RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN (JIGEUMEUN MATGO GEUTTAENEUN TEULLIDA) World Cinema

Fans of the incendiary, sharply realized body of work from Korean master Hong Sang-soo can expect a degree of welcome familiarity in his choice of subject matter, character traits, setting and themes. Nearly all of his feature films center around male filmmakers and students whose narcissistic tendencies overtake their morality as they pursue a central female figure — often involving bouts of extreme drunkenness, sexual confrontation and travel. RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN is perhaps Hong’s most “meta” relationship exploration yet. A director arrives in town a day early for a screening and spends 24 hours with an attractive artist. This story then literally repeats itself midway through the film, but with subtle, vitally important variations. Forgoing the barbed pessimism of his early works, Hong crafts a potent swirl of delightful charm and wistful commentary that deservedly took top honors at this year’s Locarno International Film Festival. — Landon Zakheim