On the Beach at Night Alone

Director: Hong Sang-soo

2017 / 101min / DCP

Another chapter in one of the most exciting bodies of work in the making today, On the Beach at Night Alone combines simplicity of expression and complexity of design in the effortless manner that has endeared the South Korean auteur to audiences around the world. Kim Min-hee (Right Now, Wrong Then) stars in both halves of this bittersweet, bifurcated story of romantic distress and booze-fueled self-laceration, moving between her character’s retreat in Hamburg and her hometown of coastal Gangneung. Formally frisky while full of heavy-hearted home truths, this is Hong at his beguiling best.

Part of Metrograph Presents: A to Z by Inge de Leeuw