Right Now, Wrong Then

the problem with hong, AKA the ULTIMATE auteur, is every time i watch a new one i want to uprate all the others 'cause i know i'd understand them better now. incidentally, this movie--or duo of movies if you like--functions the exact same way, with the wish-fulfillment fantasy of the 2nd half constantly recontextualising and being recontextualised by the first, to overwhelming emotional effect. when she lays her head down on the ring, oh man... and the entire final 20 minutes is just priceless.

Moments of magic coming from a man falling in love for a woman twice and everything that takes place in each story -- acts that look the same but different, gestures of love and fear and the ultimate power of the girl going to cinema to finally watch a film directed by him, only to walk in the snow and leave us with the feeling that they will never meet again. Also, a drunk filmmaker getting naked in front of his friend's friends is a landmark in Sang-soo awkward, frontal comedy.

Hong Sang-soo continues his Rohmer-esque exploration of people and their foibles, and with each film he gets more playful and adventurous with form and structure. Here we have the same day played twice with the action branching depending on the lead's behaviour. Some of the dialogue is a bit awkward, but it's a clever idea and the performances are winning.

Viewed July 1, 2016. Melancholic, playful and utterly resonant. Imbued with a kind of honest, tempered optimism that captures how truly unpredictable life is, even in its most insignificant moments. Devastating one day, uplifting the next, ebbs and flows. In college, I felt superior to a lot of my peers because I liked 'films about people' (as opposed to films about celestial or fantastical beings, I guess). It seems to me that the cinema of Hong Sang-soo is about people more than any other.

Meh. Didn't see much point to doing it twice.

I don't find the narrative experiment all that interesting. Strikes me as a combination of bad Rohmer and bad Kieslowski. Found the second part more enjoyable because the acting seemed better.

I find films about filmmakers or authors (or any other metaphor for the filmmaker) so fucking unappealing. This doesn't change my mind. After watching On the Beach at Night Alone, I think I might just not like Hong Sang-soo's films.

Wonderful lead performances and some gorgeously composed static cinematography never seem to add up to the sum of its unequal parts.

Loved the concept but the main character was so unlikeable that it bothered me when anything worked out for him.

10 Juliol 2016 - Molt vives les situacions. M'han agradat les escenes llargues, deixant que els personatges s'expressin. Els seus caràcters eren força rics i fan pensar. Què estranys, els coreans.

:)

A fascinating portrait of an encounter that's character turns based on a relatively small number of actions and attitudes in the two leads. I'm of the opinion that while director Ham is most often initiating in their encounter, the woman's responses and attitudes are just as determinative in where they end up in each half. Added to this is the genuine sweetness that pervades both halves (even as Hong complicates the sweetness both times), and we are left with a rich palette of human interaction.

Awkward cute flirt x 2. I guess practice doesn't make perfect. He didn't get laid either times.... Has revealing moments, but it's not the magical sparkle one could have hoped for.