Sometimes you need these warm, human moments - something that feels close - to help things along.

Actually, I can't stand watching violent scenes in films; I avoid watching horror films. I don't tend to watch action films mainly because I find them boring, but I watch the films of David Cronenberg and Martin Scorsese, usually in a state close to having a heart attack. I'm a complete coward. I make violent films as a result of my sensitivity to violence - in other words, my fear of violence.

If your work requires you to travel, you will understand that there's no vacation destination like home.

Not only do I look at the playback with the actors, but I look at the on-set assembly footage with the sequences with my actors as well. These are the reasons why I take twice as much time to shoot a film in Korea. Thinking back, I remember on my first ever Korean film, I never used any playback or on-set assembly, so all I had to do was to tell myself it's just like making my first ever Korean-language film. After that, I felt right at home.

I'd like to do a really masculine film.

I actually pay careful attention to that sort of thing - infusing humor into my films - because that's how important I think humor is.

Ever since I arrived in America to promote Stoker, I haven't had time to go and see it in a theater. The fact that I had to shoot twice as fast as I'm used to in Korea was the most challenging thing about my Hollywood experience.