Kim Jee-woon Quotes

America is a country that, even with all its flaws, has been able to flourish because there is a certain ideology about fighting for what you believe in. What you choose to believe in - no matter how small or big it is - is what you believe in, and that ideology has made America.

I work from opposites to opposites, in a way. It's finding one thing and then doing the other from film to film. So maybe after 'I Saw the Devil,' I might do something like 'I Saw the Angel' or perhaps something warm and happy.

I'd like to give the audience what they've always wanted to see and also I want to give the audience what they've never seen. It's these two things I'm striving for.

To be honest, I would have to say that there was a certain burden in working with Arnold, a big action star. I am aware that Arnold is loved by the American audience, but rather than focusing on working with Arnold, what I focused on was expressing the character, Sheriff Owens, through Arnold the actor and knowing that Arnold and my idea about Sheriff Owens coincided and that it was about Owens protecting a certain value and justice, I focused more on that aspect that helped me to be more comfortable in working with Arnold.

I've made the film 'The Good, the Bad, the Weird,' which was an Eastern Western film. Obviously, the Western film is American and American only; there's really no Western genre over in Asia.

To go into more specifics regarding actors, whether they're from Korea or the U.S., all actors know if they are loved by the director. When they feel that love from the director, they respond by giving a great performance on camera. Also, everyone on set - the crew, the actors - they were aware of the film's message and its broad theme, so these big issues were never discussed on set.

After my film 'The Tale of Two Sisters,' I received a lot of offers from Hollywood to direct, but because 'A Tale of Two Sisters' was a horror film, I received a lot of horror films. But I wasn't interested in working in the same genre, and the scripts I received for films in different genres were for projects that were near completion.

Initially, before I came to Hollywood, I thought that the language barrier would be the biggest challenge, but I realized that actors all around the world, regardless of language, are all the same.

I'm not an outgoing person. Compared to an average person, I am quite skeptical and pessimistic. This is different from being nervous.

Overseas directors who want to work in Hollywood, the language barrier is not a problem. With the right talent, any director can be successful.

But when there were certain moments or scenes that required a very specific nuance or performance, I myself would act out the scene or the sequence and that would inspire the actors. Of course, I can't really express emotions on camera, but I was very active in showing a certain action or a blocking for an actor. I would also participate in certain stunts myself and because of that, I would get bruises or cuts on my knees and elbows.

Actors are the flowers of the film, of the set, and of the director. The term 'Flowers of the Screen' holds a deep meaning.

One quality that a director needs to acquire in Hollywood is to understand the system and figure out how to work within the system to express one's own ideas.

'The Good, the Bad, the Weird' is about individuals fulfilling their desires and just going the distance to fulfill that desire.