Program Note
Since making his debut with Super Virgin in 2012, director Baek Seung-kee has presented every one of his films at BIFAN. His sixth feature, Longtake Onetake Mistake, is a “film about cinema.” Actor Son Yi-yong, Baek’s longtime alter ego, once again takes the lead. After failing his 1,000th audition, he is ready to give up his dream of cinema—until he comes across a flyer that reads, “BIFAN submission deadline: D-7,” and seeks out Chang-kyung, a former filmmaker. What they set out to make is a genre film: a horror-action period piece adapted from the tale of The Fairy and the Woodcutter, featuring a maiden ghost, a blood demon, and a warrior. But can this film ever be completed? Longtake Onetake Mistake is a story about people trying to make a film by any means necessary. Short-form video production figures into the story, and the protagonist talks about AI cinema, yet even in this moment of radical change in media and technology, they still try to make “a movie.” In that sense, this may be less a “film about cinema” than a “question about cinema.” Baek Seung-kee has long embraced not only B-movie but even C-movie sensibilities, tried his hand at all manner of parody, and pursued the singular appeal of cult oddities over cinematic plausibility. This may well be his most serious(?) film yet. Thankfully(!), however, his unmistakable sense of humor remains intact.(KIM Hyung-seok)