Hunger was the place to begin: ‘Kingdom’ author, director on creating the hit zombie thriller collection

By PTI
NEW DELHI: As a fan of the zombie style, “Kingdom” author Kim Eun-hee says she was at all times intrigued by the starvation of the undead, the principal theme which runs via her internationally common Netflix interval thriller collection in addition to its upcoming prequel “Ashin of the North”.

In an unique interview with PTI, the author and director Kim Seong-hun spoke in regards to the universe of “Kingdom” and what makes the Korean-language collection, set within the medieval interval of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897), resonate with the viewers internationally.

“I’m a big fan of zombies. When I watched other zombie series, they’re all running around to have some food. I might sound a little perverted but I didn’t feel fear, I felt very sorry for the zombies because why would they run so hard to just eat that little bit of flesh? That’s why I landed on the theme of hunger,” Kim Eun-hee mentioned in a Zoom interview from Seoul, South Korea.

The author, 49, additionally identified for the favored time-travel investigative Korean drama “Signal”, mentioned whereas the unique drama with its story of a crown prince (performed by Ju Ji-hoon) investigating a mysterious outbreak, has totally different themes at its coronary heart, the idea of starvation stands out for her.

“We have a lot of different themes like politics and thirst for power, but what I was attracted to the most was hunger and that was the starting point for me,” Kim Eun-hee, who tailored “Kingdom” from her webcomic collection “The Kingdom of the Gods”, mentioned via the assistance of an interpreter.

“Kingdom” director Kim Seong-hun, who has additionally helmed the 92-minute particular episode “Ashin of the North”, believes South Korean zombie tales have develop into globally well-known because the writers and filmmakers give attention to telling authentic tales to face aside from their western counterparts, who’ve extra money and technical know-how to speculate.

South Korea has made the style its personal by delivering extremely authentic content material with the 2016 blockbuster movie “Train to Busan”, its sequel “Peninsula”, “#Alive”, “Rampant”, animated “Seoul Station” and “Kingdom” to call just a few.

Kim Seong-hun, 50, credit Korean creators for the recognition of the zombie tales from the nation.

“Usually, it’s Hollywood that does the best job because they have the money and the know-how. So, to differentiate from Hollywood, what the Korean creators do is to become more original and have more original stories moulded to the zombie genre, which makes them look great. I think that’s why so many people love the Korean style,” he added.

The director mentioned it’s difficult to direct native actors because the flesh-eating creatures as “Korean zombies are full of stamina and they’re very fast”, which can result in questions of safety on the set.

“The other challenge was that this is a zombie genre, but it’s also based in a historic time period so there were a lot of visual effects and martial arts. Even having just one of them in the story can make it difficult, but we had all three of them. So I think that was the most challenging part,” he added.

While there isn’t any readability on the third season of “Kingdom”, followers will get to whet their urge for food with “Ashin of the North”, a prequel story headlined by “My Love from the Star” actor Jun Ji-hyun and set to stream on Netflix from Friday.

“Ashin of the North” will narrate the story of its titular warrior from the northern border city of Joseon, who has vowed to avenge the loss of life of her family members.

She clashes with Park Byung-eun’s Min Chi-rok, who made an enduring impression in “Kingdom” season two as the top of the Royal Commandery.

It may even reveal the backstory of the resurrection plant, or “saengsacho” in Korean, liable for the zombie epidemic.

In a world press convention on Tuesday, Kim Seong-hun teased a scene involving zombies because the spotlight of “Ashin of the North”, saying it’s a scene that all the prequel “is really running towards”.

“It is truly a sad, tragic but immensely charming scene,” he added.

Kim Eun-hee mentioned she determined to set the spin-off on the northern border city of Joseon to inform the story of “marginalised people of that time”.

In the press convention, the author additionally spoke about feeling the strain that comes with the expectation from successful collection.