The Day He Arrives (Bukchon banghyang)
Seongjun, a film director, arrives in Seoul to meet a close friend. When the friend doesn't show up, Seongjun wanders the city aimlessly.
He runs into an actress he used to know, shares a drink with some film students and against his better judgment, heads to his ex-girlfriend's apartment.
The next day goes very much like the last; Seongjun meets the actress, has drinks with friends, and falls for woman who looks remarkably like his ex-girlfriend. Each new day plays out like a flimsy copy of the previous one, but only Seongjun knows why.
Infused with a playfulness and dry wit that recalls the films of Woody Allen and Eric Rohmer, The Day He Arrives is a delightful meditation on relationships, filmmaking and the unknowable forces that govern our lives.
Screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 64th Cannes Film Festival, world-renowned auteur Hong Sang-soo (Oki's Movie, KOFFIA 2011) masterfully captures a wintery Seoul through a seductive sense of cinematic realism.
