Asako in Ruby Shoes succeeds in providing yet another challenge to views of a homogeneous South Korea by presenting to us the Asian side of modern globalization. The film jumps back and forth from Korea and Japan, with each main character feeling out of place in their respective homes.
Recently returned to South Korea, an actress in her forties is staying with her friend and her cat. Meanwhile, an aging poet in declining health lives alone after the death of his own cat. One day, each receives a visit from a different young aspiring artist, who come equipped with questions about their careers and life itself.
A novelist visits a bookstore run by a young colleague who's been out of touch, then takes a walk with a film director and his wife. She meets an actress and tries to convince her to make a film together.
A mysterious explosion occurs at the Balam Bridge in Seoul on November 20th, 1994. In front of hot-blooded local news reporter Lee Bang-Woo, Yoon Hyeok appears. Yoon Hyeok is from the same hometown as Lee Bang-Woo, but they haven't seen each other in a long time. Yoon Hyeok hands over documents to Lee Bang-Woo and hints that the case of the Balam Bridge was fabricated.
A screenwriter dreams of success and has a boyfriend who is a member of an unsuccessful rock band. Her sister, an interior designer, meets an actor she falls for. Her niece is trying to figure out how to get her first kiss from her boyfriend. Three stories about life and dating.
When six famous Korean actresses gather for a Vogue fashion photo shoot, egos collide in funny and touching ways in this ingenious mockumentary, where all actresses involved play (not so) fictional versions of themselves.
A woman suddenly disappears. Her fiance then sets out to find her and, in the process, uncovers layers of dark hidden secrets.
After losing both her parents, Failan emmigrates to Korea to seek her only remaining relatives. Once she reaches Korea, she finds out that her relatives have moved to Canada well over a year ago. Desperate to stay and make a living in Korea, Failan is forced to have an arranged marriage through a match-making agency.
An odd director leaves for Hollywood to shoot a film via Skype and cellphones. 14 actors and actresses are devastated after being dumped by the director. Now, the 14 actors and actress prepare for the counterattack.
A director, a cinematographer, and an actress spend the days leading up to a movie shoot together on-location, waiting for the director to come up with an idea for what the film will be about.
A hitman accidentally kills a little girl. Filled with regret, he wants to quit. But then to tie up loose ends, he is forced to go on another job, to kill the girl's mother.
After a trivial quarrel, co-workers Dong-hee and Young decide to take a break from their relationship. But they realise that they still love each other as their attempts to find new partners fail.
How do you go about detaining a total stranger for 12 hours? This is what Ha-young (Lee Yo-won) has to do for her best friend, Mi-ryung (Kim Min-hee). Mi-ryung has been planning for a surprise party for her overseas boyfriend Jun-woo (Shin Ha-gyun), but her plans are stopped short when her father finds out that Jun-woo is half-Hawaiian, and forbids the party from being held. Mi-ryung is put under even greater pressure when Jun-Woo tells her that he would arrive early, and she pleads with Ha-Young to intercept Jun-Woo at the airport, and to keep him from turning up at Mi-ryung's place before she can iron things out.
1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sookee, is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, Hideko, who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle Kouzuki. But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to steal her fortune.
By mistake, film director Ham Chunsu arrives in Suwon a day early. With time to kill before his lecture the next day, Chunsu stops by a restored, old palace and meets an artist named Yoon Heejung. Together, they go to Heejung's workshop to look at her paintings, have Sushi with Soju for dinner, and get close. Later, they go to another café and have more drinks with Heejung's acquaintances. When asked if he is married, Chunsu is forced to reveal the fact that he is, and Heejung gets deeply disappointed...
After a scandal breaks out among several students involved in the production of a skit, a lecturer at a South Korean women's college brings in her uncle, a famous actor, to bring the work to fruition.
A foreign city. The actress Younghee, stressed by a relationship with a married man in Korea, has given up everything, as the least courtesy she can show her sincere heart. He has said he'll join her, but she mistrusts him. She eats at an acquaintance's home and goes to a beach. She asks her friend, whom she thinks does not understand: "Is he missing me now, like I miss him?" Gangneung, Korea. A few old friends. Things are awkward, they drink, and she decides to startle them. She acts aloof, then cruel, but they like it. Left alone, Younghee goes to the beach, where things inside her heart manifest themselves, then fade like mist. How important is love in one’s life? Younghee wants to know.
On a business trip to the Cannes Film Festival, Manhee is accused of being dishonest, and fired. A teacher named Claire goes around taking photos with a Polaroid camera. She gets to know Manhee and sympathizes with her. Claire is like a person who can see Manhee's possible future or past selves, through the mysterious power of the beach tunnel. Through taking photos, Claire has acquired the ability to look slowly at things, and to transform objects. Now, Claire goes with Manhee to the café where she was fired. We look forward to seeing Claire's power at work.
On her first day at work, Areum replaces a woman who broke up with the boss. The wife of the boss finds a love note, bursts into the office, and mistakes Areum for the other woman.
Areum sits in a small café, typing on her laptop. Around her, customers enact various dramas from their lives. Is she writing what she hears or is she hearing what's been written?
An aging poet summons his estranged sons to the hotel he is staying at because he feels his death is near; meanwhile, he encounters two women staying at the hotel.
While her husband is on a business trip, Gamhee meets three of her friends. She visits the first two at their homes, and the third she encounters by chance at a theater. While they make friendly conversation, as always, several currents flow independently above and below the surface of the sea.
Youngho is summoned by his father, who is a doctor. Finding him busy with his patients, one of whom is a famous actor, Youngho has to wait. When his girlfriend Juwon moves to Berlin for her studies, Youngho shows up in the city to surprise her. Through her mother, Juwon has found accommodation at the home of an artist whose beauty intimidates her. Some time later, Youngho goes to lunch with his mother who wants to introduce him to a colleague – it is the same man Youngho met at his father's clinic. Youngho asks his friend Jeongsoo to accompany him, and after lunch they go to the beach. Youngho falls asleep, and dreams of Juwon. When he wakes up, he braves the considerable cold and goes swimming, while Jeongsoo watches.
A short film about the award ceremony at Berlinale '21 and then also about a snail.
Hong Sang-soo’s short film made for the 62nd edition of the New York Film Festival.
Hong Sangsoo's short film made for the 59th edition of the New York Film Festival.
New film from director Hong Sang-soo, shooting this November. Plot under wraps.