This Overlooked 92%-Rated Korean Gem Is One of the Most Intimate & Moving Films You'll Ever See
This film is minimalist, meditative, and incredibly touching.
Each of Hong Sang-soo's movies resembles the last, yet his cinema is unlike any other. He makes conversational dramedies in which the narrative flows naturally and the lines between characters intertwine.
It's confusing yet captivating – you just have to sit back and enjoy the short journey. On the Beach at Night Alone is probably the director's best-known work and one of his most touching.
What Is 'On the Beach at Night Alone' About?
This is the story of actress Young-hee, who is trying to figure herself out. The line between her on-screen personas and her real identity becomes blurred, film blurs into life and life into film.
The first part is a prologue to the next story, in which Young-hee is an ordinary person, not an actress. Devastated and without direction, she returns to Seoul. She sits in a movie theater watching a movie in which she starred, tears welling up in her eyes.
An old friend approaches her, and through their conversation, we learn that rumors are circulating about her because of an affair with a married man.
If You're Looking to Get Into the Work of Hong Sang-Soo, 'On the Beach at Night Alone' Is the Perfect Film to Start With
Hong Sang-soo is one of the most astonishing directors in Korea and the world. He regularly releases two movies a year, working at an astonishing pace.
This is not a case of quantity over quality, though: all of his movies are selected for one of the world's major film festivals, such as Cannes, Venice, or Berlin.
Each film is minimalist in form yet complex in content, a tangle of thoughts, characters, and plots. In Hong's films, neither time nor space exist as we know them – only a series of dialogues and images coalescing into a grand meta-plot.
His works, especially his later ones, are very similar, which doesn't diminish their value, and you can begin your acquaintance with the director with any of them. However, it's best to start with On the Beach at Night Alone – a meditative story about an actress trying to figure out her life.
'On the Beach at Night Alone' Is a Psychotherapy Movie for the Discerning Viewer
In just 100 minutes, Hong Sang-soo immerses viewers in the subconscious of the main character in On the Beach at Night Alone and compels us to experience something difficult to describe.
The director admits that his films are largely spontaneous – the actors receive the script for the day's filming half an hour beforehand. Playing reality is the most difficult art form, but Kim Min-hee mastered it brilliantly.
On the Beach at Night Alone is a psychotherapeutic movie for sophisticated viewers, but it doesn't contain any hidden meanings beyond what the characters say.
What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'On the Beach at Night Alone'?
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On the Beach at Night Alone has 92% from critics and 67% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
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On IMDb, the movie has a score of 6.8/10.
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On Letterboxd, On the Beach at Night Alone scored 3.8/5.0.
Where to Watch 'On the Beach at Night Alone'?
On the Beach at Night Alone is available to stream on Kanopy.
