BUSAN– Iconic Japanese director Takashi Miike said Friday his Korean-language drama series “Connect” to be streamed on Disney+ in December is a crime thriller with blood and plenty of action scenes that will provoke questions about many themes.
The first three episodes of the six-part series based on a Korean webtoon by Shin Dae-sung premiered at the Busan International Film Festival on Thursday in the “On Screen” section for highly anticipated drama series from streaming platforms.
Miike was pleased to finally pull off his first Korean language project on a major streaming platform after overcoming language barriers and travel restrictions amid the pandemic and even screen it at the film festival, which he called a “miracle.”
He is the second Japanese filmmaker to team up with Korean cast members for a cross-border project, following Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Broker (2022),” starring Korean actor Song Kang-ho, who won Cannes’ Best Actor in May.
The 62-year-old has a lengthy filmography encompassing a variety of different genres since his debut in 1991, but he is best known for extreme horror films, such as “Audition” (1999) and “Ichi the Killer” (2001).
“For the series, I tried to focus on what I really wanted to do and make something that can entertain the audience,” he said through his interpreter during a press conference.
The story features the kidnapping of Ha Dong-soo (Jung Hae-in) by a gang of organ harvesters who remove one of his eyes, which is later transplanted it into the socket of a serial killer, Oh Jin-seop (Ko Kyung-po). Left alive, the one-eyed Dong-soo begins to experience visions of horrific crimes from Jin-seop’s perspective and chases him to stop the killings.
The director said “Connect” is a crime thriller hiding several clues, and finding them will be part of the joy of watching it.
“The original is based on a broader view of the world, so I didn’t stick to one genre,” he said. “The most attractive part (of watching it) will be finding clues from the diverse perspective of the world.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency