'Leaving Las Vegas' director Mike Figgis puts Korea in spotlight in new film

British filmmaker Mike Figgis / Courtesy of Seoul International Eco Film Festival

By Kwak Yeon-soo

British filmmaker Mike Figgis, known for "Leaving Las Vegas" (1996) and "Timecode" (2000), recalled how he initially became a fan of Korean dramas that led him to buy his own plane ticket to Korea in 2018.

"Normally, in my life, I never buy my own ticket because I go to another country to make a film or somebody invites me. This time I did because I became interested in Korean dramas," he said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

Several dramas that struck him hard were "Something in the Rain" (2018), "Secret Affair" (2014) and "Sky Castle" (2018-19). After having access to Asian TV content, mainly through Netflix, he realized that there is "a whole alternative drama world which is not American, British or European."

He highlighted major differences between Korean dramas and other Asian dramas, saying that K-dramas absorb a lot of American cinema but, at the same time, retain their unique storylines with multiple layers.

"After I was attracted to Korean dramas, I started to do a lot of research into Korean history, its transition to democracy, Korea-Japan relations, comfort women issue, gender politics, chaebol and corporate culture. Korea has a fast-expanding culture, but still holds a lot of memories and issues from pre-democracy," he said.

Recently, Figgis made his seventh visit to Korea. He was the head of the international competition jury at the 20th Seoul International Eco Film Festival (SIEFF), which ran from June 1 to 7. He is also working on a Korean-language film, tentatively titled "Shame."

Below is an excerpt of The Korea Times interview with Figgis. It has been edited for clarity and readability.

A scene from the 1996 film "Leaving Las Vegas" / Korea Times file

Q. You've been to Korea multiple times on the jury and as a director. How have things changed over the years?

A. I have changed. I had an immediate belief that I knew what was going on here. I now realize I had no idea. The more you get to know, the more complicated it is. Korea has its own complexity. Now I know a lot more and I acknowledge that there is a lot that I don't know. I read two Korean newspapers in English every day and I have noticed the change in dramas, films and music on how they are changing their styles to target the global market.

Q. You were a jury chairman at this year's SIEFF, which screens films about climate change, environmental responsibility and wildlife. Is climate change one of your main interests lately?

A. Last year, I started making a documentary called "Is Anybody Listening?" (working title), in Florida with a sound recordist. He was talking about how his audio recording shows the disastrous decline of nature, birds and fish over the last 30 years. He made underwater noise recordings of dolphins in Japan, and the tragic image on his spectrograms showed that the only audio you can hear is shrimps, which make the biggest noise in the ocean. When you see that in audio images, it's really frightening. Maybe next year, I'll bring that documentary to Korea.

A scene from the 2000 film "Timecode" / Korea Times file

Q. Looking back on your career, is there a particular project you would call a turning point?

A. My feature film debut "Stormy Monday" (1988) had no success in England but had more success in America. That got me into directing "Internal Affairs" (1990) which was a success. That was a turning point that established me in Hollywood. Then came along "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Timecode" that were game changers that took me in a new direction.

Q. Can you tell me about your next project?

A. It's a feature film that has the possibility of being deconstructed. I still like the structure of the feature film. I love the drama format, but that is almost 20 hours, which is too long. Within this project, there are probably 15 characters interrelated to one another. It's a collection of characters, and they start to meet each other as the story unfolds. They are all unified by the same therapist, real estate agent and car salesman. The stories are about K-pop, education, business and cryptocurrency. My ambition is to make it this year and be ready for Cannes or Berlinale. It's going to be a festival venue film.

Q. What are your thoughts on the rise of streaming services? Will they have a positive impact on global cinema and TV series?

A. I'm just worried because they have become so successful. After COVID-19 broke out, people stopped going to the cinema. Cinema prices are so expensive. So the only option would be streaming services. Netflix is now cracking down on users who share passwords and increasing prices. For them, it's vital that revenue turnover is big, which is going to influence the choices they make. Disney recently fired thousands of people. Everybody is scared for their job, which means they are not going to make very brave decisions. They're not going to take risks.