For those familiar with director Jo Sung-hee’s previous work, his first commercial film, “A Werewolf Boy,” will come as a surprise.

This is mostly because of the tone of the movie. The star-studded film, featuring Song Joong-ki and Park Bo-young, is a fantasy romance between a teenage girl and a feral “wolf” boy who can neither read nor speak. Taking place in a rural Korean town in the 1960s, the film feels very much like a children’s story, filled with innocence, curiosity, humor and moving drama. It drew 1 million viewers in the five days after its release on Oct. 31.

Jo’s previous indie films were rather dark and even grotesque. The 33-year-old’s 2008 short “Don’t Step Out of the House” was about a young, impoverished brother and sister waiting for their father. His 2010 feature film, “End of Animal,” was about a young woman in the last month of her pregnancy who, while trying to get to her hometown to give birth, runs into a series of ordeals and uncanny misfortunes.

 “Many would think I compromised a lot in order to make a commercial debut,” said Jo during an interview with The Korea Herald.

“But that wasn’t the case. In fact ‘A Werewolf Boy’ is the kind of story that I’ve always been interested in telling, along with others. I’ve always wanted to make a film which can be enjoyed by all generations of people.”

Though he has just stepped into the world of commercial cinema, Jo has already won a number of awards for his previous indie works. “Don’t Step Out of the House,” which was also his graduation project at Korean Academy of Film Arts, won prizes at Cannes International Film Festival, Jeonju International Film Festival and Seoul Independent Film Festival. “A Werewolf Boy” was featured at Toronto International Film Festival in September prior to its release.

“I am really grateful for everything,” said Jo. “I’m grateful that I get to do what I really love to do. It’s almost surreal to me that I somehow made a commercial film, that it has actually opened in theaters, and that I get to attend the screenings and press meetings. I appreciate all the reviews, whether they are positive or negative. I’m grateful that I get to receive reviews to begin with.”

“A Werewolf Boy” tells the story of teenage girl Suni (Park Bo-young) who is sent to a country house for health reasons and there runs into a boy in the woods whom she befriends. The boy’s body temperature is 46 degrees Celsius, his blood type unidentifiable, and he acts like a wild animal. By using a training manual for dogs, Suni begins to “civilize” the beast: She teaches him table manners, how to read and write, and plays guitar for him. The two eventually become very close.

“A Werewolf Boy” tells a lot about the director and his life. Jo majored in industrial design at Seoul National University, and worked for a children’s animation company before attending KAFA. He’s also had countless pets, including dogs, cats, birds, and even frogs. He’s been living with his current dog, a Boston Terrier, for the past eight years. Just like Suni in the film, Jo trained a number of his dogs on his own.

“One of the fascinating things about dogs is their loyalty,” said Jo.

“They don’t care whether you look nice or you look like you’ve just woken up. They like you no matter what. My dog tries to cuddle with me even when I get upset at him for making a mess in my room. It is hard to expect such unconditional loyalty from people, but I think it does exist among us human beings, and that it is a human characteristic. One of the things that this film talks about is that very loyalty.”

Jo fondly remembers his days at KAFA, where he learned how to write and direct films. The director got his admission to the school by submitting a film he made with his friends for pure fun. Filmmaker Yoon Sung-hyun, who won the Best New Director award at the Grand Bell Awards and BIFF for his 2010 feature debut “Bleak Night,” was one of his classmates. At the state-run film school, Jo was taught by Oh Seung-wook, who wrote the script of Hur Jin-ho’s award-winning romance “Christmas in August.”

“One of the things Oh told me is that a director should trust his own abilities, but should always challenge their own works and expand their experiences,” said Jo. “I always think of that phrase whenever I feel discouraged or am in doubt while making films.”

The director, who was quiet and introverted as a child, said the film is also about the things that we have lost and miss.

