Hong Sangsoo

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Hong Sangsoo (1960- )



I start with a very ordinary, banal situation,
and this situation usually has something in it that
makes me feel strongly. It's a stereotypical
feeling, but very strong. I have this desire to look
at it... Perhaps it's a blind feeling. I put it on the
table, and I look at it. I open up, and these pieces
surface. They are not related, they conflict with
each other. But I try to find a pattern that makes
all these pieces fit into one. That's what I do.

FILMOGRAPHY
(DVD editions in bold are recommended)

1996 - The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well / Dwaejiga umule ppajin nal R0K Dong-A (OOP?) | R0K Marvel (OOP)

1998 - The Power of Kangwon Province / Gangwon-do-ui him R0US Tai Seng | R0HK Attari (OOP) | R0K Spectrum (OOP) | R0K Spectrum (Remastered) (OOP?)

2000 - Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors / O! Sujeong R0US Tai Seng | R0HK Attari (OOP) | R0K Spectrum (OOP) | R0K Spectrum (Remastered) (OOP)

2002 - On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate / Turning Gate / Saenghwal-ui balgyeon R1US Tai Seng (OOP) | R1US YA | R0K iVision (OOP) DVD Beaver (R1 Tai Seng vs. R0)

2004 - Woman Is the Future of Man / Yeojaneun namja-ui miraeda R1US New Yorker (OOP) DVD Beaver | R0K Bear (OOP)

2005 - Tale of Cinema / Geukjangjeon R0K Woo Sung (OOP) DVD Beaver

2006 - Woman on the Beach / Haebyeon-ui yeoin R1US New Yorker (OOP) | R3K Bitwin (OOP) DVD Beaver (R1 vs. R3)

2008 - Night and Day / Bamgwa nat R1US Zeitgeist

2009 - Lost in the Mountains / Cheopcheop sanjung (short) R3K ART Service; Like You Know It All / Jal aljido mothamyeonseo R3K PRE.GM

2010 - Hahaha R0K UEK; Oki's Movie / Okhui-ui yeonghwa R3K DS Media (also BD)

2011 - The Day He Arrives / Bukchon banghyang R1US Cinema Guild | R3K DS Media (also BD); List / Liseuteu (short)

2012 - In Another Country / Dareun naraeseo R1US Kino | R3K DS Media

2013 - Nobody's Daughter Haewon / Nagu-ui ttaldo anin Haewon; Our Sunhee / Uri Seonhui; Venice 70: Future Reloaded segment "Hong Sang-soo"

2014 - Hill of Freedom / Jayuui Eondeok

2015 - Right Now, Wrong Then / Jigeumeun-matgo-geuttaeneun-teullida

2016 - Yourself and Yours / Dangsinjasingwa dangsinui geot

2017 - On the Beach at Night Alone / Bamui Haebyeoneseo Honja; Claire's Camera / La caméra de Claire; The Day After / Geu-hu

2018 - Grass / Pul-ip-deul; Hotel by the River / Gangbyeon hotel

2020 - The Woman Who Ran / Domangchin yeoja

(note: Korean DVDs seem to drift in and out of print at odd intervals -- I'll try to keep this list current, but no promises...)

FORUM DISCUSSIONS

Korean films on DVD
The Films of Hong Sang-soo
Woman Is the Future of Man & Tale of Cinema

ONLINE RESOURCES

On The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well:
Diffrient, David Scott, "Drift and duration in Hong Sang-soo's The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well" (Post Script, Summer 2008)

On The Power of Kangwon Province:
Deutelbaum, Marshall, "The Structure of Hong Sangsoo's The Power of Kangwon Province" (Reconstruction Vol. 8 No. 3, 2008)
Diffrient, David Scott, "South Korean Film Genres and Art-House Anti-Poetics: Erasure and Negation in The Power of Kangwon Province" (CineAction #60, 2003)
Grant, Andrew, "After the End of the Affair" (Like Anna Karina's Sweater, June 28th, 2004)
Raymond, Marc, "THE POWER OF KANGWON PROVINCE (Hong Sang-soo, 1998)" (Foreigner's Guide to Film Culture in Korea, April 22nd, 2008)

On Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors:
Darr, Brian, "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors: The Blog-a-Thon Directory" (Hell on Frisco Bay, March 21st, 2007) -- numerous links within, including a Q&A with Hong on the film
Raymond, Marc, "THE VIRGIN STRIPPED BARE BY HER BACHELORS (Hong Sang-soo, 2000)" (Foreigner's Guide to Film Culture in Korea, April 24th, 2008)

On Turning Gate:
Raymond, Marc, "TURNING GATE (Hong Sang-soo, 2002)" (Foreigner's Guide to Film Culture in Korea, July 8th, 2008)
Reichert, Jeff, "Face of a Nation: Turning Gate Meets Garden State" (Reverse Shot #12, Summer 2005)

On Woman Is the Future of Man:
Acquarello, "Where Are the Snows of Yesteryear?: Hong Sang-soo Searches for Lost Time in Woman Is the Future of Man" (Senses of Cinema, October-December 2004)
Atkinson, Michael, "Man's Favorite Sport" (The Village Voice, February 21st, 2006)
Grant, Andrew, "How Men Are" (Like Anna Karina's Sweater, September 27th, 2004)
Raymond, Marc, "WOMAN IS THE FUTURE OF MAN (Hong Sangsoo, 2004)" (Foreigner's Guide to Film Culture in Korea, May 27th, 2008)
Five "Film of the Month Club" pieces on WITFOM, by Marc Raymond and Peter Rinaldi -- #1, #2, #3, #4, #5
Official site from New Yorker Films -- includes press kit with director's statement, cast/crew remarks, etc.

On Tale of Cinema:
Mitsuda, Kristi, "Topsy Turvy" (Reverse Shot #14, Autumn 2005)
Raymond, Marc, "A TALE OF CINEMA (Hong Sang-soo, 2005)" (Foreigner's Guide to Film Culture in Korea, October 4th, 2008)
Sicinski, Michael, "Tale of Cinema" (Cinema Scope #25, Winter 2006)
Cannes listing, with interview and press conference footage

On Woman on the Beach:
Hoberman, J., "Sea Change" (The Village Voice, January 1st, 2008)
Im Bum, "Woman on the Beach: A Gentler, More Brightly-Inflected Hong" (Korean Film Observatory #20, 2006)
Kasman, Daniel, "Now in theaters: Woman on the Beach" (The Auteurs' Notebook, January 9th, 2008)
Raymond, Marc, "WOMAN ON THE BEACH (Hong Sangsoo, 2006)" (Foreigner's Guide to Film Culture in Korea, May 21st, 2008)
Reichert, Jeff, "Cold Comfort" (Reverse Shot #21)
Rowin, Michael Joshua, "You've Got Male: Hong Sang-soo's Woman on the Beach" (indieWIRE, January 8th, 2008)
Official site from New Yorker Films (includes press kit with director's statement and Kevin Lee's interview)

On Night and Day:
Anderson, Michael J., "The 46th New York Film Festival: Night and Day" (Tativille, October 4th, 2008)
Gallagher, Cullen, "Night and Day" (Not Coming to a Theater Near You, October 27th, 2008)
Grant, Andrew, "Night and Day, You Are the One..." (Like Anna Karina's Sweater, April 4th, 2008)
Huh Moonyung, "Highlights of Hong Sangsoo's Directorial Style: Report on the Shooting of Hong Sangsoo's Night and Day" (Korean Film Observatory #25, 2008)
Kasman, Daniel, "Berlinale 2008: Night and Day" (The Auteurs' Notebook, February 26th, 2008)
Raymond, Marc, "Jeonju Film Festival III: Hong Sangsoo" (Foreigner's Guide to Film Culture in Korea, May 7th, 2008)
Rowin, Michael Joshua, "Man Eater" (Reverse Shot #23, October 4th, 2008)
Sallitt, Dan, "Bam gua nat (Night and Day)" (Thanks for the Use of the Hall, October 17th, 2008)

