[Brightness of each other at this meeting] ——Watching "Right Now, Wrong Then
"
and turning back to this July's note: I learned about Hong Sangxiu's new film "Right Now, Wrong Then / 2015" ) has been filmed, and there is a little joy in plain sight. The rhythm of this film is really worth the love. Hurry up to finish the get off work at hand, and hurry up to wait until the evening to get off work, but it turned out that the anticipation was early and it has not been released yet. Leave a mark, I hope there are not too many spaces, and I sink into the Hong family's familiar tavern and small emotions and conversations earlier, leaving a dull, harmless but painful relationship.
——These are the marks left by summer.
[01/Note 1] A
chance encounter in a corner of the temple. The girls were gentle and quiet, and the middle-aged men hurried to strike up a conversation and asked to go to a nearby cafe with them. The film opens with a few words to explain their identities: the man Xian Chunzhu is a director and came to Suwon one day earlier because of the wrong time; the girl Yin Xijing is a painter and used to be a model. This is a movie supported by two characters. For the convenience of narration, the following are collectively referred to as men and women. There is no other meaning, but the difference in age.
A man has a void all day, what does he need to do to fill it? Pretty much. He was wearing a postal green padded jacket, and his appearance was neither glamorous nor down-to-earth. From the surprised state of the girl, I know that he is famous.
Originally a stranger, there is really nothing to talk about. It happened that the girl was talking about being sensitive, so the man bragged about the girl's "sensitivity", like grabbing a straw that kept him out of the awkward cold scene.
The girl behaved decently, and the man followed closely and went to the girl's studio. She colorized, very pure orange, outline two strokes, seems to be a modernist decorative sketch. The man continued to brag, but she was not very helpful. The man then made an appointment for dinner, which was a bit inseparable. After drinking a few glasses of wine, the man is a little arrogant, and the life of the woman is full. It is no wonder that people often say that wine is a good thing...
Wine is sad, and the girl talks about her depression of not having friends. When he went out to smoke, she suddenly remembered that she had another date and invited him to go with him. He was happy to accompany her, and the two changed.
At the "Poet and Farmer" cafe, he talked about girls' paintings again, and he said quite philosophically: because he didn't know, he could know more. Hehe, it's a dialectic that is universally applicable.
He then cooperated with his gestures and began to explain "that way of working": the road that is difficult to walk when you really don't meet the right person, the kind that is really sensitive, and really has to be brave to the end. The girls seemed to be in the right seat, but a cheerful elder sister pointed out: This seems to be the same as the director's comment on the work, and it is almost the same as what he said now. Hearty as dismantling. Does the director at the moment feel some kind of embarrassment? I don't think so. If it is said that he saw his own shadow in the girl, I think it is a bit hypocritical.
Then another eldest sister chatted about the gossip news about the director at the right time, like a relief at the right time. He can only confess that he got married at the age of 23. The girl didn't say anything, but she was "wandering" for a moment. He said that at that time the state was very bad, and the heart was very desolate. He rubbed his chest as he spoke to compensate for the tension that words could not create. At this time, the camera slowly focused, as if elegantly pulling away the chattering chatter on both sides, and pushing towards the girl in the middle. In the contrast and attention formed by the camera, she looked lonely. The girl shied away from drinking too much and left to go to another room.
The girl was lying on the desk, and the man came to greet her. She told him to go first. He wanted to leave and stayed, and said sorry.
Let's get together and relax. In the middle of the night, the girl walked alone on the path home, uphill, she walked very slowly. The camera pans to a Buddha statue glowing warmly in the night, which may or may not be the temple next door where they met.
The next day's film symposium seemed to be not speculative with the host. As the director, he was serious and stern, completely different from the previous flattery. Life has nothing to do with those languages. The power of language...that's hilarious, what's the big deal to seek this out?
The director didn't explain his previous feelings, and he didn't know if it had anything to do with the failure to pick up a conversation before. He seemed a little nervous.
At the same time, some neurotic music played, and the first half ended at 55 minutes.
[02/Note 2]
At the beginning of the second half, I almost thought it was replayed, except for a few scenes that were slightly wrong, the progress seemed to be faster. There are some asymmetries in the repetition, which remind one of the childhood game of "finding the difference". Well, start all over again.
It's still the temple, the postal green padded jacket, and the man takes a nap while basking in the sun. The music sounded, and the girl was already in the scene, still drinking banana milk and wearing the paint-stained coat.
