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The Guardian
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
What Does That Nature Say to You review – funny and complex Korean dad-boyfriend standoff
With his own particular kind of unhurried ceaselessness and murmuring calm, Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo has produced another of his elegant, discursive, low-key movies of the educated middle classes. These are movies so numerous and so obviously comparable to each other that they collectively constitute a kind of Balzacian Comédie Humaine, though on a more intimate scale. It will surprise none of Hong's admirers to discover that this film once again shows us a series of conversations with familiar repertory players, informal one-on-one chats shot casually in available light, with people doing a vast amount of daytime drinking. Really, does any film-maker show characters getting quietly plastered as often and realistically as Hong? It's possible to feel simultaneously amused, bemused, intrigued and exasperated at Hong's film-making, to wonder if the drinking and the consequent inevitable cathartic outburst are in fact cathartic or dramatically meaningful, to wonder what it is leading to. But arguably the enigma is the point. This movie lodged in my mind a little more than Hong's earlier films, perhaps because it is less contrived and it features a genuinely funny and complex opening scene. Donghwa (Ha Seong-guk) is an amiable but conceited man in his mid 30s who aspires to be a poet; it is quite clear that his wealthy lawyer father is bankrolling him, however much he claims to be independent. For three years, he has been dating Sunhee (Cho Yun-hee) though without ever meeting or apparently wanting to meet her parents. It is only when dropping her off at their house one day that he is prevailed upon to come in and meet them, while being astonished at how grand the house is (in the process revealing that he is more impressed by money than he would admit). Sunhee's father Oryeong (Hong regular Kwon Hae-hyo) is polite and blusteringly good humoured, though clearly nettled at Donghwa's finally deigning to say hello. His complicated and contradictory emotions spill out in an amusingly pointless and embarrassing discussion of Donghwa's secondhand car – which he impulsively asks to drive, just to see what it's like, and to demonstrate his alpha-male mastery of the situation. Many other embarrassingly uptight conversations between Sunhee's dad and boyfriend ensue, fuelled by drink. Finally, there is a weirdly fractious scene at the dinner table, triggered by Sunhee's sister and her scepticism of Donghwa. Yet the boozing seems to result in no hangover, real or metaphorical. Intriguing as ever. What Does That Nature Say to You is at the ICA, London, from 25 July.
The Guardian
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
What Does That Nature Say to You review – funny and complex Korean dad-boyfriend standoff
With his own particular kind of unhurried ceaselessness and murmuring calm, Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo has produced another of his elegant, discursive, low-key movies of the educated middle classes. These are movies so numerous and so obviously comparable to each other that they collectively constitute a kind of Balzacian Comédie Humaine, though on a more intimate scale. It will surprise none of Hong's admirers to discover that this film once again shows us a series of conversations with familiar repertory players, informal one-on-one chats shot casually in available light, with people doing a vast amount of daytime drinking. Really, does any film-maker show characters getting quietly plastered as often and realistically as Hong? It's possible to feel simultaneously amused, bemused, intrigued and exasperated at Hong's film-making, to wonder if the drinking and the consequent inevitable cathartic outburst are in fact cathartic or dramatically meaningful, to wonder what it is leading to. But arguably the enigma is the point. This movie lodged in my mind a little more than Hong's earlier films, perhaps because it is less contrived and it features a genuinely funny and complex opening scene. Donghwa (Ha Seong-guk) is an amiable but conceited man in his mid 30s who aspires to be a poet; it is quite clear that his wealthy lawyer father is bankrolling him, however much he claims to be independent. For three years, he has been dating Sunhee (Cho Yun-hee) though without ever meeting or apparently wanting to meet her parents. It is only when dropping her off at their house one day that he is prevailed upon to come in and meet them, while being astonished at how grand the house is (in the process revealing that he is more impressed by money than he would admit). Sunhee's father Oryeong (Hong regular Kwon Hae-hyo) is polite and blusteringly good humoured, though clearly nettled at Donghwa's finally deigning to say hello. His complicated and contradictory emotions spill out in an amusingly pointless and embarrassing discussion of Donghwa's secondhand car – which he impulsively asks to drive, just to see what it's like, and to demonstrate his alpha-male mastery of the situation. Many other embarrassingly uptight conversations between Sunhee's dad and boyfriend ensue, fuelled by drink. Finally, there is a weirdly fractious scene at the dinner table, triggered by Sunhee's sister and her scepticism of Donghwa. Yet the boozing seems to result in no hangover, real or metaphorical. Intriguing as ever. What Does That Nature Say to You is at the ICA, London, from 25 July.
