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The Novelist's Film

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The Novelist's Film
Theatrical release poster
Hangul
소설가의 영화
Hanja
小說家의 映畫
Revised RomanizationSoseolgaui Yeonghwa
Directed byHong Sang-soo
Written byHong Sang-soo
Produced byHong Sang-soo
StarringLee Hye-young
Kim Min-hee
Seo Young-hwa
CinematographyHong Sang-soo
Edited byHong Sang-soo
Music byHong Sang-soo
Production
company
Jeonwonsa Film Co
Distributed by
  • All Film Production Company
  • Content Panda
  • Finecut
Release dates
  • 16 February 2022 (2022-02-16) (Berlin)
  • 21 April 2022 (2022-04-21) (South Korea)
Running time
92 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Budgetest. US$71,560[1]

The Novelist's Film (Korean: 소설가의 영화, romanized: Soseolgaui Yeonghwa) is a 2022 South Korean black and white drama film written, directed, produced, photographed, scored and edited by Hong Sang-soo. The Novelist's Film, starring Lee Hye-young and Kim Min-hee, was described as the film that "celebrates the beauty of chance encounters, while talking about the importance of authenticity in the dishonest world of cinema" by the executive director Carlo Chatrian of 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it premiered in the competition section on February 16, 2022. It is the third consecutive year that Hong Sang-soo has been invited to the festival.[2] The film won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the festival, which is the 4th for Sang-soo.[3] It was released theatrically in South Korea on April 21, 2022.

Cast

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Production

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The film was shot for two weeks outside Seoul in March 2021 with Lee Hye-young and Kim Min-hee as main leads.[5] The still photos from production site were released on April 12, 2022.[6]

Release

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It was the third consecutive year for the film's director Hong Sang-soo to be competing for the main awards in the competition section of the Berlin International Film Festival. His previous two films The Woman Who Ran (2020) and Introduction (2021) were selected in the competition section at the 70th and 71st editions of the festival.[7] The film screened on February 16, 2022, at Berlinale Palast for the first time.[8] It was also screened in Career section at Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival held from April 19 – May 1, 2022,[9] and Istanbul Film Festival on April 12, 2022.[10]

The film was released theatrically in South Korea on April 21, 2022.[11] It was screened in Masters & Auteurs section of the 46th Hong Kong International Film Festival on August 16, 2022.[12] It also made it to Icon section of 27th Busan International Film Festival and screened on October 6, 2022.[13]

The film was selected in main slate of 2022 New York Film Festival held from September 30 to October 16, 2022.[14]

The film will be released in the United States by The Cinema Guild.[15]

Reception

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Box office

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The film was released on 66 screens on April 21, 2022.[16][17]

As of August 21, 2022 it is at 49th place among all the Korean films released in the year 2022, with gross of US$71,560 and 10,492 admissions.[1]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 26 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's consensus reads, "Hong Sang-soo reaffirms his ability to distill beauty and wisdom from the mundane in The Novelist's Film, a pure and delightful deliberation on an artist's creative process."[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[19]

David Rooney of Hollywood Reporter wrote, that the film "conceals thoughts on the insularity of creative communities, the ticking clock of an artist's life and the importance of remaining open to finding truth even in what appear to be random connections". Concluding the review Rooney stated, "The Novelist's Film is an unapologetically slight entry, stripped back to the point where it seems to be about nothing and has nothing especially profound to say. But it's a pleasurable exercise for an artist continually in conversation with himself about the value of his work and what his collaborators bring to it. As such, Hong's 27th feature is arguably less an essential new chapter than a teasing footnote to everything he's done before."[20] Guy Lodge reviewing for Variety opined, "The latest miniature from the prolific South Korean auteur won't rank among his most essential works, but it still offers playful pleasures aplenty."[21] Stephanie Bunbury of Deadline wrote, "Here's another walking-and-talking film from festival favorite Hong Sang-soo, encapsulating a sliver of Korean life with his customary elusive delicacy." Concluding Bunbury stated, "the film rather than sharing a sense of completion, makes it clear that this is the flow of creative life. They [the novelist and the director] will keep working. It's what they do."[22]

James Mottram of the South China Morning Post gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Hong's film is driven by gentle coincidence and good humour". Mottram opined that "those who don't have the patience for Hong's delicate brand of cinema may find The Novelist's Film frustrating, but this simply shot tale of human interaction has a beauty all of its own."[23] Jake Cole of the Slant Magazine gave 3.5 stars out of 4 and wrote, "The Novelist's Film suggests that Hong has yet to exhaust his methods of deriving significance and beauty from the most quotidian of details, and perhaps that his strongest work is yet to come."[24]

Dennis Schwartz graded the film as B+ and left it for the viewer "to judge if Hong Sang-soo comes up with enough here to succeed in making a film that's both enjoyable and meaningful but Schwartz found it "gentle, sincere and inspiring".[25] Rory O'Connor of The Film Stage graded the film as B and found the dialogues "as spiky and self-reflexive as everwrote". He opined that the film is "modest, but light-hearted". Concluding, he wrote, "Hong's latest—which was made during COVID's restrictions, with plenty masks on show, and which Hong shot, edited, and even composed the score for—is ultimately a little ode to expression itself".[26]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Recipients/ Nominees Result Ref.
2022 72nd Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize The Novelist's Film Won [27][28]
42nd Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Youngpyeong Top 10 Films Won [29]

