``In Front of Your Face'' Hong Sang-soo depicts an accidental hug

"In Front of Your Face" synopsis

Sang-ok, a former actress, suddenly returns to Korea after living in America for a long time to visit her younger sister, Jung-ok. He is reunited with his family for the first time in a while since his mother died, but he does not reveal the reason for his return to his sister. She was about to make an appointment with a movie director who offered her a role, but deep conflict swirled inside her. Why does Sang-ok return to his home country, which he thought he had abandoned, and visit the places of his memories? The story depicts the events of a single day, in which one finds an irreplaceable source of strength while facing the past and regrets that have been abandoned.

Index

• An image of chasing, an image of running away
  
• The Truth I saw for the first time on the screen
• Sounds like a chamber orchestra
• embrace coincidence

An image of chasing, an image of running away

"Everything in front of my face is the grace of God. There is no tomorrow. There is no past, there is no tomorrow, only this moment is heaven. It can be heaven."

You can chase images and escape into images. Hong Sang-soo's films are simply shot, but they never reach the point of simplicity. It's true that Hong Sang-soo's movies are similar to something we are familiar with. And it reminds us of feelings that we should have known well but had forgotten before we knew it. However, the image presented by Hong Sang-soo gradually deviates from the image that makes us feel at ease. Things that you thought you knew well start looking completely different in the next moment. The image slips away from the palm of your hand as soon as you grasp it. This unobtainable image itself is very similar to the illusion of a movie. Kim Min-hee, who has been the heroine until now, is also a partner in exploring the true nature of this feeling with Hong Sang-soo.

In ``In Front of Your Face'' (21), Kim Min-hee works as a production manager, and Lee Hye-young is at the center of the microcosm created by Hong Sang-soo. Sang-ok, played by Lee Hye-young, can be said to be a heroine who can see more than the characters in Hong Sang-soo's previous works, and a heroine who is trying to see more. Sang-ok knows that he doesn't have much time left.

“In Front of Your Face” © 2021 Jeonwonsa Film Co. All Rights Reserved

A room in a high-rise apartment. Sang-ok is silently staring at his younger sister, Jung-ok (Cho Yoon-hee), who is sleeping in bed. Jung-ok gets up and calls out to Sang-ok, “It’s been a while.” The interaction between the sisters in the first scene, in which Jong-ok wakes up from a dream and greets his sister, ``reunion,'' seems to be a continuation of the dream. Jung-ok tells his sister that he can't tell her about the dream until after noon.

The sisters head to a cafe by the river for breakfast. The two lament to each other that they knew nothing about each other's life paths. Sang-ok is not the type of woman who speaks positively about herself. With the help of her cheerful and talkative sister, we are able to learn bits and pieces of her secret after returning from America. This shows that the outline of a woman named Sang-ok is shaped by the people around her. Someone's irreplaceable individuality is probably determined by others, not by themselves.

The Truth I saw for the first time on the screen