Lee Joon-ik on Why Shortform Storytelling Is a Response, Not a Gamble

Veteran Korean film director Lee Joon-ik, best known for the 10-million-ticket hit "The King and the Clown," has stepped into South Korea's booming shortform drama market. He knows how it looks.

"I'm a content creator," Lee said. "In this changing new environment, I didn't challenge shortform. I responded to it. And in doing that, I get to explore stories that shortform hasn't been telling."

Some in the industry raised concerns about the move. "I thought it might come off as, 'Why is a big-name film director trying to muscle into a playground for young people?'" Lee admitted.

His first short drama has led to an unusual outcome. "Father's Home-Cooked Meals," shot in vertical format for mobile screens, opened in theaters on Sept. 9, playing in its original vertical frame on the big screen.

The story follows Sun-ae (played by Lee Jung-eun), a woman who has cooked for her family her entire life. When she suddenly develops a condition that leaves her unable to cook, her patriarchal husband Ha-eung (played by Jung Jin-young) has to attempt to cook his first home-cooked meal ever. The drama follows an ordinary family across generations, from parents to children to a granddaughter.

Lee said he did feel the limits of the format during production. "Because the vertical frame is so narrow, you can't really build the atmosphere of a moment," he said. But the upside was just as clear.

"A film feels like the audience is being served a beautifully set table. A short drama feels more like peeking through a crack," Lee said. "You're obsessively watching the exact thing you want to see. In a horizontal film, you receive the emotion that comes from the relationships between characters. In a short drama, the audience takes part directly and comes face-to-face with the character. That's something traditional film hasn't been able to do."

Lee also spoke warmly about the actors who joined him on the project. Jung Jin-young in particular has worked with Lee across many titles over more than 20 years. The director said Jung's performance in "Father's Home Cooking" left him impressed all over again.

"I've watched Jung Jin-young for a long time, and he seems to get better with age," Lee said. "It made me happy to sit in a theater and see that maturity in him as an actor."

Lee stressed that no matter how the format shifts, what matters in the end is the story. "Whether it's shortform or longform, in the big picture it's all a storytelling industry," he said. "Screen, monitor, film, shortform. Those are just differences in form."

"I think we get too caught up in the method," Lee continued. "Focusing on whether the format is film or shortform is, in a way, letting the format lead you. In the end, you have to focus on the direction of the content and let it lead the way. What matters isn't that 'Father's Home Cooking' is shortform. What matters is the story inside it."

Lee described the appeal of "Father's Home Cooking" as its "ordinariness." Short dramas often rely on sensational material to grab attention in a short span. He wanted to do the opposite, drawing on a story simple and familiar enough to connect with a wide audience.

"We tend to say that if something is ordinary, it's bad. But I think nothing is more precious than the ordinary," Lee said. "The film is about a father, a couple, a child. That's exactly why I think it's a good film to give as a gift to the people close to you, to your family."