Director Explores Korean-American Identity

By bringing to Korea ``West 32nd'' ― a gritty, street-style crime film that delves deep into the underworld of New York Koreatown ― director Michael Kang explores the Korean-American identity, including his own. It is a continuation of the directorial concerns from his feature debut piece ``The Motel.''

``I needed this much time to get the film made, I needed `West 32nd' to be my second film. I think it was a personal journey, and it was a personal challenge, too, to make the film,'' Kang told The Korea Times in a recent interview in Seoul.

Growing up in the suburbs of New England, the award-winning director had never been exposed to such a large Korean community until he moved to New York for college.

``It was very jarring to me, my relationship with that community. I would walk around in Flushing (Queens, New York) and look like anybody else but I felt like I didn't belong there. That's what I very much wanted to explore (in `West 32nd'),'' said the New York University graduate.

Kang became well-known in the international circle with ``The Motel,'' a coming-of-age story about a young Asian American boy living in a cheap suburban motel. The piece won much critical acclaim and awards including the 2003 Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker's Award.

His second film takes place in the heart of New York's Koreatown (K-town), which lies on West 32nd Street. Ambitious attorney John Kim takes on a pro bono case to defend a Korean teenager implicated in a gang-style homicide. Over the course of the investigation, he meets Mike Juhn, a local thug, and becomes entangled in a world of mobsters and mayhem. Kang said that the mainstream-style film is inherently similar to ``The Motel," a smart indie flick.

``They're just different styles. The base of both films is rooted in characters you don't usually get to see. I feel like the gyopo (Korean-American) community really has not been shown on film before,'' he said. ``To me the message of the movie is that Koreans in America are very lost, very disconnected and they don't know where their place is,'' he said.

But why is the film based in New York instead of L.A., which has a larger and more deeply rooted Korean community? ``Partially because I'm from New York so it made more sense to shoot the film there. But it's also because it's the farthest you can get from Korea, so people are almost in this little island. Whereas in L.A., there are people who can live there without knowing any English. In New York, you can't do that ― the Latinos are here, the Jews are right there and the Chinese are right behind you.

``In L.A. K-town, people are more comfortable. People are usually completely bilingual, they can exist in both worlds ― they're very attached to their Korean culture and like to hang out in K-town but will also have a regular job where they're part of mainstream American culture and have no problem fitting in there.

``Whereas in New York, you have to make the decision, like those two characters, John and Mike,'' he said. John is the classic American success story; a lawyer climbing the mainstream American corporate ladder, while Mike tries his best to ascend the hierarchy of the Korean crime gang. They are polar opposites are but are in fact kindred spirits.

John Cho (Courtesy of CJ Entertainment)

``Mike has just as little clue about Korea just as much as John, even though he seems more in touch with his Korean side. Partially by exposing that and exposing the American culture in the movie, Koreans also get a look at what America is. Though I may be wrong, they might have a romanticized view of the Korean-American community,'' he said, explaining how he wanted to show the other side to the success stories of Michelle Wie and Daniel Dae Kim.

In the film, the convicted boy's older sister is well-off. ``I have a lot of friends whose brothers are in jail while they are working at a big Forbes company, so it's an interesting phenomenon,'' said the director.

Although the movie is fictional, it is deeply rooted in reality. Edmund J. Lee, who co-wrote the story with Kang, discovered an intricate Korean crime network in New York while working as a reporter for the Village Voice.

``The architecture of New York very much helps the inaccessibility of this (underground world). Beneath all those noraebang (karaoke) and restaurants, there are room salons (bars) there and different things that you need access to in order to enter,'' said Kang.

The director explained that Lee had followed a ``yangachi'' (thug) around for a year to really understand the K-town crime scene. In fact, the supporting actors that played the young teenage boys were actually kids from the area. They were part of the creative process to portray the true culture of K-town and create realistic ``Konglish'' (mix of Korean and English) and slang-ridden dialogue.

``West 32nd'' also brings together the best of Korean talent in the U.S. and Korea, with popular actors John Cho (``Harold and Kumar'') and Grace Park (``Battlestar Galactica''), and Korea's top star Jeong Jun-ho and hot newcomer Jun Kim (Kim Jun-seong).

``I was a big fan of John's from way back… As we were writing the script he became the shorthand for (my co-writer) and me, we'd just talk about it as if it were John Cho but we never thought we'd be able to cast him,'' said Kang, who spoke of his likewise great luck in casting Grace Park. As for Jeong, he said it was an ``unbelievable fantasy, because I know that he's like an icon here, and that's exactly what we needed.''

Kang said Jeong's star power is key for the film because ``he's the last connection to a real Korean. Within three minutes of the film he's dead, and the rest of the movie is about how his death affects these Koreans in America who are lost and have no connection anymore to Korea. So symbolically it works.''

