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barbarella -- Thanks for that lovely appreciation of Night and Day -- a film that has always been on the low end of my HSS heap. I now mainly remember it as feeling really really long. I guess I will need to give it another chance some day.

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Any word yet as to a possible bluray for Woman Who Ran? This never screened any closer to Boston than Amherst, MA....

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Speak of the devil.https://twitter.com/CinemaGuild/status/ ... 63/photo/1

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Introduction continued the frustrating trend of recent vapid Hongs, but I liked In Front of Your Face slightly more, at least in its first half. I particularly appreciated how Hong subverted expectations of 'mystery' to unveil an appropriately banal and subdued, yet authentic relationship dynamic. The central duo's interactions begin with reserved social niceties and superficial conversations, and over the course of the film they gradually shed inhibitions and convey a singular energy existent in any relationship with a rich history.

barbarella satyricon wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 2:28 am The overall tone achieved here is serious and sincere in a way that I think is unique and unprecedented in Hong’s ouevre.

I don't agree with this, as Hong has demonstrated this kind of sober sincerity many times before. I would even argue that he's always approaching his films with both seriousness and sincerity, even when he's exposing himself as having defective traits or portraying maladaptive behavior he acknowledges as ridiculous with hindsight, because he also understands and refuses to dismiss the value of myopic narcissism and emotionally-charged flawed engagement in the moment for the character experiencing it. I would be interested in hearing more of why you think so, in comparison to his other works (perhaps by saying what they lack that's present here?) but he even has the emasculated stand-in director saying he wants to make a film with the lead because of her "soul," briefly gaining a sense of power in the dynamic before losing it again, lost to respond to the news she lays on him. However, Hong's gradual movement away from centralizing a version of his 'self' and ruminating on his own qualities with less and less focus could be a signal of growth, and I do agree that In Front of Your Face is a very mature and deep work, with your keen observations regarding the silent scenes of subtle exchanges enlightening why I feel this way:

barbarella satyricon wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 2:28 am The cigarette breaks may be incidental, but they do punctuate the film like accents or markers within longer sequences, in moments that come together like photographic mementos: an extended stop under a footbridge; a contemplative pause with an accommodating new acquaintance who receives an offered cigarette; and, in what looked and felt to me like an understated masterstroke of mise-en-scène and tonal modulation in the film’s drama, Lee Hye-Young and Kwon Hae-Hyo, looking rumpled and drained after the extended conversation and other revelations indoors, lean on an outside wall and share a wordless smokers’ exchange, looking for all the world like an accidental Antonioni couple.

These moments lend typical enigmatic significance in multiple dimensions: regarding the processing of enigmas by the characters, and refusing to offer a simplified packaged of meaning from the state of 'being'. I appreciated how there are moments where these characters break to outright state that they don't really 'know' each other very well despite their long friendship rooted in childhood, and then meditate on this separately within the same shot in silence, before reverting back to casual conversations. There is also the implicit mistrust of sharing a dream that isn't met with animosity, but hints of longing to be trusted, and glimmers of embarrassment for the dream and for not feeling trust to share it (the same goes for the 'secret', with its ultimate release earnestly presented as anticathartic).

The film isn't a heavy meditation on loneliness, but it is a study on self-consciousness, blending exhibitions of inherent isolation with gratitude and serenity, all of this occurring around other people or in nature. Hong admirably allows the depth of the psychologies and shared histories under study to permeate the elisions rather than erupt to dominate tangible communication, which would be fraudulent exposition. I think he's always allowed some grace in this respect, but perhaps he's more comfortable with the omissions here- which could be an argument for the sincerity claim I suppose. The male director's impotence to be an actionable support is far more reserved, and his empathy not dissected in a self-serving, pathetic, or celebrated fashion, which in restraint does not detract from the lead actress' value (...at least not until the end).

Some of his other, older films gravitate towards this end, self-reflexively with self-inserts, Hong unable to evade his own ego, even when hypervigilantly skewering it. I still find those films far more complex and rich artworks, but it's heartening to view these recent films in that context, for how self-actualization may have actually allowed Hong salvation from himself, and consequentially more lucid and genuine empathy towards listening attentively to the women in his life.

