So You Want To Get Into...Hong Sang-soo

[@겔겔-r6c]

Love from South Korea! Wonderful video 😀😀

[@dionwynhughes]

Yay! Thank you!

[@AkuAmmahTagoe]

Hong Sang-soo is one of my friend’s favorites so I’ve been slowly getting into his work. Thank you for this breakdown! It was really interesting to hear your thoughts about domestic realism as a window onto what people in other countries might be thinking. Your characterization of On the Beach at Night Alone as slightly hopeful really made me think…I hadn’t seen it that way but I get it. I also think Hong Sang-soo is just so funny and has a way of capturing the randomness of the everyday - my advice to new viewers would be to not try too hard to “get it” the first time around, just keep an eye open for all the random little background happenings that most directors would cut out. Thanks again for this series; I’d love to see one on Jia Zhangke if you like his work!

[@dionwynhughes]

Thanks so much for sharing your love for Sang soo. Glad you are a fan of the series.

[@amirmagar2009]

No other filmmaker has ever spoken to my heart better than him. I think the introductory film into him should be Hill Of Freedom. I always suggest it to someone new to his films.

[@dionwynhughes]

He truly is something special. Hill of Freedom is one of the only few I haven't seen of his. I have ordered the blu ray from Grasshopper films, I look forward to see it. Thanks for watching and take care.

[@amirmagar2009]

@@dionwynhughes you too Dion! And I just subscribed to your channel - waiting for your next video!

[@dionwynhughes]

@@amirmagar2009 Thanks so much and welcome :) If you have any ideas for my director series please feel free to let me know. I am planning on releasing one a month. February will be Claire Denis.

[@amirmagar2009]

@@dionwynhughes looking forward to it!

[@agatha081094]

Hi, nice video! Have you watched The Novelist's film? It was spectacular!

[@dionwynhughes]

I did indeed! Great work by HSS but it wasn't one of my favoruites. I need to rewatch it.

[@brokenregistry]

Hi! so for our finals in east asian cinema class, we have to pitch a concept that pays homage to our chosen filmmaker. Obviously, i chose Hong sang-soo. But I've been meaning to binge his films for a long time now, should I only watch the masterpieces or watch most of his other films as well? To really know his style, methods, and the likes.

[@dionwynhughes]

Now this is a paper I'd like to read. To be honest it's best exploring all of his films. He is constantly evolving and changing motif. The style has changed so much from his early works to now. If I can you need any help please do let me know.

[@ayeshabashir2808]

You can watch some of his stuff on Topic now too. Can you please show snippets of the films themselves when you're talking about them? And no multi-lingual farewell in the end. Good work!

[@ATouchOfFilm1]

There were clips when he was discussing the movies

[@chinjy1794]

just stumbled into ur video and it was great! watched two of hong sang soo’s movies in the past weekend and i’m still giddy in his idealism (the good kind). maybe u could do one of jia zhang ke if you are into him as well!

[@dionwynhughes]

Thank you so much! Zhangke is on the list for a future video.

[@chinjy1794]

@@dionwynhughes thats great ill be looking forward to that video!!!

[@octpro]

Your experience with On The Beach At Night Alone mirrors mine. When I first watched it I didn't think it was that great. But then I kept thinking about it, and after watching a few others I rewatched it and now it's definitely my favorite. Trying to think why, I feel that KMH does a particularly good job in this movie. I also agree that the newer movies are less structured but better cinema overall. Looking forward to seeing Introduction, hopefully sometime this year.

[@dionwynhughes]

Glad to hear 🙂 his work is just beautiful. I’m actually covering the Berlin Film Festival so there will be a review for Introduction soon. Thanks for watching and take care!

[@michaelthorner]

I especially love the two films Sang-soo did with Isabelle Huppert.

[@dionwynhughes]

They are very good in particular Claire’s Camera. It makes me miss Cannes everytime though. Thanks for watching!

[@matthewlang7019]

He’s one of my favorite contemporary directors! Love to see more folks enjoying his work!

[@ATouchOfFilm1]

Great video mate, I think Right Now, Wrong Then is his most accessible. I think The Day After is also wonderful. I do think he's getting better. Hotel By the River is another charming video of his in my opinion. Great recommendations mate you are the best person to open the world to his movies.

[@dionwynhughes]

Thanks man I hope this series works out as I enjoyed making it. It's weird how his career seems to be getting stronger most definitely. I regret not putting Hotel By The River on my list but I thought an older title needed to be highlighted.

