Critically acclaimed ‘Gook’ makes Hawaii debut

The new movie “Gook” is making waves for some filmmakers with Hawaii connections: actor and writer Justin Chon, who has acted in two films here and considers Hawaii “a second home,” and James Sereno, a local filmmaker who is an executive producers of the film.

The film traces the friendship of an African-American girl and two Korean-American shopkeepers as the 1992 Rodney King riots break out in Los Angeles. The film won the NEXT Audience Award at the Sundance Next Fest in August, and is hitting theaters nationwide, including Regal Dole Cannery Stadium 18, this weekend.

The film was a personal project for Chon, whose father’s store, was looted during the riots. “I found out that a few films were being made about the riots and I thought it was really important that a Korean perspective was included in the conversation,” Chon said.

During the riots, Korean-American shopkeepers gained notoriety for defending their stores with guns.

Chon was 11 at the time of the riots. He said tension between African Americans and Korean Americans was palpable, especially after a Korean shopkeeper, Soon Ja Du, killed a 15-year-old African American teenager, Latasha Harlins, but served no jail time. The shooting occurred just days after the beating of King. “Everyone knew African-Americans were very angry at the Korean community,” Chon said.

Many of his cast members were so young that they weren’t aware of that history, he said. Most of them didn’t know the term ‘gook,’ a perjorative for Koreans.

“That’s exactly why I titled the film ‘Gook,’” Chon said. “Some people said, ‘It’s good because people don’t know what it means,’ but to me that’s a bad thing because you’re trying to erase part of our history.”

In fact, “Gook” simply means “country,” he said, and surfaced during the Korean War, when an American GI heard the term “Mi Gook,” the Korean term for America.

“It actually means ‘beautiful country,’” Chon said. “Here we are, calling their country beautiful, yet they take half that word and make a racial slur out of it.”

Sereno, proprietor of local video production company Kinetic Productions, came into the project during post-production, when funds were running low. He had worked with Chon on the films “Hang Loose” and Chon’s directorial debut, “Man Up,” both of which were shot in Hawaii, and felt committed to supporting his friend.

“The bond that I share with Justin is that he’s an Asian-American filmmaker, who’s trying to tell these authentic Asian-American stories, and if we don’t, who would? … So when my brother comes to me for money, if I don’t help him, who’s going to?”