‘The novelist and his film’: Reflection in the midst of a crisis

Called the Eric Rohmer of South Korean cinema, Hong Sang-soo couldn’t say goodbye to 2022 without releasing one of the two titles she has presented on the festival circuit this year. After seeing ‘Introduction’ and ‘In front of you’, both 2021 productions, the director returns to Spanish commercial theaters for the third time with ‘La novelista y su película’, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival and this demonstrates once again the director’s ability to know how to create magnificent proposals with tremendously banal situations.

‘The writer and her film’ recovers the mumblecore spirit of ‘Grass’ or ‘The hotel by the river’, with a light premise. A well-known writer, named Jun-hee, travels to a city outside Seoul to visit an old friend who, like her, was an author and who gave up writing to become a bookseller and start her own business. The visit is very uncomfortable, as this old friend wanted to completely get away from the intellectual atmosphere that surrounded her when she was together with Jun-hee. Added to this is that Jun-hee is experiencing a creative crisis, which results in a harsh and cynical character.

Already with this first scene, Hong creates a story that runs along the path of bitterness. Somehow, its performance evokes ‘In front of you’, also performed by Lee Hye-young, which gives life to this writer in crisis and who in the aforementioned film played an actress who returned to her native country to try to resume her career. In both characters, one has the feeling of having left unfinished business to close in order to move on to another cycle. In this case, it is about recovering that passionate spirit towards the creation of culture.

In between of course Hong arranges a trip where Jun-hee meets a director again, the always usual Kwon Hae-hyo, with whom he was preparing to work years before; so too with a poet with whom she had an affair in her youth. Not everything is loving reunions; Well meets Gil-soo, an actress played by Kim Min-hee [musa de Hong y que, por fin, vuelve a ponerse delante de las cámaras en una película de su pareja]who is also experiencing a moment of voluntary retirement due to a crisis related to his profession.

Hong displays prolific talent and fireproof character

In the midst of transcendental conversations that arise from smoking a cigarette on the terrace of a café-bookstore or in the belvedere of a skyscraper; Hong performs the miracle which makes ‘The Writer and Her Film’ a film that shows how in a period of crisis and reflection a glimmer of creativity can emerge that promotes a new path towards another type of vocation. This is the case of the writer, whose meeting with Gil-soo makes her want to try her luck as a director.

It is this ability to trivially perform important actions that makes Hong’s cinema shine.; influence conversations that begin with trivial topics and that lead to discussions that bring to light those conflicts that have not been resolved, those desires that could not be revealed at first for change or confessions related to the depths of being. The director has the ability to create these sensations, which captivate with their seeming simplicity and hide much greater depth.

Hong creates a film that could very well be a bright reflection of ‘In front of you’. Looking forward to seeing ‘Walk Up’, the work you presented in the Official Section of the 70th San Sebastian Film Festival, whose world premiere is scheduled for 2023; the Korean director can be said to have had a brilliant year in terms of commercial releaseswhich allowed us to see how, without losing his essence, the director grew with each new proposal.

Note: 7

The best: The initial conversation between the writer and her bookseller friend. The final moment, with the screening of the short film.

Worse: It reuses too many concepts from ‘In front of you’, with the impression that he has reached the point, in the meeting with the director, where it is not clear to him where he wants to go, even if he knows how to redirect.