OKI’S MOVIE (O-KUI-UI YEONG-HWA) World Cinema

Fresh from showings at Venice and Toronto, the second opus from prolific savant Hong Sang·soo this year not only serves as an exhilarating companion piece to its predecessor, but also propels headlong into a formalistic exploration of the auteur’s favorite preoccupations. Elegantly separated into four distinct sections, OKl’S MOVIE presents several occurrences in the intersecting lives of a budding filmmaker, his aging professor and the woman they both love, but not necessarily in order. Shifting viewpoints and spanning different time frames, the film expressively toys with its own spare narrative while probing the obsessive self-absorption, impulses and growth that permeate artistic expression. Or, as the filmmaker notes: “Your sincerity needs its own form. The form will take you to the truth.” Through it all, Hong remains a master at crafting awkward moments both blisteringly hysterical and overwhelmingly tragic, building meticulously to the final chapter’s poetic ode to the fragility of love.