문학과 지성사

Although succumbing to despair and the fear of an uncertain future,
the young people in these stories find themselves drawn
to the places they fled—the places that fuel their passion.

Towards 0%, published by Moonji is Seo Yije’s first short story collection. Her debut story, “A Line for Celluloid Film,” was hailed by critics as a work that “conveys the perspectives of young artists without exaggeration,” and as “the perfect format for communicating the occasionally pitiful yet lofty and humorous stories of the generation,” setting her apart as a pioneer of a new frontier for literature about young adults.

She majored in film during the great transition from analog film to digital video, the experiences of which are reflected in the people and stories in her work. The change in the medium after the death of film is represented as a strange era where past and present collide, and the non-linear stories Seo tells is a glimpse into what it means to be a young adult in contemporary times.

The title story “Towards 0%” quotes real sources to show the strides made by the Korean film industry in its hundred-year history, but the narrator feels no desire to continue filmmaking. The narrator’s pessimistic comments that “Indie film is dead” and “All indie films led to commercial movies”(p. 347) represent the bleak outlook shared by young people whose futures remain uncertain. Everyone acknowledges that to make movies, you need money, and to make money, you need to work on commercial sets or work as a tutor, but none of this guarantees that you will ever make a movie of your own.

Nevertheless, some choose to press on: those who raise funds by working at construction sites, those who stick with indie film in defiance of capitalism, and even a woman who shoots her first movie when she is a senior citizen. No one knows what the future holds. By shining the spotlight on these dreamers who make indie films and watch one another’s works, the title story weaves a time and place of uncertain but defiant possibility. The characters may not know what they are capable of—and they may not believe they will ever know—but the presence of their fellow filmmakers helps them to forge a path forward.