In 2012, I watched a Korean TV documentary on this couple called Grey-Haired Lovers. There were five 30-minute episodes, and it was a big shock to me that they had been able to have such a loving life together for so long. The TV documentary was really beautiful and well made, but I was sure there was something more to their story. So, I visited the couple the very next day and started to look for the "secret" of their love.
They were already a famous couple because of the TV documentary and their colorful dress. I aimed to focus on just their story in the moment, to give us a little glimpse of the secret of their love. Their lifestyle, which maybe looks unique to foreign audiences, comes together with small moments.
I stayed with them as a friend, and after a few months we became so close that I thought of them as my parents and they also treated me as they would their own son. They are old, and their everyday life is a routine, like that of any other old folks living in the countryside. But I never made them do something for the film -- I just looked, waited and shot.
They showed me that great love is like a great mountain, made of billions of specks of tiny dust. It can never collapse or be destroyed and stays always as it is.
Many traditional Koreans believe in the idea of an afterlife, and Gye-yeul Kang is one of them. Every human gets sick and dies, and people fall into despair. Whether or not I believe in that afterlife, whether it exists or not, it was really impressive to watch as she truly prepared not only for the death of her husband but also for eternal love and life with him. She has no doubt about it at all.
When I started shooting, I wanted to find out the secret of their love. But as time went on, I could see many more facets to their lives, and I guess because of this, the film was enjoyed by audience members with various viewpoints: married or not married, male or female, young or old, as a son or daughter, mother or father and so on. And, to all of them, this couple proved that eternal love still exists in this world.
-- Jin Mo-young, Director