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Star Director's Book Recalls His Days as a Failure

A decade ago, it seemed as if director Park Chan-wook's career in the movies was over. He had just got married and was in dire straits, so he quit his job as assistant director and became a salaryman. When he had managed to save some money, he tried once again to make his feature debut, but his low-budget production "The Moon Is... the Sun's Dream" attracted a grand total of 6,600 moviegoers in Seoul, leaving him with a bitter taste of failure. That is when he picked up the pen to make a living as a film critic. His first book titled "The Discreet Charm of the Videodrome", in which he assesses B-movies and other lesser-spotted works from his own unique perspective, captured the hearts of movie buffs at once, and his reputation was made.


The man who shows up for interview this week is not the old Park Chan-wook. He has just finished writing the screenplay for his next film "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK", after his revenge trilogy including "Oldboy" and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" made him a celebrated fixture at international film festivals. He has published two more books, a long essay titled "Park Chan-wook's Montage" and a collection of criticism, "Park Chan-wook's Hommage". "Hommage" is a revised edition of "Videodrome" - the leftover from his ill-starred early days which, now out of print, fetches W300,000 (US$300) in secondhand bookstores.

"After I go through a film, I collapse on my knees", Park says. "Movies are a stimulating medium for me, but I've never watched a movie twice except the ones I covered in the book".

Numerous neglected movies including "Garcia", "Gloria" and "Escape from Alcatraz" that had been gathering dust in the corners of video stores were given a new lease of life by Park's criticism.

Some indeed may regret that the stellar success of "JSA - Joint Security Area" in 2000 put an end to his bad luck -- and his criticism. " Montage ", meanwhile, largely consists of prose written after he rocketed out of obscurity, interviews and production journals. "I suppose no one else in Korea works on such elaborate story boards as I do", he says "And I write books with as much effort as I shoot films".

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