Forbes
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Korean Action Comedy ‘Informant' Debuts On NYAFF Opening Night
Heo Sung-tae and Jo Bok-rae form an unlikely team in 'Informant.' Heo Sung-tae plays detective Nam-hyeok in the Korean action comedy Informant. Nam-hyeong hasn't made any arrests lately. He relies on an informant played by Jo Bok-rae to give him inside info on various criminal activities. Jo's character Tae-bong is a master of disguise. He slips into dangerous situations that could potentially lead to Nam-hyeok making big arrests and earning a promotion. However, Nam-hyeok manages to mishandle every lead he's given. He just keeps getting demoted. The criminals in this film are obviously not trustworthy, but neither are the police. Some are out for glory and promotions. Some have been corrupted by money and power, betraying each other as readily as the criminals do. At least Nam-hyeok's heart is in the right place, even if he keeps making mistakes. Heo's detective character Nam-hyeok somehow bungles every opportunity he finds to make a big arrest. However, Nam-hyeong can't face disappointment forever. He starts to think about robbing the robbers he's pursuing so he can retire. Bok-rae has been working on his retirement plan all along, hoarding some of the profits during every one of Nam-hyeok's failed busts. The film debuts this week at the opening night of the New York Asian Film Festival and is a good example of the festival's theme 'Cinema as Disruption.' While introducing a range of endearingly unreliable characters, the action rolls out a succession of comically absurd situations that provide laughs from the film's beginning to its end. It's a funny game of cops and robbers in which neither side can exist without the other. There's plenty of bungling to go around. Heo Sung-tae is best known for his role in the original season of the Netflix hit Squid Game and can currently be seen in the Korean TV drama Good Boy, in which he also plays a detective at odds with the system. Nam-hyeok is the kind of character who might finally get a break if he only stepped out of his own way. Or perhaps if he made better use of his very smart informant. Jo Bok-rae, who appeared in the films Josée and Coin Locker Girl and dramas such as Moving and Park's Marriage Contract, makes Tae-bong a character to root for. His mad impersonation skills should really land him a job on the right side of the law. Seo Min-ju, a 2013 Miss Korea beauty pageant winner, appeared in the 2024 film Firefighters and in this film plays a tough cop that Nam-hyeok has a crush on. Informant is directed and written by Kim Seok, who made his debut with the award-winning short film Humanist at the CJ Young Festival in 2008 and also directed There Is a Bug in 2009. Informant will have its world premiere on July 11, the opening night of the New York Asian Film Festival. The premiere takes place at the Walter Reade Theater in New York, with director Kim Seok, Heo Sung-tae, Jo Bok-rae and Seo Min-ju attending the opening screening and participating in various events, including a Q&A session following the screening. It's one of several Korean films that will be shown at NYAFF, which runs from July 11 to 27. The roster also includes Forbidden Fairytale with Choi Si-won and Park Ji-hyun, Girl With Closed Eyes, starring Kim Min-ha.
CNA
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
South Korean stars Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Min-ho coming to Singapore to promote new thriller
South Korean actors Lee Min-ho and Ahn Hyo-seop, as well as director Kim Byung-woo, will be coming to Singapore on Jul 29 to promote the new fantasy action thriller, Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy. Details of the tour will be announced at a later date. Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy follows Kim Dok-ja (played by Ahn Hyo-seop, who recently voiced character Jinu in Netflix's popular animated film K-pop Demon Hunters), an ordinary office worker and the only devoted reader of a little-known web novel titled Three Ways To Survive The Apocalypse. Disappointed with the novel's ending, he sends an angry message to its author – only to have the fictional apocalyptic world suddenly become reality. When the novel's hero, Yu Jung-hyeok (played by Lee Min-ho), appears before him, Dok-ja must use his unique knowledge of the story to navigate the chaos and write a new ending. Directed by Kim Byung-woo, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Lee Jung-min, and produced by Won Dong-yeon of Realies Pictures, the studio behind the Along With The Gods franchise, the film is set to be one of the biggest Korean blockbusters of the year. Other all-star cast members in the film include Chae Soo-bin, Shin Seung-ho, singer Nana, child actor Kwon Eun-seong and Blackpink's Jisoo. This movie marks Ahn Hyo-seop's theatrical acting debut. He is best known for his roles in K-dramas Doctor Romantic 2 and 3, Business Proposal and Lovers Of The Red Sky. Meanwhile Lee, who is a household name across Asia, is best known for K-drama hits such as Boys Over Flowers, The Heirs and The Legend Of The Blue Sea. Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy is based on South Korean web novel Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint created by duo singNsong which has garnered over 2.5 billion views worldwide across its web novel and web comic adaptations. The original web novel concluded in February 2020 and has continued to expand its universe with an ongoing epilogue series since February 2023. The webtoon adaptation, published in 2020, is currently available in 10 languages, including English, Japanese and French. Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy will open in Singapore cinemas on Jul 31.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Byron Mann on Breaking Into Korean Cinema With ‘Big Deal' and Bridging East-West Storytelling: ‘The World Is Bigger Than Just America'
