From The Hollywood Reporter · Patrick Brzeski · · 1m
Na Hong-jin's 'Hope' Is Avatar With a Dark Korean Twist
The Korean genre master discusses his sci-fi film that blends blockbuster spectacle with his signature dark vision.
In brief
The Korean genre master discusses his sci-fi film that blends blockbuster spectacle with his signature dark vision. Hope represents a rare fusion of Hollywood-scale sci-fi spectacle with an auteur director's uncompromising artistic vision. Originally reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
The auteur franchise question
What if an art house director made a blockbuster? It's a film nerd fantasy that rarely becomes reality.
Imagining impossible mashups
Picture Lars von Trier directing Avengers, David Cronenberg helming Jurassic World, or Wes Anderson on Fast & Furious reshoots.
Hope delivers the answer
This new film actually approximates what that fantasy looks like in practice.
Avatar meets Korean darkness
Hope is essentially Avatar directed by Na Hong-jin, South Korea's master of genre cinema with a trauma-tinged edge.
“This, at last, is Avatar if it were directed by South Korean maestro Na Hong-jin”
Na's signature style
The director is the current standard-bearer for Korea's tradition of wildly entertaining genre films with a sicko streak.
What it means
Hope represents a rare fusion of Hollywood-scale sci-fi spectacle with an auteur director's uncompromising artistic vision.
