[Interview]Professor Shim Young-seop: A Psychologist in Love with Film
1. There are many film critics, but few seem to be as well versed in
both movies and psychology as you. How did you become both a
psychologist and film critic?
I became a film critic because I watched a lot of movies. I’ve always
watched a lot of movies, and when I turned 30 I counted them: the
total came out to be around 10,000. Of course, one cannot be a critic
just by watching films. I became a critic by adapting the many
theories I had learned from studying psychology to film. Once I became
a film critic, I became known through the film magazine Cine 21, and
can even be defined as someone who built her career alongside the
magazine, which represented the prime of Korean film in the 1990s.
2. In light of the success of the movies Parasite and Minari and
the Netflix series Squid Game, it’s clear that Korean content has
truly become a global sensation. What is your view of this
phenomenon?
Korean film began to appeal to domestic fans in the 1990s, when a
single movie garnered an audience of over 10 million people, but the
audience for Korean productions has now grown to include hundreds of
millions of people. Squid Game is a good example of this growth. This
is not just the Korean Wave in East Asia, but a powerful worldwide
“K-culture” phenomenon. It’s a significant trend that is sure to
continue in the years ahead. What used to be available only in
theaters is now accessible via online OTT services, and I am confident
that Korea is likely to take control of the OTT platform before others
do.
3. Do you have any comments on the themes of Korean productions?
Parasite, Minari, and Squid Game all deal with social class. Parasite
shows the gap between higher and lower classes as the people in the
latter struggle to access the former, Minari exposes the class
stratification of American society, and Squid Game portrays the
graveness of failure and elimination in a hyper-surreal competition.
These works render the seriousness of these issues in shocking and
gripping ways, mixing life-or-death tension with fun. Piercing the
problem of social class seems to be a main characteristic of Korean
content and it attracts keen interest from abroad. These productions
exhibit not only societal elements but also humane values, and
humanism is heartwarming. This element is loved at the Academy Awards,
but whether it is recognized by the Oscars or not, it surely has
universal appeal.
4. Among recent releases, are there any movies you would like to
recommend to our readers?
Director Lee Seung-won has made a movie titled Three Sisters. It shows
how domestic violence is inherited and the intense struggle of three
sisters to escape it. The film itself is a great cinematic work, and
the actors — Kim Sun-young, Moon So-ri and Jang Yoon-joo — in the
roles of the three sisters were excellent. Moon was especially
enchanting in the role of the second sister, who is a hypocrite with
emotional scars; Director Lee’s direction was also superb. I highly
recommend the movie to KF Newsletter readers. Please don’t miss it.
Director Lee Seung-won has made a movie titled Three Sisters. It shows
how domestic violence is inherited and the intense struggle of three
sisters to escape it. The film itself is a great cinematic work, and
the actors — Kim Sun-young, Moon So-ri and Jang Yoon-joo — in the
roles of the three sisters were excellent. Moon was especially
enchanting in the role of the second sister, who is a hypocrite with
emotional scars; Director Lee’s direction was also superb. I highly
recommend the movie to KF Newsletter readers. Please don’t miss it.
5. The new year is only a month away. What plans and wishes do you
have for 2022?
I wish to go out of the country next year. I am a big fan of travel. I
think nothing enriches life more than traveling. I have already
crossed seeing the world’s three greatest waterfalls — Iguazu Falls,
Victoria Falls, and Niagara Falls — from my bucket list, which means I
have been to South America, Africa, and North America. My last trip
was in February 2020, when I took a trip to Cambodia. At that time, I
wasn’t expecting Parasite to win an Oscar, but it did. (Laughs.) I
heard the news while visiting Angkor Wat. In the two years since then,
I have not been able to go anywhere, and I would really love to travel
in 2022. I am thinking of going to Turkey, the crossroads of the East
and the West, for a particular reason. The film Winter Sleep is set in
the winter of Cappadocia, Turkey, and after watching it, I decided I
must go there. I tend to visit places featured in movies. The film
Happy Together was what led me to go to Iguazu Falls. When a scene
from a movie touches me, I often go where it was shot. The year 2022
has three number twos, and whether my wish for travel comes true or
not, I hope that in this special year, we will be able to return to a
life that we can enjoy with the loved ones we have missed.
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