The Global Search for Education: Director Sangmok Lee on The Mime He Created for Love

Posted By C. M. Rubin on May 24, 2021

This month audiences can screen a short film called The Mime from South Korean Director Sangmok Lee on the Planet Classroom Network YouTube Channel. Mime is a form of entertainment that dates back to Roman times. One of the most famous of all mime artists was Marcel Marceau. The most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I, Charlie Chaplin is also remembered for his use of mime in his comedy routines.

In The Mime, a short film from Jeju Island in South Korea, Gyeongsik has spent most of his life as a server at his mother’s seafood restaurant. In his spare time, he works as a mime artist and entertains local children. One day he meets and falls for a lovely young woman. Their relationship continues to grow until she is stolen from Gyeongsik by another man. Can Gyeounsik recover from a broken heart? How will he ever smile again?

The Global Search for Education is pleased to welcome Sangmok Lee.

What inspired you to tell this story and why is it important to you? What lessons did you learn about your story and your characters during the process of making this unique film?

I made this movie for my mother. My mother was deaf. When I turned 38 and I wanted to make a movie, she died in vain one day. My mother always worried about me wanting to make a movie, even though she couldn’t hear. We couldn’t have any conversations together. So I made this movie for her. I made this movie with one great regret. If only I had comforted my mother a little bit as warmly as she had done for me.

Mime has similar origins to drama and dance – when the storyteller was at a loss for words, a gesture took over. What are your all time favorite films from this genre? Have these films and their filmmakers in any way inspired your interest in presenting mime and silent films with modern themes to a new generation?

I had seen a mime performance in Spain and it was very funny but I cried. I was inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s old movies. I find myself searching for irony in parts of life. It’s very interesting. I think the art of mime is the most effective way to express irony in our life.

Who did you make this movie for? What feedback have you had from the audiences about your work?

I wanted this movie to be a fairytale for others who dream just like me. But I think this movie is for everyone who dreams because they have real dreams. And I want to say that we must not forget the people who love us. They are the most precious people in our lives, who follow our dreams.

If you could make a sequel to The Mime, what might it be about? What would you do differently and why?

I’m making a movie about artists on an island in Korea called Jeju. If I make a sequel to The Mime, it will probably be the story of a cellist who lost a precious person. In the movie, unlike The Mime, I want to express the greatness of dreams and love by emphasizing the musical performance of a cellist.

Thank you Sangmok Lee.