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Director Park Chan-wook tries new genre

Thanks to his lofty reputation both at home and abroad, Park Chan-wook is widely regarded almost 'super-human', or something similar to a 'cyborg' filmmaker.

Yet, that is okay for Park, who is now promoting his latest film, "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK", a supposedly romantic comedy. The genre might sound a bit odd. After all, Park's most famous and internationally acclaimed film, "Oldboy", is obsessively concerned about revenge, not tender love.

"Believe it or not, I made this film", Park declared at a news conference held Thursday. "I wanted to get back to my childhood sentiment and that's why I recruited 'child actors' to produce a refreshing and fruit-flavored film".

The kid actors in question are Jung Ji-hoon (also known as Rain) and Lim Soo-jung. Of course, they are not children; nor is the movie a traditional romantic comedy. Some of the scenes revealed at the news conference suggest that Park has indeed switched into a new genre that tackles relationships. But Jung's Il-sun is a mentally disturbed character, however handsome he might seem, and Im's Young-gun is equally crazy (hint: she believes she's not human but a cyborg).

The story unfolds at a mental hospital where a tall, handsome yet obviously abnormal Il-sun meets with a cute, charming yet apparently cyborg-aping Young-gun. What's more, they are attracted to each other because they think, rightly, they are special.

Young-gun's main problem is that she's a cyborg. The heart-breaking truth about being a cyborg is that she cannot eat food - or so she believes. The sympathetic Il-sun tries to help out, using his talent of stealing whatever ability from people. He steals a flying ability and lets her fly off in the sky, and he also snatches up the ability of singing soothing yodels from another patient and attempts to entertain the gloomy cyborg.

Director Park said such characters appear to be living in fantasy lands, but their worlds are whole and consistent in their own right.

"Love involves the two separated worlds that are interconnected with each other, and that's how schizophrenia goes hand in hand with romance", he said.

The mental hospital, whose name in the film is "New World", is depicted as a kindergarten where such disparate worlds are clashing with one another. Park said such chaotic situation at the hospital is possible thanks to "sympathy", a keyword that is oddly included in his previous revenge-oriented films.

Jung, a 24-year-old up-and-coming singer and actor, makes a formal debut on the silver screen. He is now staging a world concert tour as a top Korean Wave star and is also preparing to enter the U.S. music market in the first half of next year.

"I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" will be released nationwide on Dec. 7.

By Yang Sung-jin

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