The story behind is still a coffee appointment. He diligently helps girls carry plastic bags, and when he arrives at the cafe, he still starts with "sensitivity".
The second time is like an emphasis, but sensitivity is not their common trait. As an art worker, men are really not very sensitive, and sometimes they are very dull. The appearance has been aging, and there is still a little village-like hairy young man in his heart. In addition, there is no skill at all in chatting with girls, and it is all reckless to help lift your breath. Maybe out of true temperament? When he said we looked alike, he laughed and thought how old is this? Maybe he is real, doesn't understand, doesn't know, and is pure in heart.
It was the same studio. The girl called back the fruit green, which was also extremely pure. This time, the camera did not take into account her work, and he became more and more eloquent. This time the girl dominates the relationship between the two. Girls are half self-effacing and half perfunctory. Of course, the over-interpretation of men's wild and unconstrained style comes from their over-favorite feelings for girls. There is no doubt about this, but it is better to first look at the object of Acura, or make sure that the other party can accept it. When he said, it's like there are many wounds, sometimes it's more comfortable to have wounds... The girl was a little annoyed, like reprimanding an ignorant child.
At this time, it can be seen that his usual way of escaping the predicament is to go out and smoke, which is also simple and easy. On the rooftop, the man continued chattering, unaffected by the unhappiness just now. The two were tacit, pretending that nothing had happened.
In the tavern at night, perhaps because of subjective feelings, they were a little like old friends reunited. We had a good conversation, but only made waves. The man then confessed: I seem to have fallen in love with you... This time he confessed first, saying that he doesn't seem to be able to get married. Thinking of not being able to meet again tomorrow, he couldn't control himself and burst into tears.
The man cried for a long time, intermittently interpreting the plot that he played and was about to lead to a climax, the girl just smiled and nodded. The man does not need to respond and encourage at this time, he is immersed in the sudden ability and feeling of love, unable to extricate himself. Maybe he has a lot of hidden desires and dissatisfaction, or after years of life that is not salty and indifferent, he is a little tired, and the love that has been dormant for many years suddenly wakes up at this moment. In this process, it is better to say that he was moved by himself rather than true love.
However, what about Zuo Yi's confession of tears, is it possible for him to start all over again?
As far as this performance is concerned, Zheng Zaiyong, the male protagonist, accurately shows the ambivalence of being depressed, wanting to get close and trapped in his own siege, and unwilling to let go. , The state of twisting and twisting is remarkable. Can't say it's not true, just can't make me feel it.
It was the same cafe where the girls were not there at all. Without this restraint, the man can do his best: first, he pretends to be drunk and is complacent about his inexperienced acting skills; then, without warning, he undresses and undresses the two elder sisters who meet for the first time. What is he venting? By doing everything you can, you are just making yourself ugly, what kind of purpose is this? After that, the man came to the girl's room, and this time he offered to leave.
On the streets of winter, the two walked huddled together. The girl's mother called. She heard the director's anecdote and was very worried about her daughter, but the girl actually admired the "things done by madmen". She laughed, and he suddenly became a special person in her eyes. The mood of the two of them is like very young children. She kissed his face, and the bright color of the film passed by in a flash.
The next day at the film symposium, this time there was no turmoil of unknown origin, and the director was kind. In the light snow, the girl came to watch the movie. Perhaps because of the favor of the man, she was much more cheerful, and there was a sparkle in her eyes. She watched his films intently and said: Director, I want to watch all your films.
It doesn't look like a casual talk, more like a promise. This is to accept his existence, is it about to start a new journey? The open ending preserves all possibilities, and their tomorrow is almost clear, almost.
The movie ended, and she was walking on the road full of snow. Reminds me of the verse in Bai Juyi's "Ask Liu Nineteen": The sky wants to snow in the evening, can I have a drink? There was a warm current in my heart.
[03/The so-called repetition]
The movie ends, and there is not much spoiler for the minimalist plot.
The process of narration is also the viewer's sorting out and placing his "position". In terms of movie viewing experience or heart, "Right Now, Wrong Then" is not exceptionally high-quality, and if it is placed in Hong's "movie system", it is not particularly superb. In short, it is not very good. Fragmented narratives, multi-line narratives, or nested structures are not unique to Hung, but he has been working on them for many years, using practice makes perfect, and there are often surprises brought about by changes.
