Hong Sang-Soo | South Korea and Germany 2017, 101 minutes | 7:30pm, Saturday 22 July
Yet [On a Beach at Night Alone] also seems equal parts director and actress, investigating each other’s emotions, learning about their motives—an equality between performer and director which I haven’t experienced before in a film. – Neil Bahadur, Mubi Notebook
After an affair with a married man, celebrated actress Younghee (Kim Min-Hee, Claire’s Camera QFF2017) decides to take some time out. She travels to the far-off, foreign city of Hamburg. In a conversation with a friend she asks herself if her lover will follow her and whether he misses her as much as she misses him. During her long walks through wintry parks and along riverbanks she attempts to become clear about her feelings and desires.
Refracting Hong’s real-life affair with Kim (a scandal in South Korea), On the Beach at Night Alonecould have seemed an exercise in wish-fulfilment or narcissism; instead, grounded in the intellectually respectful ongoing collaboration between Hong and Kim, it is an acute study of heartbreak and grief.
D Hong Sang-Soo S Hong Sang-Soo P Hong Sang-Soo and Kang Taeu C Park Hongyeol and Kim Hyungkoo E Sung-Won Hahm
Language: English and Korean with English Subtitles
Distribution: Finecut DCPUnrated 15+
Winner of the 2017 Berlinale Silver Bear Award for Best Actress