hankyoreh

Shim Hyung-rae, a South Korean comedy icon of the 1980s, used to captivate local children by playing all kinds of foolish characters. But now, Shim has reinvented himself as director of a science fiction blockbuster.

He was rarely taken seriously in the movie industry until he made "D-War," a computer graphics-heavy fantasy starring Hollywood actors that is based on a Korean legend. "I faced a lot of criticism that I was heading nowhere, or that I was reckless," Shim, 49, told reporters after a recent preview of the film in Seoul.

"That gave me a hard time. But I had faith that I could do it.

Without that faith, I couldn't have done this," he said.

It remains to be seen whether Shim will be considered a serious director this time, but his impact appears profound. The US$30 million film, the most expensive one ever made in Korea, is to be shown on 1,700 screens in the United States starting in September, the widest U.S. release for a Korean film.

Following his debut in 1982 with a parody of how agents of South Korea's then authoritarian regime questioned citizens, he displayed his slapstick comedy in TV routines and became an icon of the era.

In one of his most well-known routines, with black stains on his front teeth and dirty pants rolled up to the knees, he would make a big toothy smile and say, "Younggu Eo-p-da!" (Younggu is not here), which brought laughter from young audiences.

His character Younggu, a dimwitted country boy, inspired the children's movie "Younggu and Ttaengchiri" (1989) directed by Nam Ki-nam, which was a local box office hit with over 2 million viewers.

By the next decade, the comedian and actor had transformed himself into a director and producer, making movies like "Younggu and Princess ZZu-ZZu" (1993) and "Tirano's Claws" (1994) -- the early results of his zeal for monsters. However, his Younggu Art studio was no match for Hollywood, as it had to use piano wires, visible on screen, for special effects involving jumping or flying.

Children were amazed; critics scoffed.

Many eyebrows were raised, however, when Shim's film "Yonggari" came out in 1999. The special-effects-heavy film about a dragon broke a local record by selling for US$3 million at the Cannes film festival. But the movie flopped at the box office.

Some praised his persistence in the movie business, but others called it stubborn foolishness. He's now hoping to hit it big with the mega-budget D-War, which was shot in Los Angeles.

"I had no problem with English. They just had a hard time," Shim said, referring to his Hollywood cast and crew, bringing a burst of laughter from the audience.

"Hollywood accounts for 80 percent of the movies around the globe. Korean movies are now miserable. We have got to go out and find a breakthrough. We can't just sit idly and die. I can't speak English, but to get to Hollywood I made it in English," he said.

His sense of national identity is often apparent in D-War. The antique dealer Jack (Robert Froster of "Jackie Brown" and "Me, Myself & Irene") introduces his protege, the main character Ethan (Jason Behr of "The Grudge" and "The Shipping News") to the Korean legend of Imoogi, a mythical serpent that dwells in the earth before being reincarnated as a dragon that rules heaven. For many Korean viewers, it is moving to see Hollywood actors discuss a Korean legend. Shim said his eyes filled with tears when Froster said, "This is a Korean legend," and that he had to stop the scene so he could compose himself.

"When you go to the United States, anything they have about Asia is Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee or Japan's Last Samurai. When it comes to Korea, it's about the ugly Korean, the Korean who knows nothing but money, or North Korea," he said.

For the music at the end of the film, he chose "Arirang," a doleful Korean folk song about lost love. Recorded by Steve Jablonsky, a Hollywood composer who made a score for "Transformers," the music stands tall. His entire staff, however, was against his idea, he said.

"People are too stereotyped -- Tchaikovsky, Schubert, Mozart, they are world class and Korean music is not. But I thought if Arirang is performed by a full orchestra, it can be really beautiful music and fit right in with the end of the story -- when the lover is lifted up to heaven."

D-War has yet to be judged in the increasingly competitive domestic market. Reviews in the U.S. media praised its sharp locally-produced computer graphics but said its plot was not plausible enough and that the acting was weak.

Such criticism, however, did not dampen Shim's optimism.

"If this movie was made by James Cameron, it would have turned the whole world upside down," he said.

"People look down at it because Shim Hyung-rae made it. It's the Shim Hyung-rae discount. Oh, that Shim Hyung-rae from 'Ureme' wearing red underwear!," he said, referring to one of his movies for children.

"Some say the story is simple. But let's talk about 'Spider-Man' and 'Transformers.' Are their stories serious? Talk about 'King Kong.' I almost stood up and left because King Kong didn't appear until an hour after the movie started," he said.

Even before its domestic release next week, Shim is moving forward with plans for a comedy, "Last Godfather," about an American mafia boss and his illegitimate son born in South Korea.

"Shooting will begin this fall. I'm warming up now and trying to compete with 'Mr. Bean' this time," he said.
SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap News)