Questions continue to arise around squid game, the Serie South Korean of the moment: Worth? Is it suitable for children? Where was it shot? Is there a disturbing doll that is colonizing Instagram? What is your message?
Well, here we reveal the ins and outs of the television success of the moment, which, as a report Bloomberg , from the past September, 17th –date of the premiere–, has managed to dazzle 142 million viewers , standing at the level of The Money Heist , another of the boom international of Netflix.
'The Squid Game' is the work of Hwang Dong-hyuk.
Here is the first curious fact: one of the protagonists of the squid game , the actor Park Hae Soo will play the character of Berlin in the South Korean remake of said Spanish production.
Before getting into the matter, those who have not yet joined the wave should know that, for the degree of violence of some scenes It is not recommended for minors.
In fact, although the script was written between 2008 and 2009 by Hwang Dong-hyuk , creator of films like silenced (2011), Miss Granny (2014) and The Fortress (2017) , has not materialized until this year because at the time the theme was considered too explicit.
"I couldn't get enough investment and casting was not easy. I thought about it for a year, but then I had to put it on hold. Nevertheless, Netflix gave me creative freedom to work however I wanted." , pointed out the director of The squid game.
Contestants 218, 456 and 67.
We know what you are thinking. What if, we promise to do the minimum spoilers possible. Here the first: the end hints at a possible second season ; and the creator of the series does not seem to lack the desire to write another script.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, the squid game is set in South Korea. The plot is, a priori, simple: the protagonists are invited by a stranger to participate in a game in exchange for money.
To accept the offer, they must mark the phone number -that Netflix has had to edit, well the owner did not stop receiving calls on a daily basis – which appears on the invitation card that has been given to them during the proposal.
From there everything begins to take on a macabre tint (alert spoilers): the 456 participants, united by their debts or economic difficulties, appear – without knowing how – in a soulless ship with bunks.
“Red light, green light”
The matter becomes even more disturbing when it turns out that the hosts, uniformed in red , appear with their faces covered and an agreement to sign, whose third clause pray that the game will only end if the majority so wishes.
A somewhat doubtful future considering that the prize is 45.6 billion won... Of course, who fails to pass the test shift, he will be eliminated.
THE GAMES
Haven't seen by now the frame of the first game through social networks is almost impossible. “Green light, red light” is the name with which it starts sinister gymkhana . What does it consist of? well it is the classic english hide and seek with a small variation: a giant doll, protagonist of endless memes, It's the one that counts down.
Chae Kyoung-sun, the art director of the squid game , she explains that it was very common to see South Korean kids playing this game back in the '70s and '80s: "We were based on Cheolsoo and Younghee's illustrations, in the textbooks of that time, to make the robot.
The doll is in the Macha Land carriage museum.
The original doll, which has caused both terror and sensation, can now be visited, as it resides in the Macha Land carriage museum, in Jincheon-gun county. On the other hand, a replica of the girl has also appeared in a zebra crossing Manila (Philippines).
The second game is "Honeycomb" , the one with the famous cracker dalgona candy. The players have to cut out a shape (triangle, circle, star or umbrella) , previously chosen at random, from the dough –already cold and crunchy– without breaking it. An odyssey, wow.
This is followed "Rope" : two teams pulling from both ends. So far it is easier than the previous one, but the trick , as will happen with the following test, is on stage : The opponents will push from a platform many meters high.
“We create places and scenarios for viewers think in the hidden intentions of the squid game”, says the art director.
The decoration of the game of marbles was one of the most careful.
In fourth place? The marbles could not be missing. On this stage, actor Park Hae-soo, better known as Sang-woo (or contestant #218), comments: “ It was like being in front of houses of yesteryear. It gave me a strange nostalgia and a strange tension.”
What the art director she adds, “We put all our effort into that set. It took a long time. Our concern was how to show the sunset. On the other hand, we think that it should also a set on the border between the fake and the real”.
The fifth game is “Glass Bridge”. Participants must cross a walkway designed with tiles of tempered glass –which breaks with the weight of a person– and plain glass. Of course, they have no way of finding out which is which.
The actress Ho Yeon Jung, who plays Sae-byeok (the 67th contestant) , she claims that filming this scene was terrifying as they were jumping from glass to glass a meter and a half from the ground.
The walkway is one and a half meters above the ground.
Logically, the game that gives the production its title puts the finishing touch to this festival of tension. the jackpot winner will be the one reach the head of the squid without his opponent pushing him out of the contour that recreates the figure of the mollusk, drawn on the sand.
THE LOCATIONS
“Walking into the set on the first day, we were busy taking photos. It was almost dreamlike," he reveals. Lee Jung-jae , the actor who embodies the great protagonist, Gi-hun (the 456th contestant).
And it is that the impressive and vibrant settings were created exclusively for the series, mostly evoking the atmosphere of real playgrounds. "I thought that kind of sets can give more sense of reality to the performance of the actors", the director points out.
That does not mean that, inevitably, one of them takes us off the screen to make us travel to the red wall, the most labyrinthine building Calp and one of the great works of Ricardo Bofill. Art lovers will also not be able to contemplate those pink and green seconds without remembering the impossible stairs Escher.
This scene is very similar to Escher's painting.
“The images are shocking, They exceeded my expectations and imagination.” sentence Park Hae-soo, better known as Sang-woo (#218). “Being on stage was fantastic. It was like being in a fantasy world. But on the other hand, the situation itself was very emotional, dramatic and theatrical," he adds. Ho Yeon Jung.
As to the exteriors, all located in South Korea, Here are the coordinates that have been deduced:
1.Daejeon: filming took place in this city, one of six metropolitan cities of South Korea, located one hour by train from seoul. Autumn and spring are the best seasons of the year to visit it, because with the cherry blossoms and the ocher tones of the trees , the streets become a setting, to say the least, bucolic.
Furthermore, Daejeon has, since 2009, Hanbat Arboretum, the largest botanical garden in the country. The Expo-Park -where stands the Hanbit Tower, 93 meters high–, Yuseong Hot Spring –with its hot springs– and the Daedong Sky Park (eye to the view) are other essential visits.
Most of the exterior scenes were shot in Daejeon.
2. Namsan Tower (Seoul): in the second chapter, when players 456 and 67 are returned to the city, you can see in the background the N Seoul Tower , one of the symbols par excellence of the capital. The construction of 237 meters high , was built in 1969 in Namsan Park.
3. Yeouido (Seoul): Seoul's financial zone also has several appearances on the scene. Yeouido, a large island located in the Han River , is, for example, the enclave where Gi-hun is picked up to lead him to the field of play.
4. Seungbong-ri: a few days ago, a TikTok user (@thegoogleearthguy) He found the island where the games are held, which appears in one of the panoramic shots. Is about Seungbong-ri, that he has only 3.3 square kilometers of extension and is located in the northwest coast from South Korea.
Finally, although we cannot see any images, in the sixth episode , during a conversation between Sae-byeok (#67) and Ji-yeong (#240) , another South Korean maritime enclave appears: “I would like to go to the Jeju Island. I saw it on TV, it didn't look like Korea, it was very exotic." Sae-byeok comments.
WHAT IS THE MEANING?
The dualism between human nature and society It is the subject to ponder. The series examines the most intrinsic aspects of our condition and how we change from childhood to adulthood. Yes, in the series there is violence, but also humanity and hope.
The squid game.
"I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society , something that represented extreme competition, something like the extreme competition of life", concludes its director, Hwang Dong-hyuk.