Today I went to the Brooklyn Academy of Music and saw Hong Sang Soo's The Turning Gate. I had seen this film over the summer at the Seattle Film Festival and was unimpressed but intrigued. I discussed the film with people much more intelligent then I am on the KoreanFilm.org message board which is largely frequented by Scholars of Korean film.
After some eye opening discussions with the people on the message board I took the opportunity to see The Turning Gate again. Cahiers Du Cinema (the cinema journal that greats like Truffaut, Godard, and Rohmer wrote for) made the claim that Hong possesses "a rare and invaluable talent for exploring the mystery of human nature," and recently named him "the most interesting and promising filmmaker in Korea." That's saying a lot since I promise you Korean cinema is going to be the next big thing in international cinema.
Anyway, the movie. I loved it the second time through. I finally was clued into the fact that all the awkward moments, banal dialogue (only at certain times), irrational actions by the characters, etc. are intentional. In film things are cleaned up to tell stories efficiently and have heightened sense of reality. Dialogue is typically sharp and to the point and everything the characters do is to further the story line.
In Hong's films he's more interested in dissecting human nature and human interaction. He pays such close attention to the mannerisms of people, the things they say, and just how awkward certain moments are. People can go from saying something profound to suddenly telling a story about something the other person has the least bit interest in resulting in an awkward silence. Hong relishes in these awkward and inane moments between people. The main character is pathetic in his inability to maintain a meaningful relationship with others and his inability to effectively interact with others on any sort of level above screwing them is wonderfully and at times comedically portrayed.
The humor in Hong's film though isn't overtly funny though. We laugh at stupid things people do and say that are actual stupid things that real people do and say on a regular basis. Things typically left out of movies. He doesn't create comedic situations in order to garner laughs, instead he shows us the absurdity of typical human behavior and allows us to laugh at it by highlighting certain shortcomings of his characters and what I think he believes are shortcomings of much of society in general.
Most movies don't feel artificial because they prescribe to a set of standards within the cinematic grammar that are "realistic" but if people really talked like people in movies and did things that happen in movies it'd be weird. (I hope that makes sense... leave a comment if it doesn't, I can explain better) But back to my point, Hong's film strays away from this cinematic realism that is actually highly artificial. His films feel very real because the characters act like actual real people. It takes some getting used to and makes the film feel slow as people meander through conversations that really lead nowhere but it offers a unique world view not normally put on film.
The BAMcinematek newsletter compares Hong to Eric Rohmer and Michelangelo Antonioni, I haven't seen films by either of them so I don't know whether that's a fair comparison, but it's not bad company to be amongst for Hong.
Anyway, tomorrow they're screening A Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, I haven't seen it before so I'm excited for it.
After the movie I rented Seijin Suzuki's Branded to Kill and Werner Herzog's Stroszek. I'm probably going to watch the Suzuki film right after I finish typing up this entry. Tokyo Drifter which is also directed by him is one of the coolest films ever made so I'm excited for this, although Pistol Opera was one of the biggest disappointments of my film going life... Hopefully Branded to Kill will pull through, from what I've heard it's supposed to be great.
Stroszek I will watch tomorrow. I still have Heart of Glass, Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, and La' Avventura to watch too. AGGGHHH! I think that's a scream of joy... I'm not sure though... believe it or not watching films can feel like a chore sometime...
I watched The Omen last night. It's not as great as I remember it being but it's still pretty cool. Especially the maid killing herself. Beautiful...
All I ever write about in here is movies... oh well, deal with it.
Here's something not about movies:
Last night, as I was about to brush my teeth, my toothbrush fell on the ground of the bathroom. Ew. I immediately tossed it in the trash. Today, I bought a new toothbrush. It was distributed by the Colgate-Palmolive Company and was made in Thailand. Not only do they make incredible food, they make toothbrushes as well. It's got a soft full head because my dentist tells me I have sensitive gums and fear not: the toothbrush is approved by the American Dental Association. It's blue and shaped in the classic toothbrush style. Nothing fancy for me, no sir.
Oh yeah! I saw the first episode of David Lynch's Rabbits, I think it's a mini show type thing he does for his website... It's really funny but people who generally dislike Lynch's work will hate it, I'm sure of it.
I ordered a classic Korean film from the 50s called Obaltan, I think it translates to "Stray Bullet." It was really controversial during its time for political reasons and it's supposed to be one of the greatest Korean films ever made. It was heavily discounted on the KoreanFilm.org website so I grabbed a copy.
So... time to wrap up so I can watch Branded to Kill. The Turning Gate is one heck of a film, either the second or third best Korean film that I've ever seen. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oasis being my other two picks. (Alex, Andrew, I'm going to make copies onto tape for you and mail them, you have to see them, at least the first one...) I have a new toothbrush, I'm about to watch a movie right now, and I'll be watching two tomorrow. Do I have more important stuff to be doing such as school work? Yes... lots of reading and I should be editing a project. I'll do it all during the week though... Goodbye.