On Lost in the Mountains:
Raymond, Marc, [url=lhttp://cinephileforeignerinkorea.blogspot.com/2009/05/lost-in-mountains-hong-sang-soo-2009.html]"LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS (Hong Sang-soo, 2009)"[/url] (Foreigner's Guide to Film Culture in Korea, May 9th, 2009)

On Like You Know It All:
Jung Han-seok, "About the Ways of Yearning a New Life: Director HONG Sangsoo's Newest Film" (Korean Cinema Today #1, May-June 2009)
Kasman, Daniel, "Cannes 2009: The Quiet Smart Aleck" (The Auteurs' Notebook, May 17th, 2009)
Raymond, Marc, "LIKE YOU KNOW IT ALL (Hong Sang-soo, 2009)" (Foreigner's Guide to Film Culture in Korea, May 30th, 2009)
Directors' Fortnight listing, with press conference video (in English and Korean, with French voiceover -- Hong's English is still somewhat audible)

On Hahaha:
Kasman, Daniel, "Cannes 2010: Port of Comedy, Port of Romance" (The Auteurs' Notebook, May 26th, 2010)
Cannes listing, with downloadable press kit

On Oki's Movie:
Fuchs, Cynthia, "'Oki's Movie' at Maysles Cinema" (PopMatters, April 16th, 2012)
Lee Hyong-suk, "Difference and Repetition, the Eleventh Adventure of Hong Sangsoo" (Korean Cinema Today, August 10th, 2010)
Raymond, Marc, "In Review: OKI'S MOVIE (Hong Sang-soo, 2010)" (The One One Four, January 26th, 2011)
Tracy, Andrew, "Spotlight: Oki's Movie (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)" (Cinema Scope #44, Fall 2010)

Interviews:
Darr, Brian, "Hong Sang-soo at the SFIAAFF" (Hell on Frisco Bay, March 3rd, 2007)
Hartzell, Adam, "My Moments With Hong" (Koreanfilm.org, November 2002)
Huh Moonyung, "Interview With Hong Sangsoo: 'I Wanted to Produce a Diary Style Film'" (Korean Film Observatory #25, 2008)
Im Bum, "Interview With Director Hong Sang-soo" (Korean Film Observatory #20, 2006)
Lee Ji-Hye, "Hong Sang-soo's jolliness peaks in Hahaha" (Part 2) (10 Asia, April 26th, 2010)
Lee, Kevin B., "Boyfriends and Girlfriends: Hong Sang-soo on Woman on the Beach" (Cinema Scope #29, Winter 2007)
Paquet, Darcy, "Cannes 2004 report" (Koreanfilm.org, August 5th, 2004)
---, "Different Women, Same Desire: Woman on the Beach" (Korean Film Observatory #19, Autumn 2006)
Shin Ji Goo, "Filmmaker Hong Sang Soo Takes a Less Traveled Path" (Koreana Vol. 23 No. 1, Spring 2009)
"Symmetry, Morose and Drunk: Cannes Just Loves This Korean" (Digital Chosunilbo, May 12th, 2005)

Miscellaneous:
Hartzell, Adam, "Hong Sangsoo's Unsexy Sex" (The Film Journal #4, January 2003)
---, "Notes From the Hong Sang-soo Retrospective" (Koreanfilm.org, November 2002)
---, "Our Boundaries, Our Selves - The Films of Hong Sang-soo" (GreenCine, March 15th, 2007)
Hartzell, Adam and Darcy Paquet, "The Hong Sangsoo Page" (Koreanfilm.org) -- somewhat outdated, but a good collection of material
Hirschkron, Sky, "Let's Not Turn Into Monsters, Okay?: The Films of Hong Sang-soo" (Stylus Magazine, June 12th, 2006)
Hu, Brian, "Cinema is the future of man" (Asia Pacific Arts, February 23rd, 2006)
Paquet, Darcy, "Interviewing Hong Sangsoo" (Daum.net, March 14th, 2013)
Quandt, James, "Twice-told tales: James Quandt on the films of Hong Sang-soo" (Artforum Vol. XLV No. 10, Summer 2007)
Quintin, "The Decade in Review" (Cinema Scope, March 16th, 2010)
Stephens, Chuck, "Reunification Blues" (The Village Voice, October 28th, 2003)
Stults, Chris, "Delays in Celluloid" (Koreanfilm.org, August 25th, 2006)

