Directed by Hong Sang-soo
South Korea | 2006 | 127 mins | Korean w/English subtitles
Source: Grasshopper Films
A new 4K restoration completed by the Korean Film Archive from the original 35mm negative.
Third in our retrospective series of South Korean filmmaker Hong. Read intro to series below trailer.
Ticket link coming soon.
Filmmaker Joong-rae, suffering from writer’s block, takes a trip to the coast with his production designer Chang-wook, who brings along the vivacious Moon-sook. Soon after their arrival, Moon-sook falls for Joong-rae’s advances; however, the fickle hero can’t commit and he awkwardly parts with her. What had been a sardonic Jules and Jim turns into a burlesque Vertigo when Joong-rae returns to the coastal resort and attempts to recreate the original romance with a woman who resembles Moon-sook, until his jilted lover shows up…
- “An immaculately constructed movie. A rueful tale of karmic irony, self-deceived desire, squandered second chances, and unforeseen abandonment.” ~J. Hoberman, Village Voice
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TRAILER COMING SOON
Hong Sang-soo is among the most prolific of modern filmmakers. In the past decade he’s written and directed 15 features — including three in 2017 alone. He’s also among the 21st century’s most distinctive cinematic stylists. His ironic narratives find subtle comedy in the absurdity of social constructs and understated drama in the messy complexity of romantic relationships.
Hong has been called “the Korean Woody Allen,” but Eric Rohmer or Jean Eustache might be more apt comparisons. Like those French auteurs, Hong focuses on the minutiae of everyday life and is fond of lengthy, cerebral dialogue scenes. A quintessential Hong scene is filmed in a single shot, with irregularly timed pans and digital zooms that underline shifts in a dinner conversation. As copious amounts of soju are consumed, mundane talk turns serious then awkward, finally giving way to an unexpected emotional epiphany.
Hong’s oeuvre is remarkably consistent, with similar themes explored across multiple films featuring a recurring stock company of actors. Even within individual films he’s fond of narrative doubling, with the same events playing out in different permutations. ~ Luke Baynes, VTIFF programming committee
YOURSELF AND YOURS (2016): Opening June 5
HILL OF FREEDOM (2014): Opening June 12
WOMAN ON THE BEACH (2006): Opening June 19