The film Revivre, which is based on a Korean novel, tells the story of Oh Sang-moo, a successful executive director at a major cosmetics company. His wife, who has been suffering from cancer for more than four years, dies even though the couple had originally believed that she had recovered. Meanwhile, Choo Eun-joo, has joined Oh's marketing department. With Choo joining the team, Oh Sang-moo is attracted to her and becomes conflicted over his wife and Choo - in other words over an old woman and a young woman.

An aging man, the emptiness in his mind, and being attracted to a young woman are not anything new to the world of art. Many movies have explored the curse of aging and the contrary young and vibrant body, including Park Beom-shin's Eun-Gyo and Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice. Im Kwon-taek delves into a similar topic, but leaves the ending of Oh's story open, rather than rushing to close it with his effective editing and experimental format.

Unlike the original novel that develops the story from the perspective of each character, the movie Revivre describes the in-depth ethical dilemma and desire that Oh Sang-moo has been facing by employing flashback, showing the scenes 'prior to the death of his wife' and the scenes 'after the death.' Reaching at the ending sequence of the movie where Oh Sang-moo finally makes a firm determination, the three different times and spaces – the two pasts and the present – almost tear apart and recombine Oh's body. Director Im has experimented with a new format with this film.

The movie Revivre arranges different times in parallel, showing various comparisons and metaphors. Oh's wife represents a dying body, while Choo Eun-joo represents a fresh and vibrant one. The title "Hwajang" in Korean has a dual meaning: first 'cremation' of a dead body that burns skin and bones after death, and second 'make-up.' Im Kwon-taek deals with the will to cling to life and the longing and curiosity about death in this movie which is certainly one of his controversial yet best movies.

Many scenes of Revivre were filmed at Signature Camp (AMOREPACIFIC Group Head Office in Korea), considering that the background of the story is a cosmetics company. The office where Oh and Choo work in the movie was the headquarters of innisfree, and the office scenes started filming in the early morning of January 1, 2014.

Suh Kyung-bae, our Group Chairman & CEO, strongly supported the filming of the movie. He read the original book and said that the company culture at the time the book was published (2004) was quite different from the culture now. He pleasantly accepted and supported the filming of the movie at the company.

In the film, you can see the innisfree office which was used as the office for the main actor, Choo Eun-joo, and the conference room on the 13th floor at Signature Camp which was used in the management meeting scene. Moreover, the Osan Beauty Campus appeared in the movie when Choo Eun-joo visited a production plant, which made me proud of being a part of the AMOREPACIFIC Group.

Im Kwon-taek carefully describes even the small details of a cosmetics company. The ID cards that the movie characters were carrying was exactly the same the ID card used at Signature Camp. And the work-related lectures in the movie were not too different from those at the actual work place, which was pretty amazing.

Our business which has made great success in the Chinese market, appears in many scenes of the movie, adding reality to some scenes that may come across as somewhat unrealistic.

Director Im Kwon-taek is a renowned director representing the Korean film industry. He is also a master artisan who has made 102 movies. His movies appear to use Pansori (Korean traditional music) and traditional topics to describe the beauty of Korea. However, what he's really interested in is the 'life' of people who are living in this 'Korea' rather than 'Korean traditions.'

Since the early 2000's, Im has used bold and experimental formats and storytelling unlike his previous works. One of his best films Chunhyang was highly praised by critics for the delicate arrange of the avant-garde format and the traditional Pansori. With his recent film Revivre, Im tries to innovate in a way in which even young directors did not dare to try, and describes the private secrecy of individuals living in Korean society.