Men know what they want. For example, for passionate female fans, he is resolute not to touch them for fear of getting into trouble. Another example is when a girl hears about his embarrassment in front of her friends, the first thought of a man is that they will not accuse him. Bar? For married men, girls represent temptation, desire, and a different life than before. For girls in single-parent families, she gets attention, appreciation, and other things from men that she has never had before. The world, can be considered to take whatever it takes.
The heroine is chatting in the cafe: I just think about a peaceful life without thinking about anything, I can feel that I am alive and confirm every day, over and over again, that's fine. I feel that she has experienced some storms, at least not as simple as she seems, she should be a female classmate with a story. At the time, I felt that the film would slide down like this, like this, or at least stay in the trough for a while. But the director just feinted.
Hong Shangxiu is almost paranoid about repetition, not only the subject matter, role identity, but also some details, such as smoking, drinking, talking about love and other basic bridges. He mixes different sources of information, dismantling, evolving, advancing or deepening over and over again, a bit like the smudge in Chinese painting, a subtle impression that deepens repeatedly. Does he "remember something that happened to me a long time ago, some situation, some predicament or lost memory", passing over the improvised and contingent parts? Or is he looking for a kind of inner neatness?
The standard and foundation are there, and there is no need to surpass it, or for Hong's films, there is no such thought at all. I can't help but contact the surrounding, the new films of domestic directors will be clamoring in the streets for several years, and it has surpassed the past. It means a long stream of water.
When the story repeats, what stays the same is change, just like the only thing that stays the same in this world is change. Regarding repetition, I also want to quote an interview with him: I don't seek new elements in every film, I don't feel the need for them, it's important how to deal with the same elements. The dilemmas and problems of life that interest me have changed very little...
I find this passage sincere and certainly not self-justifying. Just like if there is any flaw in your character, what kind of predicament you will face, and you always fall down in a relatively specific area or link, and then get up again.
There are no overwhelmed plots in Hong's films, no many years of grievances, and no great harm to anyone. I admire him for not using "big words". While chatting here, I remembered listening to an audio program recently. The host kept throwing out one after another "huge", as if it couldn't make a sentence, and the listeners were numb after being too tired to deal with it. It was so much bigger that I realized it wasn't worth anything.
In the scene of almost one day and midnight, there is almost no idle writing in the two-paragraph narrative, so the Buddha statue in the night and the sound of the bell in the distance are particularly beautiful. Hong Shangxiu has a kind of literary feeling in his bones, which I think is very cute, such as the "Poet and Farmer" cafe in this film, and another example in the previous "Hill of Freedom" (Hill of Freedom / 2014) called "Time" The novel, a dog named "Dream", is both simple and poetic, and corresponds to the peaceful and usually unremarkable life of you and me.
When the plot is no longer the only magic weapon for attracting viewers, it may only care about the director or the unique taste of the film, such as the lightness of the wind, the lightness of the wind, the taste of a glass of sake.
[04/Out of place anomalies]
At the 68th Locarno International Film Festival (Locarno International Film Festival) in 2015, "Right Now, Wrong Then/2015" won the international competition unit The highest award, the Golden Leopard, was awarded to the actor Zheng Zaiyong for the Best Actor Award, which is quite rewarding.
At this time, I just read "Repetition and Difference - Hong Sang-soo's Self-evaluation "This Time is Right Then Then Wrong" (Text: Roger Koza; Interview: Julien Gester; Paladock Sri Lankan translation), can be used as a guide for watching
movies: the narrative strength of Hong’s films is based on delaying and stretching time, and the behavioral characteristics of the characters are reinforced by delayed actions and modified by the dialogue between the characters. We find that all Hung's works are the same copy, the same grammatical pattern. An hour in "Right Then Wrong" was re-enacted, like a movie remake in a movie. The reappearance of movie scenes in the same order, creating differences in repetition, is so common in Hong's films that we can't explain why and it's largely accidental. The emotional development of the characters and, in some cases, the plot development, add up, and small changes will lead to big changes. Uncertainty of any relationship or state is a prerequisite for repeating and duplicating the game. (…) It’s not a bad thing to live in the “Right Then Wrong” scene. It's a peaceful and beautiful movie, and it's a rare movie.
There is a saying, as the French director Jean Renoir said: A director only makes one film in his life, and then he breaks it down and reshapes it. (A Director Makes Only One Movie in His Life. Then He Breaks It Into Pieces and Makes It Again.)
