Park Jin-hai primarily focuses on K-dramas, entertainment shows and actor interviews. Beyond that, she also pens articles covering the broader arts scene, with a particular emphasis on classical music, dance and various aspects of lifestyle. Since joining The Korea Times in 2013, she has made significant contributions in the realms of hallyu (Korean wave), industry news and international affairs.
Hong Sang-soo returns with self-reflective opus
Actress Kim Min-hee, center, is seen in Hong Sang-soo's new film “Hotel by the River.” / Courtesy of Contents Panda
By Park Jin-hai
By Park Jin-hai
Hong Sang-soo, the prolific auteur who has been avoiding exposure to local media after he made public his extramarital affair with actress Kim Min-hee in 2017, returns to the local cinema with his latest film “Hotel by the River.”
The sixth joint project between the director and actress, like their previous works “On the Beach at Night Alone” and “Claire's Camera,” is self-reflective.
Hong's third film in black-and-white starts with the 58-year-old director's low, plain voice narrating the names of the cast and when and where the film was shot, along with the director's hand-written opening credits.
The film revolves around two guests at a small provincial hotel on the frozen shores of the Han River and what happens in a single day.
Young-whan, played by Hong's regular Ki Joo-bong, is an aged and divorced poet who has earned some fame with a book. Thanks to the courtesy of his fan and the hotel owner, Young-whan stays at the hotel for free. Feeling that he might die any day soon, he calls his two estranged sons to come to the hotel for a final good-bye.
The adult sons have mixed feelings about their father. Young-whan is the one who left his long-time wife and two sons when they were young, for his “true love.”
When his younger son Byung-soo, played by Yu Jun-sang, asks him over drinks how he could ditch his children so easily, Young-whan replies, “You can't live your life based on guilt… Everyone dies and so do you. That's why you can't live like that,” as if echoing the confession of the director, whose divorce proceedings have yet to be resolved.
When he asks how his ex-wife is doing, his sons relay their mother's resentment for him: “You're just a complete monster (for her)… (You'll remain as) the worst kind of person in the world until your death.”
But, divorced Young-whan's new relationship didn't work out either, as the lover he tried to keep at all costs left him.
The other guest at the hotel, Sang-hee, played by Kim Min-hee, who is recuperating from the end of her affair with a married man, calls her friend to come visit.
The two women in dark coats walk and look at the snow covered scenery together. Then they meet the poet who repeatedly exclaims how beautiful the two women are against the white wintery background.
To her comforting friend, Sang-hee says, “I feel pity for him. I think he thought too much and that made his heart freeze.”
The woman, with a burn scar on her hand, adds, “I didn't lose anything. I'm just having a really hard time.”
Through the slow-moving film, with some sporadic wit, Hong talks about the feelings of loss, melancholy and death.
The film premiered in the U.S. and made the rounds of some international film festival before its local release. It has been met with international accolades and positive reviews, including the best actor award at the 2018 Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, and awards for best film, best actor and best screenplay at the 56th Gijon International Film Festival in Spain last year.
However, local viewer response prior to its release has not been that positive. The absence of the director and cast at the screening for local media and critics, where customarily they give their thoughts about the film, also fed the criticism that Hong holds the local market in disdain. Unlike international festivals, where the director is accompanied by the actress, the two haven't shown up at local screening events for the past two years since Hong's 2017 film “The Day After.”
“Right Now, Wrong Then” (2015), the couple's first joint project attracted 80,635 people in local theaters. But his audiences have continuously shrunk to 57,110 for “On the Beach at Night Alone” (2017); 18,667 for “The Day After” (2017); 9,430 for “Claire's Camera” (2017); and to 5,493 for “Grass” (2018).
The film will be in local theaters from March. 27.