Meet the cinematographer everyone wants to work with
CHUNG CHUNG-HOON made his name with Oldboy and The Handmaiden — now Edgar Wright and Star Wars are calling
IF YOU’VE SEEN the famous one-shot corridor fight of Oldboy, or the giant, writhing octopus of The Handmaiden, then you’ll be familiar with the work of cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon. Since making his name in his native South Korea in the early 2000s, Chung has become one of the most admired cinematographers working today. He made history in February as the first South Korean cinematographer to join the Star Wars franchise, for the high-profile Disney+ mini-series Obi-wan Kenobi — and has already staked a claim in Hollywood, working on major projects such as It, Hotel Artemis and Edgar Wright’s upcoming Last Night In Soho.
But why is every director worth their salt lining up to collaborate with him? One reason might be that his approach stems from passion rather than technical proficiency. “Even right before Oldboy, I had no idea what it meant to be a good cinematographer,” he tells Empire
via an interpreter. “But I come from an acting background, so I approach the story first and try to analyse the characters. Once I understand that, it helps me understand the angles to reflect their personalities. The camera itself,” he says, “is, to me, another character.”
This inquisitive approach is one of Chung’s greatest creative assets, but it is his reputation among cinematic royalty that has allowed him to transcend borders. His work was well known to Edgar Wright long before they first collaborated; as Chung recalls with pride, Wright once tweeted that his and Park Chan-wook’s 2016 thriller The Handmaiden was a “sumptuous masterpiece”. When the cinematographer received a call out of the blue inviting him to work on Last Night In Soho, he dropped everything. “I said yes right away,” Chung recalls. “I flew out to start pre-production the very next day.”
It has proved to be a fruitful partnership. “Edgar has so many ideas,” says Chung. “In my head, I started to think he might be crazy… but to be honest, I enjoyed shooting this film more than anything.” There are similarities, he says, in Park and Wright’s obsessive style. “We call them ‘the walking IMDBS’, because they know so much about films — and they both know how to take advantage of the way I suggest ideas, which made it very easy for me.”
With some of his earliest inspiration found in Hollywood films — he cites “James Bond, Indiana Jones, the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns” among them — Chung’s vision could be a shoo-in for a major Hollywood franchise. But for Star Wars, it seems, an outsider’s perspective could be his greatest asset.
“I’m not a crazy Star Wars fan,” Chung admits. “I’ve only watched maybe one. But it means I can focus on the story and the drama rather than being obsessed with how things should look as a Star Wars series. I would like to be able to show the diverse look of the different genres I can do.” With films like Korean vampire drama Thirst and asylum romcom I’m A Cyborg, But That’s OK also on his CV, Chung is well-equipped to deliver a new spin. “Maybe it can be like those Western films I watched,” he concludes, teasingly. “Maybe it can be like my movie Oldboy.” Expect a Darth Vader revenge thriller, then — plus, maybe, a corridor fight in the Cantina.
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO IS IN CINEMAS FROM 29 OCTOBER