Kang's bridge-making efforts continue. Upcoming projects include the production of a film here about Korean-American guys making their way through the dating scene in Seoul, which he describes as `` `The Swingers' (a male version of ``Sex and the City') meets Kim Ki-duk,'' and a TV show for HBO about Chinese-Americans, the first Asian American family drama in a long time.

His next big directorial project is a human-trafficking story that takes place in Africa. Although Kang's personal journey as a Korean-American may have halted for the time being, his filmmaking endeavor goes on.

One can expect more of Kang as he wrestles the crippling challenge for all artists ― that is, taking one's cultural assets to create something new and named.

``West 32nd'' awaits release here Nov. 22, exclusively at CGV multiplex theaters. For tickets, visit www.cgv.co.kr. To learn more about the movie, visit http://www.w32nd.com/.

>>Read my movie review of "West 32nd"

>>Read my interview with John Cho.

>>Read my interview with Daniel Dae Kim.

`West 32nd' Breaks Down NY Koreatown

It gets down-and-dirty like the gritty streets of New York. In ``West 32nd,'' Korean-American director Michael Kang gives the classic detective genre a fresh twist as he tells the untold story of a Korea that exists in the heart of the Big Apple.

West 32nd Street is the geographic location of New York Koreatown (K-town) near the Empire State Building. But even those who are familiar with the ``noraebang'' (karaoke), stationary stores and ``seoleongtang'' (Korean beef broth) restaurants lining the strip will be shocked to know that there lies a whole new world beneath it all -- where Korean gangsters and ``organized'' mayhem reign.

While snippets of Koreatown have began to appear (fleetingly) as an exotic backdrop in Hollywood films like ``Collateral'' (2004) and ``Shoot 'Em Up'' (2007), it remained a relatively unexplored territory, and ``West 32nd'' breaks it down, once and for all.

In the dark corner of K-town, a bar owner Jin-ho (Jeong Jun-ho) is shot to death. Ambitious young lawyer John Kim (John Cho) offers to defend the 14-year-old Korean boy convicted of the homicide pro bono. Over the course of the investigation, he meets Mike Juhn (Jun Kim), a ruthless thug ascending the hierarchy of the Korean underworld.

Though polar opposites, the two quickly become friends. Mike is contemptible as much as he is charismatic -- an anti-hero with the tempting appeal of Kurtz in ``The Heart of Darkness.'' He attracts John like a lamp would a moth in his anarchical world that lies outside the reach of state laws.

To complicate things, John starts to fall for his client's beautiful older sister Lila (Grace Park). But winning the case -- a fast ticket to promotion -- is always his top priority, while Mike takes ``the guy from the other side'' under his wing to manifest his own grand visions.

``West 32nd'' is a classic crime movie but it's also a story about Koreanness and Americanness, and the murky middle ground in between -- a critical branch of the Korean diaspora that constitutes the thin but integral thread of the American social fabric.

In recent years, independent films like ``Better Luck Tomorrow'' (starring John Cho) and Kim So-yong's ``In Between Days'' began to accurately portray the Asian American community, but ``West 32nd'' really punches the genre through with a strictly mainstream appeal.

In the American context, the film shines through for breaking the model minority myth -- the false stereotype about Asian kids being all math whizzes who go to Ivy League schools and thus in no need of Affirmative Action. For mainland Koreans, it looks at the dark side of the American Dream, that moving to the U.S. does not guarantee wealth and success.

Just as ``West 32nd'' serves as the missing link between the two Korean communities, it brings together top talent from each side, popular actor John Cho (``Harold and Kumar'') and ``Battlestar Galactica'' heroine Grace Park from the United States and top star Jeong Jun-ho and hot newcomer Jun Kim (also known as Kim Jun-seong) from Seoul.

The film also does justice in presenting the Asian community, like the dialogues that are realistically crafted with ``Konglish'' or a clever mix of Korean and English. Characters like Mike and Jin-ho (Jeong) ooze with sex appeal, bashing stereotypes that deprived Asian men of their sexuality. It depicts more disturbing truths, touching upon racial conflicts within the Asian American community and hints upon human trafficking issues.

``West 32nd'' is not a feel-good movie. Deeply embedded in the bitter and ironic reality of life, the film's ambiguous nature will leave some feeling slightly confounded.

But it doesn't drown with heavy drama. Far from being preachy, it has a rhythmic street-style beat sprinkled with good humor -- provided by a pair of ``Dumb and Dumber'' characters -- and an eye-catching array of ``poktanju'' or Korean-style boilermakers. So get ready to descend into an intoxicating underworld you may find hard to turn back from.

`Lost' Star Daniel Dae Kim Feels Lucky About Success

Mr. Kim was uber nice, and much better looking in person. I was so glad to hear about the very understandable reasons for his strange Korean accent on "Lost." The interview had added dimension to it because his wife went to my school; they dated during college so he knew my school very well :)

Interviewing Daniel Dae Kim in Busan, during 2007 PIFF /Photo by Rachel Lee

Being an Asian American in Hollywood, Feeling Home in BusanBy Lee Hyo-wonStaff ReporterBUSAN -- For actor Daniel Dae Kim, who shot to international stardom through the hit ABC TV series ``Lost,'' the walk on red carpet at the 12th Pusan (Busan) International Film Festival meant returning to his native town.

