Befuddled by her relationship with a university professor, a young woman finds herself alone and full of doubts when her mother emigrates to Canada. This new work by the master of low-key humor, Hong Sang-soo, is a nontraditional romance that is just as insightful as it is unabashedly open. The film competed at this year’s Berlinale.
Student Haewon finds out that her mother is planning to move to Canada. "Live life to the fullest,” she advises her daughter before taking off. But the girl is all a muddle: she’s already confused about her relationship, and the news of her mother’s emigration hits her self-confidence hard. Will the new situation force her out of her beloved daydreams or will it plunge her further into fantasy? Hong Sang-soo’s latest film once again strikes a chord of gentle humor and renders precisely shaded situations to reflect deeper emotion. He shows everyday mundanity as quaintly laughable and a bit crazy, and despite depicting his heroine as having gone somewhat astray, in no way does he aggravate her situation. The characters show each other remarkable tenderness, giving the film the quality of a fleeting dream that leaves the viewer’s heart at peace. This intent motion picture is rounded out with succinct humor and a masterly talent for revealing much about the characters – and by extension the viewer – while observing them in the most ordinary of situations.
90 min / Color, DCP
Director Hong Sang-soo
/ Screenplay Hong Sang-soo
/ Dir. of Photography Kim Hyung-koo, Park Hong-yeol
/ Music Jeong Yong-jin
/ Editor Hahm Sung-won, Son Yeon-ji
/ Producer Kim Kyoung-hee
/ Production JEONWONSA Film
/ Cast Jung Eun-chae, Lee Sunk-yun
/ Contact Finecut Co., Ltd
Hong Sang-soo (b. 1960, Seoul) is one of the top writer-directors in South Korea. Beginning with The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (1996 – Forum section, Berlinale), his films have been presented at the world’s most prestigious festivals. The Power of Kangwon Province (1998) and Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (2000) were presented in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, then in the Forum of Independents at Karlovy Vary. Night and Day competed for the main prize at Berlin and was then screened in Horizons at KVIFF 2008. His next picture, Ha Ha Ha (2010), was awarded by Un Certain Regard, and in that same year Hong Sang-soo closed out the Venice festival with Oki’s Movie. After competing at Cannes with In Another Country (2011), the director entered the fray at this year’s Berlinale with Nobody’s Daughter Haewon.
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