San Francisco Frontiers - S. Korean blockbuster 'Hope' underscores growing film ambition

"Hope" by Na, whose low-budget horror movie "The Wailing" became a huge hit in his home country, was able to give free rein to his dark imagination in this gory tale of alien invasion.

"It's the most expensive film in the history of Korean cinema," Na told AFP in an interview at the Cannes Film Festival where the film premiered on Sunday night.

"It’s a film that really required a very, very large budget because of the special effects, the design, the actors."

Despite having a genre-defying concept that was hard to sell initially -- it skips between thriller, sci-fi, horror and comedy -- he received backing from Korea's Plus M Entertainment and a budget of around 30 million euros ($35 million).

The cost of "Hope" underlines the increasing resources available to South Korean directors whose hit films such as "Parasite" and "KPop Demon Hunters", as well as TV series like "Squid Game" have turned the country into a global entertainment centre.

Although married acting couple Fassbender and Vikander, stars of films from "12 Years a Slave" to "Ex Machina", are listed on the film's cast, many fans might struggle to recognise them.

Their acting has been transformed by special effects, with all the recognisable lead roles performed by bankable Korean stars including Hwang Jung-min, as well as Hoyeon from "Squid Game".

The all-action film, full of bodily fluid and gunfire, revolves around a clash between the residents of a remote town close to the frontier between South and North Korea and terrifying visitors from another planet.

With its themes of conflict and the incompetence of local officials, Na said he had "the wars that we know at the moment and the political situation that we had" at the time he was writing the screenplay.

-- Korean wave --

"Hope", intended as the first film in a series, is one of 22 films competing for the prestigious Palme d'Or prize for best film in Cannes.

It is a first by Na in 10 years since "The Wailing" which also focused on a remote location struggling with a mystery arrival.

The Cannes jury this year is headed by a South Korean director for the first time, Park Chan-wook, the maker of arthouse classics such as "Oldboy", "The Handmaiden" and "Decision to Leave".

"Korea is playing a role as one of the central hubs of the film world, and I believe this is a movement befitting the time," he told AFP last week.

Park insisted that he would not favour his compatriot, Na.

"Some even joked that I might go out of my way to be harsher on a Korean film, because it wouldn't look good if I appeared to be favouring it," he told AFP. "I intend to judge everything as fairly and objectively as possible."

E.Walker--SFF