``I'll be honest. I was a little scared (walking down the red carpet). I'm used to it in the U.S. and Europe. But because I'm from here, it mattered a little bit more. I haven't felt that way in about four years… It was also the longest red carpet I've walked on,'' he said with a slight chuckle.

``I have very fond memories of this area -- my imo (aunt) still lives about half a mile away, my samchun's (uncle's) family lived up on the hill, and I was born in Seodaeshin-dong. I was telling my parents I was coming to Busan, and `Make your country proud,' they said,'' the 39-year-old said with a big hearty laugh.

Unlike his stern character Jin from ABC's hit TV series ``Lost,'' Kim was very down-to-earth and easy-going in person, flashing a bright smile every now and then. Voted one of the ``Sexiest Men Alive'' in 2005 by People Magazine, the actor's sharply chiseled features -- high cheekbones -- were just as charming in real person.

Kim had immigrated to the United States with his family as a baby, and grew up in New York and in Pennsylvania ever since. He said he is happy to back to the Haeundae area; he had spent about three months there in the early 1990s.

``Honestly, I feel like I'm home,'' ``It sounds so cheesy when I say it but I really feel a connection. You know, I'm so grateful, so 'bangaweo' (delightful and welcomed),'' he said, explaining that although he was raised in the U.S., he had to take off his shoes when he entered the house. ``My belief system comes from my parents, which is Korean,'' he said.

``The one thing I don't like about coming to Busan though, is that I've been trying to get ride of my saturi (local accent), and now I'm speaking with all my relatives and it's all coming back,'' he said, chuckling.

Ever since the ABC hit show started first airing, it was the talk of the town for not only starring two Korean actors in the main cast, but for also featuring dialogues in Korean. It naturally garnered much attention from Korean viewers, and sharp criticisms ensued when Kim spoke with a rather strange accent.

``I was criticized for my accent, and part of that is because of my Busan accent mixed with my American accent, so people thought I just did not know how to speak Korean at all… But you know, I like the saturi (accent),'' he said, agreeing that it's part of who you are. He added that his wife, with whom he's been married for 14 years, is from Seoul, so her relatives find his Busan-American accent hilarious.
After graduating from Haverford College, Kim made his acting debut in theatrical productions. He then went on to earn his M.F.A. from New York University and has starred in popular dramas such as ``ER'' and ``24,'' and has made guest appearances in ``Ally McBeal,'' ``The Practice,'' and ``Law & Order'' to name a few. Then came ``Lost,'' which would change his life forever.

``I know it's a cliche but I really do feel lucky. You know in the States, for Asian-American actors there aren't that many opportunities. To be on a show alone is lucky, but to be on a hit show that win awards and it's recognized all over the world, that's maybe once in a lifetime,'' he said.

Despite the initial negative feedback, the actor has become almost a household name here as the popularity of American dramas, called ``Mideu'' here, have skyrocketed in recent years.

``(Kim Yun-jin and I) are in a very fortunate position. I come to a place like this (PIFF), and I'm recognized by Korean fans, I consider myself very lucky,'' he said.

Kim's advice to aspiring actors is simple but to the point: ``Work hard. Because if you only get that opportunity once in your career, you have to be able to seize it, you have to be able to get that job because you may not get another chance. Because if you're not prepared, if you don't have the acting training, if you're not concentrating on yourself, that one chance might miss you and that will be the end,'' he said.

Having grown up in Easton, Pennsylvania, where there were virtually no Asians other than his family, Kim explained that he ``definitely had a sense of being an outsider growing up.'' But he would break stereotypes of Asian being quiet model students in high school: ``I did everything I could to fit in,'' said the actor, who was not only a football player but also class president.

Kim has won the Screen Actors Guild Award in 2006, and he was individually honored with an AZN Asian Excellence Award, a Mutlicultural Prism Award and Vanguard Award from the Korean-American Coalition, all for Outstanding Performance by an Actor.

Having been asked to represent the Asian-American community in many ways, Kim said that it was a great honor and privilege, saying ``Asian-American image is very important. When you're lucky enough to be in a position like that, you should do whatever you can to better it.''

Kim and family live mostly in Hawaii, the location for ``Lost.''

``Living in Hawaii is great. I love the fact that there are so many Asian people. I don't feel like a minority there. I think that it's the only place in the world where you can be Asian, be the majority and speak English,'' he said.

As for possibilities in the Korean entertainment business, Kim was very positive, though very careful, as he always is in choosing a good project where he can portray ``genuine, three-dimensional characters, rather than mere caricatures.'' But he also expressed concern about Koreans having negative impressions of ``gyopo'' or Korean-Americans dabbling in the Korean entertainment business and leaving poor images.