Spoiler

That is- until the end- where he eviscerates himself completely, but from the perspective of the protagonist in the privacy of her own space. The use of physical space and pointed curiosity of only her experience minimizes his worth completely (or of men like him/his past self), banished from the existence of the film and hiding away in his own pitiful cave of narcissism out of the frames that dictate what matters.

So -- Woman Who Ran is finally out from Cinmema Guild (along with a new JIA Zhangke film I have yet to watch). First thought is that I'll need to watch this at least one more time to begin to process this more fully, Second thought -- this is one of the nicest looking Hong films in a while. The autumnal colors are really quite lovely. I did wonder why she told essentially the same story to three different friends on three different days (are they even consecutive days -- or not -- no way to tell). I found it amusing that we scarcely got to see the faces of the male interlopers into this story (unless the featured cat was a male). More thoughts to come, perhaps.

I guess there are 2 more films (at least) since this one came out -- I wonder when if ever I'll get a chance to see these...

The NFL's Super Bowl team poster for the Los Angeles Rams bears just a teensy resemblance resemblance to Cinema Guild's poster for a certain recent Hong film, which the league claims (without actually naming the film in question) is deliberate as part of its recent string of movie-themed posters—though none of them come anywhere close to so directly borrowing from an actual movie poster. (Also whoever wrote the copy for the Twitter post clearly wasn't on the same wavelength as the designer.) Truly bizarre.

for fun, since there's been a lot of Hong talk due to the theatrical release of Introduction (which I enjoyed), the NFL poster thing above, and him winning a Silver Bear, I've been on a "kick" so to say and decided to update the filmography on the main page for the Blu-ray era a little bit. 2022 should bring 3, potentially 4 (highly doubt Novelist's Film makes it to disc hopefully next year but hopefully an older title or two get a rescue) new HSS titles on Bluray. thanks to Cinema Guild for keeping these coming, and Grasshopper for rescuing the older ones. hopefully Arrow or someone can help out as well, the Korean releases are cool but are not consistent at all and go OOP here and there. the US labels are very stable with their output of them...and for the guide below I stuck to English friendly Blurays only, no DVDs.

no offense to Fanciful Norwegian but I do format my posts a little differently, hope some don't mind. I know obviously this is an all English language forum, but I find having native titles available (in both native and transliterated form) helps in searching for available discs.

돼지가 우물에 빠진 날 (The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well / Dwaejiga umul-e ppajin nal) [1996] | MIA (all editions OOP)

강원도의 힘 (The Power of Kangwon Province / Gangwon-do-ui him) [1998] | Grasshopper Films

오! 수정 (Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors / O! Sujeong) [2000] | Grasshopper Films

생활의 발견 (On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate / Saenghwal-ui balgyeon) [2002] | Contents Zone Korea (OOP; no in print edition)

여자는 남자의 미래다 (Woman Is the Future of Man / Yeojaneun namja-ui miraeda) [2004] | Arrow (w/ Tale of Cinema)

극장전 (Tale of Cinema / Geukjangjeon) [2005] | Arrow (w/ Woman is the Future of Man)

해변의 여인 (Woman on the Beach / Haebyeon-ui yeoin) [2006] | Grasshopper Films (w/ Hill of Freedom)

밤과 낮 (Night and Day / Bamgwa nat) [2008] | Contents Zone Korea (OOP; no in print edition)

잘 알지도 못하면서 (Like You Know It All / Jal aljido mothamyeonseo) [2009] | MIA (all editions OOP) [update 12 Jul 2022: potentially held by Cinema Guild]

첩첩산정 (Lost in the Mountains / Cheob cheob san jeong) [2009] | Grasshopper Film (included on BD with Right Now, Wrong Then)

하하하 (Hahaha) [2010] | MIA (all editions OOP) [update 12 Jul 2022: potentially held by Cinema Guild]

옥희의 영화 (Oki's Movie / Okhui-ui yeonghwa) [2010] | DS Media Korea (OOP; no in print edition) [update 12 Jul 2022: potentially held by Cinema Guild]

북촌 방향 (The Day He Arrives / Bukchon banghyang) [2011] | Cinema Guild (DVD only; Bluray confirmed as forthcoming in 2022)

리스트(List / Lisuto) [2011] | Cinema Guild (included on BD with Grass)

