Hyun-ju Lee
Our Love Story, Hyun-ju Lee (2016)
Hyun-ju Lee is a South Korean screenwriter, editor and director. Her first feature film, Our Love Story, premiered at San Sebastián, Vancouver, and Jeonju, where it won the Grand Prize for Best Korean Film.
In an exclusive interview with Filmatique, Hyun-ju Lee discusses depictions of homosexual relationships in contemporary cinema, the hope for a society without repression, and her next project.
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Our Love Story, Hyun-ju Lee (2016)
FILMATIQUE: Your debut feature, Our Love Story, was a remarkable success in South Korea. What inspired you to make this film, and how was the journey? Was it difficult to get your first feature funded?
HYUN-JU LEE: This film got funded by the Korean Academy of Film Arts where I studied filmmaking. Due to a tight budget, indeed, I was under certain limitations. However I believe that the crew— including the producer, camera crew, actors, and even I— were able to achieve something significant as a group of people with no experience in feature film production prior to this film.
It was more difficult to release this film in movie theaters in South Korea than it was to produce it. However, thanks to Jeonju International Film Festival and the enthusiasm of audiences there, this film has finally entered into theaters.
In spite of our limitations— unknown actors, a shoestring budget, the theme of homosexuality and an R rating— I was lucky to have the full support of the Korean Academy of Film Arts, my colleagues, and the audiences of Our Love Story.
FLMTQ: Many of your films, from shorts Distance and Ordinary Family to Our Love Story, capture love stories between lesbians. What in particular interests you about the representation of these stories on screen?
HL: The current situation surrounding lesbians in South Korea clearly motivated my interest. I would say that they are invisible, although they are everywhere. In other words, they are hardly able to tell their family or friends about their relationships. Despite the fact that most Koreans draw a fine picture of love overcoming obstacles such as borders or age, it seems that they still discriminate against queers. If a discourse of homosexuality were no longer particular, I would have explored a different theme.
Our Love Story, Hyun-ju Lee (2016)
FLMTQ: How do you feel about current cinematic representations of lesbian love stories— for example, in art-house films like Todd Haynes’ Carol or Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden? How did you seek to distinguish your approach from these examples?
HL: First of all, I am honored for Our Love Story to be aligned with such profound films.
I would like to distinguish a recent trend in queer cinema by saying that, unlike past depictions, recent films attempt to dismantle the fantasy of homosexual figures. We are able to observe such a change via a comparison of Todd Haynes' Poison and Carol.
However, it is still difficult to conclude that queer cinema has a certain tendency towards capturing specific characters nowadays, because the number of queer films are so limited. This is why The Handmaiden, Chan-wook Park’s lesbian film released in the commercial film market in South Korea, was impressive. Even now, we barely find lesbian films in the domain of independent cinema.
Unlike conventional queer cinema, which demands a sense of equality, Our Love Story adopts a cynical attitude towards common negative experiences of love regardless of sexuality. To highlight this I chose to use '연애 (love, 戀愛)' rather than '사랑 (love)' in the Korean title, and to translate it as "our" love story.
By refusing an exaggerated representation of the queer community, Our Love Story focuses on what causes a love-and-hate relation between two characters. I tried to persuade audiences to understand actual conflicts that lesbians encounter in South Korea in the latter half of the film. Because of this, some say this love story would not be the same if the lesbian couple were to be replaced by heterosexual figures; it can be also said that the film is too flat to impress audiences. However, I chose this form of expression in order to help the viewers understand little-seen realities in lesbian love stories.
FLMTQ: Could you reflect on the any social or cultural oppression that lesbians face in South Korea today?
HL: The most significant contributing factor in making lesbians invisible has to do with a sociopolitical environment that reproduces homophobic stances in South Korea. During the presidential election of 2017, many campaigns not only refused to legalize homosexual marriage, but moreover refused to punish discrimination against same-sex relationships. Furthermore, a candidate of the Republican party went so far to suggest that they would inflict severe punishment against those accused of homosexuality.
In regards to Our Love Story, one lesbian wrote me letter, explaining that she has not yet come out of the closet. Furthermore, she would not speak what comes into her mind after watching this film. That is to say, she has repressed the fact that she watched the film. I look forward to building a new society where a person such as this will be able to say what she desires to anyone.
Our Love Story, Hyun-ju Lee (2016)