This is a director's theory, constructed through a long and drawn-out conversation, and a love letter to today's Korean cinema.

This is a book of 'Boomerang Interviews', which film critic and film journalist Lee Dong-jin has been publishing for two years, in which he met with, asked, listened to, and recorded stories about films from Korea's leading film directors.
As the author says, the in-depth content that can be called a "director's theory" makes us appreciate the true value of the interviews, which average about 10 hours per person, and allows us to look into their inner selves that we cannot find anywhere else.

We attempted to interview the directors by drawing appropriate questions from lines in their works and based on these, and also had additional meetings to cover films that were released later.
Because I began the interview after meticulously examining every line of their films, I was able to continue a more detailed and honest conversation, and the finished product based on this provides readers with a pleasant stimulation.

It contains the stories of directors Hong Sang-soo, Bong Joon-ho, Ryu Seung-wan, Yoo Ha, Lim Soon-rye, and Kim Tae-yong, allowing viewers to see a new side of themselves hidden behind the screens of their representative works, as well as the writers' unique perspectives on them.
The book not only contains thoughts about the medium of film and its text, but also the consciousness and thoughts that make up their lives, making it even more captivating for the reader.
The latter part of the book contains the author's own thoughts, which he revealed to reporter Kim Hye-ri of Cine21, and behind-the-scenes stories from the boomerang interview, which adds another layer of enjoyment.

- Aren't you guys cold?
- cold.
Teacher, please buy me a drink.
- Alcohol? What kind of alcohol is this, in broad daylight?
In "Women are the future of men," Yoo Ji-tae meets his students who were playing soccer at the school playground and talks to them.

One scene that cannot be left out in Director LEE's movies is the drinking party scene.
It appears almost as often as the bed scene. (Laughs) I counted, and it turns out that there are 42 drinking parties in all nine episodes.
Among them, it appeared the most in “Without Knowing” and “The Power of Gangwon-do.”
They appear nine and eight times respectively.
The total number may be slightly less or more than 42, but it won't be much different.
I guess it's safe to say that you especially enjoy using the drinking party setting, right? (Laughs)

HONG I think that in the process of creating cinematic flesh, whether it be details or episodes, drinking parties naturally come to mind.
As a director, you end up squeezing out details, but if you squeeze out things that are realistic, interesting, and unexpected, then they become good details.
I think drinking parties become very useful when you have a clear goal in mind and work out the details.
When I think about details, I don't make them through logical reasoning.
When I have a specific situation in mind, details just come to me, out of order.
It's a bit vague, but I have no choice but to express it this way.
It seems that in most cases, we end up selecting and ordering details that come to mind regardless of the context.
--- pp.72-73, from “A miserable life, an absurd world, and a fierce fight against false consciousness: Hong Sang-soo”

- Wow, it's art, it's art.
Not because she's my daughter, but because she's truly a work of art.
In "Monster," Byun Hee-bong gets excited when his daughter hits the target with 10 points during an archery match that is being broadcast live.

Director LEE: There must be scenes that you feel embarrassed about after completing the film, but there must also be scenes that you feel, “I made this, but it’s really great.”
In the line I just quoted, the word "art" appears three times, so please choose three scenes that you consider "art." "Mother" hasn't been out for very long, so it would be best if you could choose one from each of the previous three films.

BONG This is a question that I can't seem to get out of.
Since you asked a question about my movie line, I can't avoid it.
Usually when I get a question like this, I say, “I want to do it all again.
So instead, I'll just tell you the three most regrettable scenes," he said, avoiding the topic. (Laughs) Well, first of all, there's a scene from "The Host" where the family members collapse backwards at the joint incense burner, shot with a direct sense of reality.
The second is a long take scene from the very beginning of "Memories of Murder" where a commotion unfolds on the ridge of a rice paddy where a murdered body is found.
And the third is the scene in "A Dog of Flanders" where the strawberries on top of the cake get caught in the box while the professor is trying to bribe the professor by throwing wads of money on the floor.
--- p.262, from “Delicate Texture and Rich Volume, Towards an Image That Will Be Maintained Until the End: Bong Joon-ho”

- You really are a field person.
In "Dachimawa Lee," when scientist Kim Young-in asks Im Won-hee about a new weapon he has developed, he praises it.

