50/49

A French woman drinks makgeol in Korea after losing her livelihood and then teaches French to two Korean women. Quoted in Close Up: The Best Films of 2024 and Other Results (2024). Hong Sang-soo has finally made an action film. Of course not. Again, this is much more Hong-like, to the point where it blends in with all his other films and struggles to differentiate itself. Even without Isabelle Huppert’s singularly valuable star rating, she now appears in her third collaboration with the director—not my favorite of his works, I might add. The premise for this comes from an interesting place. Iris (Huppert) is a French woman living in Seoul, a seemingly proficient French teacher, though she teaches mostly in English. But when he starts another class with Won-ju (Lee Hye-young) and her husband Hae-soon (Kwon Hae-hyo), we discover that he’s a complete novice trying to teach while spending his days wandering around. They are skeptical, but they abandon the lesson anyway. We talk and drink (like Hong) in English, repeating the conversation with her former student. It seems that Koreans only learn certain basic phrases when they learn English. Iris wants people to express themselves more. That is why most of Hong’s conversations and films rely so heavily on it. Iris encourages her students to open up more and more; to dig a little deeper until they find what they really want to express. A quick translation into French is written and the student is given a note to memorize. In this way, they can express themselves more in French than any vocabulary book can teach them. Along the way, Iris encounters Korean poetry, which is quickly translated for her, increasing her belief in learning more about the culture. Short text rather than whole vocabulary. This idea, while central, may not be able to sustain a film entirely on its own. Although Hong’s films can never fully satisfy, despite the pleasure they provide. As always, it is a long discussion to arrive at a concretized argument. But it’s outside of that idea that the film falters a bit. Iris lives with In-guk (Ha Seong-guk), a young Korean poet. Mom makes an awkward visit, and Iris feels deprived. What follows is a fairly typical parent-child conversation about an unconventional relationship. While perfectly serviceable, it may lack the charm of much of Hong’s dialogue. It also weakens Iris’ role. Much like “In Another Country” (2012), Huppert comes across as simultaneously charming, awkward, and vulgar, to the point where you’re not sure how to deal with him. The last half hour thus confuses well-crafted travel, translation, and expression. We don’t need to be fluent in a language to understand and experience a culture. In fact, that knowledge can limit us to general platitudes. As a traveler, it’s more important to keep an open mind. Politics1983.home.blog

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