YOURSELF AND YOURS (DANGSINJASINGWA DANGSINUI GEOT) World Cinema

The seventh film YOURSELF AND YOURS to be featured at AFI FEST by prolific South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo, emerges as a singular work amid the expanse of Hong’s subtle variations on a theme. With deceptive simplicity, this enigmatic modern romance is at once playful and melancholic, with Hong reaching higher-concept, more experimental terrain in its exploration of the male ego. Painter Young-soo confronts his girlfriend Minjung with a rumor she fervently denies — that she has betrayed her promise to him and has been seen drinking excessively and quarreling with another man. The following day, Young-soo cannot find her. As he searches for her, women around town, perhaps dopplegängers of Minjung, are drawn into quasi-romantic encounters with other men. A naturalistic style complicates interpretation as to whether Minjung is an obsession, reflection, idealization or simply a clever cinematic reference. — Malin Kan