Lee Chang-dong

Lee Chang-dong (born July 4, 1954) is a South Korean film director, screenwriter, and novelist, who is well known for his feature films Green Fish (1997), Peppermint Candy (2000), Oasis (2002), Secret Sunshine (2007), Poetry (2010) and Burning (2018).

Quotes

 * Literature is different from cinema in that, when I’m writing it, I’m thinking of one reader who will go through a range of emotions with me, whereas with film I’m addressing a larger audience. For me, writing fiction is like writing love letters.
 * "Big Bad World: A Conversation with Lee Chang-dong" in The Criterion Collection (6 February 2019)


 * To me it seems that films these days are becoming more and more simple, and the audience seems to desire simpler stories. Of course, films sort of shape the desires and the demands the audience makes, so I kind of wanted to go against this trend and see if a film can sort of throw endless questions at the audience. Endless questions about a larger mysterious world.
 * "HKIFF Interview: South Korea’s Lee Chang-dong on the Many Mysteries of ‘Burning’" in The Hollywood Reporter (10 December 2018)


 * To me, it seems that the world we live in continues to become more and more sophisticated, convenient and cool on the outside, but there are so many problems underneath that we can’t really discern — and that’s the nature of this post-modern world and its problems.
 * "HKIFF Interview: South Korea’s Lee Chang-dong on the Many Mysteries of ‘Burning’" in The Hollywood Reporter (10 December 2018)


 * To be honest, it’s very difficult to explain what stories I see fit to become a film or not. I have several people I regularly work with — producers, actors, crew members — and it’s always very difficult to explain why this story can or can’t be a film. It often puts me in trouble, as well. I can find it hard to explain myself. Whether the story is fun or moving or might receive good reviews is honestly not that important to me. It’s a very intuitive feeling that I have — mainly about whether the story is worth reaching out to the audience to communicate with them at this point in time. Is the story worth the effort of bringing it to the audience? It’s sort of a very sensitive and intuitive decision-making process that happens within me.
 * "HKIFF Interview: South Korea’s Lee Chang-dong on the Many Mysteries of ‘Burning’" in The Hollywood Reporter (10 December 2018)


 * When I used to write novels, I always wrote for one person, for this person who thought and felt the same way as I do. It almost felt like I was writing a love letter to this very specific person who would understand what I’m writing and share the same feelings and thoughts.
 * "HKIFF Interview: South Korea’s Lee Chang-dong on the Many Mysteries of ‘Burning’" in The Hollywood Reporter (10 December 2018)


 * Poems are about things and occurrences that we don’t see visually, it’s the needing of beauty and meaning, that’s what poetry can be. In a natural way there are many stories that interweave throughout the film, and the film’s big scene is not just about the tragic event, but it also meets with what poetry is about, they interweave together.
 * "Interview: Lee Chang-dong Talks ‘Poetry,’ How ‘Avatar’ Affected Him, An ‘Oasis’ Remake & More" in Indie Wire (8 February 2011)


 * It’s very different between writing a novel and making a film, in a novel you’re using language to bring a story to life, so through this you’re speaking of it. Film is not a medium that is carried through with language, but something else. A film can tell a story very strongly, and a film’s great asset is that it can depict characters very well. For the most part, telling a story from a novel is very strong, but I feel that films have more power to do that.
 * "Interview: Lee Chang-dong Talks ‘Poetry,’ How ‘Avatar’ Affected Him, An ‘Oasis’ Remake & More" in Indie Wire (8 February 2011)


 * I have to wonder how much obvious messages like ‘justice prevails’ would affect our lives, which leads me to make films that ask questions.
 * "Lee Chang-dong throws questions, not messages, with his films" in The Korea Herald (27 May 2018)


 * I’ve never made films that delivers messages, nor have I ever felt the urge to make such pieces. I just like to ask questions.
 * "Lee Chang-dong throws questions, not messages, with his films" in The Korea Herald (27 May 2018)


 * I’ve always wanted actors to simply and purely feel the emotions rather than feeling like they have to express them. During the film shoot, I tried to have as much conversation with them as I could about the characters and their circumstances. Having conversation was a more effective way of communication than simply giving directions, and I believe it allowed much more freedom for the actors.
 * "‘Burning’ Director Lee Chang-dong: Still Angry After All These Years" in Variety (3 December 2018)