Canadian Premiere
VIFF mainstay Hong Sangsoo is back with his 33rd feature, and it’s a gem: wry, subtle, and simmering with social tension. Dropping his girlfriend Junhee (Kang Soyi) off at her home, thirtysomething poet Donghwa (Ha Seongguk) meets her father, Oryeong (Kwon Haehyo), and gets roped into an extended family visit. As the hours pass and the booze flows, the line between honesty and rudeness blurs, and Donghwa edges closer and closer to embarrassment…
As always with Hong, structure is key: Nature unfolds in numbered chapters, and the filmmaker plots the dramatic escalation with a sure hand. Shot on deliberately blurry video, this is a spare, small-scale work, yet its pleasures are many: rich, naturalistic conversation that plays out in suspensefully sustained shots; delicate symmetry of form; fine performances; and light, relatable humour. Poetic in design, casual in appearance, and radiant with intelligence, this is a deceptively modest delight. It expands as it progresses and lingers beyond its runtime like a whispered revelation.
Cooperating Organizations
Ha Seongguk, Kwon Haehyo, Cho Yunhee, Kang Soyi, Park Miso
South Korea
2025
In Korean with English subtitles
At Granville Island Stage
At Fifth Avenue
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Producer
Hong Sangsoo
Screenwriter
Hong Sangsoo
Cinematography
Hong Sangsoo
Editor
Hong Sangsoo
Original Music
Hong Sangsoo
Hong Sangsoo 홍상수
Hong Sangsoo was born in Seoul, Korea, on October 25, 1960. He studied in the theatre department at Chung-Ang University before moving to the United States, where he continued his studies at the California College of Arts and Crafts and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He made his first feature-length film in 1996 and has since made 33 features and a number of shorts.
Filmography: Tale of Cinema (2005); Oki’s Movie (2010); Claire’s Camera (2017); In Front of Your Face (2021); A Traveler’s Needs (2024)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Two Prosecutors
In the midst of Stalin’s purges, a naïve prosecutor sets out to investigate a prisoner’s innocence, unaware of the labyrinthine bureaucracy awaiting him. A Kafkaesque procedural thriller about the pursuit of justice in the face of corruption.
Image: © SBS Productions
The Blue Trail
77-year-old Tereza makes a break for the Brazilian jungle in this trippy septuagenarian fantasy, the latest from Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro is a quirky picaresque, lushly photographed and filled with mordant humour.
Calle Málaga
Seventy-nine-year-old María Ángeles lives independently in Tangier's Spanish quarter. When her daughter pressures her into selling her apartment, she refuses to give in, finding in her old age a new resilience and an unexpected romantic connection.
El Suavecito
Victor Parra is Roberto, "el Suavecito", the smoothie. Sprinkling his Spanish with slang and English, and sporting a Zoot suit, he's a gangster-wannabe, an obnoxious macho who isn't quite as tough as he likes to make out...
Krystle dos Santos + Dawn Pemberton: Meet Me at Vie's + Union Street
Enjoy a sneak preview of Krystle dos Santos's upcoming musical celebration of the Hogan's Alley Black community in Strathcona, with songs performed by Krystle and Dawn Pemberton, followed by Jamila Pomeroy's documentary Union Street.
