Korea’s turn to define horror in Folklore

MANILA, Philippines — Completing Folkore, HBO Asia’s six-episode first horror anthology original series, is Mongdal, directed by Lee Sang-woo. The previous episodes were A Mother’s Love of Indonesia, Tatami (Japan), Nobody (Singapore), Pob (Thailand) and Toyol (Malaysia). Mongdal airs tonight at 10 on HBO GO and HBO. It’s Korea’s turn to define the genre.

“Korean films nowadays are so typical,” said Sang-woo in a media press conference. According to him, the ‘80s and ‘90s were the heydays of Korean horror films, which “were totally different from the one (I did),” he added. “I combine the elements of the classic Korean horror films from the ‘80s and ‘90s and my unique take (on and interpretation of the genre) and that’s what I did.” That sounds interesting for viewers to visually experience a narrative that is a product of Sang-woo’s tribute to the past and his signature stamp (which reflects the present).

Mongdal director Lee Sangwoo: I don’t give much direction to my actors and I let them do what they want

Central to the Mongdal narrative is the mother-and-son relationship. Based on the information provided by HBO Asia, a mother, played by Lee Chae-yeon, deals with the moods and demands of her borderline psychopathic son (Jeong Yun-seok). She will do everything to make her son happy. The story also focuses on mongdal, a bachelor ghost. Both actors were tasked to surface the dynamics of that relationship that may be considered universal and unique to their characters.

“Her intense love and attention for her son actually originates from the lack of love she receives from her partner,” said the actress, through an interpreter during a media call, of where her character is coming from. “So, because of that lack of emotion and love and attention she receives from her husband, she tries to shower (him with love) and gives much attention to her son.”

To portray the character realistically, Chae-yeon said she reflected the kind of love her parents have given her. “Especially that time (I spent) with my mom, I tried to think of the times when I did something wrong, made mistakes and made my mom upset. I (looked) back and reflected on this emotion and it definitely helped me get into the role.”

The actress admitted that “it was a tough journey for me,” playing mom on the small screen, “because I had never been a mother. So I never experienced what’s like to have that maternal love for your own child. To express that (on) the show, in the episode and to act it out was a little tough for me.”

A scene from the sixth episode of Folklore, HBO Asia’s first horror anthology original series

 For Chae-yeon to be always attuned to her character, she had this to say: “Whenever I went for a shoot, I would always tell myself that I’m his mother (my son in the story) and that’s one thing that I always would tell myself for every (shooting day) that I went to. The experience was very fulfilling as well.”

Since collaboration is the norm and the tall order of the day in any creative work, the actress’ source of inspiration was also Sang-woo, who seemed also immersed in the emotions that every character went through in the Mongdal narrative. He could sympathize with them. With that, it scared Chae-yeon sometimes but “it (did) help (me) a lot (to) get into the role,” she said.

As for Sang-woo’s approach in directing his stars, he said, “Frankly, I don’t give them much direction. I just let them do what they want seriously… I (give them) little directions.”

From the time A Mother’s Love premiered, Folklore has been successful in exploring the origins of fear, banking on the unique talents of Asia and the narratives that perhaps one could only find in the region. As what HBO Asia Original Production senior vice president Jessica Kam said, “It (the anthology) shows the breadth of the talents in Asia, the top directors who have their own unique brands of horror. But at the same time, it digs deep into some of the societal dysfunctions in different countries based on their very rich folklore, based on their very, very rich myths and superstitions.”