EXCLUSIVE: Although Korean star Hyun Bin first hesitated to take on the role of Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun in Harbin, he knew deep down that he could not pass up such a rare opportunity.
Director Woo Min-ho tried three times before he managed to convince Hyun to take on the leading role. Woo understood Hyun’s hesitation, given the magnitude of Ahn’s stature in Korean history.
“It isn’t easy as an actor to accept the offer to play the role of Ahn Jung-geun, because Koreans have their own ideas and thoughts about him as a patriotic martyr,” Hyun told Deadline. “I knew that playing Ahn wouldn’t be an easy task and it took a lot of courage. But after discussing with the director, I thought about how there might not be a lot of opportunities to play a great hero of Korean history, and that it may be really meaningful as an actor to take the role in new directions.”
Hyun has starred in hit series Crash Landing on You in 2019 and 2022 film Confidential Assignment 2: International, among others.
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Harbin also features Jeon Yeo-been (Vincenzo) and Park Jeong-min (Decision to Leave). The film had its world premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Gala Presentations section on September 8.
The film is set in the early 1900s, when Korea is forced by Japan to sign the Eulsa Treaty. Korea loses its diplomatic rights and becomes a Japanese colony. By 1909, when Harbin begins, Korea’s Righteous Army militia launches a campaign of armed resistance against the Japanese. Ahn later heads an operation to assassinate Ito Hirobumi, the first Japanese Resident-General of Korea.
Woo said that Hive Media Corp — who he collaborated with for Inside Men and The Man Standing Next — passed him the screenplay for Harbin. Like Hyun Bin, Woo was first overwhelmed by the sheer task of attempting a cinematic portrayal of Ahn’s journey.
However, a spontaneous trip to a bookstore ended up changing Woo’s mind.
While waiting for his mother at a medical appointment, Woo decided to venture to a bookshop nearby. “I had a little bit of time left so I went across the street to Kyobo Bookstore and read a book there. It was about Ahn Jung-geun.”
What stood out to Woo in the book was an incident where Ahn released Japanese war prisoners, in line with the laws of war, but this action ended up giving rise to suspicions about Ahn and causing fractures within the ranks of the independence fighters.
“That was a point in the book that stood out to me, because while I was aware that he was a general, I didn’t know that he had a lot of failures in the past,” Woo said.
Harbin was filmed across Korea (including Mudeung mountain in Gwangju), as well as Mongolia and Latvia. The film was lensed by Parasite cinematographer Hong Kyeong-pyo.
While shooting in Mongolia’s deserts was a special memory for Hyun, he recalled a battle scene, filmed on a mountain in Korea, as one of his most vivid experiences. “Where we were shooting is actually not a place that is covered in snow often, but when we were shooting, heavy snow fell and it was the first time there was that amount of snow in 48 years,” Hyun said.
Woo added: “We went to different locations and into nature’s vastness to shoot the film. Although there were harsh conditions, we wanted to experience that harsh journey together, because we thought that this would be a little bit of the experience that Ahn Jung-geun and the Korean independence fighters had to face. We wanted to portray that as much as possible on the screen.
“It was the first time going to Mongolia for me and they have these vast lands as well as rivers,” Woo said. “It was harsh but there was a sense of sacredness as well. I felt like a very tiny being and a little bit fearful, yet my mind felt completely clear and so fresh. I think that these may be some of the emotions that Ahn encountered during his mission, and that’s the reason why he was able to successfully carry out his mission, even though there were hard battles.”
Alejandro G. Inarritu’s 2015 film The Revenant also featured as a major source of inspiration for both Hyun and Woo.
“The Revenant is a movie that portrays the battle between humans and nature, so I referred to it,” Hyun said.
Woo said that he admired how The Revenant was filmed almost entirely with natural light, and he studied the film in preparation for Harbin.
Hyun added that he referenced a lot of books and materials related to Ahn while preparing for his role, which also included visiting the Ahn Junggeun Memorial Museum in Seoul. He also read Ahn’s autobiography, the letters that he wrote in prison and Ahn’s “East Asia Peace Thesis.”
Woo picked out the 16-volume Korean epic novel Toji (known in English as Land) by Park Kyong-ni as another important reference while preparing to shoot Harbin.
“Toji is a book set in those times,” Woo said. “This is a work like [Russian writer] Tolstoy’s writing about people who have their homeland taken away and the emotions that people felt during those days.”
Woo also collaborated with the London Symphony Orchestra and Abbey Road Studios (where the Beatles famously recorded their music) to create the soundtrack of Harbin.
“While Ahn is a well-known figure in Korea, foreigners may not know who he is,” Woo said. “I’m curious about the feedback that overseas audiences will give us, as they may take it a bit differently, but the message conveyed is clear and universal. It’s about one person that has failed in the past but managed to overcome and achieve the goals he had, with conviction. Even if they don’t know Ahn Jung-geun, everyone will understand this concept.”
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