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Check out the Q&A with director Lee Han!
Credit: AsianMediaWiki

Q&A for "Punch" took place after a screening of the movie at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival on October 10, 2011. Appearing as speaker is the movie's director Lee Han. AsianMediaWiki editor Ki Mun was there and transcribed/translated the session.

• Lee Han - Hello, I am Lee Han, the director of "Punch." Nice to meet you. Now, I am more nervous than the movie's preview screening. People who attend film festivals tend to be more ardent fans of movies than general movie audience goers. I hope you have had a good time watching my film.

• Moderator - This is your fourth feature film. "Punch" is based on a very famous novel. I think you might have felt a lot of pressure because of this and how to bring such a good novel into movie form. Could you briefly explain to us the process from planning to filming to it's release?

• Lee Han - "Punch" is based on the novel "Won-Deuk Yi" by Kim Ryeo-Ryung. One of the main strengths of the novel is its depiction of dark characters and depressing setting in a bright manner. I was attracted to that. I did feel burdened in making a movie version of this novel. When we were writing the adaptation we tried adding a lot of things to the screenplay, but it didn't come out better than the novel. We ended up adhering more faithfully to the novel and just adding cinematic touches.

• Moderator - How long did filming take?

• Lee Han - Filming began February, 2011 and finished in May. About 2 and a half months. Is that right? No, it took about 3 months.

• Audience Question - I read the novel "Won-Deuk Yi." In the movie there is Ho-Jung who lived with her brother and was the love interest of Dong Joo. She wasn't in the original novel. What made you add her character into the movie? Also, in the end credits I saw "the late" added in front of film crew member Kim Yong-Sam. Could you explain what happened to him?

• Lee Han - Ho-Jung is the only character that was not from the original novel. I agonized a bit on finding a way in which the audience would feel closer to high school teacher Dong-Joo. I then thought of love. The most universal thing is love. I felt people would feel closer to him if he falls in love. After that, we wrote the character Ho-Jung into the movie. About the late Kim Yong-Sam. After we finished filming, Kim Yong-Sam went back to his regular job. He got into an accident and died. It was so sad.

• Audience Question - After I read that Kim Yun-Seok and Yoo Ah-In were cast for the movie, I read the novel "Won-Deuk Yi." I think Kim Yun-Seok and Yoo Ah-In are perfect for their characters. How did you cast these two actors?

• Lee Han - In the case of Kim Yun-Seok, when we were in the process of writing the movie adaptation, he became our first choice for Dong-Joon. The writers and all the staff members wanted Kim Yun-Seok. We gave Kim Yun-Seok the screenplay and, fortunately for us, he said yes. In the case of Yoo Ah-In, we conducted many auditions involving actors his age and younger. We came to the conclusion that Yoo Ah-In was the most suited to play Won-Deuk.

• Moderator - You have worked with some of the most popular and talented actors and actresses in your previous films. In fact, it is quite difficult to cast first choice actors for a particular role. What attractions do you think your movies hold?

• Lee Han - I don't know. Maybe I look nice? I respect the opinions of actors and actress a lot. There might be some differences of opinion between what I think and what the actor thinks, but as long their feelings are not that different from the main direction of the movie, I accept their opinions. I think I am just lucky.

• Audience Question - There are problems occurring overseas in multicultural countries. What message do you want to deliver on this topic?

• Lee Han - In fact, reporters say "Punch" is a movie about multiculturalism. I feel burdened a bit with that, because I didn't deal with that issue deeply. Just, while reading the novel and shooting the movie, I hoped people would feel some of the viewpoints of immigrants intimately. I feel those people are separated from us. I think the important things are hanging around, getting intimate, seeing each other and talking to each other, rather than being separated from immigrants.

• Audience Question - In the movie, were those actors really immigrants or just actors?

• Lee Han - Jasmine Lee, who played Won-Deuk's mother, came from the Philippines. She also has a son Won-Deuk's age. The person who played Hassan married a Korean woman and works at LG Electronics.

• Audience Question - What made you decide to make the novel into a movie?

• Lee Han - The novel is fun. While reading the novel I laughed and became touched. I couldn't feel anything for a while after finishing the novel. About 30 minutes or an hour later I could understand little-by-little what the writer wanted to say. A long time ago, I used to live in an area like Won-Deuk's neighborhood. The novel reminded me of the people from that time. This isn't just a light novel, so I wanted to make the novel into a movie.

• Audience Question - Tell us which scene you like most and some memorable episodes while shooting the film.

• Lee Han - The scene that I like the most is the one of Won-Deuk eating bread. At first, I wanted that scene in the beginning of the movie, but other staff members stopped me from doing this, because they told me the movie would be gloomy. I think that scene shows everything about Won-Deuk. Memorable episodes .... it's hard to say. Aha, I was surprised by Yoo Ah-In's poor athletic abilities. He was good with running, throwing a ball, but not kicking. At first, I was really worried about this, but Yoo Ah-In worked very hard. His sleeping pattern used to be staying up until dawn and then sleeping through the afternoon. Yoo Ah-In completely changed that. He woke up early in the morning and received training. Later, a martial arts director told me that Yoo Ah-In was very determined. Later, I was surprised by Yoo Ah-In. He received training for about 2 or 3 months. I would like to say thanks to Yoo Ah-In. While he was training I was unable to go and see him. He got a little huffy over that.

• Audience Question - Won-Deuk's neighborhood is located in a high area. I would think for the film crew it would be difficult to carry all their heavy equipment and also for the actors and actresses. How did you deal with that?

• Lee Han - Fortunately, behind the shooting site there is an elementary school. We could get to the elementary school by car. It was harder than other shooting sites. The area didn't have big restaurants to accommodate all of us. When we wanted to eat, we had to walk down. It took time to go from and get to the shooting site. Even though we ate, we got hungry soon after from walking so much.

• Audience Question - Many immigrants are shown in the movie. Tell us about them or any memorable incidents involving those actors. Also, Yoo Ah-In mentioned on a program that he got mad because nobody seemed to care about him while he received kickboxing training by himself. How did you soothe him?

• Audience Question - Jasmine Lee, who played Won-Deuk's mother, has a sad story. Her husband died to save their daughter's life. Afterwards, Jasmine Lee had to raise her children by herself. She is very firm and brave. About Yoo Ah-In, I was very busy at the time, so I couldn't go see him. I think he understood that.

• Audience Question - I read the novel "Won-Deuk Yi" after hearing it would be turned in a movie. There's lots of comic books and novels that are adapted into movies. Fans of the original work can be quite demanding. In my case, I enjoyed this movie. I think you as the director might feel pressure from this?

• Lee Han - In fact, before shooting, I agonized a lot of over this. Once we began filming, I didn't have time to worry about it as much. I was too busy filming the movie. Before shooting and until writing the final scenario, everyone involved in making the movie agonized a lot over this.

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