On the occasion of the Asian Film Festival in Rome, we had the pleasure of meeting director Lee Kang-kuk, a filmmaker with a refined and deeply introspective vision. His films sensitively explore the subtle boundary between dream and reality, offering viewers visual and narrative experiences rich in ambiguity and suggestion. During this interview, the director guided us through his creative universe, sharing reflections on time, perception, and the role of cinema as a space for experience and transformation.
In your films, the line between reality and imagination seems to dissolve. Do you believe reality is something objective, or a construction that each of us continuously reinvents?
I have always had a deep interest in the way dreams and reality influence each other. Since the present is only a fleeting moment, once it passes it is transformed through memory. As time goes by, it can become difficult to distinguish what the authentic reality was. I wish to capture this ambiguity in my films. I believe that watching a film is, ultimately, similar to dreaming.
Your characters seem to inhabit inner spaces rather than physical places. For you, is cinema a means to explore the world or to traverse consciousness?
For me, making and watching films is also a process through which, by observing the lives of others, I examine whether my own existence is distant from theirs or in harmony with it. I consider it a way to experience the world and the people within it.
Time in your works appears suspended, almost circular. Is this a narrative choice or a reflection on the human perception of time?
The overall content of this question is similar to my first answer. Depending on the situation, narrative choices and the characters’ perceptions work together in shaping the story.
Your images often evoke rather than explain. Do you think cinema should communicate a meaning or generate an experience?
I believe that cinema is a process of creating dreams through stories and images. When these dreams intertwine, they give rise to meaningful experiences that could not be lived individually.
In your films, one senses a tension between control and loss. Do you think art is born more from will or from surrender?
I believe that every form of art is born from a sense of lack. Although in different ways, every individual experiences complex and multifaceted deficiencies. Those who create tend to perceive them more acutely, reflect on them deeply, and ultimately transform them into nourishment to give life to something that embodies their own identity and uniqueness.
Don Quixote