[@KenjiMcGuire]

I’ve actually been meaning to see Right Now Wrong Then for a long time and had no idea it was Hong Sang Soo. I’ve only seen one Hong Sang Soo movie and I’m sure I’ll like his films the more I watch them. (Also I’m looking forward to your Claire Denis video, I’ve only seen Beau Travail which I loved)

[@dionwynhughes]

You should go for it Aaron and let me know what you think. I’m looking forward to working on the Denis video. Take care and thanks for watching.

[@intotheblu3486]

Nice one mate. I have seen a couple of his films now but haven't yet connected with him. For some reason I have loved the sound of Hill of Freedom for sometime now which finally gets a blu release soon. In the meantime I will try some of the ones you've suggested. Very informative and interesting. Definitely made me want to keep trying as I am positive that some of his will be for me. 👊

[@dionwynhughes]

I hope I can convert you. Thanks for watching buddy :)

[@iciukas]

I LOVE Hong Sang-soo's movies! My way in was "In another country" with Isabelle Huppert. Loved the simple, a little gimmicky cinematography and how the film uses the same actors for different characters. Hooked from then on. As you say "Alone on the beach at night" was somehow trickier, I think it was a transition to his more melancholic phase. An interesting detail in his films is the autobiographic aspect. There is almost always a "director" character in the films, and often a storyline of "director" and his "mistress", which apparently had been a situation Hong Sang-soo and Kim Min-hee found themselves in.

[@dionwynhughes]

Hi Andrius, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on HSS. Glad to come across another fan in this crazy world.

[@TheMikenanners]

This is a late comment, but HSS is becoming one of my all time favourites with every film I watch. Similar to you, ‘On the Beach at Night Alone’ was my first exposure to him, and while I didn’t love it the first time, so many moments have stuck with me - on a recent rewatch a year later and after seeing a few others, it’s become my favourite from him. It’s like genuine self-help for me at this point and I can’t get enough of his style.

[@dionwynhughes]

Thanks for sharing!

[@baptistevidil4601]

Hello, thank you for the video, your work is really consistent. Your content is well organised, we understand where you want to take us, it's refreshing and nice. I was actually wondering who's that film maker, cause I fell in love with his last movie, the Woman who ran (I mean I guess it's the last one, but who knows with this guy haha). Anyway, I look forward to see more of your videos, cheers 🙌

[@dionwynhughes]

Hi Baptiste, thanks very much for your kind words. I hope you enjoy Hong Sang-so’s work and thank you for subscribing too. Take care!

[@wiredfractal]

I got into Sang-soo early on with Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors and couldn't get it out of my head. It was refreshing coming from just discovering films like Vengeance Trilogy, Tale of Two Sisters, and romcoms such as My Sassy Girl, The Classic & Christmas in August. I find it interesting how new fans are able to get into Hong's film. But I agree that Right Now, Wrong Then is his most accessible and it is the film I usually make people watch first before I introduce them to any of his other films. I can't say if I'm a fan more of his old films or his newer ones because sadly, I haven't seen any of his new ones except for the Woman at the Beach at Night Alone and Woman Who Ran which I enjoyed very much. It's also great to see new filmmakers that are obviously influenced by his works such as Jeong Ga-Young and Kim Cho-hee. I don't want to call them a female version of HSS because I'm belittling their work and voice.

[@dionwynhughes]

Thanks for sharing Nate. His evolution as a filmmaker is quite fascinating and the last 15 years have been similar but enlightening. I need to check out these filmmakers so thanks for reminding me.

[@dionwynhughes]

Thanks for sharing Nate. His evolution as a filmmaker is quite fascinating and the last 15 years have been similar but enlightening. I need to check out these filmmakers so thanks for reminding me.

[@dustinlewis3636]

This was great, Dion. I bought three of his films just last month (On the Beach at Night Alone, Grass, and Hotel by the River) and could not decide on which one to start with. This video definitely helped me with that decision. Thank you and take care!

[@dionwynhughes]

Thanks so much Dustin. Glad you found it helpful. Take care of yourself!

[@marvelfan4518]

I'll be getting into his films soon! This video series will definitely be helpful. Really enjoyed the video. I'm picking up a lot of his work soon so I can't wait. Hope you're doing well and staying safe! Keep up the great work!

[@dionwynhughes]

Hey buddy, thanks for the kind words. I look forward to check out your Sang-soo journey. Take care of yourself.

[@mechalpuco]

I love most of his work, but Tale of Cinema might be my favorite. I clapped in the end, which I almost never do.

