[Limelight] "The Resentment Felt on Set, The Fear of Becoming Familiar"

'Gyeongseong Creature' Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok Searching for Missing Mother
10 Years of Powerlessness... Gains Strength to Face Truth While Searching for Mother
"A Life Enduring Adversity and Hardship, Who Can Blame Anyone?"

Films and dramas dealing with the Japanese colonial period are released every year. Most of them stir up nationalism with seemingly plausible subjects and events. This can sometimes hinder approaching the truth of history. Ironically, the Netflix series Gyeongseong Creature reduces the risk factors through extravagant imagination. It assumes that the Japanese conducted human experiments in the basement of Ongseong Hospital in Gyeongseong, creating monsters. The motif is Unit 731, which investigated and researched acute infectious disease prevention in the Harbin area of China and prepared for biological warfare. The plague fleas that caused the death of over 10,000 people are essentially the monsters.

It is a definite fact that human experiments were conducted by Unit 731. Simply dismissing it as a 'mad group' or 'demonic Japanese army' does not allow us to approach the core of the issue. We must coldly look beyond and see the true face of imperialism. Additionally, we must not forget that the people who drove the war, those who took advantage of it, and those who were trampled by it are not the same. Such understanding cannot be confirmed solely by specific trials or historians' work. The brutally trampled people must raise their voices as subjects of history.

Yoon Chae-ok (played by Han So-hee) in Gyeongseong Creature is a character who elevates this sense of agency. From episode 1, she is neither progressive nor reformist. Rather, even after witnessing brutal abuse and oppression, she is busy watching the Japanese police officers’ reactions. Having worked as a todukkun (a tracker of missing persons) for the past ten years and having witnessed countless incidents, she is somewhat numb. Han So-hee explained, "She seemed to have given up on changing the world after experiencing the oppression and humiliation of the Japanese directly and indirectly. It is not an exaggeration to say she is a neutralized character."

The strength to face the truth head-on wells up during the process of searching for her missing mother. She risks danger with the resolve to endure any humiliation or violence. It is not simply to meet her mother. While rescuing children trapped in the human experiment laboratory, she confirms the hope of escaping the shadow of anguish. Even while restrained, she boldly questions Gato (Choi Young-joon), who leads the human experiments.

"I want to ask, why are you so confident? How can you be so shameless after violating my mother, crushing a family's happiness, and killing so many innocent people?" "The great achievements and accomplishments I have made are realms that someone like you cannot casually discuss, Joseon-jing." "Achievements? Really? Does beautifying and packaging it like that erase your crimes? Can you hide your petty inferiority complex by pretending otherwise?"

Her growth continues even after leaving Ongseong Hospital. She is attacked and knocked down by her mother, who has become a monster instead of Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon). Han So-hee interpreted this as "becoming a person who is willing to give her life for someone else." "It contrasts with her early appearance, wandering solely with the determination to find her mother. Perhaps understanding Chae-ok’s heart, I unconsciously altered the line from 'Mom, stop it' to 'Mom, let's stop now.'"

Han So-hee also expanded her range of empathy by observing other characters. Kwon Joon-taek (Wi Ha-joon), who betrays his independence movement comrades after enduring horrific torture, is a representative example. She asserted, "No one can easily talk about betrayal without having experienced the Japanese colonial period." "My favorite lines in Gyeongseong Creature are Jang Tae-sang’s 'If we hadn’t gone through these times, it wouldn’t have happened' and Na Wol-daek’s (Kim Hae-sook) 'This (torture) is something no human should endure. When you enter, say your name and come out.' These lines reflect lives that endured adversity and hardship. Who can blame whom?"

Playing Yoon Chae-ok gave Han So-hee a conviction born from indirectly experiencing the era’s pain. She confessed, "When I first visited the underground prison set where human experiments were staged, I felt fear and anger." "They even caught children, dissected them, and put them in formalin bottles. It was truly horrifying. I had the illusion of a foul, irritating smell and even felt nauseous. Even though it wasn’t real, I thought child actors shouldn’t see it. But as time passed, my emotions gradually dulled. When filming was tough and exhausting, I even took naps nearby. It was the same when I saw actors playing corpses being thrown around carelessly. At first, I was shocked, but later, I felt nothing. The fact that I unconsciously became accustomed was frightening."

In reality, doctors of Unit 731 conducted human experiments routinely and felt no sense of problem. Even after the war ended, it was no different. Acts beyond common sense were known among comrades. However, few medical researchers questioned the wrongdoing of the unit members. Whether it was because they followed the flow of the times, shared the common goal of winning the war, or could not raise objections under oppressive militarism remains unclear. Ultimately, the brutally trampled people must raise their voices. Perhaps this is why Han So-hee embraced Yoon Chae-ok. "What I wanted to gain from Gyeongseong Creature was just another version of myself running toward a single goal."