The Flu
Ji-seok is a director. He has been struggling because of the money needed to produce films. Song PD, Ji-seok's colleague, introduces him to an actress, Hong Mi-ran. Hong, now with terminal disease, agrees to pay for all the production costs under the condition that she must be the lead. The lifetime project of the troubled souls—would this make it through to the end?
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The underbelly of independent film production is exposed through black comedy in The Flu, appearing strikingly alike to the director Jung Hyung-suk's own story. From the footage of him receiving an award at the 19th JEONJU IFF for The Land of Seonghye (2018), to protagonist Ji Suk's journey from being a theater actor to a film director, and the anecdotes about working as festival jury and lecturer—everything sounds like the director's own experiences. However, the realities of filmmaking, such as filming with a miniscule budget and staff, facing daily rejections on their scripts, and meeting questionable producers, are all too relatable struggles to most indie filmmakers. The film focuses on the determination of directors to preserve their art despite such challenging conditions. Ji Suk strives to protect something in the project, which was initially Mi Ran's proposal. Ji Suk's struggle to stay grounded, although his filmmaking is getting increasingly difficult to pursue with a constrained budget, seems more poignant in Jung's steady and skillful performance as the protagonist who resembles him. (MOON Seok)
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DAT FACTORY⎜dwriter2000@nate.com
JUNG Hyung-suk
