The Films of Hong Sang-Soo

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Steven H · #1 Post by **Steven H** » Mon May 16, 2005 6:20 pm

News from Twitchfilm.net about Hong Sang-soo's new film (premiering at Cannes soon).

Digital Soshun wrote:It's a comedy done in the style of a movie within a movie telling the story of an aspiring film director [Kim Sang-kyung] who runs into a young woman [Uhm Ji-won] as he leaves a movie theater and realizes that she's the star of the film he just watched.

Digital Soshun has a nice interview with the director. Sounds great.

Steven H · #2 Post by **Steven H** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:27 pm

For those interested, some Tale of Cinema reviews: Variety, Korea Herald (subscription), and Screendaily.com (subscription).

Brian Oblivious · #3 Post by **Brian Oblivious** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:14 pm

Has anyone checked out the Tai Seng releases of Power of Kangwon Province, Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors and Turning Gate?

I just saw them at my local DVD store (I live near New Chinatown) and was wondering if I should pick them up. Tai Seng doesn't exactly have the most stellar rep, and if the Korean releases are significantly better I'll probably hold off.

Michael Kerpan · #4 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:32 pm

Haven't seen the Tai Seng releases...

The Korean release of "Turning Gate" is excellent. The "Virgin" DVD looks great, but has an encoding error of some sort -- if you have a regular TV, you need to lie to your DVD player and claim you have a widescreen TV. The Korean "Kangwon" looks okay -- but is open matte (and the film was not really designed for this option).

Steven H · #5 Post by **Steven H** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:41 pm

Brian Oblivious wrote:Has anyone checked out the Tai Seng releases of Power of Kangwon Province, Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors and Turning Gate?

I have the Tai Seng Kangwon and Virgin..., the former is very decent (I didn't find any faults in audio or video) but the latter seemed "glitchy," though I'm unfamiliar with how the film was shot (it could be due to digital production, etc.) The Tai Seng's are attractive because of the price, but I would probably have gone with the Korean version of Virgin... if I had seen the disc before purchase. No clue about Tai Seng Turning Gate, but DVDBeaver placed the Korean version as one of their Feature DVDs, and those are usually aces.

Brian Oblivious · #6 Post by **Brian Oblivious** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:47 pm

Thanks Michael and Steven. I'll definitely hold off on Turning Gate but I'll probably pick up the other two (hey, for $13). Virgin Stripped Bare... is the only Hong film I've seen projected so I'll see if I can try to compare the disc to my fading memory of the print I saw.

Michael Kerpan · #7 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:56 pm

Is the Tai Seng "Kangwon" also open matte?

The black and white cinematography of "Virgin" comes through pretty beautifully on the Korean DVD. I don't think this has any flaw other than the erroneous (but fixable) formatting code.

Steven H · #8 Post by **Steven H** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 9:04 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:Is the Tai Seng "Kangwon" also open matte?

Nope. Looks about 1:78 to the naked human eye. I dropped it on the floor by accident going to check though. If there is a problem, I will blame you Michael. I hold grudges til death.

Michael Kerpan · #9 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 2:10 am

> If there is a problem, I will blame you Michael. I hold
> grudges til death.

Well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

If the Tai Seng "Kangwon" has adequate subtitles, it may be the best bet at the moment. (Hong apparently didn't approve the Korean release, in any event).

kazantzakis · #10 Post by **kazantzakis** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 2:28 am

Can anyone verify rumors that have "Tale of Cinema" released on DVD in Korea on the 29th of the month?

Michael Kerpan · #11 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 2:45 am

I think YesAsia is listing the new HSS film as due out at the end of July -- and a new film by Jeong Jae-eun (Take Care of My Cat) in late August.

Arn777 · #12 Post by **Arn777** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:43 am

Yep 29th of July for Tale of cinema in a 2-disc dvd

artfilmfan · #13 Post by **artfilmfan** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 2:36 am

It may sound silly, but I've seen "A Tale of Cinema" and can't decide whether I like it or not. I want to like it but there's a part of me that keeps saying that the film is not that good. I don't want to dismiss it too easily as I did with "Woman Is the Future of Man", only to change my mind after the second viewing. I've read acquarello's write-up on this film. What do others think about this film?

Steven H · #14 Post by **Steven H** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 5:15 pm

artfilmfan wrote:What do others think about [Tale of Cinema]?

It's showing at the NY film festival in a few weeks, I'll tell you then. Put off buying the DVD when I found out it's screening there. How does the DVD look?

artfilmfan · #15 Post by **artfilmfan** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 2:34 am

Steven H wrote:[Tale of Cinema] How does the DVD look?

It looks good, probably not as good as "Turning Gate", but at least as good as "Woman Is the Future of Man".

I think one has to be in the right mood in order to appreciate Hong's films. I may not have been in that mood when I watched "A Tale of Cinema".

