SANG-SOO HONG
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB.5.
Original title: Yeojaneun Namjaui Miraeda
South Korea, 2004. Screenplay by Sang-soo Hong. Cinematography by Hyeon-gu Kim. Produced by Lee Hanna, Marin Karmitz, Han-na Lee. Music by Yong-jin Jeong. Film Editing by Sung-Won Hahm. Cannes Film Festival 2004.
This sexy melodrama concerns two friends, a passionate filmmaker and a placid art professor, who are both sexually involved with one self-destructive woman. The film veers back and forth between seasons as it has these men look back on their time with the object of their obsession and reflect on their failures. Naturalistic, austere and dispassionate, the film features terrific performances and believable situations but never really clicks into place. The characters never become well known to the audience enough to justify the attention and patience they demand, and director Hong’s narrative leaps are not always easy to follow.