PRINT RESOURCES

Burgeson, J. Scott, "Hong Sang-soo" [interview], in Korea Bug: The Best of the Zine That Infected a Nation (EunHaeng NaMu, 2005)
Chung, Hye Seung and David Scott Diffrient, "Forgetting to Remember, Remembering to Forget: The Politics of Memory and Modernity in the Fractured Films of Lee Chang-dong and Hong Sang-soo," in Seoul Searching: Culture and Identity in Contemporary Korean Cinema (SUNY Press, 2007)
Deutelbaum, Marshall, "The Deceptive Design of Hong Sangsoo's Virgin Stipped Bare by Her Bachelors," in New Review of Film and Television Studies Vol. 3 No. 2 (November 2005)
--, "The Pragmatic Poetics of Hong Sangsoo's The Day a Pig Fell into a Well," in Puzzle Films: Complex Storytelling in Contemporary Cinema (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009)
Foundas, Scott, "Woman Is the Future of Man," in Cinema Scope #19 (Summer 2004)
Huh Moonyung, Korean Film Directors: Hong Sangsoo (Seoul Selection, 2007)
Kim, Kyung Hyun, "Too Early/Too Late: Temporality and Repetition in Hong Sang-su's Films," in The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema (Duke University Press, 2004)
---, "The Awkward Traveller in Turning Gate," in New Korean Cinema (NYU Press/Edinburgh University Press, 2005)
---, "Turning Gate," in Film Quarterly Vol. 57 No. 4 (Summer 2004)
Kuehner, Jay, "Night and Day," in Cinema Scope #37 (Winter 2009)
Kwak, Han Ju, "A Smiling Skepticism: An Interview With Film Director Hong Sang-su," in Korean Culture Vol. 23 No. 2 (Summer 2002)
Lau, Jenny Kwok Wah, "The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996): Deconstructing 'Korean' Modernity," in Multiple Modernities: Cinemas and Popular Media in Transcultural East Asia (Temple University Press, 2003)
Lippit, Akira Mizuta, "Hong Sangsoo's Lines of Inquiry, Communication, Defense, and Escape," in Film Quarterly Vol. 57 No. 4 (Summer 2004)
Miranda, Luis, "Hong Sang-soo: Tropezar dos veces en la mismapiedra (Hong Sang-soo: Tripping Over the Same Stone)", in Nosferatu #55-56 (June 2007)
Stephens, Chuck, "Future Shock: Hong Sang-soo's Lady in Red," in Film Comment Vol. 40 No. 6 (November/December 2004)
---, "Reunification Theories: Hong Sang-soo Cuts Both Ways," in Cinema Scope #12 (Fall 2002)

[foggy eyes]

Thanks for such an amazingly thorough post, FN - I'm planning on reading more about Hong over the next few months, so this resource will prove invaluable. A quick question: excluding the essays in the excellent Huh Moonyung book (which I have), what's the best article on Hong's style out there - Kyung Hyun Kim's Too Early/Too Late: Temporality and Repetition in Hong Sang-su's Films, perhaps?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

"Too Early/Too Late" probably isn't a good place to turn -- you can read bits and pieces of it at Google Books to see if it still holds any interest for you, though. (Note that this is true of most of the other books on the list.) The Diffrient piece from CineAction (which I've just found online, in full and at no cost) has some aspects of a stylistic analysis amidst the dense post-structuralist (I think) thicket, but it's more broad-reaching than that; ditto for the more approachable Film Quarterly article. I admit I haven't read "The Deceptive Design of Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors", but if the other Deutelbaum piece is anything to go by, it's probably not what you're looking for. This basic piece, which I didn't include in my original post, briefly looks at Hong's style in relation to the (debatable) "pan-Asian style."

