Squid Game is known as an intense television series (South Korean) streaming on Netflix. This blockbuster TV show is written produced and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk. The show’s star cast includes these leading actors Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Jung Ho-yeon, Heo Sung-tae, Wi Ha-joon, Anupam Tripathi, O Yeong-su, and Kim Joo-ryoung. The series was released worldwide and distributed by Netflix, on September 17, 2021.
The series revolves around a competition in which 456 players take part. All players are drawn from different walks of life but they all have one thing in common that is each one of them is deeply in debt. They play children’s games in sets, with lethal penalties for dropping the chance to win ₩45.6 billion as prize money.
Squid Game: Producing & Directing the Series Was So Intense
Hwang, the author of the series conceived this idea based on his early financial struggles and class/status disparity prevailing within South Korea. Nevertheless firstly scripted almost a decade ago, Hwang couldn’t find any production to support his script until Netflix became interested to grow its reach to other foreign programming offerings.
Squid Game got extensive criticism, and admiration for its acting, uniqueness, directing, atmosphere, visual style, music, direction, and themes. However, the English dub got criticisms. Within 5-7 days it became one of Netflix’s most-watched TV series in numerous regions across the globe including the United States of America.
If you’ve watched Netflix’s most-watched Korean TV series “Squid Game,” in which players of the contest pay innocent children’s games (tug of war and red light, green light) then these innocent games can make you think in another way in a new meaningful direction.
For its writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk, those games were part of his childhood memories in South Korea. And at some point in our childhood, we all have played these simple childish games.
Squid Game (titular) is one of those games Hwang played as a child. In this team game, attackers push their way via an unclearly squid-shaped place, with protectors trying to halt them. This game is physically demanding, and so whenever we played some players would get wounded or cry.
He further added, having grown up into a mature, I thought (what would it be like to go back and play those childhood games again?) This was the starting point of the creation of this whole series.
According to Hwang, the series storyline throws light on the “competitive society” we all are living in today. He explained that this series is about losers, those people who fight through the trials of average life and remain left behind, contrary to winners who level up. He also said that the story is personal as well because the two lead characters, (Seong Gi-hun and Cho Sang-woo) are named after his old friends.
Writing, producing, and directing the show alone was so intense and stressful and such a big task. When I contemplate making the same efforts for season 2, I feel worried, he said.
