In the largest screening hall of a major cinema in Tokyo, the end credits were rolling. Hundreds of reporters, sitting among the audience, were watching the names of the actors following the movie title as they scrolled across the giant screen in white text.
“……”
“……”
Their faces were blank, as if they’d been hit hard on the back of their heads. Expressions of confusion and disbelief were everywhere. Although each person’s emotions were slightly different, the one thing they all had in common was that the movie they had just watched was an extreme cultural shock.
The movie they had just seen was ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’.
Of course, it wasn’t an official screening, but a pre-release press screening.
Today was the first press screening for ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’. The press screening was an event where not only the hundreds of reporters present but also media personnel and film critics were invited to watch the movie. There are many types of screenings like general, VIP, and test screenings, but among them, the press screening is particularly important.
Because it’s directly tied to publicity and marketing.
Although releasing articles immediately after the screening is forbidden, once the set timing arrives, a flood of articles related to the movie will be released. Before the movie’s release, those articles are what the public first encounters when searching for information.
In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the press screening determines the first impression of the movie.
While spoilers about the movie’s direct story or ending are prohibited in the articles, the journalists’ personal impressions or a brief synopsis are allowed. Given this, the film companies and production teams place great importance on press screenings and often hold several rounds of them.
The ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ team was no exception.
However, ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ had scaled up the event to more than twice the usual size. This was prearranged by Director Kyotaro and the film company, resulting in a number of attendees in this large screening hall that far exceeded the norm. They had also increased the number of screening rounds several times over.
In any case, watching the end credits on the screen now was a man seated at the very front row on the right, with his hair streaked with gray.
“Hmm.”
That man was Director Kyotaro, the master director who had directed ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’. Next to him sat Japan’s top actor Mana Kosaku and about five or six other lead actors who had appeared in ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’. They were present for the stage greeting that would take place after the first screening ended.
Naturally, Director Kyotaro and the actors were the only ones with composed expressions.
Some of the actors seemed a little flushed.
‘As expected! Seeing it on the big screen makes the tension several times more intense. It’s completely different from what I saw during the test screening!’
Overall, they were calm. Having already experienced the completed test screening, this was to be expected.
On the other hand.
‘……Oh my God! What, what did I just watch??’
Sitting in the same row as Director Kyotaro and the cast of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’, holding a handheld microphone, was the event’s host. He couldn’t take his eyes off the screen. His mouth was slightly agape. His face was filled with the same shock as the hundreds of reporters behind him. In fact, this host had read the original book ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ multiple times.
That’s why it was even harder for him to process what he had just seen in the movie version.
‘I knew there would be some adaptation and revisions, but they went this far?? Even the ending! This is completely different from the original!!’
Because the ending of the movie was a complete 180-degree turn from the original.
‘This movie’s ending……is this really okay??! When it gets released, it’s going to blow everything up, isn’t it???’
Just as the end credits of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ were about halfway through, the lights in the large, dim screening hall turned on. Then, instead of the end credits, different words began to appear on the screen. Of course, they were in Japanese.
-[The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger / Stage Greeting]
It was time for Director Kyotaro and the Japanese actors who had been waiting to step forward toward the screen. But before they could, the dazed host stood in front of the screen first.
“…Th-then! Let’s invite the main cast of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ to the stage.”
It was around this moment.
“Hey, hey, hey, why the hell did the movie end like this??”
The murmuring of the hundreds of reporters and media personnel filling the audience quickly escalated in volume.
“Is it really over just like that?! Did it really end like that, with Kang Woojin’s face???”
“With this ending, Kang Woojin is the centerpiece……but the ending is different from the original, and drastically so.”
“Director Kyotaro has lost his mind. If he releases the movie like this, the hardcore fans of the original are going to absolutely rip him apart-”
Their minds, frozen in shock, were slowly starting to function again.
“Is he denying cause and effect or saying it’s meaningless?? And he completely changed the protagonist Kiyoshi’s setting!”
“Did they change Kiyoshi’s setting because of Kang Woojin’s casting?”
“Did the original author, Akari, really approve this? This doesn’t make sense. The ending is too extreme.”
