Singapore International Film Festival 2018
Hotel by the River
Language
Korean - subtitles to be advised
Cast
Ki Joo-bong, Kim Min-hee, Song Seon-mi
Synopsis
Two strangers—an ageing poet and a lovelorn young woman—seek refuge in a provincial hotel. The poet is visited by his estranged sons, while the woman finds company in her best friend. In separate worlds that spill over occasionally, they each speak wryly and forlornly of the past, and of the complications of love.
Hotel by the River marks the prolific auteur Hong’s fifth feature in less than two years—an incredible output that owes itself to his uniquely fast style of filmmaking, which eschews detailed scripting and preparation in favour of instinct and improvisation. This, combined with his skilful casting, creates the distinctive blend of reality, fiction and candour that pervade the entirety of Hong’s oeuvre.