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The Front Line

Coverage by Nobuhiro Hosoki

Story : Towards the end of the Korean War, a South Korean battalion is fiercely battling over a hill on the front line border against the North in order to capture a strategic point that would determine the new border between two nations.

Opens January 20, 2012

Runtime:2 hr. 13 min.

 

Interview with Director Jang Hun

 

(Q) : The Sniper played by OK-bin Kim reminded me of the girl sniper from a Stanley Kubrick film, "Full Metal Jacket"? Are there any influences from that movie, or other war films as well?

(Jang Hun) : There are some similarities between the two characters. However, the motif for Cha Tae-kyung (aka 2 seconds, played by Kim Ok-vin) is from a real model, Cha Sang-ryul who was a boy sniper from North and while revising the screenplay, we dramatized the character into a girl sniper.

(Q) : Is there more of the background story on the Kang Eun-Pyo and Kim Soo-hyeok characters when they are young? Please also talk about how you cast these roles and the actors that played them?

(Jang Hun) : There was more background of the two characters in early verisions of script with their school episodes. Many parts of their histories are skiped in order to make the story more condense. The two actors gave us greenlight on our proposal right after reading the scripts because we all liked the story and had strong feelings about this movie.

(Q) : The song that young child sings in the middle, was that popular or significant song in Korea? What does it represent?

(Jang Hun) : We have gone through all the pop songs in 1950s or 60s and picked this song which represents the atmosphere of the war time. The title means “Serenade from the front line (battlefield)” which portrays the young soldiers who are longing for their families and hometowns and which suits the characters of our film.

(Q) : Are you excited about your film was selected for the Oscar entry of South Korea? Has this help with international sales and bringing the film to a wider audience across the globe?

(Jang Hun) : There were many strong contenders from Korea last year and I feel very honored to be on the entry.

(Q) : In the film that we saw, after we thought that war had ended, there was another 12 hours of combat. It felt like the kind of the relationship between South Korea and North Korea has had up till now, never-ending and still unsettling...What are your thoughts on this?

(Jang Hun) : I feel the same way, too. How long do we have to continue this tension and when can we settle peace in this land? No one knows. We just have to keep making right judgments on this relationship so that we can reach a compromise some day.

 

End.