[Dispatchㅣ Cannes (France)=Reporter Jung Tae-yoon] "I never thought I would receive such joy."

Na Hong-jin is a director beloved by Cannes. All three of his films—'The Chaser,' 'The Yellow Sea,' and 'The Wailing'—were invited to the Cannes Film Festival as releases. This is the first time he is presenting a film as a world premiere to audiences worldwide.

Director Na Hong-jin laughed and said, "I'm trembling like this, feeling this good, this honored, and like everything is complete. Just being on the Cannes Film Festival competition list makes me so happy and delighted."

'Dispatch' sat down with director Na Hong-jin in Cannes the day after the world premiere of the film 'Hope.'

# "The whole world felt ominous"

The starting point for 'Hope' was anxiety. Director Na Hong-jin revealed, "Watching the news, something felt ominous. Globally, I felt something ominous about this planet where humans live."

"It seemed like war would break out in this country, that country, and there were signs of it. It was the same when I was writing this scenario. The whole world felt ominous, and it felt like violence would cover the world mercilessly."

That ominousness became a film. He shared, "When I made 'The Wailing,' I tried to find the answer within humanity for that reason, but it seemed I couldn't find it. So as I wandered through gods and supernatural things, I ended up going to the universe."

In 'The Chaser' he pursued the criminal, in 'The Yellow Sea' he pursued the mastermind, and in 'The Wailing' he pursued the identity of the outsider. Na Hong-jin has always rushed toward truth. This time, he moved that truth to the universe.

"I think the cause of all tragedy lies in perspective. If you examine all positions, actually there was no intention at all. There are aspects where both sides understand each other, but it's a tragedy brought about by collision between such entities."

# "Hope loses its function the moment it is fulfilled"

The title 'Hope' is also the name of a village called 'Hopohang' near the demilitarized zone in the film. He conceived the connection with 'Hope' and named it from the start.

Na Hong-jin explained, "The characters appearing in this film each harbor small hopes, whether big or small. And it's a story where those hopes collide."

"The very phrase 'hopes colliding' is interesting because hope loses its function as hope the moment it is fulfilled. It's no longer hope. So this collision is a story that cannot reach a conclusion."

# "I dislike the obvious"

Na Hong-jin is a director who loves experimentation. He always pretends to follow genre conventions and then betrays those expectations. This time too, he did not want audiences to focus only on the mystery.

That's why humor stands out in this film. Na Hong-jin said, "The structure of peeling away the mystery looks too good and easy, doesn't it. I kept wanting to disturb it by doing other things."

"So the characters keep saying strange things and doing strange actions. Audiences follow the mystery and then suddenly get led to strange places."

He intentionally left spaces empty. For example, the chase scene unfolding on a road. Generally, cars tangle and collide to create spectacular visuals. However, 'Hope' unfolds on an empty road where not a single car passes.

Na Hong-jin conveyed, "In 'Saving Private Ryan' too, scenes of a small group running through empty spaces are very impressive, aren't they. I wanted our film to have that feeling, leading the search for truth."

The contrast between forest and village was also intentional. He elaborated, "The forest is their (the aliens') space, the town is this side's (humanity's) space. What starts in the town can only find its cause in the forest, and the end of the story leads from that forest back to the village."

# "Film is still evolving"

The version screened at Cannes was a fresh edit completed four days prior. Director Na Hong-jin himself confirmed the final version for the first time at Cannes. The final version is still ongoing.

He shared, "We screened it at Cannes and that night we had another CGI meeting. We're refining each part in greater detail. I'm still deliberating whether to make changes to the edit."

Still, he had conviction. Na Hong-jin emphasized, "This film is still evolving" and "from beginning to end, it was planned with a structure of peeling away layers of an onion one by one."

"That mystery continues to move forward. And I believe this is a film that will continue to evolve going forward."

A new work after ten years, a premiere for the first time, and a film still evolving. That's how Na Hong-jin spent the night in Cannes.

The awards results for 'Hope' at the Cannes Film Festival will be announced on the 24th.

<Photo provided by Plus M Entertainment>