The Cinematheque

New Cinema

“One of the South Korean director’s most open films of late, poignant in its use of a simple structure to touch on the eminently difficult question of how to live happily between past, present, and future.”

Elena Lazic, The Playlist

South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo, the closest heir to Eric Rohmer in contemporary cinema, produced two outstanding works in 2021. This Cannes-debuted picture, his rapid follow-up to Berlin winner Introduction (screened at The Cinematheque in January), is among his most serene and deceptively straightforward achievements. Middle-aged Sangok (Lee Hyeyoung), a former actor, has travelled home to Seoul after years abroad in America. Her return, though welcome, strikes her sister (Cho Yunhee) as curious, and after a day spent reconnecting and revisiting the past, an appointment with a film director (Hong mainstay Kwon Haehyo) suggests a deeper motive behind her visit. Hong, once again doing sextuple duty (writer, director, cinematographer, editor, scorer, and producer), here takes a break from his narrative pretzelling to tell a linear—though no less dissembling—drama. The film boasts a captivating central performance by Lee, herself a notable Korean actor who has been absent from cinema for some time.

“A humble but winning outing from Hong.”

Max Maller, Chicago Reader

“A masterclass in economical filmmaking … and a reminder that Hong is not only among the best filmmakers working today, but also simply one of cinema’s greatest storytellers.”

K. F. Watanabe, Screen Slate