Photo: Seong Hyeon-a as Seon-hwa in Hong Sang-soo's Woman is the Future of Man
Hong Sang-soo's Turning Gate-a comic rendezvous built on narrative gestures that mirror the South Korean director's fascination with reincarnation-is perhaps the best undistributed film of the last five years. Though its aesthetic surprises and metaphysical romantic pitfalls recall both Turning Gate and Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Woman is the Future of Man nonetheless lacks the warmth of its predecessors. This facetiously titled curio tells the story of two perpetually drunk best buds, art teacher Mun-ho (Yoo Jitae) and failed filmmaker Hyeon-gon (Kim Taewoo), and their relationship to a woman they both had sex with. Throughout the film, Hyeon-gon grapples with the implications of having dumped Seon-hwa (Seong Hyeon-a, whose dual performance is Sang-soo's Buñuelian shout-out). Equally dramatic, Jitae's pouty man-child comes to discover that women shave their legs, meekly asks for blowjobs, and has sex with a recently raped Seon-hwa under the impression that his love sperm will salve her pain. Ed Gonzalez
Hong Sang-soo's Turning Gate-a comic rendezvous built on narrative gestures that mirror the South Korean director's fascination with reincarnation-is perhaps the best undistributed film of the last five years. Though its aesthetic surprises and metaphysical romantic pitfalls recall both Turning Gate and Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Woman is the Future of Man nonetheless lacks the warmth of its predecessors. This facetiously titled curio tells the story of two perpetually drunk best buds, art teacher Mun-ho (Yoo Jitae) and failed filmmaker Hyeon-gon (Kim Taewoo), and their relationship to a woman they both had sex with. Throughout the film, Hyeon-gon grapples with the implications of having dumped Seon-hwa (Seong Hyeon-a, whose dual performance is Sang-soo's Buñuelian shout-out). Equally dramatic, Jitae's pouty man-child comes to discover that women shave their legs, meekly asks for blowjobs, and has sex with a recently raped Seon-hwa under the impression that his love sperm will salve her pain. Ed Gonzalez
