So-seol-ga-ui yeong-hwa (The Novelist’s Film)

The Novelist’s Film is a string of chance meetings. Titular writer Junhee Kim visits an old friend, who now owns a bookstore outside Seoul. After they catch up, Kim is recommended a particular tourist attraction. Inside the tower she runs into a film director, whom she knows as he wanted to adapt one of her novels. She takes a walk with him and his wife in a park, where the filmmaker decides to approach a well-known actress. The novelist immediately establishes a connection with her, they even talk about making a film together. The actress wants to introduce Junhee to her friend, who turns out to be the lady from the bookshop.

Hong Sang-soo, who takes on most roles behind the camera, lets superficial prattling stifle any tension this round dance may have had. Though the director is know for his low-budget character-driven approach, it is still hard to fathom that this is the same filmmaker who won Silver Bears for Best Directing and Best Screenplay at the past two festivals. The production feels as spontaneously put together as the film the novelist imagines making (filmed “over one or two days”, “casual” and “with a digital camera”). 

The black-and-white cinematography consists of long takes, often two-shots (or with three, four or five characters, accordingly). The framing in wider shots is grotesquely unfavourable, with either not enough headroom or with feet cut off at the ankles. Occasionally the camera zooms in, which improves matters drastically. 

There is a clear claim to realism in the minimal set-up, the wandering in real locations and aimless dialogue, yet the actress, who is supposedly so well-known that people recognise her in the streets and lament that she hasn’t done a film lately, giggles nervously and peers shyly into the camera in the eponymous film within the film. 

In short, this Korean socio-artistic discourse is a work one might expect to see in the Berlinale Forum section – not in the main Competition.

Selina Sondermann

So-seol-ga-ui yeong-hwa (The Novelist’s Film) does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2022 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.