‘On the Beach at Night Alone' is intense, personal and awkward
THERE is an argument that Hong Sang- Soo's films are often about the same thing: relationships and awkward encounters as filmmakers, professors or artists consuming soju as they discuss love and life.
But beneath the surface, Hong's formidable formative approach to filmmaking is quite remarkable. Like a child piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, Hong challenges his audience through the perplexing structure of his films _ Hong's award-winning ‘Right Now, Wrong Then' ( 2015) is such an example as he plays with variation telling the same story twice of a director who meets a painter, but with subtle differences.
Often scripting the leading characters as filmmakers, professors or artists, one aspect of his films that tends to remain consistent are the parallels to Hong himself, which makes it no surprise that his latest ‘On the Beach at Night Alone' is personal. But this time, his musings on love and life, evidently shaped by experiences, are certainly bolder than the rest of his body of work.
The film about an actress, played by Kim Min-hee, who had a relationship with an older married filmmaker premiered at the Berlin film festival last month and was very well-received at the festival garnering strong reviews in the international press.
But it was Kim Min-hee who made history becoming the first Korean actress to win the Silver Bear for Best Actress award at the festival.
The film has generated much speculation locally owing to the similarities between the film's narrative and the relationship between the director and the film's leading actress, which was confirmed by Hong at a press conference on Monday following the film's local press screening.
June last year, after the release of Park Chan-wook's ‘ The Handmaiden', which Kim also starred in, it was reported in the local press that the two were having an affair _ though rumours of their relationship were circulating in the local film industry for some months before this.
What is interesting is that Hong appears to have made a film that explores the issues they face being in the public eye even though the film was shot several months before it was made public.
It addresses the problems Kim would encounter as an actress in Korea having been involved in a relationship with an older married man with the film beginning in Hamburg, Germany, where the actress, Young-hee, takes some time out before returning to Korea. But avoiding the Seoul metropolis she heads to the seaside town of Gangneung to meet an older friend. The title suggests such a scandal can result in isolation.
Things come to a head in a scene towards the end between the director played by Moon Sung-keun and the actress. Both drunk, they talk about their relationship at a dinner in front of his staff in what is possibly one of the most intense scenes I have seen in a Hong Sang- soo film.
The intensity is all the more awkward owing to the off -screen romance that it appears to be making reference to.
Yet, Hong also manages to add some self- deprecating humour as he refers to his own unorthodox style when the drunken director says, “So I shoot the first scene and see where it goes.”
The film is intense, personal and certainly awkward, but this is Hong Sang- soo doing what he does best even though the film lacks the narrative complexity underlying many of his other films.
‘On the Beach at Night Alone' will be released in Korea on Mar 23.