다른 나라에서 (In Another Country / Dareun naraeseo) [2012] | DS Media Korea (w/ Nobody's Daughter Haewon) [update 12 Jul 2022: Kino supposedly not interested in rereleasing film]

누구의 딸도 아닌 해원 (Nobody's Daughter Haewon / Nagu-ui ttaldo anin Haewon) [2013] | DS Media Korea (w/ In Another Country) [update 12 Jul 2022: potentially held by Cinema Guild in US]

우리 선희 (Our Sunhi / Uri Seonhui) [2013] | DS Media Korea

자유의 언덕 (Hill of Freedom / Jayuui Eondeok) [2014] | Grasshopper Films (w/ Woman on the Beach)

지금은맞고그때는틀리다 (Right Now, Wrong Then / Jigeumeun-matgo-geuttaeneun-teullida) [2015] | Grasshopper Films

당신자신과 당신의 것 (Yourself and Yours / Dangsinjasingwa dangsinui geot) [2016] | Cinema Guild

밤의 해변에서 혼자 (On the Beach at Night Alone / Bamui Haebyeoneseo Honja) [2017] | Cinema Guild

클레어의 카메라 (Claire's Camera / La caméra de Claire) [2017] | Cinema Guild

그 후 (The Day After / Geu-hu) [2017] | Cinema Guild

풀잎들 (Grass / Pul-ip-deul) [2018] | Cinema Guild

강변 호텔 (Hotel by the River / Gangbyeon hotel) [2018] | Cinema Guild

도망친 여자 (The Woman Who Ran / Domangchin yeoja) [2020] | Cinema Guild

인트로덕션 (Introduction / Inteurodeoksyeon) [2021] | Cinema Guild

당신 얼굴 앞에서 (In Front of Your Face / dangsin eolgul ap-eseo) [2021] | Cinema Guild (available 25 October 2022)

소설가의 영화 (The Novelist's Film / Soseolgaui Yeonghwa) [2022] | Cinema Guild (coming soon; currently open in some countries, NA "debut" at NYFF)

워크 업 (Walk Up / wokeu-eob) [2022] | Cinema Guild (coming soon; world debut at TIFF/NYFF)

This is exceptional work – thanks for putting that list together!

Many thanks, Ryan!

Hoping (for thiose latest 3 films) that "soon" means really soon.

Hong Sangsoo fans in New York may already know about this, but Lincoln Center is launching a two-part retrospective that begins next weekend. After ten days of programming, it picks up again in May.

The best part - it's all double features, so two films for the price of one.

Also a free discussion with Dennis Lim starts off the proceedings, which I imagine will be a good primer for those completely new to his work and may help anyone navigate what they are about to see.

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Fantastic work, ryannichols. Hong's two significant short films are also available on BluRay:

Lost in the Mountains (2009) - on Right Now, Wrong Then
List (2011) - on Grass

And his cute Berlin acceptance video is included on Introduction.

That only leaves a tiny snippet he contributed to the 70th anniversary of the Venice Film Festival missing, unless somebody's aware of it creeping onto a disc somewhere.
This is it.

zedz wrote: Thu May 12, 2022 8:39 pm List (2011) - on Grass

That only leaves a tiny snippet he contributed to the 70th anniversary of the Venice Film Festival missing, unless somebody's aware of it creeping onto a disc somewhere.
This is it.

These are two of my favorite things he's ever done- List being his very best work

fittingly, Introduction was announced today from Cinema Guild, I'll update my post accordingly. great price on it too

good week for Hong fans as The Novelist's Film was the secret screening in New York to close their series. hopefully In Front of Your Face starts showing up around the country soon!

also believe I didn't get around to adding the Grasshopper Virgin Stripped Bare link too

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My copy of Introduction arrived -- and I've watched it once. On first viewing I liked it a lot. I can most fit the three parts together -- but perhaps it will be even clearer when I rewatch. Funny seeing KIM Minhee in just a small part here. Intteresting that in just 66 minutes we go from urban Korea to Berlin and the to rural (coastal) Korea.

barbarella satyricon wrote: Thu May 12, 2022 1:30 pm The Novelist’s Film is in its first run here in Korea. I liked it for the most part, but there are moments where it feels a bit like an exercise, with a certain inelegance in the way accumulating characters incidentally cross paths, millIng around in an overcrowded shot or two. Some of the ironic, satirical points seem a little too pat as well, feeling kind of warmed-over at this point.

