Unrecognizable from her co-starring and breakout role in 2018 hit “Burning,” Jeon Jong-seo is the centerpiece, the tortured protagonist and the athletic avenger, but not the titular dancer, in Netflix movie and Busan International Film Festival selection “Ballerina.”
In the hands of fast-rising director Lee Chung-hyung, Jeon is a coolly calculating female former bodyguard who, until roused, looks like she is half dazed. The suicide of her best friend, a sweet wannabe ballerina, who had been blackmailed into sex slavery by a nasty gang, however, is enough to set Jeon’s character, Ok-ju, on the path towards “John Wick”-like ultra-violence.
While Lee never leaves the audience in much doubt as to where the film is heading – an early scene in a convenience store is cool, shocking and righteous – his “Ballerina” is typically Korean in that it spends most of the first two reels establishing Ok-ju’s moral standing and motivation for the bloodshed that is going to dominate the latter portions.
Once justified, Lee pours it all on, with a dose of weapons fetishization, a horde of mostly disposable villains and heaps of neon-lit bloodshed. In the midst of the maelstrom, Jeon / Ok-ju is spinning, chopping and shooting with the best of them.
Variety caught up with Lee, Jeon and Kim Ji-hoon (who portrays a Lamborghini-driving sexual sadist and rebellious gang member called Choi) on the eve of the film’s festival-theatrical premiere and upload to streaming.
Korea’s seen a lot of bloody revenge movies. Why make another one?
Lee: Rather than focusing on the revenge genre itself or about the series of events that take place in the film, I started out from wanting to show the audience a type of punishment that is not available in real life. And I wanted that to deliver a certain sense of catharsis.
One of the peculiarities of the revenge genre is that the revenger is often dragged down with their target. And both heroes and anti-heroes both end up morally murky. How did you play along with that?
Jeon: I think characters that you can describe in a simple way are no fun. There is evil and good in all of us. There can be some kind of legitimacy as to why somebody is very evil. Characters that are able to convince you of their drive or motivation are more intriguing and charming in the eyes of the audience.
When you look at the character of Ok-ju, she’s very violent, capable of doing worse or more violent things than Choi, the man that she’s after, and she’s definitely killed way too many people along the way. But I thought that if her drive is alive and maintained, she would be able to convince viewers and win them over. At least, that’s how I approached her.
Kim: Well, firstly, this is not a court hearing. It’s a film. So, let’s keep things in perspective. But having said that, when you look at the nature of the crimes committed by Choi, they are obviously terrible, difficult for the public to forgive. Choi did not actually kill anyone, however, when you look at him you may see him as worse than those who did kill people.
We actually had this conversation among ourselves. If you put Ok-ju and Choi together in a court room, Ok-ju might get a longer sentence because she killed so many people and Choi didn’t kill anyone.
However, if you look at the weight of the crimes, you still know that he is way worse.
I approached my role by knowing that he was obviously a terrible guy, worthy of hatred, but still with a degree of charm, as well.
So, we have an avenging angel and a charming, evil antagonist, what was the look and the feel that that you wanted to achieve as a director?
Lee: While the genre of the film is action, I want it to seem like a ballet performance. I focused a lot on the art, the music and the filming style. And, while, emotionally speaking, it is dealing with very heavy subject material, I portray something that was brutal but also beautiful.
What were your filmic references for “Ballerina”?
One of the films I kept in mind while preparing for this was [2011 Nicolas Winding Refn-directed] “Drive,” with Ryan Gosling and also [the Safdie brothers’ 2018 title] “Good Time.” I think they thought a lot about the vintage Hollywood films. And I wanted to create a film that was maybe slightly different than the usual Korean films.
How did you try and differentiate from those
Many of those stylish action films were told from the male’s perspective. And our film “Ballerina” is told from a female narrative perspective. I think it’s a little bit more lyrical, a little bit more sensitive. And I tried to bring in warmth to the film, despite the genre. And I also wanted to portray a little bit of Iwai Shunji-esque mood, especially in portraying the character dynamics. I wanted it to be very stylish, but almost like a brutal child’s tale.
This is your second, feature movie. Are you looking at doing series as well as features?
I did create a short film (“Bargain”) that was later turned into a series, but film is more home to me. With a film, it’s important to condense things, you have to shorten things, show not tell. But with series, it’s not just about the main characters, you have more room to unfold greater and longer narratives, to deep dive into each character and their backstory. So, while I haven’t done any series yet, it is definitely something I would love to try.
How do you achieve your visual storytelling. How much of what we see on screen is on the page and how much of it was improvised on set?
Lee: I tried to put in as much as possible many details regarding the visual storytelling into my script. And, rather than improvising on set, I like to make my changes during the pre-production process. And, unlike my previous feature film (2020’s “The Call”), I tried to place more priority and effort into the visual storytelling.
What kind of rehearsal, direction and preparation did you get from your director?
Kim: Director Lee is very receptive to the actors’ voices. He is definitely someone with a flexible approach and, having gone through his pre-production process and defined his vision, he knows exactly what he wants of the film process. To the point that, sometimes, I would ask myself ‘isn’t this too easy, too smooth?’
Jeon: Director Lee is very quick to understand how he should approach directing each actor individually. We may need a different technique or type of direction. In my case, directions can sometimes limit me, but he knew how to set me loose. That was great because, as actors we may be standing among the trees, but we cannot see the whole forest. He could explain, for example, how a particular scene needed an emotional hook, because it would be relevant to something later. Right from pre-production he was able to create the best condition for each actor to do what they have to do, which is not something every director is capable of.