[Dispatch|Cannes (France)=Reporter Jung Tae-Yun] "A world without minority opinions—I wondered if that's really a good thing."
Director Yeon Sang-ho delved into the boom of AI and how it operates. From there, he conceived the scenario for the film 'Swarm.'
"When I saw how artificial intelligence works, the conclusion was that it's the sum of universal thinking. But I questioned whether everyone relying on universal thinking is the right way."
His conclusion was singular. "When everyone is bound by universal thinking alone, individuality and minority opinions can't emerge. I think that's a significant difference," he said.
A world where minority opinions don't exist, a gathering of only polite people. Is that truly good? 'Swarm' is a film that begins from this question.
'Dispatch' met director Yeon Sang-ho at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Director Yeon Sang-ho released his third zombie film following 'Train to Busan' (2016) and 'Peninsula' (2020). Each time, the zombies evolved. This time they learn and evolve.
The starting point was AI. Yeon Sang-ho said, "When I was in the conceptual stage, AI wasn't yet commonplace. But it was fascinating. I wondered how this works, so I studied it."
The sum of universal thinking, an existence without individuality. A new form of zombie was born from there. Director Yeon Sang-ho read it not as an ideal, but as a warning.
"When I wrote 'Hellbound,' I also pondered why society was heading in that direction. As I thought about it, things became clearer. Why can't one be alone? Why can't one eat alone? That's universal philosophy. It felt subtly uncomfortable."
That discomfort led to the character Seo Young-chul (played by Koo Kyo-hwan) and the world of 'Swarm.'
Seo Young-chul is the architect of this infection crisis. He's a figure with a strong philosophy. Yeon Sang-ho described him as "someone who pushes to the extreme the tragedy arising from incomplete communication."
"We must communicate, we must connect. That's universal philosophy. Seo Young-chul is someone at the extreme of that."
There was a reason for including a character who could polarize audiences in the film.
"Without that, Seo Young-chul would have looked like just a madman, a bad guy. I hoped that at some point, audiences would feel, 'Seo Young-chul's philosophy isn't bad.' That's how the message this film wants to deliver comes across."
In director Yeon Sang-ho's zombie trilogy, most survivors are women. This time, through the survivors, the message he wanted to convey was 'solidarity.'
However, he distinguished between collective consciousness and solidarity. "The conversation between Gwon Se-jung (played by Jeon Ji-hyun) and Kong Seol-hee (played by Shin Hyun-bin) at the end has a different feel from the collective consciousness of Seo Young-chul and the zombies. If audiences ask 'what's the difference,' that would be good," he added.
Finally, he said, "I focused on how to persuade through intuitive suspense alone without explanation," and hoped that "audiences will feel it in the theater."
Meanwhile, 'Swarm' opens domestically on the 21st.
<Photo source=Photographer Lee Ho-Jun>