In this team, French director Francois Truffaut, French director Eric Rohmer, young Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul ), etc., holding the banner of "Le cinema d'auteur", as well as concrete practitioners such as American director Woody Allen, Sang-soo Hong is also among them, and he Often referred to as the Rohmer of Korea, or Woody Allen.
Hong Sang-soo is an anomaly in Korean movies, and he himself is out of tune with the industrialization of film and the production of the commercial assembly line. Some commented that he "raised the value of Korean cinema in his unique form of arrogance". He insists on his own style and theme, and realizes his existence with one low-cost literary film after another. Not only does he struggle to maintain the rhythm of one film a year, but at this constant speed, he can still maintain a deep appreciation for the film itself. His sincerity and enthusiasm are like the respectful work of a lonely writer. If you don't cater, it doesn't matter if you refuse or insist, it's the original rhythm of life, the original appearance of men and women. At the same time, a tribute to those who stubbornly remain out of place around us, which I think is what remains of us.
If you love something and give it enough effort and sincerity, maybe you can go farther and meet more beautiful scenery. After watching many of his films, I feel that he has been calmly looking for the way, hoping that he will find a rougher texture and a vital inner core.
[05/Irrelevant to right or wrong]
A few days ago, Old Z invited me to watch a movie at his house. He was not very keen on this type of "literary + boring film" at first, but in recent years, under my strong instigation, he occasionally got involved, and the starting point was quite high, which gave me a special sense of accomplishment. For this film, I didn't pay full attention to it, there were a few paragraphs even a little distracted. I also said that with such a high-end subwoofer sound, it would be a pity to watch only Hong Sangxiu's film. He looked more energetic than me, with novelty and sincere admiration. Maybe with movies like this, I've become stingy.
The second time I watched this movie, it was in the office at noon a few days later, and I didn't turn on the speakers. Many times it was like a silent movie, and nothing was delayed. I don't know when it started, and the fine snow was falling outside the window... The
film critic Nicholas Elliott said: The comparison in "Right Then Wrong" is provocative: it leads us to Getting lost in an abyss of possibility, in its own way, makes us realize that we are in the audience watching every nuanced distinction in film. It's a very interesting arrangement for a film that explores sincerity. (Cinema Manual, Issue 714)
Can sincerity exist, perhaps only for a moment? But the true feelings of men and women in the film do not necessarily happen at the same time. They are two different small worlds, with their own growth marks, and their own trajectories in the future. The fusion and collision between them are especially limited. Even if they meet by chance at a certain moment, they will inevitably separate. In the interview, Hong Sang-soo drew a picture to explain: The two circles in the picture represent two separate worlds. If you believe that these two worlds exist at the same time, once you find the connection between them, the two worlds will disappear. Once we figure out the relationship between these two worlds, they come to an end. Fortunately, figuring out how they are related is not easy. If the world has infinite possibilities, all questions will be alive, like eternal echoes.
After walking the same street, return to two worlds. I think of "Accidental" (1926) written by Xu Zhimo, who was also in a situation where he couldn't move forward and was unwilling to stop:
I am a cloud in the sky,
occasionally projected in your heart -
you don't need to be surprised,
let alone rejoice ——The
trace disappeared in an instant.
You and I meet on the sea of darkness,
you have yours, I have mine, the direction;
you can remember,
it is best that you forget,
the light that shines on each other at this meeting!
In Hong Sang-soo's films, nothing is indestructible. It comes from chance and can be attributed to chance, even if something happens in between. Chance encounters, sometimes not randomly drawn, if you're looking for similar people. It's just that after meeting by chance and spending a short time together, it's neither better nor worse, but something is different, and the look in the eyes at that moment may lead to nothingness, maybe hope. The director described a deja vu beginning and a possible ending for us, and it really doesn't matter whether this time is right or wrong, or so close and so far.
【2015-11-25】
"Right Now, Wrong Then" (2015)
Director: Hong Sang Soo
Screenwriter: Hong Sang Soo
Starring: Jung Jae Young, Kim Min Hee, Yoon Yoo Jung
Genre: Drama
Country/Region: Korean
Language: Korean
Release Date: 2015-08-13 (Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland) / 2015-09-24 (South Korea) Duration
: 121 minutes
View more about Right Now, Wrong Then reviews
