The Day He Arrives

Joon-Sang Yoo arrives in Seoul. He has directed four movies, but they weren't popular. Now he teaches in a country school. He's in town to meet with an old friend, Sang-Jung Kim. They go to a bar, have a bit of a chat, meet with the owner who rushes n to apologize for not being there. Then the day starts to repeat, with variations.

At first I thought it was just a variation on GROUNDHOG DAY, but as time went on, I realized that it was the portrait of a man who had given up, and had become unmoored from reality. He keeps trying to get the day right, like the director he used to be -- one character, on learning he used to direct, asks "What's it like to not direct?" -- but whatever he does, no matter what he accomplishes, he finds at the end that he is where he was at the beginning, repeating the day with variations that have no effect on his fellow characters. If they had not known him when he was a director, they have no memory of him, and only the vaguest of effects on their lives.

It's creepy and sad and simply told, in elegant black and white photography. The writer/director, Sang-soo Hong is called by some "The Woody Allen of Korea." Martin Scorsese says of his movies that "everything kind of starts unassumingly - but then things unpeel like an orange". This movie fits that description. I'll keep an eye out for more of his movies.

OK, so I get that this is a foreign film, and I get that I'm supposed to be super-sensitive to cultural differences. But, and a huge BUT here, I was bored beyond tears with this one.

I'm regretfully placed in an awkward position to witness the characters stutter their way through their seemingly contrived scripts, from the tedious profile angles that the director seems to prefer. I was witness to over the top and quite frankly, ridiculous responses to otherwise benign dialogue contrivances.

I really, really tried to give this flick a chance, but I just couldn't get into it. I'm no stranger to foreign films, and watch and enjoy a number of them. This one, however, bored the living fecal matter out of me.

The fine line between art and nonsense has been crossed in this movie. In terms of script it is on the level of an average TV drama. However, even a viewer with basic knowledge of cinema would notice awkward framing. Endless shots with flood of dialogue show authors ambition to portrait authentic situations from everyday life. But when in one of them the camera guided by an unapt hand first swings and then zooms in without any connection to the scene, i lost the sympathy for this movie.

The main character is somewhat lovable and obviously in some kind of introspective dwelling (writer's block, mid-life crisis or simply boredom). The most interesting moments are when he meets other people and the way they react to him, since he is a famous author.

Watch only if you're a movie buff.

I'm a big fan of South Korean cinema, particularly their action thrillers, their horror films, and the art-house movies of Kim Ki-Duk, a guy who's quickly becoming one of my favourite directors. Unfortunately THE DAY HE ARRIVES is a low budget, black-and-white, arty production shot on the streets of Seoul with very little story to propel it along.

The narrative seems to involve a down-on-his-luck former director who revisits some of his old friends in the city during a long weekend. Many of the events that transpire are repetitive, with lots of piano playing, drunkenness, and visits to various restaurants and bars, but there's not really much point to this and zero explanation. There's no discernible beginning, middle or end, either. It feels like the work of a first-time director just finding his feet and asking the viewer to endure with him.

THE DAY HE ARRIVES contains lots of endless ad-libbed scenes with static camera-work. The performances are the only good thing about this; the rest of it is a bore. I was thinking this might be some GROUNDHOG DAY time loop style movie but it's far more subtle and obtuse than that, and by the time it finishes the only thing you can do is scratch your head and move on to the next movie.

"The Day He Arrives" is a South Korean film directed by Hong Sang-soo. Beautifully shot in black and white (Shouldn't EVERY film set in winter be shot in black and white?) this film is funny, sad, touching and just a bit insane. Hopping back and forth in time and alternate universes, you see the protagonist, a "well-known filmmaker" who hasn't done anything for a while, interact with old flames and new friends upon his arrival in Seoul. You will see these interactions from different perspectives, with different outcomes, but with the same people as different characters. Confusing? Not as much as my poor description would lead you to believe. Beneath all the trappings of comedy is the story of an artist who no longer creates art, and of a human being trying to rebuild burnt bridges. A small, short, but worthwhile trip to Korean Cinema.

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