and push yourself further, not just for myself, but for everyone involved in cinema all over the world.”
Not surprisingly, Song is convincing in the role of a pill-popping director who has to break through every one of the conflicts that arise at a moment’s notice.
Even as Yeol’s mental state deteriorates, he endeavours to rise above the challenging circumstances.
Playing the somewhat deranged director in Cobweb was something that Song said he enjoyed.
“I act to become a weirder or stranger version of myself,” Song said at a talk in Busan recently.
“To me, that is the absolute essence of creativity. When someone says, ‘It’s strange’, that sounds like a compliment to me. It means it’s new and can’t be defined in ordinary terms.”
Song said this to Kim’s comment at the talk about the role of a director, which is to capture “strange and weird” moments that move people and put it in a cinematic form.
That is why, Song’s focus when playing Yeol was on the character’s ultimate goal – to re-shoot the ending.
“I put more emphasis on how to carry out that energy of wanting to push forward until the end, within the confined space of having to deal with so many different characters but having that one purpose of finishing the film.”
When asked if he would ever consider directing a film himself, Song said: “Taking on the responsibility of an actual film director is beyond my personal capabilities.
“So, no, I do not have any plans to sit in the director’s chair. What I have on my plate as an actor is more than full.”
Cobweb is now showing at selected GSC locations nationwide today.
