Because of Kim Min-hee's words on the Berlin podium: "Director, I respect you and love you", and the uproar aroused by these words, "On the Beach at Night Alone" (hereinafter referred to as "Independence") became a success. The most watched Hong Sang-soo movie of all time. Although this attention comes at the expense of the private lives of directors and actresses to satisfy more people's voyeurism. Although this attention is not like the oath made by the protagonist to the mirror when brushing his teeth in "Know How", "the next movie must reach 2 million viewers." But fans are still relieved, and there are indeed more and more people watching Hong Sangxiu.
The title comes from Whitman's poem. The content of the poem, the director said he had forgotten, only remembered this image, and used it as the title of the movie. "Imagine on the dark seaside, when there is nothing in the way of the universe, the general human feelings, rules, and rationales have disappeared, and you can feel the original self." The film starts from such a simple and lonely image. of.
The story takes place in two seaside cities, Hamburg and Gangneung. The structure of the film is neither neat and tidy like "Right Now" and "The Virgin Heart Sutra", nor a collage that disrupts the chronological order like "Freedom Hill". It is reminiscent of "Night and Day" (hereinafter referred to as "Night"), which tells the story of a man who fled to Paris because of a scandal, entangled with two women during the day, and talked on the phone with his wife in Seoul at night. In the latter part of the film, the man returned to Seoul and had a dream with his wife. The story of "Independence" is about a woman who fled to Hamburg because of a scandal, and then returned to Gangneung, a small coastal town, lying on the beach and had a dream. Both are divided into two sections, one is long in front and short in the back, and the other is short in front and long in the back.
Compared with the two films, the director obviously understands men better. "Night" is full of satire, banter and mockery of men. One of the most interesting scenes is when the male protagonist faces the temptation of his ex-girlfriend on the bed. He actually picks up the "Bible" at hand and starts talking nonsense, making his ex-girlfriend laugh and cry. And soon after, he was showing love to another woman, leaving that biblical theory behind. In "Night", the director exposes the man's hypocritical thoughts and tricks, just like the poster of the film: a pair of sexy women's legs walk down the stairs, and the male protagonist who is squatting and cleaning the stairs can't help it He raised his head, staring straight at the legs. This scene just flashed by in the film. The owner of the leg didn't even show his face, but was cut out separately to make a poster, which became the subject of the film.
The poster of "Independence" shows Young Hee (played by Kim Min Hee) who wakes up on the beach and speaks to a faceless man on the right in a little panic, with an expression that is half sorry and half grateful. She had just returned to reality from the dream, from the fetters of the social rules in her original self, when she woke up from the big dream, her reaction was half a beat slower. The director has always been gentler to women than to men, not only because the person in the camera is Jin Minxi, but with a pity mentality. He talks about the scheming of women and is more tolerant than men. In "We Shanxi", a woman played with the feelings of three men. In "You and You", the woman used the face-to-face as an excuse to deceive the three men. The director did not make spicy satire, but mildly teased.
In recent years, perhaps because of age, perhaps because of natural changes in people, the men in Hong Sang-soo's films have undergone a great transformation. They may still be down, still frustrated, still out of place, but they are no longer wretched, and they are no longer pretending to be themselves. They became bold and loyal, dared to speak their hearts out in front of everyone, and the ending was brighter. Like the Japanese man played by Ryo Kase in "Freedom Hill" who found his beloved woman, the director of "Right Now" has the courage to tell the heroine his heart, and the artist of "You and You" Yingxiu is not loyal. 2. Thinking of the heroine, compared to the cowardly professor in "Hae Won Who Is Not Anyone's Daughter" before, who dared not admit the love between teachers and students, these new Hong film heroes are simply brave.
There is no real male protagonist in "Independence", and Young Hee, played by Kim Min Hee, runs through the entire film. In her dream at the end of the film, the director played by Moon Sung-geun appears, which can be seen as the reflection of Hong Shangxiu himself in the film and the hidden hero of the film. In the film, the director took advantage of the wine and made a very bold confession, talking about the troubles of extramarital affairs, as if "there is a monster in my heart, I want to break free... I have been regretting it all the time, and I am about to suffocate...", this resounding The declaration of love came so violently that the embarrassment of the audience almost overflowed the screen, and only Young-hee, who was opposite the director, smiled in relief.
Either a certain truth is exposed, or a character breaks out with a "sudden self". The embarrassment that often occurs in Hong's films is nothing more than these two. The untiring charm of Hong's films lies in this embarrassment: for example, the emperor is wearing new clothes and is pierced by innocent children, the emperor is embarrassed, and the onlookers are all embarrassed. This dramatic moment is magnified, shrunk, and transformed by Hong Sang-soo in every one of his films. People who are bound by the rules of human relationship are obviously easier to survive with a mask. Once they put down their disguise and be honest, they will inevitably stand on the spot with a glass of wine, neither laughing nor crying.
At the end of the film, the director read a passage from Chekhov's novel "About Love": "It was only then that I realized how unnecessary everything that prevents us from loving each other is." Although this bold and unusual confession came from a man's mouth, it came from a woman's dream. Hong Sang-soo continues to play tricks with the unreal, but we find that the men in his films are growing up - although they are still inferior to women, but it is understandable, after all, the future of men is women.
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