Night and Day (2008 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the Hong Sang-soo film, Night and Day (2008), Seong-nam is a soiled Korean fellow who is in Paris after fleeing the police (the crime was smoking pot) in Seoul. A painter, he meets several young Korean women affiliated with the Paris art scene and, though married to a wife in Seoul, eventually commits adultery with one of them. The movie, both directed and scripted by Hong, is about Life, period. Related to this, of course, are Hong’s themes: sexual desire in an alien country, the fluctuations in human connections, the concept of sin (Seong-nam is a Bible reader), and when even a middle-aged person lacks a real occupation—and a direction in life. What’s more, Night and Day slowly becomes an absorbing love story, including between Seong-nam and his wife.
Hong is a talented man who savvily depends on medium and medium-long shots, and is an imaginative writer. Plus he works well enough with his performers that the acting ranges from good to very good. Kim Yeong-ho is very good as the main character.
