This story of a young Korean woman, Young-hee, trying to come
to terms with breaking up
with her lover never rose above the pedestrian for me. There is
essentially no action beyond conversation. After her breakup
Young-hee goes to
Germany to visit her friend Jee-young. A good part of the time spent
with these two friends is concerned with wondering if
Young-hee's lover will show up and
with Young-hee's struggle of being torn between thoughts of her
lover and her desire for independence.
Young-hee returns to Korea where she takes up with some old acquaintances and carries on conversations with them that struck me as conversations typical of interactions among any middle class people. The climactic scene at the dinner table closes with a reading from a Chekhov story. The story was appropriate in context, but that's taking an easy way out isn't it? When you cannot come up with your own writing, fall back on that of a famous writer?
Young-hee is far from likable--on more than one occasion she lashes out bitterly at her companions. Most of the men are pretty much cyphers; it was hard for me to get involved with any of them.
There are some interesting filming techniques. I liked the use of the large camera pans and the shifts in focus. There is a scene that had one of Young-hee's friends picking rocks out of some pounds of dried beans. Maybe this was to show that the guy was subservient to the cafe manager, but it puzzled me as to why so much time would be spent on such a mundane task. Then there are scenes that are just plain odd--like the acrobatic window cleaner who dominated one scene and was there for a purpose that escaped me. And there is the man in a black overcoat whose main scene has him asking for the time of day. What was that all about?
The adagio from Schubert's C-major string quintet accompanies several scenes and did not particularly enhance the emotion of those scenes, beyond being a most beautiful work.
This is my first exposure to director Hong. I have the feeling that he may be an acquired taste--a taste that I have yet to acquire.
Young-hee returns to Korea where she takes up with some old acquaintances and carries on conversations with them that struck me as conversations typical of interactions among any middle class people. The climactic scene at the dinner table closes with a reading from a Chekhov story. The story was appropriate in context, but that's taking an easy way out isn't it? When you cannot come up with your own writing, fall back on that of a famous writer?
Young-hee is far from likable--on more than one occasion she lashes out bitterly at her companions. Most of the men are pretty much cyphers; it was hard for me to get involved with any of them.
There are some interesting filming techniques. I liked the use of the large camera pans and the shifts in focus. There is a scene that had one of Young-hee's friends picking rocks out of some pounds of dried beans. Maybe this was to show that the guy was subservient to the cafe manager, but it puzzled me as to why so much time would be spent on such a mundane task. Then there are scenes that are just plain odd--like the acrobatic window cleaner who dominated one scene and was there for a purpose that escaped me. And there is the man in a black overcoat whose main scene has him asking for the time of day. What was that all about?
The adagio from Schubert's C-major string quintet accompanies several scenes and did not particularly enhance the emotion of those scenes, beyond being a most beautiful work.
This is my first exposure to director Hong. I have the feeling that he may be an acquired taste--a taste that I have yet to acquire.