The series took twelve years to make Squid Game and twelve days to transform it, three years ago, into Netflix's most popular title. The record-breaking series, which returns with a second season, owes everything to its creator, the South Korean screenwriter and director Hwang Dong-hyuk.
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Who was directly inspired by his family's events and the 2009 crisis that hit the country to write a story of desperation and survival. His mother had resigned from the company where she worked, he had not obtained the funds to produce the film he had written: three generations, mother, grandmother and him, forced into debt. This is how the idea of the squid game was born, a survival game where you can win 45.6 billion won (about 33 million euros) or die. Metaphor for a society, the capitalist one, where you either earn or are eliminated, “which promotes a competitive system that leads to a deep wealth gap and a crowd of losers” to put it in the director's words.
Who in Seoul, during the launch of the second season, used harsh words against the president Yoon Suk-yeol: “I think it's unfortunate that the entire country cannot sleep over such an absurd affair, has to take to the streets and spend the end of the year in anxiety, fear and depression – he said – I hope that this person takes up his responsibilities as soon as possible possible and give people a happy and peaceful New Year.” The preliminary impeachment hearing will take place on December 27, the day before the second season of Squid Game arrives on Netflix. Viewers meet player 456 (played by the Emmy-winning actor Lee Jung-jae) who instead of going to a Caribbean island to enjoy the treasure he won, instead of joining his beloved daughter in America, chooses to re-enter the game to stop it.
How did you overcome the pressure of making a second season after the global success?
“It was inevitable to feel the weight of such a beloved series that created a high level of expectation everywhere. I worked on myself to make sure that the pressure wasn't something negative, that it didn't deplete my energy, that it didn't block me On the contrary, I used all this as a catalyst and as a tool to constantly ask myself, is this the best I can do? Have I done everything to create a story that is even better than the first season, I hope I succeeded.”
In Italy, when the series became a case, an alarm was raised because in schools children were imitating the violent games in the film.
“It didn't happen only in Italy but also in other parts of the world. I must say, however, that Squid Game it's not a children's show, that's the premise. My story is too complex and violent for viewers of that age, it is a show for adults who have the ability to understand and interpret the hidden meanings behind the surface of a violent game.”
Do you imagine there will still be controversy?
“The issue will certainly come up again for the second and third seasons and as an author the only thing I can do is strongly request that adults supervise their children so that they don't watch things that could upset them. Should it happen that the children are exposed to violent scenes, parents must take the time to explain to them the symbolic meaning of those scenes. As an author, the idea that the contestants in the game are physically eliminated does not respond to my personal desire for violence, it is not the consequence of my passion for bloody scenes but rather it is an allegory. Physical death, elimination as a symbol of a violent social system that is perpetrated on the weak.”
Proposed by this allegory, do you believe that the moral dilemma between private interest and one's conscience is the central question of our era?
“The implicit questions of my story are: What makes us human? And do we as human beings have the strength to stop the world's race towards disaster? These are the questions I wonder about and struggle to find answers to. However, if we look back at the history of humanity we realize that human beings are not by nature altruistic. How many conflicts and wars are there to remind us of the violent nature of our fellow men for control or oppression? This is why I believe it is particularly important to raise this question: are we human beings capable of exercising control over ourselves to prevent greed from gaining the upper hand?”
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