Director Yang Shares Life Story in `Breathless’

One of the best movies of the year. And so far one of the most enjoyable personal encounters -- gotta love a guy who giggles like a girl while he speaks Nietzsche.

``Breathless'' director-producer-lead actor Yang Ik-june /Photo by Lee Hyo-won

``I also think it is a superb film,’’ director-actor Yang Ik-june told The Korea Times in an interview, Thursday, in Seoul, when this reporter complimented his multiple award-winning film ``Breathless.’’ ``Other directors are going to think I’m nauseating,’’ said the 33-year-old headline maker, exploding into another one of his distinct, high-pitched giggles.

While sporting the same short haircut and mustache, as well the Nike sneakers, from the film, Yang was nothing like the brooding, foul-mouthed thug he played. His feature directorial debut, ``Breathless,’’ has swept top awards at numerous film festivals, from Rotterdam to Las Palmas. Naturally, Yang had been giving non-stop interviews but he still beamed with energy at 8:30 p.m.

At the international events, he said he had fun being called ``_-nom (bastard)’’ _ a word that appears in almost every line of the movie _ by foreign cineastes and festivalgoers. In Deauville, France, ``Breathless’’ was never confused with the Jean-Luc Godard film of the same English title, and he even got to meet Pierre Rissient, who was the assistant director of the Nouvelle Vague masterpiece. He loved the movie and treated Yang to several meals.

Nevertheless, he seemed unperturbed by the sudden fame. ``The trophies look all the same,’’ he joked. He’s thankful and honored, but had experienced too many overwhelming emotions during the three years of making ``Breathless’’ to be besieged. Yang produced, directed and played the lead in the movie, and had to move three times to fund it. He casually mentioned that the numerous awards didn’t always include cash prizes. ``I mean, I need money to live,’’ chuckled Yang, who has been living in sunless subterranean flats with an annual income of less than 10 million won ($10,000) for almost a decade.

``You need to forget about (the fame and honor) in order to return to a normal life,’’ he said. ``A movie happens to get made when you’re just living life. It’s like you have to sleep with someone first in order to have a baby, without using contraceptives,’’ he grinned. ``If you keep thinking, `I want to make a movie, I want to act,’ then you just become enslaved by your intense desires. You have to live life.’’

What does he normally do? ``I just do normal things… I listen to music, go out and about town, meet friends, think about raunchy things, reflect on small moments of the day,’’ he said. ``It’s the small things in daily life that inspire me.’’

This attitude of being in touch with reality extends to the moviemaking process. As a director, he doesn’t ask anything of his actors. He allows them to color their characters with their own personalities, so their character becomes the actor rather than the other way around. Acting _ a word he said he hates but has no choice to use _ ``is something you can’t learn. I wanted my actors to pour their own life into the roles,’’ he said.

Portrait of a Family

``Breathless’’ is about a victim of domestic violence that grows up to become an aggressive brute, but rediscovers hope when he meets a girl. The movie features dark themes, but it is no Kim Ki-duk film and depicts a very human and warm portrait of the lowly life. It is a partly autobiographical story inspired by his family and friends in Namgok-dong, a poor town in Chungcheong Province.

Cinema, he said, was a form of self-expression. ``People think and feel things in a universal way, but at the same time, each person is so unique and special,’’ said Yang. ```Breathless’ is a story about Korea, a story about a family. People were able to relate because families are similar, although the degree of family problems vary of course.’’

He said the movie was like a ``diary’’ where he wrote everything he wanted to say all at once. ``It was an exorcism for me,’’ he said. Doesn’t he feel uncomfortable about revealing himself? ``No. It’s like being naked at a nude beach or sharing your worries with friends who can relate to you,’’ he said.

Yang’s friends and family are very proud, he said. On Friday evening, the director and the main cast members mingled with friends and fans as one-time waiters at a bar in Sinchon. A group of his closest friends spoke affectionately of Yang’s well-deserved success. While they were leading stable careers, Yang was always the broke artist. This was despite the fact that he came from one of the more prosperous families in town. ``His father runs a furniture store but he refused to succeed him. He wanted to be independent,’’ one friend, who asked not to be identified, told The Korea Times.

Actress Kim Kkobbi waits at a party celebrating the movie's release /Photo by Hyo-won Lee

The director has the amazing ability to make you feel at ease, as if you’re talking with your best friend over a drink even though we were drinking tea at a café. He would be serious one moment and goofy the next, but consistently surprised you with his unabashed honesty.

