Nonetheless (3)
Novel N Movie was in the middle of filming.
In the crew area, Yu PD said to Team Leader Jang, “The atmosphere is better than I expected, isn’t it?” The two of them had been clubmates in college, and it was thanks to her unusually strong network that they had been able to bring in a producer with such a good reputation in the YouTube world.
“Right? It flowed so smoothly from the movie talk into the book discussion, and we covered the whole introduction. Really natural.”
“Mm. Yeah. Mok Hyunsun isn’t even flinching.” By then, more than half the shoot was already done. The part where they introduced the book and the film based on the script was over, and all that remained was a free-form conversation.
“As the editor said, this work is really bizarre in the best horror-genre way.”
“Exactly. It deals only with the narrow space of the house, but it never feels dull; it keeps the tension alive all the way through. In that sense, I think the scene where Yongha comes out of the house during the climax is crucial.”
“Ah— you mean the part where that desolate outside landscape suddenly opens up? Do you have any special analysis of that section?” Kim Bong-woon lifted his round glasses with a look that clearly said, Go on then, impress me.
Mok Hyunsun began. “Yes. That’s the first scene in the work where the setting changes.”
“That’s right.”
“Up until then, Yongha keeps trying to leave the house. It’s not that he merely wants to step outside in a physical sense; he wants to cut his ties with the house and go out into the world beyond it. But the view outside is, as you said, desolate and colorless, and in a way it feels even bleaker than the inside of the house.”
“Hmm.”
“I thought that part was saying this: whatever he chooses going forward, Yongha will still be uneasy. In truth, that unease itself is horror. If the answer were clear, it wouldn’t be horror anymore.”
“...That’s a plausible argument. If the answer is visible, then it isn’t horror.” Kim Bong-woon nodded as though conceding the point.
He looked relaxed enough at a glance, but the fingertips of the arm he had folded across his chest were trembling nervously. Today’s shoot was not going the way he had expected. No matter how subtly he tried to push, Mok Hyunsun slid right past every trap.
He had assumed the man was just some pretty-faced rich kid. But wasn’t this bastard actually better than Yoon Seo-hoon?
At the crew station, Team Leader Jang nudged Yu PD with a smug grin. “Well? Hyunsun’s good, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. He’s not losing at all. Even though Kim Bong-woon keeps trying to seize control of the mood. That kid’s got guts for someone so young.”
“Mok Hyunsun’s already famous at our company. He brought in the manuscript for Park Jeong-shin.”
“The author Park Jeong-shin?” Yu PD made a twirling motion around her head with her finger. “That guy’s, like... a total nutcase.”
“Not exactly a nutcase, just a little extra. Still, he wrangled him so well he got the manuscript at the first meeting. Oh? What’s that?” Team Leader Jang pointed at the booklet lying on the table.
It was clearly a screenplay. “That? I know someone on the production team for Nonetheless, so I managed to get a script collection. Thought it might come in handy today. They said we could use a line or two if needed.”
“Really? But would we even need that today? The script section’s already done.”
“You never know. Anyway, by now I think Kim Bong-woon’s about to push in for real.”
Back on set, the two of them were deep in discussion of description.
“As expected, the greatest strength of this novel is its psychological detail.”
“That’s right, editor. Then shall we talk about mise-en-scène and the actors’ performances?” In other words, he was openly declaring that he would only talk about the film from here on out.
Mok Hyunsun merely smiled faintly.
Kim Bong-woon pushed his glasses back up again. “You do know what mise-en-scène means, of course? It’s the harmony created by everything the director places within a single frame. The director of Nonetheless does this extraordinarily well. He maximizes that complex atmosphere the novel can’t quite contain.”
There it is. Mok Hyunsun thought.
But instead of resisting too quickly, he smiled. “Of course, the original is a novel, but how should I put it? With a bit of ‘professional imagination’ added in, it creates excellent mise-en-scène. Images, music, the actors’ performances—none of that can be fully expressed in language. That’s the great power of film as a total art form, isn’t it? Ha-ha-ha.”
At that laugh, Yoon Seo-hoon, standing at the edge of the set, frowned.
The meaning behind it was obvious enough. He was enjoying the fact that the attack had landed. Yet Mok Hyunsun, as before, simply pulled back and said, “Is that so?”
Kim Bong-woon grew even more animated. “T-then, to be completely frank, I sometimes think the original novel in film is nothing more than a foundation, a tool. Oh dear, was that too much?”
“Not at all. It’s interesting.”
“Hah-hah-hah! It’s only my personal opinion, of course. Hmm... if we use Nonetheless as an example, think of the actors’ performances.”
“They were all excellent. In particular, the actor who played Yongha was remarkable in his facial acting.”
“In the end, what matters is acting skill, and the director’s sense in making full use of it. Ah, of course, there must have been a sufficiently thorough reading of the source material in shaping the character. In that sense, fans of this actor might enjoy reading the novel as well.”
With that one line, the target had quietly shifted from every viewer on YouTube to the actor’s fans alone.
It was a rude piece of verbal sleight of hand, subtly diminishing the very people he was supposed to be recommending the book to. Team Leader Jang whispered to Yu PD, “I’m cutting that part. Why is Kim Bong-woon overacting like that today?”
“He knows it’ll get cut. Doesn’t Mok Hyunsun look annoyed?”
But then Mok Hyunsun, who had been composed all along, finally spoke up. “But I think this film relies entirely on the original novel.”
Silence fell.
Not only Kim Bong-woon, but everyone in the crew area, turned to look at Mok Hyunsun. “...You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“Hah. Now I’m curious. Why don’t you prove it?” Kim Bong-woon was ready to argue whatever the answer happened to be.
