Melodrama combines with a scarcely populated subgenre of my own creation — narratives that don’t get around to flipping their hold cards until minutes before the house lights rise — to fashion a 66-minute masterwork that, in its own subtle fashion, ponders the emboldenment of humanity. The audience is hit with an abundance of characters all at once, but kept in the dark as to whose story it is that we’re about to follow. There’s the doctor (Kim Young-ho), seated before a computer, his hands clasped in prayer as he barters with his creator. There’s the woman waiting to see the acupuncturist, and the famous stage actor (Ki Joo-Bong) grabbing a smoke before keeping an appointment known only to him. His unannounced arrival bumps the prompt Young-ho (Shin Seok-ho), on deck to function as both grounds for his estranged father’s prayers and protagonist. The receptionist acts particularly folksy around the lad, when out of nowhere, he awkwardly wraps his arms around her. My ability to sniff out foreshadowing as a pig does truffles found me stuffy nosed when it came to this robotic embrace and the profound impact one hug has on the film’s outcome. Chances are, were it not for SDAFF, writer-director and practitioner of artistic minimalism Hong Sang-soo (Right Then, Wrong Now, Claire’s Camera, The Woman Who Ran) might never have crossed my radar. His naturalistic approach to writing dialogue could earn him a degree in otolaryngology. How is location defined? In response to her frustrated daughter’s inability to unlatch a door, mom replies, “It’s German.” Later, the drunken thespians’s justifiable rage over failed actor Young-ho’s inability to fake a hug cheered the heart. Not to be missed, the latest from the austere South Korean filmmaker awaits your introduction on October 29 at 8:30 pm and October 31 at 5:20 pm. (2021) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.