Late Autumn

Anna learns in prison that her mother has died, and is granted a three-day furlough for the funeral. On the bus to Seattle she meets Hoon, who is running from the furious husband of a wealthy client. Both are on borrowed time, and neither is expected where they are going. Kim Tae-yong's film is the fourth remake of Lee Man-hee's Manchu (1966). The original is among Korean cinema's lost classics: prints were rented to Spain and then incinerated when the customs charges could not be paid. This film draws on the memory of a film no one can see any more. Kim moves the story from Korea to Seattle and puts language at the center. Tang Wei plays Anna, who is Chinese; Hyun Bin plays Hoon, who is Korean. They talk in broken English, and where the sentences run out, the fog and the silence take over. It screened in Toronto in September 2010 and opened in Korea in February 2011. Who it's for: Viewers who like slow, sparsely spoken romantic drama carried by atmosphere. Who it's not for: There is almost no plot, and the film prefers to imply feeling rather than state it, which can be wearing if you want a clear story.