In the Apple TV+ series Pachinko, Solomon (Jin Ha) speaks Korean, Japanese and English. The show, based on Min Jin Lee’s book, traces four generations of his family from Korea and Japan (as Zainichi Koreans), so all three languages are involved. Ha does not speak Japanese and studied the different dialects with vocal coach Yu-Mi Kang.
“Having lived in Korea and Hong Kong before I came to America with my family, the experiences of being dropped in a foreign place and having to fit in or find myself, that’s hard enough for anyone,” Ha said on a Deadline Contenders panel on Sunday at the Paramount Theatre. “Being an immigrant as well or an Asian American person, was an experience that I felt directly connected to Solomon’s straddling the three different cultures he’s a part of. My grandparents and relatives lived through the colonial era in Korea. My grandparents only spoke Japanese for most of their lives. My dad studied Japanese because of the influence.”
Often Solomon speaks both Korean and Japanese in the same line of dialogue. Pachinko shows the English subtitles in blue when it is translating Japanese and yellow when Korean.
“We knew four years ago it was unusual to sell something that’s trilinguial, epic scale, all Asian cast predominantly,” Kang-Lowe said. “From a creative point of view, you have to tell these stories from the characters’ actual languages.”
Executive producer Michael Ellenberg also pointed out Ha’s subtle performance changes when he speaks each language.
“The way Solomon moves between those languages, when he’s speaking Japanese he’s one version of himself,” Ellenberg said. “When he’s speaking Korean he’s another version. When he’s speaking English he’s a third person altogether. The audience, they get to plug into that, even if they speak none of the languages. Just on his face and how he carries himself and transforms himself.”
There is generational conflict between Solomon and his parents, and his grandparents. Executive producer Michael Ellenberg said the languages also represents the ties between generations.
“The genus of [series creator] Soo [Hugh]’s structure, there is no past and present,” Ellenberg said. “It’s all present. But there’s this dialogue between the generations. It’s meant to eliminate the sense of the deep past you can’t access.”
Hugh said she wanted to produce “a dialogue about generations.” Otherwise she would not have touched what she considers a perfect book. Hugh also believes that television is lacking stories about everyday people.
“We have stories about superheroes, we have stories about the very rich, we have stories about famous people and I love those shows,” Hugh said. “We’re celebrating people we know. I really wanted to do a portrait of just humanity.”
Hugh is also the daughter of immigrants. She calls the success of Pachinko a tribute to them.
“I always say my parents came here with nothing,” Hugh said. “Now, I realize they came with everything because they came with their hopes and dreams. We now know that those hopes and dreams are worth more than all the gold in the world.”
Check out the panel video above.
Deadline Contenders Television is sponsored by Apple TV+, Eyepetizer, Final Draft, Los Siete Misterios and Michter’s. Partners include Desalto, Film AlUla, Four Seasons Resort Maui, Jason Mizrahi Design, ModMD, The American Pavilion, and Tidelli.
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