The Film That Defends Itself

    I watched a film called The Novelist's Film. It's a film about a burnt-out novelist who meets an actress and wants to make a film with her. This description is not a synopsis, it is basically all that happens in the movie. When you read a synopsis, there is an assumed "And then the story unfolds" element to it. You understand that this is the setup, and there's going to be a chain of events that lead to a climax.

    What happens in the film is that after meeting with some old colleagues, novelist Jun-hee meets actress Gil-soo in a park, and suddenly gets inspired to write and direct a movie with her in the leading role, and her husband as the love interest. Gil-soo is on board, and Jun-hee tells her to ask her husband about it and get his confirmation. They then have lunch, and then drink together with some colleagues, and that's basically it. We don't even hear his answer.

    The thing that makes the film interesting is the fact that it seems to defend itself through an exchange that happens between two characters. Earlier, when talking with Gil-soo, Jun-hee says "Most important is an actor I can freely look at, observe, and feel with my heart, and she's put in her most comfortable state. Then the camera will capture whatever emerges from her at that time. I want to record that just as it is." That's why she wants Gil-soo's husband to be in the film so badly. Because to her, the most important thing is for the actors to feel authentic, and for the emotion between the actors to feel believable. Since Gil-soo and her husband would already have this deep connection with each other, they're deemed perfect for the roles. "All the feelings, glances, and gestures between them, I want to capture with the camera..." "...Everything has to be real."

    During the scene where they're drinking with some colleagues, one of them, a poet, asks Jun-hee what the story for the film will be about. She says she doesn't know, but that it's not important. On the spot, she comes up with a story about a husband forgetting his wife's birthday, and then trying to make it up to her after a quarrel. The poet argues "That's too offhand, you need something to pull people in. A story needs a plot. That's what we expect from a storyteller.". Another character says, "I like that story, because it really happened to me!"

    So here, Jun-hee is clearly representative of director Hong Sang-soo's filmmaking sensibilities. The poet feels like a stand-in for his detractors who dismiss his films, not seeing any value or point in them. "That's what we expect from a storyteller" feels directly aimed at film reviewers. The character who likes the story is an attempt to explain the appeal of the films for the people.

    The entire film feels like a justification of its own existence, and a means to communicate Hong Sang-soo's philosophy in filmmaking.