“This- is practically trampling over the unwritten rules of the current Japanese content industry.”
“If the general public sees this ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’……it’ll be a disaster, a massive disaster!”
Not a single one of the hundreds of reporters could suppress their shock and fear. At the same time, they replayed the scenes from ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ in their heads. The character Iyota Kiyoshi, that is, Kang Woojin’s meticulous murder plan, the brutally realistic depiction of Japan, and the absurd ending that closed with a close-up shot of Woojin.
The hundreds of reporters were evolving from mere excitement to madness.
Meanwhile, Director Kyotaro and the Japanese actors stood in a straight line in front of the screen. All the reporters, who had been growing increasingly loud, suddenly raised their cameras to capture the cast of ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’. Flashes burst like lightning.
-Pabababapak!
It wasn’t the sound of positive shutter clicks. It was more like gathering intelligence in preparation for the massive controversy, backlash, disaster, or whatever expression you wanted to use for the war that was about to break out across Japan. Among the frenzied reporters, the quieter film critics were seeing something different in ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’.
‘The ending- yeah, I figured eventually an interpretation like this would emerge in Japan. I just didn’t expect Director Kyotaro Tanoguchi to be the one to do it. And with Akari’s work, no less. But Kang Woojin……what the hell was that acting? It was like they brought Kiyoshi himself to film it??’
It was Kang Woojin. Specifically, his acting.
‘Sure, there was already a lot of buzz around him, but honestly, in terms of performance, all I could see was Kang Woojin.’
‘The final shot is definitely going to spark massive controversy in Japan. ‘The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’ has so many fans, and they’re going to find it absurd. But in my eyes……this might just be the best ending of the year. Especially Woojin’s gaze- it really gave me chills.’
These were critics who had seen nearly every movie in Japan. Unlike the reporters, their evaluations weren’t bad.
‘The direction, sound, acting. There was nothing lacking. In fact, it was overflowing. Particularly the piano scene with Kiyoshi and the scenes where he seemed to have multiple personalities, those left an impression.’
‘In a different sense, I think a remarkable piece of work has emerged.’
Regardless, the frenzied reporters kept firing their camera flashes wildly, and, as if they couldn’t hold back any longer, began bombarding Director Kyotaro and the actors with questions.
“#)(%#()%(!!!”
“%(%)(#%)(#%!!!”
It was hard to understand what was being said as everything mixed together at once. Every single one of the hundreds of reporters was thinking back to “The Eerie Sacrifice of a Stranger’s” production press conference. Specifically, to Kang Woojin’s explosive remarks there.
‘I believe the audience numbers will easily exceed 20 million.’
‘I think this will be the first film to have a major impact on the Japanese film industry. A lot will change.’
Soon, a question from a nearby reporter finally reached Director Kyotaro’s ears as he stood in front of the screen.
“Director!! Are you really planning to release the movie like this??! If you do, it’s going to cause an explosive controversy!!”
Director Kyotaro, who had just received the handheld microphone from the frozen host, smiled leisurely.
“It doesn’t matter. Please, reporters, write your articles later with all the emotions you’re feeling right now.”
Afterwards.
The same situation unfolded two hours later at another press screening.
The hundreds of reporters there were also plunged into a state of frenzy.
Meanwhile, in France.
It was the morning of the 29th here. But Nice Airport, not far from Cannes, was already packed with people since the early hours. The airport lobby was so crowded there wasn’t even room to step. Swarms of people from all around the world were bustling about.
The reason was simple.
It was because of the world-renowned Cannes Film Festival, set to open tomorrow, with many global stars having already arrived. Over 4,000 invited journalists and tens of thousands of official guests. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. The number of tourists from around the world coming just to see the Cannes Film Festival was nearing the hundreds of thousands. Even though they had started arriving last week, Nice Airport was still exploding with tourists.
Of course, their destination was none other than Cannes, France.
Located about an hour away from Nice, Cannes, on the day before the massive film festival, felt like it was bursting with the atmosphere of an overwhelming celebration. From the 5-star hotels to the small lodgings, every place in Cannes had been fully booked for some time. Although Cannes is a relatively small city, the sidewalks were packed with people, giant billboards advertising the Cannes Film Festival hung everywhere, promotional flags adorned every streetlight, and pamphlets were being scattered across the roads.
