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…
A new 4K restoration completed by the Korean Film Archive from the original 35mm negative.
REVIEWS
“Wry and tender and delicately melancholic… shows a newly confident filmmaker again working near the top of his form… This seemingly casual triangle is a classic formal and sexual configuration for Hong, whose elegant, restrained films chart the mysteries of the heart and the follies of the head with intelligence and shock waves of feeling.”
— Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
At NYFF55, 3 years ago, Hong said that it’s impossible to capture reality of a moment. Yet his methods come the closest to attempting that. He puts thoughts that he’s thinking then, books he’s reading then, into the film he’s making then. Do you think he’d be aware of that paradox? Or is that the reason he sets certain constraints on range of his topics or on his methods? Do you see any singular recurring theme in all his movies?
– Harsh PunditYes, I do think he’s aware of the paradox, which is one reason I think he’s so quick to deflect (or at the very least not elaborate upon) autobiographical readings of his films, even though his work is so clearing rooted in personal experience. He’s often spoken of the significance of casting, and how using the right actor for that moment in his life is of utmost importance. In the same way that he utilizes the long take, Hong draws upon his own life in an effort to facilitate those real moments that for most filmmakers rarely if ever transpire. I’m not sure if one theme can sum up his oeuvre, but I do think it’s telling that all of his themes tend to revolve around the folly of the human condition.
– Jordan Cronk