Tale of Cinema

A fascinating if slight meta narrative with killer character and camera work.

"can i tell you about my ideal?" "no."

"i don't think you really understood the film" has got to be the most hong sang-soo moment he's ever filmed

The more Sang-soo films that I watch, it is becoming apparent that he has taken time to find his distinctive style, such that in his earlier films, you cannot help but 'see' other directors in his work. In the case of this, his sixth film, the seamlessly emerging nested cinematic worlds are reminiscent of Kiarostami and the moments of melodramatic eroticism are Kieślowskian. But in doing so, Sang-soo is not derivative, he's just finding his way, and it's a pleasure to go along for the ride.

This is a bizarre film, with 2 interconnecting stories. I'm not entirely sure I follow quite how it portrays the supposed tale of cinema, even though one of the stories involves a famous film maker. It's a quirky watch with some good characters and a thoughtful feel to it but it didn't particularly appeal to me. This is quite a subtle Japanese film, one which you may enjoy, depending on what your keen on or hoping for. I wouldn't actively recommend it as such though, no.

I found this movie very hard to connect with. Hong was seemingly trying to explore some concepts of character duality and repetition of life patterns, which could have been interesting. However, the lead actors had zero chemistry and every scene felt stilted. Hong really made a monotone movie with very few magic moments and no artistic depth. Some bits are so arbitrary, like why does the film open with a 30-second tracking shot of a minor character who is never used again? A waste of time.

Dull, dull, dull

Hong being Hong, that adds an extra layer by contrasting the movie-in-the-movie with the movie and thereby showing the influence of art on life.

More drinking, more sex, more men. As good as the rest.

Star Rating: ★★★★1/2

It's brilliant because it simply refuses to make clear distinction between life and cinema -- the first part is a story of a director that tried suicide and told this episode to his mentor/friend; the second part serves almost as a repercussion of the short film on the life of its real character, that now seems enchanted by the actress that formed a couple with him on screen. Sang-soo is a master of telling stories with shots that just mirror things and intricate, skillful narrative concepts.

"You didn't understand the film". She was talking to me. dgaf

I didn't mind following the characters, despite some odd dialogue and awkward interactions. The movie can end up being very uneventful past the middle, and it definitely isn't perfect, but the way the story was told and how the characters were introduced was uniquely good, and I give it credit for that. Not perfect, but good in some aspects.

"Hong's film is simply told but resonates with profound meaning." - Ed Gonzalez

If you like Hong Sang-soo, you'll enjoy it. Not his best, though

A nice two-parter that blurs the line between cinema and real life, and asks the audience to reflect upon their own engagement with the art form.

Somehow this feels like both Hong's most self-reflexive and (very relatively speaking) most atypical film (the latter mostly in the sense that the two male protagonists here are a more extrovertedly odd and awkward than his usual bumbling yet somewhat relatable characters). Although in many ways this covers a lot of typical Hong themes and motifs (drinking, sex, self-conscious formal repetition) the presentation feels in a way more challenging and impressive than usual, but also harder to grasp.

It's all in the structure. The self-referential second half expands and expounds upon the first, drawing us into the the ways in which we respond to and interact with cinema. Hong also manages to find simple moments of beauty--Young-shil seeing the snowfall is especially poignant.