SYNOPSIS
The film introduces a public official in Mungyeong who claims that wild tigers still live on the Korean Peninsula. People assume they must be in high mountains or deep caves, but he insists they live closer than we imagine. Why do we place tigers in remote, unseen places, convinced they are gone? The film follows the official into a dark cave, in pursuit of the tiger he witnessed, along with faceless boars and a deer that fell from a cliff.
REVIEW
The film begins with the everyday conversation of an elderly man—seemingly meandering, yet delivered with an undeniable charm. The filmmaker listens, following his words wherever they may lead. Hearing that in his hometown of Mungyeong there is a city official who believes wild tigers still roam the Korean Peninsula, the director travels there with him. Listening again, this time to the old man and his friends, the director loosely pursues—perhaps simply wonders about—the existence of the Korean wild tiger. At its core, the film is a testament to the simple yet profound act of listening to the kind of daily talk we so often overlook.
The voices of these elderly men, present yet largely invisible to society, intertwine with the elusive question of the tiger’s survival. As the filmmaker accompanies them, a story begins to take shape, and a road movie organically emerges. Or perhaps, like the stories themselves, it never truly ends, but simply keeps going.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
In 2021, I began filming a Go tournament for elderly players at Seoul’s Jongmyo Shrine, documenting their games and their lives. But I always felt a crucial perspective was missing. Two years later, a call from the tournament’s MC, Mr. Oh Kidong, led me to Mungyeong, where I met a man named Kang Soonseok. During the car ride, he told me matter-of-factly, “Wild tigers still live in Korea.” I laughed. But on the long drive back, his words echoed in my mind. What could a man have seen to believe such a thing? And why was I so certain, without a shred of proof, that he was wrong?
