Way Home, The : About The Production


Director Jeong-Hyang LEE had a clear vision of what she wanted for her second directorial outing. In a world of blockbusters and big budgeted films, LEE simply wanted to film a love story between a seven-year-old boy and his 77 year old grandmother.
"My goal was to make a good film. I wanted to make a film that is funny, fresh and touching. Those three words just about describe the whole film," states LEE.
LEE also wanted to depict the grandmother as a symbol of purity, like nature itself, she gives everything unconditionally. "Nature is also a key word in this film," notes LEE. "I wanted to portray the grandmother as nature, which gives us life and raises us. "
The little boy Sang-woo, however, is someone needing protection and love, even if at first, he does not recognize the need.
"Sang-woo represents all of us, including myself," reflects the young director. "We all want to be protected and loved by someone. My grandmother on my mother's side took really good care of me and helped me grow. I still have a long way to go, though…"

FINDING THE RIGHT LOCATION

To fully realize her vision, finding the right locations and the right cast was of great importance and turned out to be quite a challenge.
"I insisted on keeping the shooting locations as original as possible and I wanted to hire local villagers as well," reflects LEE. " We shot the scenes pretty much in the original sequences so that the film would be as natural as possible. "
Due to the characteristics of the film, the production team needed to find a country cottage in a village in the middle of nowhere. The team traveled all over Korea looking for the right combination of elements, but came up empty.
Finally, as if LEE had had a premonition, the crew set off for Youngdong, Choongbuk Province. There they found their perfect village. However, shooting at this remote location presented its own series of challenges.
There was no road to the location. Everyday, the crew had to carry the heavy camera equipment on their shoulders up and down the winding country trail. Additionally, characteristic of remote, mountain locations, the production was at the mercy of the area's very temperamental weather patterns. Above all, however, there was an incredible multitude of bugs. The shear number and variety of insects that flourish in the fresh, moist, unpolluted surroundings, amazed the crew. Those who were put off initially by the small creatures - including the director - soon became used to their constant presence.

CASTING

After the location was set, the crew searched throughout Youngdong in the hopes of finding their star grandmother. Like finding the location, the search was long and frustrating. One day LEE happened to see an old woman walking towards her in the distance. The moment she saw Eul-Boon KIM, she cried out, "That's her!"
But KIM needed to be persuaded to agree to play the part of Grandma. Not only had she never acted, but she had never seen a motion picture. It was a strange new process, but LEE was finally able to convince KIM to take the role.
Granny KIM surprised the crew everyday with her astute eye, amazing memory and unique acting ability. She knew instinctively what to do and she would remember every gesture and prop that was used in each scene. It was as if the script supervisor had an assistant, someone to help her keep track of every detail.
The young actor who was cast as Sang-woo, Seung-Ho YOO, had only slightly more experience than KIM. He had previously been seen on the television mini-series "Thorn Fish" and LEE thought that YOO would bring the right mischievous quality to the role. She also felt that he had completed a magical duo. "Nothing could be more amazing," she states. "A couple consisting of the youngest and the oldest stars in the history of Korean film is born!"
The rest of the actors and extras were all cast on location. LEE wanted a realism that she felt was only possible by using actual people from the countryside. By employing real villagers, she had to contend with "actors" with real-life responsibilities and retaining them for long periods of time was difficult. As much as villagers from Megock, Semack and Jeetongma enjoyed taking part as extras, as the shooting continued and the seasons changed, many of them had to leave to work their farms during the harvest.

SHOOTING THE STORY

"I thought we'd be able to get the shooting done in two months," recalls LEE, but it actually ended up taking a full six months to shoot. I didn't want to shoot several scenes grouped together like other films. I had to shoot the scenes consecutively to capture the subtle changes in emotion of the characters. I wanted to make a film that resembled nature and that included the characters also. That's why we needed to take long, slow breaths. "
When filming was finally completed, leaving the village was difficult. The crew had grown to love and feel like a part of the village. Consisting of only eight small households, the villagers had opened up their hearts and their lives. They freely gave the crew fruit and other food every time they saw them, treating them like their own children.
Crew and villagers alike were in tears when it was time to say goodbye.
"
The day we left, I hugged Eul-Boon and started crying my eyes out," recalls LEE. "She cried too. "
LEE also felt a tremendous sense of responsibility for the condition of her star. "
I was worried about this the most toward the end. So many people had just barged into the Eul-Boon's life when she had been living alone for so long. How lonely will she feel after the whole crew has left?" wondered a concerned LEE. "My heart aches still when I think of her. I will try to visit her often…"

Author : Article by © 2002 Tube Pictures Film