Decidedly a step up from his last competition entry in Berlin (A Traveler’s Needs starring Isabelle Huppert as a French teacher) but still a film that will be most appreciated by his fan club, with What Does That Nature Say to You (Geu jayeoni nege mworago hani) director Hong Sangsoo opens a reflection on the artist and how he/she should live in society, particularly as regards earning a living and satisfying material needs.
Though far from an earth-shaker, it is one of the director’s more charming outings, refreshing in that it seems to break a bit of new ground in his 33-film oeuvre — an impressive output that has been increasing at an average of two new features a year. Fans of South Korea’s beacon of independent filmmaking – who performs every technical role himself, apart from acting – will not be disappointed.
Those who have been watching closely will also note the characters’ lopsided smiles seem to be untouched with melancholy or despair, the blue note that is almost always present somewhere in Hong Sangsoo’s work seems absent here. His stock company of actors features veterans Kwon Haehyo and Cho Yunhee as the father and mother of two single daughters in their thirties.
Though the autobiographical component is strong in all his work, here it stands out with special force, since it relates to a young poet who has rejected a privileged position in society to remain free to do what he wants. This has put him in conflict with his father, a famous attorney, and threatens to jinx his relationship with his girlfriend, who he has been dating for three years. With a pleasing touch of light comedy based on social awkwardness, embarrassment and innuendo, the story unfolds during an overnight trip to a house outside Incheon, where Ha Donghwa (played by Ha Seongguk) drives his girlfriend Junhee (Kang Soyi) to visit her parents.
Weirdly (no surprise; it’s a weird relationship), Donghwa leaves her in the driveway and prepares to return to Seoul without making contact with her family. In fact, in the three years he has known and loved Junhee, he has never met any of them. Instead, her Dad intercepts them by accident and, after taking a spin in Donghwa’s old car, invites them in. It’s a turning point for the young couple, who can’t make up their minds about getting married.
As the day progresses, all kinds of relationships will be discussed and tested: the father’s intense love for his mother, who has died and whose ashes are buried beneath a tree in the garden; the parents’ comfortable relationship that survives the passing years; the bond of understanding that exists between Junhee and Donghwa, that is perhaps not love.
The family is aware that he is the son of a rich and famous man, Attorney Ha, and that of course changes their perceptions of their potential future son-in-law. But on a visit to a Buddhist temple, Junhee’s sister Neunghee (Park Miso) quizzes Donghwa about what he does and how much he earns. He answers frankly that he shoots wedding videos and earns just enough to pay for the necessities of life. In fact, he is fiercely independent and avoids asking his father for money.
As the young man’s initial stiffness begins to melt, he feels at home with Junhee’s easy-going, guitar-strumming dad, aided by a pack of cigarettes and consumption of the local liquor. Meanwhile her mom prepares a local dish featuring one of the fine-looking chickens from the coop. Everything is going swimmingly until dinner, when Dad breaks out a huge bottle of booze and shares it with Donghwa. This is the comic-tragic turning point in most Hong Sangsoo tales and here, too, in vino veritas. The young man gets drunk and, dispensing with the formalities, shouts out his real feelings in a scene of excruciating embarrassment.
The fact is, Donghwa is a poet, and so is Junhee’s mom. The first recites a terrible poem he wrote; the second is acclaimed in her circle. But throughout the day Donghwa gives signs of being a real poet through his absorption in nature, deep thinking and the connections he makes between things, not to mention the material sacrifices he is prepared to make to be free. The mother, instead, put aside her writing when her daughters were born and spends her days at work. And you know she’s not a real poet when she advises Donghwa to sell his old car, which so individualizes him, and buy a new model for “safety”.
This all feels like there could be a sequel in the works that carries the topic forward. Donghwa, with his deep feelings and multiform personality, is shaping up to be an excellent surrogate of the filmmaker to speak about being an artist in contemporary Korean society.
The most interesting technical credit is the cinematography, which imitates Donghwa’s near-sighted view of the world by shooting entire scenes in soft focus and low resolution, signaling that his is the dominant P.O.V. in the film.
Director, screenwriters, cinematography, editing, music, sound design, producer: Hong Sangsoo
Cast: Ha Seongguk, Kwon Haehyo, Cho Yunhee, Kang Soyi, Park Miso
Production company: Jeonwonsa Film Co. (South Korea)
World sales: Finecut
Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Competition)
In Korean
108 minutes