``I want to say `_ you’ to the world through my films,’’ he said. He also wants to show the male private parts onscreen someday. ``Koreans think it’s artistic when they see it in a foreign film, but here they censor it. We feel unstable in this world because we want things to be safe all the time, but we need to be courageous,’’ said the director, who respects cineastes like John Cameron Mitchell (``Shortbus’’). ``Sex is part of life,’’ he said.

The rising director said he wants to continue exploring life through movies. One project he has in mind is about children of the underworld, and he also wants to make love stories. Does he feel pressured about having set high standards for his future films? ``No, I’m just the human Yang Ik-june,’’ he said.

Yang was born in 1975 in Chungcheong Province. He studied acting at Kongju Communications Arts College and played minor roles in mainstream movies including ``Viva! Love.’’ He received awards and critical acclaim for the short films he starred in and directed such as ``Lovers.’’ ``Breathless’’ is his first feature film.

``Breathless’’ opens in theaters April 16. 130 minutes. 19 and over. Distributed by Jin Jin Pictures.

Yang’s `Breathless’ Is Breathtaking

Yang Ik-june directs, produces and plays the lead role in his feature film debut, ``Breathless.’’ The multiple award-winning family drama opens in theaters April 16. /Courtesy of Jin Jin Pictures

In an obscure alleyway at night, a man ruthlessly beats a woman. A shadowy figure emerges and intercepts the violent lover’s quarrel, but only to slap the victim repeatedly himself, reprimanding her for getting hit by her man.

Is he a hero or villain? It’s difficult to say. ``Breathless’’ explores the murky gray zone between compassion and cruelty, redemption and revenge, and the blessings and curses of family bonds. In a nutshell, it’s a family drama that’s inappropriate for children. While harrowingly violent, however, the multiple-award winning film by director-lead actor-producer Yang Ik-june seethes with warmth and humor.

The film is making headlines for entering almost 20 international film events and picking up top prizes, including, most recently, the SIGNIS Prize and the Audience Award, Wednesday, at the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival. And the movie does not disappoint, and establishes Yang as a name to watch out for.

``Breathless’’ has captured the hearts of French audiences at Deauville _ even though they are more than familiar with the Jean-Luc Godard masterpiece of the same title (``A Bout de Souffle’’ in French). It features over two hours of the discomforting subject matter of domestic violence against a rundown neighborhood of Seoul, but the movie glimmers with life. One is drawn to the protagonist, Sang-hoon, whom Yang plays compellingly as the most endearing antihero since Kang Cheol-jung of the ``Public Enemy’’ series.

Sang-hoon is someone you don’t want to run into on the street. Wearing a frown and an old-fashioned collar shirt with a pair of Nike sneakers, he’s prone to mindless fits of violence, punching a passerby if he feels like it. He leads a dreary existence working for an enforcement mob run by an old friend, Man-sik (Joung Maan-sik). When he makes money he pours it away at a pachinko parlor. He’s probably the only Korean still using a beeper rather than a cell phone.

But just when the jerky, handheld camera establishes him as a despicable thug, you see him looking after his young nephew, though he is careful not to get too close with his half sister, and making sure he steers clear of young children when beating people up. His irate temper turns highly volatile at the sole mention of his father, and we learn that Sang-hoon is a victim of a violent family tragedy that took the life of his mother and sister. ``So, does serving 17 years undo the fact that he killed two people?’’ he asks, enraged with his father.

But the darkest hours always yield to light, and Yeon-hee enters his life like a ray of sunshine. Actress Kim Kkobbi plays the role of the cheeky high school student who doesn’t even wince at Sang-hoon’s intimidations. The big bad thug is fascinated by the little sharp-tongued girl who goes as far as treating him like her junior, saying ``So I’m a senior. Have you even been to school?’’ He’s at a loss for words.

Yeon-hee says that her family life is so peaceful that she needs to be diverted by a lowlife thug. But in reality, they are kindred spirits, as her tough demeanor was crafted over the years of dealing with her violent, mentally disturbed father and rebellious younger brother. Her mother lost her life in a skirmish with thugs, but she finds solace in the presence of such people in a vicious cycle.

The film depicts the human repulsion against violence but also the disturbing yet cathartic emotional release from submitting to it, and thus the human propensity toward it. But it ultimately traces the human need for hope and redemption.

As Yeon-hee starts warming up his stark existence, Sang-hoon slowly begins to emerge from the dark side. The two unlikely friends find a niche of happiness in babying Sang-hoon’s little nephew. Sang-hoo, however, has committed sins for which there is a heavy price to pay.

In theaters April 16. 130 minutes. 18 and over. Distributed by Jin Jin Pictures.