The Day She Returns
In the latest film by Korea's conversational cinema maestro Hong Sang-soo, an actress making a comeback gives freewheeling interviews over German beer.
Bae Jeong-su is a middle-aged actor who returns to the profession after 12 years, having now been married, raised a child and gotten a divorce. Her new film is an independent one, apparently differing from those she’s done earlier in her career. The Day She Returns consists of five numbered acts: during the first half Jeong-su is being interviewed separately by three young female reporters, and in the second half Jeong-su re-enacts the interviews in a workshop with another actress.
In the first half each of the reporters end up talking as much about themselves as interviewing the star. The latter half reveals the fragility of memory, self-perception and the outwards projected self: Jeong-su fumbles in her dialogue, can’t remember what she’s said.
The Day She Returns is filmed in the dependable style of Hong Sang-soo: black and white, and each act as a one-shot from a fixed position. Instead of the director’s trademark, sipping soju, this time the characters are having German beer.
Eija Niskanen (translated by Vilja Hynynen)
Screenings
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Kino ReginaFri 18.9. at 19.10–20.3484 min, 1/2
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Kinopalatsi 7Sat 26.9. at 14.15–15.3984 min, 2/2
Trailer