Byron Mann's debut in Korean cinema has proven that cross-cultural casting can pay off at the box office. The actor's new film 'Big Deal' opened at No. 3 in South Korea, landing just behind 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning' in a competitive marketplace. More from Variety TIFFCOM: Byron Mann's 'Dark Asset' Heads to Market (EXCLUSIVE) Byron Mann, Eugenia Yuan Add Flavor to 'Jasmine' Mann, Peng and Angelababy Join 'Legend' For Mann, whose credits span from Adam McKay's 'The Big Short' to Netflix's 'Altered Carbon' and productions across Asia including the Hong Kong-set romantic comedy 'The Modelizer,' the Korean film marked a unique experience that required him to completely overhaul his character's dialogue while navigating an unfamiliar production system. 'When they reached out to me, I actually thought they made a mistake,' Mann tells Variety. 'I thought, 'You know they know I don't speak Korean, right? I mean, they know I'm not Korean either, right?'' The confusion cleared up once Mann and his manager read the script. His character in 'Big Deal' is an investment banker from New York and Hong Kong in a story loosely based on real events involving one of Korea's biggest soju companies in 2003. The director had seen Mann's work in 'The Big Short' and felt he was right for the role. Mann's first major contribution to the production was extensive script work. Having worked across Asia in Thailand, mainland China, Hong Kong, and Indonesia, he recognized the common pitfalls of translated dialogue. 'Usually when you translate like that, you lose a lot of meaning, you lose a lot of juice, and first of all, the dialogue doesn't sound right,' Mann explains. 'I think I had to work for a month, like every day, to work with the production, the director, producer.' The process involved understanding the Korean team's intentions for each scene and line, then translating those concepts into natural English vernacular specific to how an investment banker would speak. 'Every line, every scene, I had to first of all understand what they were thinking. Then I had to translate it, spit it out in English.' The effort paid off. After seeing the finished film in Korea, Mann says he's 'very pleased' with how the English dialogue flows naturally, adding that it will help the film resonate when it travels to English-speaking markets. Working within Korea's production system revealed fascinating differences from Hollywood practices. On his first night in Seoul, Mann received what he initially thought was a Japanese manga book but turned out to be detailed storyboards for the entire film. 'Midway through the shoot, I realized that they're actually shooting literally according to the storyboard in the book, frame by frame,' Mann recalls. The practice, he learned, has become standard in Korean filmmaking over the past 8-10 years, with studios now requiring storyboards for greenlight approval. Looking forward, Mann sees significant shifts in the industry landscape, particularly in how streaming platforms approach content. 'You can see the streamers, particularly Netflix, realize that the world is bigger than just America,' he observes. 'I think they spend more resources on the rest of the world than in the United States.' Post-pandemic cost pressures following the writers' and actors' strikes have made Asian productions increasingly attractive to studios seeking efficiency. 'The cost of making a series is going to be a lot cheaper than what you make in the U.S., and if you're able to tell an equally exciting story in Asia, that's probably the way to go.' This economic reality aligns with Mann's recent career focus on what he calls 'Hollywood films that take place in Asia.' He recently completed 'The Modelizer,' a romantic comedy shot entirely in Hong Kong, and has several similar projects in development. Having worked with directors ranging from Adam McKay to various Asian filmmakers, Mann has observed distinct cultural approaches to performance and production. 'Adam McKay is very loose and improvisational,' he notes, while Asian directors often emphasize action and 'a little bit more posturing.' Western directors, Mann suggests, tend to expect actors to arrive fully prepared with homework completed for the entire project, while some Asian productions allow for more flexibility and star input during filming. Mann is preparing to announce his next project. Meanwhile, his completed action thriller 'Kill Him 'Til He's Dead' is in post-production for a later 2025 release. The film features Mann in seven different roles, which he describes as 'very groundbreaking' and 'fun.' His current focus continues to center on 'telling stories that happen in Asia, or Asian stories, and infusing it with Hollywood expertise.' 'Big Deal' is currently on release in the U.S., Canada and Korea. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar
