Sounds of South Korea

As Film Fest Gent and WSA celebrate the cinema and composers of South Korea, Cho Young Wuk tells Jean Noh about being at the vanguard of his country’s creative output

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est known as Park Chan-wook’s longtime collaborator on films such as his recent Cannes best director award-winner Decision To Leave, Cho Young Wuk is one of the Korean film music composers set to be honoured with a live concert at the 49th Film Fest Gent.

Part of the festival’s focus on South Korean cinema, the October 20 concert will feature maestro Dirk Brossé conducting the Brussels Philharmonic as it recreates scores from the region. Cho’s work from Park-directed films Oldboy, The Handmaiden and Thirst will be performed, alongside music from Lee Byeong-woo, who worked with Bong Joon Ho on Mother and The Host. The orchestra will also perform the music of Jung Jae-il, including his scores for Oscar winner Parasite and Netflix’s hit series Squid Game.

Making Contact

Cho worked in A&R at Seoul Records and as a freelance writer for radio, getting his start in films when asked to create the soundtrack for Chang Yoon-hyun’s seminal 1997 drama The Contact. Starring Han Suk-kyu and Jeon Do-yeon, the film — about two strangers brought together through the radio and internet — became a hit as much for its soundtrack featuring Sarah Vaughan’s ‘A Lover’s Concerto’ and The Velvet Underground’s ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ as anything else, selling more than a million copies.

“Back then in Korea, no-one knew anything about clearing music rights. It took a lot of pioneering work but I thought of it as my mission to establish processes in this area,” says Cho, a witness and contributor to the internationalisation of Korean cinema, with content flowing in as well as going out. Working on The Contact made Cho long for more creativity and he went on to score watershed films such as Park’s Joint Security Area (2000) and Oldboy (2003). After the latter, which won the grand jury prize at Cannes, requests flooded in to the point where he found it necessary to start collaborating with a small group of composers.

Cho has since led them in scoring dozens of films such as Park’s Lady Vengeance (2005) — on which he was also an executive producer — as well as Ryoo Seung-wan’s The Berlin File (2013). He has also created soundtracks for record-breaking Korean box-office hits A Taxi Driver (2017) and The Attorney (2013), both starring Song Kang-ho.

Cho has often recorded soundtracks with Brossé in Belgium, as in the case of Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae’s directing debut Hunt, which played at Cannes earlier this year, and has also worked with orchestras in the Czech Republic and at London’s Abbey Road Studios. “They take on Holly-

WSA honoree Cho Young Wuk; (below) Brussels Philharmonic will perform Cho’s music from films including Oldboy

‘Korean creators went from imitating western things to jumping beyond them’

Cho Young Wuk

wood films but they also offer discounts for low-budget overseas films of less than krw36bn [$26m] budget,” says Cho of the legendary UK studio, noting that most Korean films fall in that category.

Despite the David-and-Goliath financial disparity, Korean content has struck a chord with international audiences more used to Hollywood fare. “It’s due to the steady rise of good talent and a market where Korean cultural contents can grow,” says Cho, speaking of decreasing censorship and the rise of investment since the 1990s. “At one point, Korean creators went from imitating western things to jumping beyond them to make content of our own.

“There might be some foreigners who say, ‘Your music is so western despite you being eastern.’ But I also make very Korean music. Can they do the same?” he says, speaking to the dynamism of local creators.

After working with Chinese director Zhang Yimou on Cliff Walkers (2021) and on Park’s BBC series The Little Drummer Girl, Cho says he does not find foreignlanguage productions any more challenging than Korean ones. Of the projects he is currently working on, one of the most anticipated is Park’s HBO series The Sympathizer, based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. And setting his sights further into the future, “Maybe I can work on a science-fiction film like Total Recall.” n s

Film Fest Gent is proud to present its new album in the festival’s series of annual film music recordings, devoted to the guest of honour at the 2022 World Soundtrack Awards:

MARK ISHAM: MUSIC FOR FILM

Featuring music from: 42, American Crime, The Black Dahlia, Bobby, Eight Below, Judas and the Black Messiah, Life as a House, The Moderns, The Nevers, A River Runs Through It, Rules of Engagement, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Performed by the Brussels Philharmonic and conducted by Film Fest Gent music director Dirk Brossé

With trumpet solos by composer Mark Isham and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s principal trumpet Thomas Hooten

Licensed exclusively to Silva Screen Records, the new album will be released during the 49th edition of Film Fest Gent (11-22 October 2022) and is available to order from: shop.filmfestival.be and music retailers worldwide

OTHER TITLES AVAILABLE IN THIS SERIES:

Mychael Danna: Music For Film

Shigeru Umebayashi: Music For Film

Gabriel Yared: Music For Film

World Soundtrack Awards: Tribute To The Film Composer

Marco Beltrami: Music For Film

Carter Burwell: Music For Film

Terence Blanchard: Music For Film

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Music For Film

Alan Silvestri: Music For Film

“It’s wonderful to have such a passionate and committed community of musicians engage with the music.” – MAX RICHTER

“It’s really great to connect with other composers whose work you admire, hang out with them and

chat.” – DANIEL PEMBERTON

The World Soundtrack Academy is the largest community of fi lm music professionals worldwide and decides yearly on the winners of the World Soundtrack Awards. WSAcademy members have exclusive access to events, talks and panels so they can meet, network and collaborate.