How do you take on a period spy story and huge action set pieces as a first-time director?
After sweeping the world into Netflix’s hit series Squid Game, actor Lee Jung-jae decided to undertake a new challenge—directing his first feature film. A 30-year veteran of acting and one of South Korea’s biggest stars, Lee used everything he’s learned in front of the camera to take audiences on a two-hour espionage thriller in Hunt, which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
The film follows KCIA Foreign Unit chief Park Pyong-ho (Lee) and Domestic Unit chief Kim Jung-do (Jung Woo-sung), rival agents tasked with finding a mole in their midst before the South Korean president is assassinated. It’s a complex tale of double-crosses and pulse-pounding shootouts, truly stunning for a debut feature from a first-time director.
And Lee was hands-on at every level of the production, from the screenplay to cinematography to the edit to the color correction to the accuracy of the subtitles, soaking up knowledge every step of the way. He rewrote the script, prepped the film for four years, and is credited as a co-producer.
Author: Jo Light
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
