In Our Day

Two strands run side by side. In one, an actress who has given up acting is staying at a friend's flat; in the other, a young student visits an ageing poet. The same questions come up in both: how should one live, what is art for, what is happiness. And in both the answers fall short, because the people asking already know they do not have them. This time Hong Sang-soo lets spicy noodles and a cat into the narrative instead of the usual drinking. It is short, the locations are few, and there is almost no cutting. It is characteristic of his late work, where everything sits in the small lies inside a conversation. It closed Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. Who it is for: viewers fluent in Hong's language who enjoy extracting meaning from ordinary talk. Who it is not for: anyone wanting structure and conclusion, since the film stays deliberately incomplete.