On Friday, April 17, at the Korean Cultural Institute, the meeting with director You Youngeun and producer Lee Hyunyoung opened a precious window onto the behind-the-scenes of the K-drama “How Do You Say Love?”, revealing not only the creative process, but also the deep connection between Korea and Italy that runs through the entire series.
The meeting proved to be particularly interesting, especially because You Youngeun and Lee Hyunyoung shared authentic and previously unseen details about the production of How Do You Say Love?. One of the most fascinating aspects that emerged concerns the team spirit that developed during filming. Both the artistic and technical crew found themselves working in small Italian villages, where options were limited and restaurants were few. This inevitably led everyone to share meals, day after day. What might have seemed like a simple logistical necessity turned into something much deeper: a moment of encounter, exchange, and construction. Sitting at the same table, between one scene and another, made it possible to break down distances, create complicity, and strengthen human bonds. This is how, almost naturally, a real family was formed. A climate of trust and collaboration that made the work on set more fluid, more authentic, and that is also reflected in the emotional quality of the story. Because when people feel part of something, every gesture, both in front of and behind the camera takes on a different value.
Location scouting: a journey through Italian beauty
Before arriving at the final choice of locations, the production embarked on a true exploratory journey into the heart of Italy. The scouting touched iconic cities such as Rome, Naples, and Sicily, each with a strong and evocative visual identity. However, the final decision fell on Siena and Perugia, two places capable of conveying that suspended atmosphere between history and intimacy that the narrative required. Siena, with its medieval geometries and warm stone tones, and Perugia, with its intimate and silent glimpses, became not just backdrops but true emotional characters of the story. A fundamental role is also played by Civita di Bagnoregio, chosen for the opening scene: an almost unreal place, connected to the world by a long and scenic bridge. It is precisely here that the first sequence takes place, crucial for the entire K-drama.
The first scene: a narrative threshold
The director emphasized how the first episode represents the key to understanding the entire series. The image of the actress crossing the bridge in high heels is not just an aesthetic moment, but a powerful symbol: a passage, a threshold between two worlds. Shooting that scene was not easy. The stone bridge, irregular and demanding, challenged every step. And yet, the strength of the performance transformed the difficulty into character: the actress, dynamic and determined, managed to cross it naturally, making that sequence memorable and full of emotional tension.
The language of costumes: identity and connection
Costumes take on a fundamental narrative role in the K-drama How Do You Say Love?. The preservation of the same chromatic nuances between present and memory serves to create an emotional continuity between the characters. In telling How Do You Say Love?, the director never thought of color as a simple aesthetic element, but as an invisible thread, something capable of crossing time and keeping characters connected even when the story separates them. She wanted the audience to feel that emotion does not change, that it remains intact, even when the characters are distant, even when time divides them. The palette remains the same precisely to suggest this: what binds them has never been broken. She was not interested in creating a clear distinction between past and present. Memories, in her vision, are not something distant or filtered. They are alive, present, almost tangible. It is as if the protagonist is not truly remembering, but continuing to feel. That is why the colors do not change: because emotions do not change. It is not just about aesthetics, but about storytelling. The costume thus becomes a means of emotional transmission, a silent inheritance that tells the relationship between the two female figures, suggesting continuity, conflict, and recognition.
Feelings, art, and paintings: the visual soul of the story
One of the most fascinating elements that emerged during the talk is the use of art as an emotional language. Paintings and artistic environments are not mere scenic decorations, but tools through which characters express what they cannot say. Each work becomes an inner mirror: colors, lights, and compositions accompany the development of feelings, transforming aesthetics into narrative. It is an approach that recalls a deeply European sensibility, in which the image becomes thought.
A cultural bridge: between Korea and Italy
The choice to involve Alberto Mondi is not accidental. A figure much loved in Korea, Mondi represents a meeting point between two cultures. His presence in the drama strengthens the authenticity of the Italian context, while at the same time offering a familiar face to Korean audiences. Likewise, the protagonist Kim Seo-ho faced a significant challenge: portraying a multilingual character. For the role, he studied and performed in both Italian and Japanese, embodying the figure of an interpreter. A complex task that required linguistic precision as well as sensitivity in rendering cultural nuances credibly.
Cinematic inspiration
Finally, the director revealed that she was inspired by the style of Luca Guadagnino, particularly for his ability to convey emotions through atmosphere, silence, and visual details. This influence can be felt in the construction of the scenes: slow, immersive, capable of leaving space for emotion without forcing it, in a delicate balance between aesthetics and truth.
In How Do You Say Love?, nothing is left to chance. Every choice—from locations to costumes, from language to art—contributes to building a story that does not merely tell a narrative, but brings it to life through images, sensations, and deep connections between different cultures.
