Criticism of ‘The novelist and her film’, the cinema in the actors

Hong Sang-soo thinks the best way to get out of a creative block is to make a Hong Sang-soo movie. That ‘moral’, if one can talk about morals in a cinema so open to the accidents of reality, should not be confused with a narcissistic celebration: after all, in ‘The Novelist and Her Film’ what is claimed the korean filmmaker is the right to find cinema in its actors, in the relationship with the spaces, in the word that stirs their most hidden emotions like someone preparing a magic potion for adventurers.

In this sense, the last minutes of the film are the great plot twist of a plot that examines, in a linear fashion, the doubts and rebirths to which every creative process should undergo: this mini-short film, shot in color, is not only a beautiful tribute to its muse, Kim Minhee, but the definition of a creed, the declaration of love to an art that, between the passion for the casual and the entomological analysis of the human condition, is quite close to an idea of ​​happiness.

For those who want to get out of creative block

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DATA SHEET

Direction: Hong Sang-soo Distribution: Lee Hye-young, Kim Min-hee, Seo Young-hwa, Ki Joo-bong, Cho Yun-hee Country: South Korea Year: 2022 Release date: 28–12-2022 Gender: Drama Script: Hong Sang-soo Duration: 92 min.

Synopsis: The famous novelist Junhee meets with two friends and the evening seems to be charged with a certain bitterness. One of them gave up writing to open a bookstore and she still hasn’t told Junhee what she thinks of her latest book. The second is a filmmaker and she never adapted Junhee’s book, something they had planned. Although the most puzzling thing is that Junhee hasn’t posted anything in a while. Instead, she has begun to question her literary approach and has doubts about the sensibility that has shaped her style and her personality.