The Day He Arrives | DVD Review

Hong Sangsoo remains an enigma of South Korean cinema. While Park Chan-wook, Kim Ji-woon and a host of copy cat directors fill big box theaters with copious amounts of violence and stylized shock tactics (to often brilliant effect, let’s admit), Sangsoo continues to work the art house crowd with his classically influenced brand of off-beat humor that subtly plays with the conception of form on the fly, calling into question the validity of previous actions. The 2011 Cannes (Un Certain Regard) selected The Day He Arrives sees its familiar characters continually wander the awkward landscape between opposing sexes that the auteur seems to be so fascinated by, but it is in the seemingly minute details in which Sangsoo’s playfulness becomes the real fascination.

Like many of the Korean helmer’s previous works, his lead seems a piece of the filmmaker himself, a former director by trade, a bit of a shyly off-kilter soul with a taste for the drink, but a man who’s closely held beliefs occasionally stream out with resolute articulation. This time his stand in is Seongjun (Jun-Sang Yu), a director turned film professor at a rural university outside of his home town of Seoul. He’s returned to the city to visit Young-ho (Kim Sang-joong), an old film critic friend, but his plans are delayed when his friend doesn’t show. Instead, Seongjun runs into an overbearing actress who recognizes him. After leaving her, he impulsively has a few drinks with a group of young cinephiles before drunkenly surprising his ex-girlfriend at her doorstep. Seongjun is not exactly welcome. His brief stay descends into wallowing self pity within moments, but despite all of the theatrics he doesn’t seem to leave on bad terms. When he finally meets up with Young-ho and his film teacher friend Bo-ram and eventually an actor long out of contact, they visit a bar aptly titled ‘Novel’, where they drink and chat into the evening. Seongjun eventually seems to loose interest, plinkering out a tune on the bar’s piano while his friends discuss his choice to leave filmmaking. This is where the story begins to feel like a Korean, comedy-muted version of Groundhog Day.

The next couple days follow through with the same events, the actress again approaches, the friends end up at the same bar, they drink long into the night and they all wear the same exact outfits despite the seeming day change. Even many of the same shots are repeated exactly in the time line of events. What is different is everyone’s demeanor, Seongjun was before a bit troubled and spaced out, but now seems a confident, opinionated artist who not only woos Bo-ram, but the bartender as well, who surprisingly looks exactly like his ex-girlfriend from the day before. Even their conversations explore the reasoning behind how peoples’ relationships change and develop, ultimately deciding that our lives are a long series of chaotic happenings that we look back on to find meaning in randomized patterns. Except here, Sangsoo’s playfully plotted happenings are meant for us to notice the break in the natural patterns we look for. With each of the following three days that make up the remainder of the film, we see the same setup playing in broken rotation. Wander the streets, hit the bar, drink, romanticize, repeat. Through each day we see the same people acting as entirely different people, sometimes not even seeming to remember the day before. As the characters seem to replay the day before, we are meant to question not only why this is happening, but how.

Not a laugh out loud comedy, but one that nods to the ridiculousness of the majority of human interaction and winks to the audience through subtlety in structure, The Day He Arrives regards our existence with an air of melancholy. In the snow fallen streets of Seoul Sangsoo has found an awkward loneliness that seems to only be remedied by alcohol and sexual attraction, and while it plays out in humorous situations, the film feels genuine – a tragedy of bungled relationships.

The Disc:

Cinema Guild’s track record has been top notch as far as film selection goes and they continue with yet another solid addition here. Sadly, the image doesn’t show the same quality. There is much digital noise to be found throughout many moving shots, several of which were unfortunately due to issues with the source material. Wide shots especially often descend into boxy pixilation with the slightest pan. Luckily, Sangsoo is a fan of near static shots, leaving the majority of the film looking adequate in its black and white sheen. Nearly the entire film is music free, so we are left with a dialogue heavy, crystal clear Dolby Digital stereo track. The DVD comes nestled in a standard case.

Hong Sangsoo in Conversation at the British Film Institute (2010)
In this lengthy live conversation with Sangsoo, the director comes off as a slyly intelligent introvert, often answering questions with dryly timed one line responses. The moderator does occasionally coax him out of his shell though, allowing himself to shed some insight into his creative process, his drinking habits and a few of his major influences as an artist.

Viewing Between The Lines, a visual essay by Kevin Lee
This brief video critique perfectly deconstructs the film’s structural idiosyncrasies and subliminal winks that would take most viewers to put together. It is a must watch for anyone who’s seen the feature.

Theatrical Trailer
As one of the most fascinating trailers of the year, it runs perfectly with the themes of the film itself. As a single shot playing backwards, in color (which the film is not), it points out via on screen text each character archetype with the film’s only imposed piece of music playing over top. It’s curious, confounding and definitely intriguing.

Booklet
Featuring an eloquent critical essay by James Quandt, the Senior Programmer at TIFF Cinematheque, this leaflet is a welcome inclusion.

Final Thoughts:

The Day He Arrives is a comedic film lined with the mysteries of human relationships, filmmaking technique and both past and future regrets, but it tends to hold its audience at a distance, forcing them to think hard about things that, on their surface, often seem mundane. For many this will be quite frustrating, but for those that it clicks for, much wealth can be wrought. Knowing that Hong Sangsoo is a director who likes to write his films as he shoots, it’s fascinating to see just how purposefully assembled the picture is. As a feature that rewards for multiple viewings, Cinema Guild’s new DVD release will be nearly your only ticket, and though it could be better, it definitely could be worse.