“‘A Werewolf Boy’ is a fantasy film, but it does not offer a visual fantasy like ‘Lord of the Rings’ or the Harry Potter movies,” said Jo. “It’s a fantasy about the innocence of childhood, the kind of friendship or feelings that we no longer have.”

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)

<관련 한글 기사>

’늑대소년’ 감독이 말하는 관전 포인트는?

1960년대 시골 마을을 배경으로 10대 소녀와 떠돌이 늑대소년의 이야기를 그린 '늑대소년'이 지난 10월 31일 개봉 후 5일 만에 관객 수 100만 명을 돌파하며 기염을 토하고 있다.

연출을 맡은 조성희 감독의 전작을 살펴보면 아버지를 기다리는 어리고 가난한 남매의 이야기 “남매의 집"(2008)을 비롯해서  2010년 개봉작 "짐승의 끝"은 임신 막달에 접어든 어린 여성이 출산을 앞두고 고향을 찾아가며 겪는 온갖 불운을 다루는 등 암울한 인디영화가 많았다.

조감독은 “많은 이들은 제가 상업영화에 데뷔한 것에 대해 타협적 길을 걷는다고 생각하겠지만 그건 사실이 아니에요. ‘늑대소년’은 늘 관심 있었던 이야기거든요. 전 세대가 즐길 수 있는 영화를 늘 만들고 싶었어요.”라고 본지와의 인터뷰에서 말했다.

이제 막 상업영화시장에 들어선 그이지만, 조 감독은 이미 지난 인디 영화 작품들로 수많은 상을 거머줬다. “남매의 집”은 칸느국제영화제를 비롯해 많은 국내 영화상을 받았으며 “늑대소년” 역시 토론토국제영화제에서 지난 9월 선보인 바 있다.

“모든 것에 감사합니다. 제가 사랑하는 일을 할 수 있어서 감사해요. 제가 상업영화를 제작해서 그 영화가 영화관에서 개봉이 되고 제가 스크린이나 언론과의 인터뷰에 나선다는 것이 아주 이상하게 느껴지기는 합니다. 좋든 나쁘든 모든 감상평에 감사하고요.”라고 말했다.

“늑대소년”은 건강 상의 이유로 시골에 보내진 소녀(박보영)가 우연히 수풀에서 소년을 만나고 친구가 되는 이야기다. 체온이 46도에 달하는 소년(송중기)은 야생동물처럼 행동한다. 개 훈련 지침서를 보며 소녀는 늑대소년을 사회화 시키기 위해 식사예절을 가르치고, 읽고 쓰는 법을 가르치면서 결국 두 사람은 가까워진다.

“늑대소년”은 감독의 인생에 대해 다루고 있다. 조 감독은 서울대학교에서 산업디자인을 전공했으며 이전에 아동 애니메이션 회사에서 일한 적이 있다. 그는 강아지에서 개구리에 이르기까지 많은 애완동물을 키웠다. 이는 영화 속 소녀의 모습과 흡사하다.

“동물들은 당신이 예뻐 보이든 지금 막 잠에서 깬 모습이든 상관하지 않죠. 당신을 무조건적으로 좋아해요. 개는 제가 왜 이렇게 집을 어질러 놓았냐고 화를 내도 저한테 안겨요. 사람들한테서 무조건적인 애정을 기대하기는 힘들잖아요. 그런데 저는 이게 사람에게서도 가능하다고 생각해요. 그게 사람의 성질이기도 해요. 영화는 그 점을 다루고 있죠.”라고 조 감독이 말했다.

조 감독은 어릴 적 조용하고 내성적인 아이였다. 그는 영화가 우리가 잃어버린 것에 대한 이야기라고 전했다. “‘늑대소년’이 판타지 영화이긴 하지만, ‘반지의 제왕’이나 ‘해리포터’처럼 영상이 화려하지는 않아요. ‘늑대소년’은 어린 시절의 순수함, 우정, 우리가 더 이상 갖고 있지 않은 감정 같은 것들에 대한 이야기입니다.” (코리아헤럴드)