Michael Kerpan · #16 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 3:38 pm

I think I like this a lot, based on my first viewing. Very funny. Very thought-provoking. Not sure of what the end signified -- but this is hardly unoique when dealing with Hong's films.

artfilmfan · #17 Post by **artfilmfan** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:35 pm

I thought the funniest scene was near the end, when the actress says to the guy something like "You had a good time. That's enough now!" and as she approaches the taxi, she adds "Go home, rest".

Michael Kerpan · #18 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:45 pm

Maybe I'm just getting more used to Hong, but this had the most laugh out loud moments of any of his films yet. Still, we never get a hint as to what the true relationship of the two directors was (and why they became estranged).

I thought the lead actress in this was really outstanding.

artfilmfan · #19 Post by **artfilmfan** » Fri Sep 16, 2005 10:45 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:I thought the lead actress in this was really outstanding.

And she said the lines I quoted above outstandingly

Another funny moment from the film: the scene immediately after he asks his friend if he could smoke in the car.

This film is worthy of a revisit soon.

The latest news regarding Hong's films on DVD. I hope they redo the subtitles on "The Day the Pig Fell Into a Well". It would be a missed opportunity if they re-release this film on DVD without the improved subtitles.

Michael Kerpan · #20 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 1:55 am

I thought it was a hoot when he took back the scarf that the lent the sick little gitl. Definitely an early hint that our hero's social judgment was more than a little infirm.

;~}

Pinback · #21 Post by **Pinback** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:23 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:The "Virgin" DVD looks great, but has an encoding error of some sort -- if you have a regular TV, you need to lie to your DVD player and claim you have a widescreen TV.

Just got round to watching this on DVD, and had the exact same problem. Once corrected, the aspect ratio is pretty much 1.66:1, right?

Also, there's a new Hong Sang-soo boxset set for release in Korea next month, containing The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well, as well as remastered editions of The Power of the Kangwon Province and Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors.

Report from Twitch:

Hong Sang-Soo Collection To Hit DVD Shelves

Life was hard for Hong Sang-Soo fans in the past. Nobody seemed to care about releasing his impressive debut The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well on DVD, then it suddenly materialized with little fanfare. His subsequent works were released by Spectrum, but not in a way that was befitting the films' stature. So along with the beautiful scenery of Gangwon Province, the great honesty with which Hong approached his characters and their predicament, on the transfer of The Power of Gangwon Province we got... a BOOM MIKE! Yes, the pinnacle of stripping from film conventions, let's just show the damn thing and get over it. You know we're making a film anyway...

Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors didn't have boom mikes on screen, but it didn't get much of a better treatment, with a non anamorphic transfer which is a love song to edge enhancement.

Well, folks, that's all over. I hope. Spectrum will win even more fans today - after their great, latest announcement - after it's been revealed that a Hong Sang-Soo collection with his first three films will hit the shelves. And guess what? All three 16:9 anamorphic widescreen, all three with English Subtitles, and get this: new telecine and sound remastering for 'Gangwon Province' and 'Virgin'!

This potential beauty will be released on September 27. The fine folks at YesAsia have already listed it for pre-order here.

I love you, Spectrum.

YesAsia Link

artfilmfan · #22 Post by **artfilmfan** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 11:28 pm

The Day the Pig Fell into a Well: I've only done spot-checking, but it appears that the disc in the newly released 3-DVD Hong Sang-soo Collection set has the same bad English subtitles as in the original release. What a shame!

#23 Post by **zedz** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 12:46 am

artfilmfan wrote:The Day the Pig Fell into a Well: I've only done spot-checking, but it appears that the disc in the newly released 3-DVD Hong Sang-soo Collection set has the same bad English subtitles as in the original release. What a shame!

Ouch! That's one of the worst set of subtitles I own, and it's such a great film. My set should be arriving soon, so please confirm that they really have fixed the open matte issue with Kangwon Province (an even greater film) or I may have to throw myself into a well.

artfilmfan · #24 Post by **artfilmfan** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:35 pm

zedz wrote: ... please confirm that they really have fixed the open matte issue with Kangwon Province (an even greater film) or I may have to throw myself into a well.

The open matte issue has been fixed. Therefore, there's no need to throw yourself into a well. The well is already crowded anyway because SpectrumDVD has thrown the pig into it twice. Shame on SpectrumDVD for throwing the pig into the well twice (uh, I mean for releasing the DVD with the same bad English subtitles twice).

feihong · #25 Post by **feihong** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 4:31 pm

Spectrum didn't release THE DAY A PIG FELL INTO THE WELL the first time around. It was a new company. Spectrum has licensed that company's DVD for their set. I think the set is worth getting for KANGWON and VIRGIN anyway, and as the years go by PIG comes off as more of a sketch anticipating greater, more satisfying films to come. I'm sure it doesn't excuse the quality issue, but whatever.

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