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'Another Way' hopes to share pain and prevent suicide

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A poster for the movie
A poster for the movie "Another Way" featuring ctor Kim Jae-wook, left, and Seo Ye-jI / Courtesy of MOVement

By Kim Jae-heun


It took over two years for Korean indie film "Another Way" to be unveiled to the public. Stars Kim Jae-wook and Seo Ye-ji both thought their movie was never going to be screened in theaters.

The film is set in 2015 deals with the issue of suicide pacts, which temporarily swept society and became an issue.

Both Soo-wan (Kim Jae-wook) and Jung-won (Seo Ye-ji) are 20-somethings from unstable families. Soo-wan witnessed his mother committing suicide when he was young and it influences him to grow as an overly dependent person. He wallows in self-pity deeply and when he breaks up with his girlfriend, Soo-wan finds Jung-won online and the two form a suicide pact.

Jung-won has no better life as her mother suffers from general paralysis and her father habitually rapes her. After eking out a living with several part-time jobs for a few years, Jung-won joins an online cafe to find a partner to die together with.

Film director Cho Chang-ho took the motive from his experience when he went out on a cold winter day and crossed the frozen Han River in Seoul.

"I remember crossing the Han River thoughtlessly one day," said Cho during the press conference at CGV Wangsimni in eastern Seoul, Tuesday. "The river was frozen but it was still weak in the middle and I nearly fell to my death when the ice cracked. I was already too far away from both sides of the river."

"Suicide pacts were like a trend back then, and I thought I could have come across somebody on the street, who would commit suicide on that day. I felt gloomy and desperate that coming across persons could provide any comfort. I wanted to give hope, at least, by sharing this story with audiences who are suffering the pains of life at the moment," Cho said.

Actress Seo said it is impossible for one to feel the same pain as a person who is actually contemplating suicide and that experiencing it partly by taking the role was already a great pain.

Kim added he always wanted to play a role like Soo-wan, where he could challenge himself to go deep inside his emotions.

"I've waited to play a character like Soo-wan although that chance does not come that often. Instead of putting a lot of effort into understanding Soo-wan as a character, I went deep inside the scenario, because he was already well described in the script," Kim said.

Both Kim and Seo said they suffered many security risks while shooting the scenes. Kim had to stand on an actual frozen river, where he could have died if he had fallen in and Seo had to act in a scene inside a car with a burning charcoal briquette, with no computer graphics.

"I thought the director would describe the deadly burning briquette with other smoke or computer graphics but he actually put me in with it. It was a moment I suffered both physically and psychologically," Seo said.

"Another Way" will hit theaters on Jan. 19.

Kim Jae-heun jhkim@koreatimes.co.kr


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