When I watch Director LEE's films, I always get the strong feeling that he created them with his body on site, not with his head in the office.
That was my impression when I first saw your debut work, "Die Bad."
I also think that is one of the characteristics of Ryu Seung-wan's works.


RYOO If you felt that way, it would be a great compliment to me.
I try to make movies with my body.
I think it's becoming more and more like that.
There was a time in my life when I wanted to make more intellectual films.
But the more I did that, the more criticism I received and the more the movie became tangled.
I've heard people say that I'm copying other people's movies.
Now, the field feels more and more important to me.
I think I've been working hard and tirelessly making movies up until now, but I view my work as directing labor.
--- pp.412-413, from "The eldest son's film that never stops walking between the pleasure of the genre and the sorrow of life: Ryu Seung-wan"

- Hey, Myeonggeun.
Are you neither a civilian nor a gangster, but a vandal?
In "Mean Streets," prosecutor Kwon Tae-won sneers at Cheon Ho-jin, the chairman of a company that works with organized crime.

LEE You have the identities of both poet and film director.
The film industry must have been awkward for you at first. When did you start thinking about becoming a full-fledged film director?


YOO I'm writing this after finishing my third film, "The Cruel History of Maljukgeori."
From then on, I felt like people were treating me as a full-fledged film director.
To be honest, I personally still feel uncomfortable with the film industry.
Not many people know me, and I still feel like a guest.
But these days, I feel like I'm a guest even in the literary world.
I feel like an outsider in both worlds.
--- pp.551-552, from “For a film of discovery, not an escape from reality rather than visuals: Yuha”

- Hey, did you see the guy playing bass earlier? Isn't his posture a work of art?
A high school student who has just started to develop a passion for music in "Waikiki Brothers" is leaving a concert of a popular rock band and tells his friend,

LEE I can pick out some characteristics, but basically, it seems like the director doesn't have much of an ambition for the style of the film.
Because in the director's films, there aren't many scenes that strongly reveal a self-consciousness about form.

YIM I have no desire for formality.
When a truly exceptional artist provides a particular form, there are often instances where artistic inspiration arises from that form itself.
But I am a director who cannot reach that level.
When artists with a shallow self-consciousness over-expose their forms, the audience gets tired.
You end up losing focus on the text and getting unnecessarily drawn into the format.
I don't like to talk symbolically or in a multi-layered way.
If you have something to say, I think it's better to say it directly.
I want to convey it easily.
Whether it's literary or popular, I want to make films that are easily understood by many people.
--- p.629, from “The Compassion of the Observer, the Comfort of a Film That Cries Together: Im Soon-rye”

- Teacher, please try again.
Please.
Just one more time.
In the physical examination scene of "Whispering Corridors: The Second Story," a female student asks to be measured again after her height is measured at 146 centimeters.

LEE Are there any scenes from “Whispering Corridors 2” or “Birth of a Family” that you would like to re-film?


KIM There are more scenes I want to reshoot in “Whispering Corridors 2.”
After it was finished, I had quite a few such feelings, but now I can't quite remember what those scenes were.
Maybe it's because I was deliberately trying to forget.
The first thing that comes to mind right now is the scene where Si-eun and Hyo-shin fight fiercely on the rooftop.
At the time, when we were filming that scene, we couldn't finish it properly, so in the actual movie, we only used it briefly as a flashback.
As a director, I put a lot of thought into how two children who cared so much for each other ended up stabbing each other in the heart, and in that sense, that scene is very important.
Because that's the last scene where the two talk before Hyo-shin dies.
If I could film it again, I would like to film that scene in more detail, even if it's just out of curiosity.

--- pp.714-715, from “A movie like an unexpected gift of flexible attitude and deep sensitivity: Kim Tae-yong”