[@dionwynhughes]

Thanks for sharing mechlapuco. I don’t know many people that are fans of Tale of Cinema. Take care and stay safe.

[@premiumblurays1785]

Great idea Dion and really looking forward to this series as there are so many directors I would like to see in you discuss - even though I am not currently “getting” Sang Soo after 4 films I am defo gonna try Right Now Wrong Then 👍

[@dionwynhughes]

Cheers boss you can clearly tell you are the reason I made this video. I won’t give up!

[@Elycard]

Great video and a good idea for a series. Getting into new filmmakers can be overwhelming and having some guidance is always appreciated.

[@dionwynhughes]

Thanks Elicard. It’s been an idea in the back of my mind for a while so I thought it was time to execute it. Any suggestions on directors are welcome FYI

[@jonathanmendonca7191]

Just found Hong Sang-soo myself. Had watched Nobody's Daughter Haewon without taking much from it outside the structure a few months back. But now with a wider retrospective of his work on Mubi, I'm fascinated with his films and devouring them. It's great you made a video like this, so hopefully even more can find him. One thing that could be beneficial to future installments is to include where you were able to find the work of the directors -- especially for those three that you recommend at the end of the videos. I was just scouring the net to find more of his films, and since I imagine you've done the same, it could help viewers get into the director more easily if they know some places to look - for both digital and physical. Thanks for the video and have a great day!

[@dionwynhughes]

Hi Jonathan, Glad you have discovered Sang-soo's work and you are enjoying them. I do hope the series helps more people out. I have thought about this element of the video and I will add the info in the information box of the video. Moving forward I will attempt to incorporate this to the videos only issue is with streaming and various territories but I will try. Thanks for watching and take care :)

[@jonathanmendonca7191]

​@@dionwynhughes Yeah, I get the territory differences are an issue with the streaming options. But, at least it would give the audience an idea of where they might look. And it's not like you left some avenues for purchase out of this one. Since you did include mention of both Cinema Guild and Arrow Video. Which was nice. I think Grasshopper is currently the only other one. Looking forward to "So You Want to Get Into...Claire Denis" because somehow I've managed to not see anything from her yet (at least consciously). All the best!

[@bertolaci9509]

I live in Brasil and is impossible to find his films, is someone can help me, I would love that

[@dionwynhughes]

Hi Gabriel, my main advice would be to use a VPN with a MUBI account. His films are all across their streaming service. If you are still struggling please get back to me.

[@FranciscoGomes-qk8dg]

Hope you keep this series going! It’s an amazing idea and I look forward to your next videos!

[@dionwynhughes]

Thanks Francisco and if you have any director suggestions please let me know.

[@FranciscoGomes-qk8dg]

@@dionwynhughes I would love to see a video like this focusing on Tsai Ming-Liang.

[@dionwynhughes]

@@FranciscoGomes-qk8dg I am aiming at making that for March!

[@andremsalgueiro]

Great video Dion! Hong Sangsoo is one of my favourite directors too. I'll watch The Woman Who Ran this weekend.

[@dionwynhughes]

Thanks André. I hope you enjoy his new one, look forward to hear your thoughts. FYI it will be getting a blu ray release courtesy of Mubi. Take care my friend.

[@andremsalgueiro]

@@dionwynhughes that's great news! Thanks! I just watched The Woman Who Ran and loved it. A beautiful and poetic film. Kim Min-hee is wonderful as always. Another great Hong Sangsoo film.

[@andremsalgueiro]

@@dionwynhughes Grasshopper will be releasing Hill of Freedom and Woman on the Beach on bluray February 9.

[@dionwynhughes]

@@andremsalgueiro glad you liked it André. I’ve preordered the Grasshopper double pack. There was a good deal on Black Friday so I jumped at the chance. Hill of Freedom is one of the only ones I have yet to see.

[@ericasayshello2507]

@@andremsalgueiro Hey! Can I ask where/how you watched The Woman Who Ran? I cant seem to find it anywhere online

[@username1939]

Hi, I actually haven't watch the video because I want to avoid any spoiler but just wondering have you watch all his films? Hong Sang Soo is one of the directors I want to get into but kinda intimidated because he have like 20+ films. I usually like to watch in chronological order of the director films to see how their work evolve over the years. Is there any films of his that you distinctly dislike? If there is, what's your criticism on the films (without spoiling it)

[@dionwynhughes]

Hello, I have watched 16 of his 25 titles as some of his early work is difficult to track down. To be honest I have never not liked any of his films. Enjoy your journey with Sang-soo!