Island
A young Vatican exorcist priest is, together with an heiress and a mysterious man, the protagonist of Island, a fantasy k-drama signed by Amazon Original on Prime Video from February 27th. In the role of Father Giovanni (Yohan) is Cha Eun-woo , idol of the beloved kpop band Astro who in this horror series full of action and mysticism sports a more than honorable Italian accent. To how he acquired such mastery, Eun-woo responded to the sportsgaming.win interview by revealing, “I practiced a lot, reading aloud and listening a lot”. Behind the scenes from the set he can be seen confronting the Italian actress who plays a possessed young woman in the first episode (set in Rome) emulating her pronunciation with admirable skill. A year after the shooting of the pilot episode, he confirms: “I still remember some sentences and some parts of the exorcism. I recited them when I was asked this question. It's funny that they came out of my mouth so easily! ".Island as mentioned, is inspired by a comic by Yoon In-wan and Yang Kyung-il and set on the island of Jeju, once called Tamra. Hundreds of years earlier, a mystical figure, Wonjeong (Lee Da-hee), in the form of a young woman, was tasked with creating a barrier capable of protecting humans from evil; meanwhile two children - Van (Kim Nam-gil) and Gungtan (Sung Joon) - who later grew up and became invincible warriors, kept hordes of demons at bay. The human nature of Van and Gung-tan was sacrificed to protect humanity and the two, contaminated by evil and transformed into immortal creatures, became adversaries: one aligned on the side of Good and the other became evil. Today Van is a mysterious and charming man who appears out of nowhere whenever the heiress Miho, reincarnation of Wonjeong, is attacked by terrifying demons. Even Yohan, a priest with a supercool look armed with powers granted by the Vatican, joins the fight. According to Cha, the latter owes its charm to his characterization: “Yohan is a cool guy, I tried to emphasize his peculiar hipness and at the same time make him a brilliant character. To prepare for the role of priest, I went to a church and worked with a priest, learned Latin and Italian”.
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Island is a decidedly dark series, although the darker tones of the webtoon have been toned down to make room for other more light. The digital comic, written several times owes much to Japanese supernatural horror. Van, the protagonist, is a ruthless and cruel demon hunter, and some tables are a frenzy of cruelty. The transposition stems from the immoderate passion of Kim Nam-gil, also a producer, for manga, in particular those of Takehiko Inoue, and has undergone a slight sweetening (the same process undergone by The Walking Dead and The Boys ) to make it more edible to the general public. It seems to us a winning choice: the adaptation is less bloody and scary, but the final result is a well-balanced mix of genres, where the horror part gives satisfaction to the followers of the genre (the concept of demonic possession is already terrifying, even more the possibility proposed in Island that it can also transform into horrible monsters) and the action is guaranteed by complex choreography (Kim Nam-gil, practiced taekwondo since childhood). The supernatural intrigue that underpins the narrative of the series is exciting and engaging, and there is also a touch of humor and (perhaps) romance.
Speaking of action scenes, Cha Eun-woo revealed to us that he also trained in shooting the complex fight sequences: "It wasn't difficult" he revealed, "Before starting filming, I attended a special course, and I think I prepared thoroughly on set, going over the moves and movements with the actors and director. And then Kim Nam-gil helped me a lot, I absorbed everything he told me and learned a lot from him ”. Cha admitted that he aspires to a high-level acting career like his colleague (most recently he was the irresistible co-star of the rom-com True Beauty ): “When I debuted as an idol, I thought that one day I would enjoyed trying acting. I worked hard on that until the opportunities presented themselves and I'm very open: I like everything, regardless of genre. I like fantasy like Island, I like rom-coms, comedy, horror, supernatural. And then the dramatic stuff and the sad endings, a little more than the happy ones."
Personally, he doesn't believe in the supernatural: “I think I believe in myself rather than believe in something. That way, no matter the outcome, I know I won't regret it. In Island, Cha has a big part opposite Kim Nam-gil from Through the Darkness, the lead as Van. Van is taciturn, dangerous, protective and at the beginning his relationship with Yohan is conflictual: the latter provokes him, challenges him, fears him and between the two there is widespread distrust before being able to accept each other. other. In reality, Cha explained that the atmosphere on the set was quite different: "On free days, when we weren't shooting, with Kim Nam-gil and the other actors and crew we often got together and played soccer," he revealed. Between one match and another, filming took place on this passionate “demonic” horror of which we can't wait to see the second part, hopefully arriving on Prime Video in a few weeks.