Director Lee Eung-bok Talks About “Sweet Home 2” Mixed Responses And Shows Pride In K-Creature Genre
“Sweet Home” director Lee Eung-bok revealed his thoughts after the release of Season 2
For series, the sequel is often evaluated as “not meeting expectations” if season 1 was so successful. Netflix’s original series “Sweet Home 2” is no exception. Returning with new stories after three years, Season 2 is receiving divided reactions and there has been criticism over the the drama’s complicated developments, the little screen time of the main character Song Kang as well as the joining of too many new characters.
However, director Lee Eung-bok still expressed his confidence in Season 3, saying “I knew the risk but I still took the challenge”.
“Sweet Home” comeback after 3 years with season 2, “I wanted to deliver a humane message”
When “Sweet Home” was first introduced in 2020, it opened the gate for K-Creature dramas. The drama drew keen attention as it was created by star director Lee Eung-bok, who made “Descendents of the Sun”, “Goblin” and “Mr. Sunshine”, starred rising actor Song Kang, and presented a completely new and experimental subject. Therefore, expectations for Season 2 were raised even higher. Regarding the negative responses to “Sweet Home 2”, Lee Eung-bok said, “I think it is because the expectations and support are too high. Normally, it is hard for Season 2 to surpass the success of the previous season. I knew it because I tried it with ‘Dream High 2’. Despite knowing the risk, I still took the challenge”.
He continued, “Season 2 has a special meaning and I thought about it a lot. I believe that avoiding repeating the same situations and stories in Season 1 would be a way to show appreciation to viewers”.
Director Lee said his focus in Season 2 is not only the battle between creatures and humans but also the love of humans. He said, “There was a need for a transition in the overall framework. Creatures tormented and harmed the characters in Season 1, but in Season 2, they tried to talk to humans and monsters also had emotions”, adding “I paid more attention to sharing emotions rather than the attack of monsters. This may be the thing that disappointed viewers who expected pleasant and intense fights”. Mentioning the monster in Season 2 that does not harm people and only tries to protect its child but gets killed brutally by humans just because it is a monster, the director said, “People are scarier than monsters. That’s the message”.
The filming of “Sweet Home” series has been completed. Regarding Season 3, Lee Eung-bok said, “I’m sure you will be happy to see many faces in Season 3”.
“I’m proud of K-Creature. We are doing a great jobs”
Calling “Sweet Home” a challenge for him, Lee Eung-bok did not hide his pride in pioneering the making of creature dramas. He said, “Foreign countries have had a long tradition of creature arts, from special makeup to VFX. Up until the release of ‘Sweet Home 1’, there was still no one in Korea involved in creative arts so all the designs were done abroad. However, Season 2 effects were designed and created in Korea and by pure Korean technology”.
The director also emphasized the Korean sentiment and spirits in the way he created the characters for the K-Creature series “Sweet Home”, saying “The special infected character Hyun-soo (Song Kang) sacrifices himself for experiments to save other people and shed tears as he feels empathy for the monsters. There are no creatures that save others in foreign works”.
Source: Daum
