Nobody's Daughter Haewon

From the opening titles of Nobody's Daughter Haewon, it's very clear that this is a Hong Sang-soo film and you know you're in for plenty of drinking, awkward social interactions and whimsical humor.

It's very hard to put into words the experience of watching this film because it is unlike anything I've ever seen. It is very much a dialogue-driven film, there are only a few settings, scenes are quite long, the camera is often still and there are zero close-ups. All of these elements made it one of the most engrossing and emotionally involving films I've seen.

The performances in this film are brilliant. Jung Eun-chae plays Haewon, a young woman whose mother recently left for Canada and is coping with being alone and becoming an adult. She's a character you may think you have all figured out at first but ends up being mysterious and fascinating. There are many layers to her and this film very much feels like a peep inside her complicated mind. Professor Lee (played by the charming Lee Sun-kyun) is an unhappily married man who falls in love with Haewon. Jung & Lee have fantastic chemistry, their scenes together are easily the highlights of the film. These scenes not only make you care deeply about the duo, but are also rich in subtext. Are they truly in love? Do they know what they're looking for?

The dialogue comes off as improvised because of how natural the interactions are but is actually very intricate. The film is not only about Haewon's relationship with Professor Lee, it is about Haewon figuring out who she is as an individual and what she wants in life. Her interactions with various characters may seem insignificant but adds a lot to the film and her character.

The film has a dream vs reality aspect. It blurs the lines between the two. Bizarre events that happen are hinted at as being Haewon's dreams, while others could be interpreted as memories or actual events that are happening. But in the end, does it matter?

I honestly did not expect the film to be so emotionally affecting and genuinely heartwarming. The film takes viewers through a range of emotions and the incredible ending is deeply moving and bittersweet. It is without a doubt one of the best South Korean films I have seen and will continue to stay with me.

Jung Eun chae has recently stood out in her understated, emotionally powerful performance in Pachinko. Other roles she has had since this 2013 performance, including The King, haven't allowed much room for her to demonstrate her emotional range as an actor.

Haewon is deftly portrayed by Jung as a young woman struggling to understand and become herself in a culture where women are considered objects of beauty and passion, but often no more. Jung masterfully shows just how vulnerable women are to men's predictable tactics for drawing women into relationships that may be self-serving on the men's part. Her former lover/director Lee treats her to a toxic mixture of verbal abuse, erotic and emotional manipulation, and nostalgia, all because he's incapable of resolving his own misery. He's in the relationship for mostly selfish reasons and shows little to no regard for her as a person.

Haewon struggles with the consequences of her beauty, which include unwanted interest from too many men. She has trouble disabusing some men of their folly because, like so many women, she has been socialized to aspire to being desired by others--not so much to conquer others so much as to be validated in her "true" femininity. Women are brainwashed to feel they should WANT to be objects of desire.

Haewon is no fool, however. She fights back at director Lee, whose misery causes him to twist the facts of their breakup. At the same time that Haewon understands the power of her allure, she is still unable to resist the flattering attentions of men, to the point that she would entertain the fantasy of moving to the United States to be with an older man (played by director Hong) whom she has met just in passing.

Haewon remains vulnerable to the manipulative mind games women must contend with in order to acknowledge self-worth that is not grounded in men's appreciation of them. The opening scenes depicting her farewell to her mother set the stage for appreciating a young woman who is a bit of a dreamer and how left on her own to navigate her future.

Why else call my review anything else when the only reason I've written one is to dissuade you from reading the other? Haewon does not simply "go all the way" with an abundance of people. We know of literally two people in her life that she has had sex with - both of them she said she cared deeply for. They happened in approximation to each other because she was vulnerable.

This film - Nobody's Daughter Haewon - is about that; a vulnerable woman. She is strong in ways - apparently more thoughtful and compassionate than her classmates despite their bitterness toward her - yet the world depletes her. Unlike the other main characters in the film, or more specifically the men in her life, she has no vice. She reads sometimes, but rarely drinks (only does so when very upset or very happy, so it happens twice in the movie) and never smokes (unlike her Professor, Director Lee who is essentially a chain smoker).

What we see is her strength, her clean way of living and delicate countenance moving through a world that only wants to pull at her. People want to sleep with her, but she's looking for more intimate connections - maybe even just a person to talk to. Yeah she sleeps with people after they wear her down enough, talk to her sweetly enough, and tell her they love her, but how many women can honestly not relate to that? That's kind of how the world works. At least it has in Hong Sang-soo's films up to this point; a filmmaker I consider to be the most real in depicting contemporary relationships. This just happens to be told from the perspective of a woman, and not some solipsistic male.

Emotions can be a tricky thing. And this movie is a prime example of that. Even more incredible if you consider the fact, with how little passion it is displayed, I guess to counter balance it. Obviously this will not have everyone yearning for it and will rightfully displease people too. It's hard to say, that you will be emotionally invested in the main character.

I actually think most will not. But that is another paradox of the movie, which makes it even more compelling to watch. The narrative wasn't that linear either and there is quite a lot of room for speculation or at least interpretation. You'll either like that or hate it of course. But you can't deny the movie having a strong core performance.

The two very different view points (up to this point) of the movie, that can be read here in the review section are testament to the fact, that the movie creates something that viewers react to (no matter their feelings about it).

I got about 15-20 minutes into it before turning it off. The acting was truly terrible, and the whole thing was really off-putting. It's like they grabbed a somewhat-attractive young lady off the street and told her to act. Also the whole thing about how she should try out for Miss Korea ( random dialogue, not important to the plot )? Koreans would say she's far too fat, so nobody would ever say this to her in reality. This movie tried way too hard and failed really hard, and it could have been really good if not for the horrible acting. It completely failed to interest me despite the other reviews and the plot ( which I saw NONE of in that entire time ). I will definitely never try to watch this again, nor will I recommend this to any of my friends. Hell, I won't even recommend this to strangers either. Nobody should have to sit through a movie as contrived and boring as this one.