But it might be seen as a more substantial work than the recent Introduction, and maybe more accessible than In Front of Your Face. And while I felt it was the first case of diminishing returns I’d had with Hong in a while, others’ rankings of individual films seem to vary all over the place, so it might be someone’s new favorite, who knows.

And as far as Kim Min-Hee goes, Hong and his camera seem to be as much in love as ever? And if I wasn’t misreading,

Spoiler

does the embedded film at the end seem to give away the secret of a central relationship, in how the character behind the camera regards the one in front of it, and vice versa? It may be an incidental detail that I am misreading completely, but is it the cameraman (the nephew of Kim Min-Hee’s unseen husband in the film) who says, off-camera, that he loves her and to whom she responds in kind? Is this at least one of the reasons why the characters seem so cagey and conflicted by film’s end?

I thought The Novelist’s Film was easily Hong's worst film in ten years, and definitely less accessible than his last few. While some conversations retain a sense of quiet withholding and icebergs signaling value underneath, there are a few long chunks that are like watching strangers engage in small talk for thirty minutes longer than they would in real life, and I wanted to tape my eyes and ears closed (and I like to think I have a very high tolerance for low-substance talky mumblecore fare). I really like your thoughts on the end though- none of that occurred to me, but to be fair it was such an aesthetically sublime departure from the monotonous drag preceding it that I didn't take any time deciphering meaning or intent behind its inclusion- I'm just grateful it was there!

An interesting article on HSS in The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/cultu ... ook_offers

okay I updated my above reference post finally, with very nice releases of Virgin Stripped Bare and Introduction added, as well as some exciting (and not so) stuff I'll cover here:

the bad:
-my local arthouse theatres are refusing to play In Front of Your Face, something I am holding against them. hopefully some of you folk are able to see it here stateside!

-Kino continue to hold In Another Country hostage in the US - apologies if linking to the other forum isn't allowed but I figured it would be okay since that's a direct source. I personally find this to be ludicrous as Cinema Guild or Grasshopper would be very obviously pleased and would get the films out almost immediately. yes, the Korean edition is available, but it is higher priced and again, it should only be right to come out over here. this is a not-insignificant film since it literally stars Isabelle Huppert, something you'd think Kino would be interested on capitalizing on, but they're playing mini Disney over here.

the good:
-some Film Twitter enthusiast hosted a "Hong bracket" and The Day He Arrives won (which I strongly disagree with, but I'm keeping this strictly as a news post..), leading Cinema Guild to confirm a new Bluray of the film, which came out in the early era of Bluray and is why it didn't make it to BD the first time apparently.

-yesterday, someone asked Cinema Guild and got an answer about Like You Know It All, Hahaha, Oki’s Movie, Nobody’s Daughter Haewon, and Our Sunhi, all of which apparently CG hold. I did some digging and this was confirmed last year, and I only just now found out. so CG seems to have a lot forthcoming when you consider the IFOYF disc release and The Novelist's Film theatrical run.

-there are many Hong enthusiasts out there interested in all of these films, something I appreciate. it appears to be two different people to ask Kino and also CG, none of which were big "film twitter" names very involved with that bracket. pleased there's tons of interest - both for Hong films old and new.

if this all holds true, only The Day a Pig Fell into the Well, On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate, and Night and Day will remain unreleased in region A. Grasshopper (and I owe you an email back!!) - I hope you guys can pull these three off. I'm pulling for you!

I'm trying to plan my Melbourne International Film Festival schedule and deciding between seeing In Front of Your Face or The Novelist's Film – which one should I prioritise? I can see there's already a strong vote for the first from twbb.

furbicide wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 6:47 am I'm trying to plan my Melbourne International Film Festival schedule and deciding between seeing In Front of Your Face or The Novelist's Film – which one should I prioritise? I can see there's already a strong vote for the first from twbb.

I second the In Front of Your Face recommendation, would say it's the stronger of the two.

if you can see both please do so, but yes IFOYF seems pretty regarded as one of the better Hongs lately