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 Sangsoo 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: Youngho (Shin Seokho), an aspiring actor, and Juwon (Park Miso), 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 Jubong and Kim Minhee)—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