[New on the scene] Director Lee Yo-sup remakes his favorite film into ‘The Plot’

“The Plot” (NEW)

A few years ago, Lee Yo-sup, who directed the 2016 small-budget film“Queen of Crimes,” had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to remake his all-time favorite movie “Accident” (2009).

While he changed the majority of the plot and added a different array of characters, one thing he wanted to keep was the original work’s mood.

“I wrote the scenario (of the remake version) as a big fan of the original work. That gave me a lot of things to consider, and it took some time. One thing I wanted to take for sure was the mood of the movie – loneliness. That was also the biggest reason why I wanted to ‘have’ the original work,” director Lee told The Korea Herald in an interview on May 28.

“I told my actors, including the main protagonist Gang Dong-won, that this movie is not just a tense thriller, but something that looks deeper into the lonesomeness as a human being,” Lee added.

“The Plot” follows the story of Yeong-il, (Gang Dong-won) whose job is to arrange commissioned contract killings to seem like accidents. As the story unfolds, Yeong-il is unexpectedly involved in a series of events which leads him to believe that this time, he is targeted for a murder disguised as an accident.

Speaking on how the movie unfolds differently from the original Hong Kong movie, Lee said he wanted to keep the film up to date.

“In the original movie, the plot largely revolves around the irony coming from accident, but I thought that it is the human mind that creates the irony,” he said, adding that Yeong-il represents the modern-day people’s paranoia and distrust in people and what they see.

“Some parts in the original movie didn’t really appeal to the Korean sentiment. So I wanted to change that by adding ‘more Korean’ characters,” said Lee.

“The Plot” (NEW)

In the movie, Gang is accompanied by his security master Jackie (Lee Mi-sook), disguise master Wol-cheon (Lee Hyun-wook) and youngest teammate Jeom-man (Tang Joon-sang), who supports Young-il’s scheme.

However, their solidity as a team faces a new turn with the appearance of a new client Joo Young-sun (Jung Eun-chae), and her target Joo Seong-jik (Kim Hong-pa). Their encounter with an insurance agent Lee Chi-hyun (Lee Moo-saeng), a detective uncovering the truth, Yang Kyung-jin (Kim Shin-rok) and a “cyber wrecker,” Hauzer (Lee Dong-hwi) – a YouTuber who posts rumors and negative news stories about celebrities – adds another twist, intimidating Young-il and his team.

“Creating this movie, I felt that it was my fate as a director to add colors that I wanted to the characters and make them look more realistic. Forming a relationship between characters was what I pursue as director,” Lee said.

“The Plot” opened in theaters on May 29.

This article is the 21st in a series that introduces Korea’s new and emerging actors and directors. -- Ed.