We are officially in the post-Cannes phase where sidebar films found in Directors’ Fortnight/Critics’ Week, Un Certain Regard and Main Competition titles (Le Havre, Michael, Once Upon A Time in Anatolia and This Must Be The Place are still without a North American distributor) are expected to be picked up by specialized art-house distributors. The heads of these distribs are now making firm bids without the mid0-festival pressures of having to outbid the competition. After last week’s pick-up of Bela Tarr’s Berlin Film Festival winner, The Cinema Guild are pacting with another well-established auteur in Hong Sangsoo. His The Day He Arrives (which looks nothing like the popular trailer) will receive a probable 2011 calendar release.
Gist: Sungjoon, a film director who no longer makes films, heads to Seoul to meet a close friend. When the friend doesn’t show up, Sungjoon decides to wander around. He runs into an actress he used to know, shares a drink with some young film students, and against his better judgment, heads to his ex-girlfriend’s house. The next day, or perhaps some other day, Sungjoon finally meets his friend. They go to a bar called Novel whose owner bears a striking resemblance to his ex-girlfriend. The next day goes very much like the previous day. But for however many days Sungjoon spends in Seoul, hopefully he’ll be able to discover the unseen forces behind all the random happenings in his life.
Worth Noting: In a span of give or take 24 months, Sangsoo has directed 4 features (Like You Know It All, Hahaha, Oki’s Movie and The Day He Arrives) and 2 shorts.
Do We Care?: Our own Blake Williams is a fan of the film tweeting (full review soon) that it was “one of the more emotionally resonant films I’ve seen from Hong; no structural gimmicks, just sweet coincidences”. We’re down with this prolific filmmaker.