An offbeat, grungy ballad that reveals the frivolity and hypocrisy found in the world of filmmaking, Like You Know It All is the latest delightfully playful masterpiece from director Hong Sang-soo.
Imbued with tongue-in-cheek cruelty and humour à la Woody Allen, the Korean auteur's work explores familiar ground through ordinary yet absurdly ironic events. Propelled by melancholic lucidity, the film unfolds in a blog-like format. The result is an endearing comedy that amusingly scrutinizes the emotional and social geography of a renowned art-house filmmaker.
Ku Kyung-nam (Kim Tae-woo) has never directed a commercially successful film, but he is a critics' darling – known abroad and respected at home. Invited to serve on the jury of the Jecheon International Music and Film Festival, Ku soon realizes that the event has little to do with the love of film. Pretty ladies from the festival organization introduce him to superficial film critics and other industry professionals, luring him into screenings where almost all of the jurors snore noisily in front of the screen as they recover from long, alcohol-fuelled nights. In fact, schmoozing at parties and drinking soju seem to be the main festival activities. While aimlessly wandering about town with a hangover and existentialist ponderings, Ku meets an old friend who insists he come over for dinner.
This unexpected encounter leads to an even less predictable epilogue set against a backdrop of awkwardly comic events. Days later at a seaside resort in another part of the country, our anti-hero will meet yet another old friend – his mentor, who has married his former lover from college.
Like You Know It All frames exquisite filmmaking in two distinct chapters that mirror the interplay between Hong and his cinematic alter ego Ku, pointing to his ongoing interest in depicting the world of artists. In a fine game of paradoxes, Hong eliminates all banalities from an often naughty yet ever joyful onscreen experience.
Giovanna Fulvi
Hong Sang-soo was born in Seoul and studied at Chung-Ang University. He received a B.F.A. from the California College of Arts and an M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He went on to direct The Day the Pig Fell Into the Well (96), The Power of Kangwon Province (98), Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (00), Turning Gate (02), which screened in the Festival's Harvest: South Korean Renaissance programme in 2002, Woman Is the Future of Man (04), Tale of Cinema (05), Woman on the Beach (06), Night and Day (08) and Like You Know It All (09).