CULTURE / MOVIE
6 Weeks Continuous Project < Maybe New Hong Sang-Soo > Week 6
Nami Iguchi talks about Hong Sang-Soo. ”Claire’s Camera” is exactly a Romer style

Shinji Aoyama, Naruyoshi Kikuchi, and Korean film director Jang Kun-jae have talked at the series project "Each Hong Sang-Soo ". This time, film director Nami Iguchi talks about the latest four films. The world of Hong Sang-Soo, from a unique perspective of a female director. Where did it really go?

”Claire’s Camera”

Around the time the films of director Hong Sang-Soo were introduced for the first time in Japan, there was an older man around who recommended Hong Sang-Soo. I doubted the movie taste of that person (laugh), so I did not see any at that time. I watched it this time for the first time. Among the four, I thought ”Claire’s Camera” was the best.

Just like new movies I saw recently, I felt something like a common touch that seems to be an honor student from a movie school. I felt it in the film of director Hong Sang-Soo. Rather than having met a movie by accident at the roadside, it seems that he learned and knew the movie. Jose Luis Gerlin's "Muse Academy" and Give Klinger 's "Porto", somewhere in Nouvelle Vague. "Muse Academy" has a few cuts in the early stage, just like Eric Romer movie complete copy! I was surprised. I think there were Godard 's followers from long time ago, but perhaps I felt that there were Romer' s followers around the world. I thought ”Claire’s Camera” was exactly like Romer. There is a design of the composition of the movie. Through the act of Isabelle Huppert taking pictures, people who should not be involved are connected. It is a cinematic composition. It is like a movie school practice. Director Hong Sang-Soo is a drill which can do this thing with ease.

Director Hong Sang-Soo is famous because he directs films without preparing a script beforehand. Still, there are no failures in the movies for that. I think it is absolutely a lie that there is no screenplay (laugh). He should definitely design. There is a myth that there were no screenplays in Godard movies, but in fact I heard that he gave screenplays to Anna Carina. In other words, there WERE scripts. I doubt Hong Sang-Soo also was playing such a game (laugh). He was extremely dexterous, and the feeling from Godard, Truffaut and Romer's movies was a totally different impression for me.

”On the Beach at Night Alone.”

Frankly speaking, Kim Min-hee looks poor to me. She was sucked down to the bone. I later learned about the director and actress's private scandal, but it seems that the movie itself is dedicated to giving the actress body and mind devotedly. No, it seems that it is being dedicated, or is said to be exploited. Friends of Kim Min-hee would say it's too defenseless, to herself (laugh). The relationship between director and actress is different from Nouvelle Vague. How to treat the actress by the director is different.

I guess Kim Min-hee looks the poorest in ”On the Beach at Night Alone.” The way to let the heroine exhale looks very sadistic. I may feel it especially because I like masochistic movies. I like movies made by people who are deaf in metamorphosis. I seem to like cruelty towards the creator, such as ”Death in Venice” by director Luchino Visconti, which I watched back on television.

The film director who suddenly begins preaching in ”Claire’s Camera” is an old, ancient type. Especially in Japan and South Korea there seems to be many (laugh). I think that Isabelle Huppert means a lot in ”Claire’s Camera”. The composition of the movie can tell.

However, ”On the Beach at Night Alone” comes with Kim Min-hee, after all it doesn’t seem the director feels pain just like Kim Min-hee, who is standing on the arrow alone. For example, in Godard's "Alphaville," Anna Carina has a scene of saying "I love you" to the camera. That’s a very beautiful scene where Godard is very sad. Even if you do not know any personal dispute in private life where two people were about to break apart, Anna Carina was painfully beautiful(laugh)! I think Godard is a sadistic director, but when Anna Carina is there, it is suppressed and it's really sad, it's not going well, cannot do it, but there's a madness that the talent of the movie is scattered. It makes me feel like appreciating for showing me, but I did not feel that in the film of director Hong Sang-Soo.

Long one-cuts are heavily used, but maybe he tries not to cut the play halfway. Dividing the cut in the movie means that omitting the interval, the movie will give rhythm with that. Hong Sang-Soo is zooming in instead of cutting. He should not be doing casually at all, of course, it is not that the photographer is doing it without permission. I thought that it might take time to spend including rehearsals.

What the director Hong Sang-Soo talks about in an interview may not be a lie, but I'm suspicious that not all is the truth (laugh). The movie itself has such a feeling. The scandal's perception may have been perceived as director Hong Sang-Soo as lucky. The badness of those people would be something a movie director needs.

”And Then”

In ”And Then”, time seems going with a constant rhythm, and the next moment it is flying quickly. Several years have passed when it seemed "the next day" .The handling of time was surprising and it was fun. I did not understand the meaning of making it black and white though (laugh).

Perhaps Director Hong Sang-Soo is interested in the way of time. I think he is interested in the time in the movie. How to handle time. Movies are also their art. I feel that it is very conscious there.

Director Hong Sang-Soo seems to think that humans are serious. Or life seems serious. There are no feelings like the overflowing excitement in the movies of Romer and Jack Rogier. There is no craziness either. That is strange, isn’t it? Was not it influenced by the overflowing exciting feeling? That's the point I'd like to ask.

Perhaps it may not be a movie. It is not necessarily movies, or novels and arts should be fine. It seems likely to succeed anywhere, because he seems to be good at people (laugh).

Personally, I want him to make commercial movies. For example I would like him to take Hollywood movies. I would like to see Hong Sang-Soo 's movie then.

By the way, Kim Min-hee holds chopsticks in a strange way. When she grabbed delicious Korean hot chicken with chopsticks, I was hurried that it would roll out(laugh). She is a very beautiful person that impressed me the most.

Written by：Toji Aida(相田冬二)