IF, like millions across the globe over the past two decades, you've found yourself swept away by the K-Wave that has transformed what we see on our screens, both large and small, then chances are your senses have been ignited by the work of Ryu Seong-hie.
The acclaimed art director's vision had helped shape multi-award-winning movies — from the grubby rural 1980s vibe of Bong Joon-ho's gripping murder-mystery Memories of Murder (2003) to Park Chan-wook's colour-soaked The Handmaiden (2016) and Decision to Leave (2022), as well as the hit Korean streaming series Little Women (2022) — to such an extent that the look and the atmosphere Ryu has created in those productions almost feel like characters in themselves.
The shame — up until recently — is that for the most part the work of art directors and their teams goes pretty much unnoticed, or at least unrecognised, by the world that exists outside the film studio.
But that's a wrong that's finally being put right.
CELEBRATING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTIONS
First, Ryu became the first Korean to win the Vulcan Prize for technical artistry at the Cannes Film Festival for her work on The Handmaiden in 2016. Then, at this year's 29th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the 55-year-old was handed the first Camellia Award, a collaborative effort between Asia's largest annual film industry gathering and Chanel, the famed French fashion house which is increasingly supporting Asian film, and, in particular, women and stories about women in Asian cinema.
At BIFF's opening night red carpet gala, Chanel's global head of art and culture Yana Peel was on-hand both to explain the new award, and to pay tribute to Ryu's impact on Asia — and beyond.
The Camellia Award, said Peel, would from now on "celebrate individuals who champion women in cinema, their stories, and to recognise their essential artistic contributions across Asia".
"Ryu Seong-hie is a force," Peel continued. "Her distinguished career spans over a dozen remarkable films. Her refined aesthetic vision has elevated our cinema experiences, and her triumphant career has served as an inspiration for women in film."
As befitting someone more familiar with working in the background and away from the spotlight, Ryu seemed to take all the attention, and the applause from her peers, in her stride.
"It was an immense honour for me, because there are so many specialists working very hard in the Korean film industry, including screenwriters, film directors and cinematographer, and VFX as well as GCG-related stuff," Ryu told a small press gathering, post-opening night.
Pride lacing her tone, she added: "They're working very hard, dreaming of a new leap forward for Korean cinema and I'm very honoured to be one of them, and to win this award."
Ryu was also quick to use the platform not only to share the story of her rise (and rise) in cinema, but also to help inspire others — particularly women across the region — who might want to follow her lead.
"I believe that filmmaking is a process where you come together with other people and ask this question to each other — What's beauty, what's ugliness?" said Ryu.
Continuing, she added: "And then you inspire each other, and then you express this inspiration so that the audience can be inspired by what they see. So, I try to remove any prejudice as much as possible, and I try to discover beauty and abundance in a new way and then present that to the audience."
CLEAR VISION
Ryu's artistic life formerly started when she was studying ceramics at Seoul's Hongik University in the 1980s. But she'd been thinking about film ever since she'd stumbled upon a broadcast of David Lynch's Oscar-winner The Elephant Man (1980), and its black-and-white rendering of the life of a disfigured circus performer in the bleak London of the late 19th century.
"So that was the first time when I started to pay more attention to those who make films," shared Ryu, adding: "Before, I was more focused on what was beautiful, but with this film, I noticed my attention went to the character. This movie touched my heart."
Elaborating, she recalled: "It was a black-and-white movie, and it wasn't beautiful or gorgeous. Rather, it was representative of ugliness. But in that space of ugliness, things were happening, and the soul of this eloquent man was shining brightly."
If you'd not previously heard of that story, you can now see where Ryu's vision comes from — how her use of colour alters the mood of the films she's working on: From the dark tones that paint lead actor Choi Min-sik as a man trapped in a room for 15 years in Park's frighteningly claustrophobic Old Boy, to the rich and seductive reds of his erotic masterclass The Handmaiden.
Little wonder, then, that she also counts the work of Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-wai as an inspiration.
OPENING DOORS
Ryu admits it was tough breaking into the male-dominated Korean industry after formalising her film education at the American Film Institute. But the likes of Bong and Park saw her talent and presented her with opportunities.
And that's the message she wants to share with women around the region. Keep striving, keep looking for those opportunities, from wherever or whomever they may arise.
"For the women who are working in film, I'd like to say that they need to pursue their dream," advised Ryu, adding: "They need to make their dreams and goals more concrete, and try very hard to reach excellence."
Continuing, she said: "Once you reach that sense of excellence, you'd have already changed. You don't need to fight prejudice. Because if you do that, you can get tired very easily. Rather, try to think of that prejudice as a door."
Tone low, she concluded: "I started in genre film, when there were few or no women around me, and I thought of prejudices as a challenge, as a door I had to get through to establish my own identity. I made these genre films or my work speak for me. They were my identity, and once I'd done that, the door opened."