References

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  1. ^ a b "KOFIC, KOBIS (Korean Box Office Information System) The Box office: Korean films of 2022". KOFIC. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  2. ^ Patrick Frater (January 19, 2022). "Hong Sang-soo's Third Successive Berlin Competition Title 'The Novelist's Film' Picked up by Finecut". Variety. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  3. ^ Lee Jae-hoon (February 17, 2022). "홍상수, 베를린영화제 4번째 은곰상…김민희 "감동적"(종합)" [Hong Sang-soo, the 4th Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival... Kim Min-hee "Inspiring" (Comprehensive)]. Newsis (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  4. ^ Kim Na-yeon (January 20, 2022). "홍상수·김민희 신작 '소설가의 영화', 베를린영화제 경쟁부문 초청" [Hong Sang-soo and Kim Min-hee's new 'Novelist's Film' invited to the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival]. Star News (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  5. ^ Lee Jae-hoon (January 19, 2022). "홍상수, 3년 연속 베를린行…김민희 주연 '소설가의 영화' 경쟁부문 초청" [Hong Sang-soo to Berlin for 3 years in a row... Kim Min-hee's 'Novelist's Film' was invited to the competition section.]. Newsis (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  6. ^ "홍상수 신작 '소설가의 영화' 현장서 포착된 ♥김민희..아이처럼 해맑은 표정" [Kim Min-hee caught at the scene of Hong Sang-soo's new 'Novelist's Movie'.. A child-like bright expression]. Herald POP (in Korean). Naver. April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  7. ^ Kim Kyung-hee (January 20, 2022). "홍상수 감독 '소설가의 영화' 3년 연속 베를린영화제 경쟁부문 공식 초청" [Director Hong Sang-soo's 'Novelist's Film' officially invited to the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival for the third year in a row]. iMBC (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  8. ^ "So-seol-ga-ui yeong-hwa; The Novelist's Film". Berlinale. February 10, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  9. ^ "23rd BAFICI Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival – Asian Presence". Asian Film Festivals. April 19, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  10. ^ "The Novelist's Film". Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. April 12, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  11. ^ Kim Kyung-hee (March 29, 2022). "'소설가의 영화' 홍상수 감독 베를린영화제 심사위원대상 수상작 4월 국내 개봉" ['A Novelist's Film' directed by Hong Sang-soo, the winner of the Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, will be released in Korea in April]. MBC Entertainment (in Korean). Naver. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  12. ^ "The Novelist's Film". Hong Kong International Film Festival. August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  13. ^ "The Novelist's Film". Busan International Film Festival. September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  14. ^ Jill Goldsmith (August 9, 2022). "New York Film Festival Sets Main Slate For 60th Edition". Deadline. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  15. ^ Matt Grobar (February 16, 2022). "Cinema Guild Acquires Hong Sangsoo's Berlin Silver Bear Winner The Novelist's Film". Deadline. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  16. ^ "KOFIC, KOBIS (Korean Box Office Information System) Box office: The Novelist's Film (2022)". KOFIC. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  17. ^ "일별 박스오피스" [Daily box office]. Korean Film Council (in Korean). KOBIS. April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  18. ^ "The Novelist's Film (2022 Drama)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  19. ^ "The Novelist's Film". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  20. ^ David Rooney (February 16, 2022). "'The Novelist's Film' ('So-seol-ga-ui Yeong-hwa'): Film Review :Berlin 2022". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  21. ^ Lodge, Guy (February 16, 2022). "'The Novelist's Film' Review: Another Mischievous, Meandering Conversation on Life, Art and Drinking From Hong Sangsoo". Variety. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  22. ^ Bunbury, Stephanie (February 16, 2022). "Berlin Review: Hong Sang-Soo's 'The Novelist's Film'". Deadline. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  23. ^ James Mottram (February 16, 2022). "Review: Berlin 2022: The Novelist's Film movie review – Hong Sang-soo's featherweight tale of human interaction, starring Lee Hye-young and Kim Min-hee". South China Morning Post. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  24. ^ Jake Cole (February 16, 2022). "The Novelist's Film Review: Hong Sang-soo Finds Poetry in Familiar Rhythms". Slant Magazine. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  25. ^ Dennis Schwartz (February 21, 2022). "NOVELIST'S FILM, THE". Dennis Schwartz Reviews. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  26. ^ Rory O'Connor (February 28, 2022). "Berlin Review: Hong Sangsoo Delivers Calm, Casual Charms in The Novelist's Film". The Film Stage. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  27. ^ Tom Grater (January 19, 2022). "Berlin Film Festival Line-Up: Hong Sang-soo, Claire Denis & Ulrich Seidl In Competition; Sidebars Feature Peter Strickland, Andrew Dominik & Dario Argento". Deadline. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  28. ^ "Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize". Berlinale. February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  29. ^ Park, Mi-ae (October 24, 2022). "헤어질 결심', 영평상 최우수작품상 선정…공로상 안성기" ['Decision to break up' selected for Best Picture at the Youngpyeong Awards... Achievement Award Ahn Sung-ki] (in Korean). E-Daily. Retrieved October 24, 2022 – via Naver.
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