'Manok' is a gay movie, in every sense of the word

[INTERVIEW]

Lee Yu-jin has directed queer films since 2020. With her feature debut “Manok,” which opened in theaters Wednesday, she had the same goal that guided many of her shorts: To make the movie gay. Not just in its subject matter, but in the joyful, bright sense of the word.

“I’ve often found that laughter helps people open up,” Lee said in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at a cafe in central Seoul on the day of the release.

“[Some filmmakers] believe they can change society by trying to convince audiences just how pitiful and miserable minorities are,” Lee said. “But I don’t think that approach really works. In some ways, I think it gives the majority a sense of comfort. They think, ‘They’re so unfortunate, so we’ll help them.’ That’s an easier position to take. Real solidarity and coexistence mean recognizing minorities as equal citizens.”

In “Manok,” viewers who aren’t necessarily watching the film for its queer storyline will still have a lot to relate to, the director said.

The film follows Jang Man-ok, a lesbian bar owner who returns to her rural hometown after a falling out with a fellow business owner. There, she encounters new friends and old foes and, while confronting her past and building a community, ultimately decides to run for mayor.

Man-ok may face discrimination as a queer woman in the conservative fictional town of Iban-ri, but she rarely wallows in it. Just as pressing are the generational conflicts sparked by her messy, brash and old-fashioned personality, which puts her at odds with Seoul’s younger queer community but endears her to Iban-ri’s older residents.

That characterization resonated with older viewers. “Middle-aged and older viewers told me they identified with Man-ok and wondered whether they, too, could live a little more boldly,” Lee said. “Perhaps, even if we’re imperfect and never become fully formed adults, we can still find the courage to live more freely.”

“The viewers might not be able to understand the details [specific to the queer community], but as they laugh as they watch and then recognize themselves in the story, their own struggles or similar experiences, I think they’ll be able to begin to connect [to the film],” she added.

There are plenty such details in the film. The fictional neighborhood of Iban-ri takes its name from “iban,” a Korean slang term for the LGBTQ community originating from the 1990s. There are lesbian culture references. But one thing Lee did not want to reproduce on screen was the real-life violence directed at the queer community.

In one scene, Man-ok defends Jae-yeon, a trans student bullied by their classmates, at a police station after the bullies’ teacher tries to pin the blame on Jae-yeon. Instead of resorting to violence or insults, the confrontation unfolds as a comic rap battle between Man-ok and the teacher.

And in another scene involving outing — the public disclosure of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent — Lee said she wanted “viewers to be able to laugh at it and think, ‘How absurd. How ridiculous that someone would do that.”

“If would have been too painful,” Lee said. “I didn’t want the audience to feel that pain so directly.”

Lee also took particular care in casting Jae-yeon and Seon-ah, Man-ok’s close friend, choosing trans actors for both roles. Jae-yeon is played by Seong Jae-yoon, while Seon-ah is played by Saek-ja, whom Lee met through drag theater.

“I felt it would be far more effective to [cast] transgender actors,” Lee said, because their lived experiences meant they understood the characters from the outset.

“A cisgender actor could study the traits associated with transgender people, but many of those traits have already been filtered through popular media,” she said. “Everyone is different, and relying on those generalized characteristics can be dangerous.”

Ultimately, Lee wants every viewer to come away from “Manok” to have fun and be encouraged to form community.

“There’s a saying that if a monk doesn’t like the temple, they should leave. But what if the monk has nowhere else to go?” Lee said.

The recently popular term tal-Joseon, meaning “leave Korea,” also “carries an enormous desire to live safely and happily here,” Lee said. “People imagine leaving because they feel disappointed and defeated.”

“I hope viewers of ‘Manok’ think about how we can live together, whether in a country, a city, a village or a home, while protecting one another’s safety,” she said. “But for the [movie's] two hours, I think they’ll mostly just laugh.”

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]