The Cinematheque

Vancouver Premiere

“A narrow but deceptively deep cut of Hong Sang-soo simplicity … Beneath its pleasant, placid surface wait rich rewards.”

Jessica Kiang, Variety

Winner of Best Screenplay at Berlin 2021, this elegant new work from prolific South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo belies its modest runtime—a brisk 66 minutes—with a surplus of wit and structural sophistication familiar to fans of Hong’s cinema. The monochrome film presents a trio of interlocking stories—or moments, rather—in the lives of two lovers entering adulthood: Young-ho (Shin Seok-ho), an aspiring actor, and Ju-won (Park Mi-so), a fashion student. Hong, a cinematic puzzlemaker, folds and flattens the couple’s timeline, telescoping undisclosed years between chapters. And, although Young-ho and Ju-won are the film’s protagonists, Hong uses their parents—and their parents’ artsy friends (played by Hong regulars Gi Ju-bong and Kim Min-hee)—to steer the narrative and facilitate our introduction, and re-introduction, to the characters. Economical, unpredictable, and, in the end, resonantly affecting, Introduction was one of two excellent 2021 releases by one-person-production-house Hong, who here writes, directs, shoots, edits, scores, and produces.

“A charming and gentle piece about how love can change over a period of time and how watching someone else grow can be a difficult reminder of one’s own youth … Delicate and profound.”

Caitlin Quinlan, The Playlist

“A modern melodrama of grit, beauty, jagged edges, and resonant dead ends and false starts.”

Chuck Bowen, Slant