[foggy eyes]

Thanks again. I'm not buying the whole 'pan-Asian minimalism' thing: as soon as one starts to take a closer look at the films, the one-size-fits-all index becomes something of a hindrance (no need for analysis to have to circle back to it). I've just printed out the FQ article - it looks like a good place to start - and will move on to the CineAction! piece afterwards. Also, if you haven't read it, there's a brief analysis of Hong's staging in Virgin in the introduction of Bordwell's Figures Traced in Light.

[fiddlesticks]

Hong's first three features were released together in a nice region-free (despite what Amazon says) 3-disc box set by Spectrum, but I'm not sure it is still in print. Facetshas a similar box available for purchase on their website; whether it is the same I'm not sure.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

The boxset is long out of print, but I'm not surprised Facets still has it, given what they're asking for it. The two Spectrum titles in the box (Kangwon and Virgin) are identical to the standalone remastered editions, although I'm not sure if the standalone versions are region-free (seems logical enough, but I have no confirmation); The Day a Pig Fell Into a Well was licensed from another distributor and wasn't remastered -- as far as I can tell there's only one DVD version of that film out there, it's just been reissued by different companies.

And big thanks to Marshall Deutelbaum for tipping me off to a few other articles: two from Korean Film Observatory #25 (I found some other pieces in issue 19) and a dual-language article from the Spanish magazine Nosferatu (which is a great title, BTW). He also adds that his piece on Virgin Stripped Bare will be appearing next year in a compilation of writings on "puzzle films," a great idea for a collection if I've ever heard one.

[foggy eyes]

The two Spectrum titles in the box (Kangwon and Virgin) are identical to the standalone remastered editions, although I'm not sure if the standalone versions are region-free (seems logical enough, but I have no confirmation)

I have the standalone Kangwon, and it states R3 on the back.

Marshall Deutelbaum also adds that his piece on Virgin Stripped Bare will be appearing next year in a compilation of writings on "puzzle films," a great idea for a collection if I've ever heard one.

Or, perhaps not so great when you realise that this is in it:

"Revitalizing the Thriller Genre: Lou Ye's Suzhou River and Purple Butterfly": Yunda Eddie Feng

Seriously.

[academyleader]

According to KOFIC Film News no. 951 dated 25 November 2008, Hong Sangsoo has finished filming a digital short film entitled Cheobcheobsanjoong (English translation: Deep in the mountains) for screening next April at the 10th Jeonju International Film Festival.

http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/KOFIC/Chann ... l_SNO=1146" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Michael Kerpan]

Has anyone seen any news about the availability of HSS's "French" film on DVD? (Of course, it has never shown up on screen here in Boston).

[foggy eyes]

An addition for the bibliography: Quandt, James, "Twice-Told Tales" in ArtForum XLV.10 (Summer 2007), p. 469-473.

I'd also like to know when the great Night & Day emerges on DVD - it's quintessential Hong, but for once the comparison to Rohmer seems wholly appropriate.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Updated to add the short film to the filmography, along with the Artforum article (which is available online, albeit without the illustrations) and a few pieces on Night and Day (the latest Cinema Scope also has an article on it, which I haven't had the opportunity to read). Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

And from the comments section of Filmbrain's website comes the exciting (but unconfirmed) news that Night and Day has been picked up by IFC, along with the less-exciting news that it'll be dumped straight to DVD/VOD. I couldn't find anything official, though. If true, it's entirely possible the U.S. DVD will be out before a Korean edition -- some films go years without a DVD release (Host and Guest just came out, two years after its theatrical run), and the domestic theatrical distributor has no video arm of their own.

Finally, in case anyone missed it, Gary has just put up a comparison of the R3 and R1 Woman on the Beach. I'm reluctant to "recommend" the NYer until I have it in hand, but a progressive transfer alone is a big step up -- the Bitwin is unwatchable on my LCD.

[foggy eyes]

Updated to add the short film to the filmography, along with the Artforum article (which is available online, albeit without the illustrations) and a few pieces on Night and Day (the latest Cinema Scope also has an article on it, which I haven't had the opportunity to read).

Just got the new issue in the post. Reference: Kuehner, Jay, "Night and Day" in Cinema Scope 37 (Winter 2009), p. 50-51.

