'The Assassin(s)', Praised Amid Controversy: "Respect, Rediscovery, Jealousy!"

Unexpectedly strong praise has emerged for the movie 'The Assassin(s)', which has been a hot topic due to controversies regarding historical distortion. Park Si-young, the poster designer for the movie 'The King's Warden', watched the work and focused on praising director Hur Jin-ho's direction, Lee Min-ho's acting, and above all, the film's art and production design. Aside from the evaluations surrounding the controversial subject matter, a new dimension has been added to the debate surrounding the work as an expert's perspective suggests that its quality as a genre film is at a considerable level.

On the 3rd, Park Si-young posted the poster for Hur Jin-ho's 'The Assassin(s)' on his SNS, expressing a strong impression by saying, "Truly respect Director Hur! The art is crazy! It's a rediscovery of actor Lee Min-ho! Director Hur, please just make one proper mystery genre film." In particular, since Hur Jin-ho has previously shown strength in handling delicate emotional lines in melos and human relationships, this is interpreted as a high evaluation of his ability to build genre tension in a mystery thriller based on historical events.

Park Si-young spoke even more specifically about the film's visual completeness. He pointed out the paradoxical situation where the current controversy itself increases the film's presence, saying, "With this well-made genre film, even noise is added, creating an aura." He continued with his characteristic direct expression, acknowledging the production capabilities of the crew, saying, "Personally, it's a bit disappointing because they didn't give me work, but Hive makes movies so well it's truly enviable."

The part he repeatedly emphasized is not just 'art' in the sense of being visually flashy. In period dramas or films dealing with historical events, art and sets are a kind of visual persuasion device that makes the audience believe in a specific era and space. The realism of the play is secured only when costumes, props, spatial composition, color, and lighting work together organically. Park Si-young's evaluation that "the production quality of the film is beyond comparison" can be interpreted as highly valuing the visual construction capability that forms the foundation of such genre films.

Park Si-young also sent support to the production team amidst the controversy, saying, "Doesn't history always prove how insignificant the thugs who hang around in groups are?" He emphasized, "Please endure the current hardships well! It was a film with craftsmanship worthy of it." In particular, he continued his admiration by repeatedly mentioning the art and sets, exclaiming, "The art director, seriously!! Wow, the art!!"

This draws attention as it is an evaluation from Park Si-young, who has usually worked on building the first impression of works through movie posters and visual design. Since movie posters and promotional images are also important visual languages that convey the genre and atmosphere of a work to the audience, his praise for the production design can be received with a different meaning than a simple viewer's impression. Of course, as it is a personal evaluation, it needs to be distinguished from an objective verification of the entire work, but it is noteworthy in that it is a perspective looking at the technical production aspects of the film beyond the controversy and box office success.

Park Si-young also confessed that he originally had no intention of watching the movie. He added, "There were so many free viral promotions... I had no intention of watching, but I would have been terribly sorry if I hadn't!" and "I send infinite love to all the staff members who finally released a film of excellent craftsmanship. Ah, I'm jealous!" While strong controversy can create prejudice against the work itself, it is read as implying that after actually watching the film, he discovered a level of completeness different from his expectations.

'The Assassin(s)' is a mystery film that tracks suspicions and the mastermind behind the assassination of the First Lady, which shocked South Korea on August 15, 1974. The film stars Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-il, and Lee Min-ho, and is directed by Hur Jin-ho. While based on actual historical events, the debate over the boundary between historical fact and fiction has intensified since its release because it actively combines cinematic hypotheses and imagination. The production team has explained that they had no intention of confirming a specific historical conclusion or distorting existing historical facts.

Despite the controversy, the box office performance is unstoppable. 'The Assassin(s)' is maintaining a strong presence in theaters, surpassing 2 million cumulative viewers on its 11th day of release. While the pros and cons regarding historical interpretation are spreading outside the work, audiences are visiting theaters, and on one hand, evaluations like Park Si-young's, which give high marks to the film's genre completeness and artistic achievement, are emerging.

However, the impact of the controversy has gone beyond simple online debates and has affected actual movie promotions and event schedules. As threats and physical threats toward the lead actors and creative staff continued, situations such as the cancellation of events related to the Busan International Film Festival occurred. Ultimately, 'The Assassin(s)' has become a rare case in the current theater scene where box office success, controversy, praise, and criticism are exploding simultaneously.

The task of reconstructing historical events into a film constantly creates tension between realism and creative interpretation. The debate over what the audience will accept as historical fact and how much cinematic imagination they will allow is also not easily concluded. Nevertheless, Park Si-young's recent praise poses at least one question. If we temporarily set aside the frame of controversy and look at the film's art, direction, acting, and genre completeness, what kind of work is 'The Assassin(s)'? The current box office success and controversy in theaters continue to ask that question to the audience.