South Korean Na Hong-Jin revolutionized the Cannes Film Festival on Monday with ‘Hope’, an action and science fiction film full of humor and with very special aliens: Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, which has been received with much laughter and applause, and for which the director is already preparing a sequel.
Much had been said about this film prior to its screening in the official competition at Cannes and although critics question whether it has the level to compete for the Palme d’Or, all agree that it is pure, entertaining fun.
A film that evolves from thriller to science fiction through comedy with a story that takes place in a small town near the border with North Korea, where there begins to be destruction, forcing the population to defend themselves without really knowing who or who is responsible.
The film stars Hwang Jung-Min, or Zo In-Sung and Hoyeon, in his feature film debut after the success achieved in ‘The Squid Game’, and features collaborations with Fassbender and Vikander, who immediately accepted the Korean director’s proposal.
The Swedish actress told how she fell in love with Asian cinema at her first appearance at the Busan Film Festival, when she was 21 years old. Then she saw Na’s previous film, ‘The Wailing’ (‘The Stranger’, 2016) and was “absolutely blown away”.
He tried to work with Na but the project didn’t go ahead until one day he contacted her and said, “I have some aliens.” “I was intrigued and said yes without a second thought (…I He’s a true visionary.”
At her side was Fassbender, her partner of many years, who added about her participation in the film: “Alicia told me to do it”. The same thing happened to Taylor Russell, who was also convinced by the Swedish actress to join ‘Hope’.
“What’s interesting about Na’s work is that you never know what’s going to follow, it mixes genres and goes from being a sci-fi comedy to suddenly becoming very real. It was quite an exceptional film experience,” said Fassbender.
“The actor I adore and admire the most is Michael and I really wanted to work with him,” Na noted.
Vikander and Fassbender had to learn a new language, which two linguists developed based on ancient Mongolian, to play their roles.
“At the beginning of my career I had to learn to work in a language that was not my mother tongue, and it’s just about rehearsing and rehearsing, not just in the accent. You have to take a bit of distance and let your imagination run wild,” explained Vikander.
Something with which Fassbender agreed, who said it was “quite easy” to learn the dialogues in that invented language. “As Alice says, it’s all about repetition, repetition and repetition.”
Meanwhile, Hoyeon assured that he had a great time in his first film job: “I was a little scared at the beginning, but the director prepared the shooting very well and I had five or six months to learn how to use weapons, drive the way it had to be done (…) And at the time of shooting I could enjoy the environment”.
The actors were the heart of the project. “Without them I could not have done it,” said Na, who explained that for him it is a very contemporary film, which reflects all the problems of today, wars, social differences or doubts about what is in the universe.
At the same time, however, he wanted it to have a retro look, like a movie from many years ago, which is why the monster – which takes almost an hour to appear on screen – has, expressly, a somewhat fake aesthetic.
A film that leaves the door open to a sequel, something the director acknowledged.
“Seeing this film, you can imagine the sequel,” said Na, who confessed that “there is already a script written.” “If I get the chance, I will make another film, a sequel, but for now the conclusion of this one is enough in itself,” reported Agencia EFE.
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