Excellent review, although I thought it was odd that Kuehner observes the following without explicitly referring to Rohmer: 'Night and Day is structured like a diary, the calendar days mercilessly measuring hope and frustration as if they were no more than weather patterns.'

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Just noticed this over on The Auteurs: IFC have confirmed that Night and Day will be coming via their "Festival Direct" line. No timeframe is given beyond "2009."

[academyleader]

According to Screen Daily, Hong's digital short film to be screened during this year's Jeonju International Film Festival is now titled "Disappointment".

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Hmm...the JIFF has an entry (posted two months after that Screen Daily article) giving the title as Lost in the Mountains. They also provide a synopsis of it and the two other films in the series. I'll leave the title as is until the date of festival draws closer and things firm up more.

Also, I added a link to a piece on The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well. I may have added something else but I can't remember what it was :(

[Lemmy Caution]

Hong's first three features were released together in a nice region-free (despite what Amazon says) 3-disc box set by Spectrum, but I'm not sure it is still in print. Facetshas a similar box available for purchase on their website; whether it is the same I'm not sure.

If anyone's having trouble getting these, let me know, as they just turned up on the streets of China, region-free.
I haven't picked them up yet, so can't comment on the dvd release.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

All three titles from the box are still available (Yesasia shows Virgin is out of stock, but DVD Asian still has it). It's only the box set that seems to be unavailable.

[KeystoneCop]

Anyone have any news about when NIGHT AND DAY is going to begin on IFC On Demand? Their website is very poorly put together and gives no indication that they've even acquired it.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Marshall Deutelbaum's essay on The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (not Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, as I mistakenly wrote earlier) was recently published in the book Puzzle Films: Complex Storytelling in Contemporary Cinema. Thanks to him for alerting me to this and to five essays on Woman Is the Future of Man from the "Film of the Month Club." All of this has been added to the bibliography.

KeystoneCop: No recent news on the Night and Day front as far as I've seen.

You Don't Even Know is due out in Korea on May 14th. There's a couple of posters and a production still here.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Marshall Deutelbaum has alerted me to an interview/profile in the Spring '09 issue of Koreana. I assume it will be on their website eventually. The opening is pretty worrying:

Hong is gradually losing his eyesight. While working on Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, he experienced vision problems for the first time. But he did not concern himself with proper care for his failing eyesight; rather, he abused his eyes. Every time he made a new film, his vision continued to deteriorate. He remained indifferent, saying: "Everyone will eventually lose their vision and pass on." But it does not seem possible for his worsening vision to be overcome by sheer determination alone. Still, he explains: "I'm somehow accustomed to my situation. I can even sense when a problem will arise. Because I can sense its onset, I can also control it, somewhat." For a film director like Hong, it is difficult to imagine how he could go about his work without adequate vision.

Also, this seems to be some sort of half-assed official website for You Don't Even Know, with a trailer/preview/whatever in WMV format (Korean only). There's a Flash version here.

[Michael Kerpan]

I received the very nice New Yorker release of Hong's Woman on the Beach just a few days after New Yorker's demise. Re-watching it I was reminded that I really do love this film maybe even more than Virgin Stripped Bare.

I simply can't believe that Night and Day remains totaly unavailable (and unseeable -- except for those lucky enough to have caught at a festival).

I wonder what vision problems Hong has?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Evidently IFC has said Night and Day will show up on Festival Direct in the "fall," which isn't much, but it's a little more specific than "2009."

[Michael Kerpan]

"Availability" via Festival Direct is just as good as "unavailable" in my case. ;~{

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Amazon VOD also carries Festival Direct titles, although you need either a HTPC or the willingness to watch a movie on your monitor. Blockbuster stocks them on DVD, but that's not an option for some people (me included) -- IFC seems to have given up on releasing Festival Direct titles to regular sell-through DVD. Honestly, these people...

[KeystoneCop]

I got used to Hong's films appearing on DVD somewhere even before they hit US theaters, so it's a little shocking that we're now over a year past its initial festival screenings, and it still hasn't come out anywhere, especially considering that many agree it's one of his best films. Was the film even released theatrically in South Korea? And if so, why no DVD there yet?