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Right Now, Wrong Then, 2015
A film director is in town for a film festival at a local university, but he arrives a day early and must kill time in town. The director, Ham Cheon-Soo (Jae-yeong Jeong), meets a young woman named Yoon Hee-jeong (Kim Min-hee). As the two spend time together and talk about their lives, an attraction grows. Halfway through the film, the entire day resets and we see a different version of events.
This was a fun and interesting take on the "reliving a day" type film. At this point, we are all pretty familiar with the structure: we watch one version of events, then get to see how big or small changes snowball through the narrative. In this movie, the emphasis is on small changes, and even more specifically small changes in the way that the characters express themselves.
That focus on little moments and word choice is both the attraction of the film for me and the slight problem. On the positive side, the idea that choosing to express ourselves more honestly can lead to overall healthier relationships is a nice one. Even more so because the film doesn't promise a happy ending if we are honest---just that we will feel more settled in ourselves. It is a really nice idea and it shifts the focus away from superficial narrative elements (WILL THEY END UP TOGETHER?!!) and toward who they are as people and how this encounter will change them.
The downside is that, especially in the first part of the retelling, we cover a lot of familiar ground. And while I liked both main characters, I didn't love them. A middle-aged man deciding he's in love--no exaggeration--with a young woman he just met is kind of eye-rolling. I don't mind that the film treats these emotions as sincere but also . . . . c'mon. The central question of where their relationship will go just wasn't all that compelling for me. I liked the way that the film mainly focused on their character growth, but at times I wanted the movie to hurry up and get where it was going.
I'd definitely recommend this one, despite feeling it was about 10-15 minutes too long.
Right Now, Wrong Then, 2015
A film director is in town for a film festival at a local university, but he arrives a day early and must kill time in town. The director, Ham Cheon-Soo (Jae-yeong Jeong), meets a young woman named Yoon Hee-jeong (Kim Min-hee). As the two spend time together and talk about their lives, an attraction grows. Halfway through the film, the entire day resets and we see a different version of events.
This was a fun and interesting take on the "reliving a day" type film. At this point, we are all pretty familiar with the structure: we watch one version of events, then get to see how big or small changes snowball through the narrative. In this movie, the emphasis is on small changes, and even more specifically small changes in the way that the characters express themselves.
That focus on little moments and word choice is both the attraction of the film for me and the slight problem. On the positive side, the idea that choosing to express ourselves more honestly can lead to overall healthier relationships is a nice one. Even more so because the film doesn't promise a happy ending if we are honest---just that we will feel more settled in ourselves. It is a really nice idea and it shifts the focus away from superficial narrative elements (WILL THEY END UP TOGETHER?!!) and toward who they are as people and how this encounter will change them.
The downside is that, especially in the first part of the retelling, we cover a lot of familiar ground. And while I liked both main characters, I didn't love them. A middle-aged man deciding he's in love--no exaggeration--with a young woman he just met is kind of eye-rolling. I don't mind that the film treats these emotions as sincere but also . . . . c'mon. The central question of where their relationship will go just wasn't all that compelling for me. I liked the way that the film mainly focused on their character growth, but at times I wanted the movie to hurry up and get where it was going.
I'd definitely recommend this one, despite feeling it was about 10-15 minutes too long.