Mok Hyunsun said to a staff member, “Could you show that part? The close-up the moment Yongha comes out of the house.”
The staff hurriedly brought that section up on the monitor. Yongha’s face at the point where he can neither leave nor return.
That indescribable expression was already famous, the one that had earned the actor the title of a genius performer.
Everyone here knew the scene, yet it was still captivating no matter how many times they saw it.
“Critic. The importance of this scene doesn’t need to be explained, does it?”
“Of course not. It’s the climax. You can’t talk about Nonetheless without this scene.”
“Then how would you describe this expression?”
“Pardon?”
“The script, or the director’s direct direction... anything is fine. What did this actor base that extraordinary performance on?”
“Complex emotions? Frustration? Confusion? Um—well, truly outstanding acting is often hard to put into words.”
You don’t understand acting. Amateur. Kim Bong-woon looked exactly like he was thinking that.
“Editor, you may not realize this, but acting isn’t something so simple. There must have been some very specific, very intricate, very delicate direction—”
“I can explain it in one phrase.”
“...?”
“Nonetheless.”
“What?”
“The expression of a human being who chooses to go back even though he knows better.”
“!” Looking at the monitor, Mok Hyunsun went on, “Yongha already knows rationally that God does not exist. He went through a period of confusion, but in the end he proved it, and there’s evidence for it. And above all, he’d want to believe there isn’t one. But he can’t leave. He can’t leave nonetheless.”
“...”
“Whether it’s because of the love-hate relationship he has with his family, or because of his own weakness, the reason doesn’t matter. The point is that he can’t leave. Despite knowing. Despite not believing. Despite escaping, he turns back and walks into hell again.”
A murmur of awe rose from the quiet crew area. “Ah...”
They had forgotten that the sound was being recorded at all.
“That feeling is in his expression. But there is no expression called ‘Nonetheless.’ In the end, it’s an emotional current that only exists in the novel, something you can’t use in a screenplay meant to become the director’s actual blueprint for the film.”
Kim Bong-woon wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t.
The actor’s face, however you looked at it, was the face of Nonetheless.
Cold sweat beaded at his temples for no good reason. “What do you think, critic?”
“Ahem.” He had no reply.
No matter how hard he tried, nothing came to him.
Setting aside Novel N Movie, it was the first time in his career as a critic that he had ever been cornered like this. In the end, a single bead of sweat slid down his cheek.
He tugged at his bow tie, suddenly aware of how tight it felt, and then—snap—it tore.
Kim Bong-woon panicked. “W-wait, why did it—”
At that moment, Yu PD in the crew area jerked.
He suddenly started rifling through the script collection.
And the instant he checked one page—“...!” His eyes wavered. “Writer Choi. Writer Choi. Get this out right away.”
“Yes? Ah, yes, PD.” The writer quickly typed something into the laptop connected to the monitor.
As the staff began to buzz with confusion, Mok Hyunsun looked at the sketch the writer had prepared and said, “Ah. They’ve got the material ready after all. It seems this is the screenplay for the part I mentioned.”
S#120. In front of the shaman’s house.
Yongha runs out of the house, then stops.
Yongha: (with an expression that can only be described as Nonetheless)....
He slowly turns around and goes back into the house.
Mok Hyunsun laughed before he could stop himself. He had suspected it, but this exact? Kim Bong-woon was flustered, of course, and even the crew area broke into a murmur.
This was enough.
Mok Hyunsun decided to bring it to a close. “At this point, we can also see why the novel is titled Nonetheless. It’s the title that most clearly reveals the protagonist’s emotions... and,” he said, “it’s a very literary title.”
It was enough to break Kim Bong-woon’s pride.
And yet he still couldn’t answer.
He could only stare blankly at the screenplay on the monitor. Meanwhile, Yu PD asked Team Leader Jang, “That guy... what is he, exactly? What has he been doing all this time?” But Team Leader Jang couldn’t answer either.
He simply swallowed hard and stared at that monstrous new hire.
The shoot ended like that.
Kim Bong-woon, unable to bear the humiliation, stormed off the set immediately. Everyone watched him go, and Mok Hyunsun left the studio with leisurely steps.
“Senior Yoon.”
“Y-yeah?”
“A trophy.”
Mok Hyunsun tossed something lightly into the air.
Yoon Seo-hoon caught it by reflex. It was the torn bow tie. The three senior editors in Team 1 were left speechless.
They had known the youngest was something special, of course.
But to crush Kim Bong-woon like that?
Mok Hyunsun said to Kim Ji-woon, “It looks like it’s past quitting time, so I’ll head out first. That’s okay, right?”
“Huh? Ah. Yeah. Sure...” For some reason, the youngest felt unusually formidable today, and Kim Ji-woon couldn’t bring himself to stop him. He didn’t even have a reason to.
Only Yang Ho-chan, with his easy charm, found the courage to call after him. “Hey, hey, Mok.”
“Yes?”
“...At least eat before you go? It’s late.”
“Ah. Dinner.”
Mok Hyunsun narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking about it, and then shook his head. “Sorry. I suddenly came up with something I want to do when I get home.”
So Mok Hyunsun left the set alone.
Of course, he felt satisfied, too. It was good to shut Kim Bong-woon up after all that needling from the beginning of the shoot, good to say everything he had prepared, and the fact that the screenplay had turned out exactly as he had imagined... that was thrilling.
He wanted to celebrate with the seniors, naturally. He wanted to drink and fool around with them until late.
But not today.
Because his head was already overflowing with a new language of criticism.
And, as always, the work at the center of that language was Nonetheless.
—