Amid the diverse crowds from all over the world, you could easily spot quite a few Koreans.
“Here, here! Take a picture of me here!”
“Wow, there are seriously so many people.”
“Hurry up! We have lots of places to go.”
Indeed, it was the day before the Cannes Film Festival, and there was so much to see. Just watching the people could make the day fly by. Among all the sights, what stood out the most were the movie posters scattered throughout the city. These were the posters for the 20 films invited to this year’s Cannes Film Festival in the main ‘In Competition’ section.
The posters were displayed on monitors, attached to building walls, printed as pamphlets, and even on the sides of buses.
There were particularly many cameras around these posters.
From reporters from around the world to broadcast teams, all were capturing the posters. After all, there was nothing better than the invited films to convey the atmosphere and mood of the Cannes Film Festival. Naturally, the main awards of the festival, like the Palme d’Or, Best Director, and Best Actor, all come from the ‘In Competition’ section, so the attention was focused there.
Thus, promoting the posters was essential.
It was quite a sight to see international broadcast teams gathered around the ‘In Competition’ section posters, and among them, of course, was a team from Korea.
At this moment, a team was shooting in a vacant spot.
“Here? Is this a good spot?”
“Good- perfect!”
“I’ll start with a rehearsal.”
“Okay!”
A female reporter holding a handheld microphone stood in front of the camera. Surrounding her were a few team members. The camera bore a label marked with the logo of Korea’s public broadcaster, MBS. Anyone could tell it was MBS’s news team. They had set up in front of a giant banner poster attached to a building.
Soon, the female reporter positioned herself in front of the camera to ensure the large poster behind her was visible, and began her segment.
“We’re here in Cannes, France, and this place is already swarming with people for tomorrow’s opening of the Cannes Film Festival. Can you see the large poster behind me? It’s the poster for Director Ahn Ga-bok’s Leech.”
The poster showed a full-body image of Park Ha-seong against a dark background. He was looking at a family photo, and inside the frame were the chaebol family members including Chairman Yoon Jung-bae. Park Ha-seong was smiling at the photo, but his reflection in the frame was eerily expressionless. The poster itself portrayed Ripley’s syndrome, but unless you had seen the movie, you wouldn’t know that.
One thing, however, was clear.
“The large poster featuring Kang Woojin’s face is certainly striking.”
It meant that Kang Woojin’s face was displayed prominently in Cannes, a place teeming with global stars and hundreds of thousands of tourists.
“Leech is the only Korean film to be selected for the ‘In Competition’ section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and there’s already much anticipation surrounding it. Even now, foreign reporters and international broadcast teams are filming the Leech poster-”
In other words, the battle had already begun.
The morning of the 30th, late morning.
A large line of fencing had been set up in front of the entrance to the airport’s arrivals hall, and on both sides, over 300 people were packed in tightly. The interesting part was that they were all of different ethnicities, as if a mix of people from various countries had gathered.
And that was exactly the case.
The crowd of over 300 consisted of journalists dispatched from all over the world. Among them, dozens of Korean reporters could also be seen. Whether seated or perched on small ladders, they all held cameras as big as cannons.
And there was certainly a good reason for this.
For the past few days, global stars had been appearing at this very arrivals hall. Celebrities, actors, sports stars- the list went on and on.
At that moment
-Srrrrk.
The doors to the arrivals hall slid open. Instantly, hundreds of reporters from different nations began furiously pressing their camera shutters.
-Pabababababapak!
Soon, a black-haired Korean actor appeared before the reporters. His outfit was casual, a zip-up hoodie, but his expression was as solid as could be. There wasn’t a hint of surprise on his face at the sight of the hundreds of reporters.
“……”
He simply raised his hand indifferently.
-Pabababababapak!
A barrage of flashes rained down on him.
Just a few minutes later, articles with the same content began flooding news outlets in Korea. Each article prominently featured photos of one particular actor.
『[Cannes Film Festival+] Unfazed ‘Kang Woojin’ arrives at Nice Airport late in the morning / Photos』