Hotel by the River
Director: Hong Sangsoo
Country/Distributor: South Korea, Cinema Guild
Opening: February 15
HOW MUCH SMALL TALK BEFORE the truth comes spilling out? Over the course of his legendarily prolific career (the latest stats: 23 features since 1996, six in just over two years), Hong Sangsoo has written more aimless conversation than just about any other filmmaker around. Sure, his dialogue can be wielded with intent—to wound or console or disclose—but just as often it’s filler, a device for, two sets of characters convene at the remote location of the title seeking different forms of emotional exchange: Sanghee (Kim Min-hee), a young woman who has just gone through a bitter breakup, accepts some tough love and platonic cuddling from her friend Yeonju (Song Seon-mi); elsewhere on the premises, an aging poet named Ko Younghwan (Ki Joobong) is meeting with his two estranged sons to tell them death might be coming for him soon. From this double setup, which unfolds over a single day, you might expect a confrontation more immediate than what ends up occurring. But the words, in true Hong fashion, are mostly tossed-off and evasive, and it’s never clear whether these five sad sacks are just warming up to show us how they really feel.
