With his unfaltering production schedule delivering a new film every NZIFF season, the prolific Hong Sang-soo continues to charm and delight audiences hip to his perceptive but ever-cynical take on modern relationships.
Hong Sang-soo’s latest is an offbeat comedy about an affair between a young student and her married professor.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2013
Nobody’s Daughter Haewon 2013
Nugu-ui ttal-do anin Haewon
With his unfaltering production schedule delivering a new film every NZIFF season, the prolific Hong Sang-soo continues to charm and delight audiences hip to his perceptive but ever-cynical take on modern relationships. His latest takes a rare (for Hong) female perspective. Aspiring actress Haewon wants to end her secretive on-off relationship with her married professor, but when her mother impulsively decides to emmigrate to Canada, a depressed Haewon seeks comfort. An afternoon date that drifts into a drinking session turns disastrous when soju-loosened lips reveal too much. Hong punctuates the film with a series of playful and self-reflexive dream sequences, including an amusingly gushy encounter with French actress/singer Jane Birkin. — Michael McDonnell
“Laced with the South Korean director’s barbed wit about male foibles, the eponymous heroine exudes a purity and vulnerability rare in Hong’s gallery of vain and blasé intellectuals.” — Maggie Lee, Variety