The Day After

This is a film where past and present exist in a continuous looping, as the leading character sees women as empty sheets, not caring about their single qualities and repeating the same behavior, approach and even dialogues. Indeed, he cares about nothing but his own comfort, and lies, evades or presents himself as a victim whenever it is convenient. He is a coward womanizer who cheats his wife and merges work with sexual life. Perhaps his own weakness to sustain his positions, to say what he really thinks, is a protection by himself to keep that easy role and not make decisions, it is an alibi to always reapeating the very same wrongdoing without feeling responsible for it. Philosophical and religious discussions, often combined with food and booze, rose during the film, and the reasons of their appearance seem to be open to varied interpretations. Aesthetic choices by the director may make it somtimes unnecessarily confusing, and by reading other reviews I understood that it is a trait of his filmography, even stronger in previous movies. Unfortunately I could not watch the last scene until its very end, due cable TV problems.

This story has no beginning no end. The director connects the viewer at a certain moment. But this moment is random from the point of view of semantic load. So from the very beginning the film is not exciting, and so it goes until the end of the movie.

Geu-hu (2017) is a Korean movie shown in the U.S. with the title The Day After. The film was written and directed by Sang-soo Hong.

It stars Min-hee Kim as Song Areum, a young woman who begins her first day at work in a small publishing house. Unknown to her, the woman who held the job before she did was the married publisher's lover.

What follows is a French-style farce, with trysts, mistaken identity, and woman-on-woman violence. The publisher, who is at the center of all this, doesn't strike me as someone women would fight over. Because of this, the film didn't work for me.

We saw this film in its Rochester premiere at the wonderful Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman museum. It has a decent IMDb rating of 7.0. I don't believe it's as good as that. In any event, it will work as well on the small screen as it does on the large screen.

'The Day After' (Hangul: 그 후; RR: Geu-hu), is a partly interesting spaghetti of infidelity & romance. Written, Produced & Directed by Hong Sang-soo, 'The Day After' has some really arresting moments & a first-rate cast, but unfortunately, there isn't much in the film stands out.

'The Day After' Synopsis: The married Bongwan leaves home in the dark morning and sets off to work. The memories of the woman who left weigh down on him. That day Bongwan's wife finds a love note, bursts into the office, and mistakes Areum for the woman who left.

'The Day After' has amusing characters who cross paths, some by coincidence & some by circumstances. And some of the banter between the characters is fun & some really long scenes (done in a single take) hold your attention. But, overall. the film doesn't really leave an impression and thats mainly because the film doesn't leave you with anything. Its pretty decent till you watch it, but nothing about it really stands out. Its at best a watchable film, with some enjoyable moments.

Hong Sang-soo's Screenplay raises some genuine laughs & has some crackling dialogue too, but isn't strong enough to be called memorable. Hong Sang-soo's Direction is mature. He's handled a couple of sequences well. Cinematography & Editing are finely done.

Performance-Wise: Kwon Hae-hyo, Kim Min-hee, Kim Sae-byeok & Jo Yoon-hee, all are top-notch.

On the whole, 'The Day After' is a passable fare.

It took me awhile to put together what was going on here with what came across to me as a convoluted film opening. But as this South Korean movie, written and directed by Hong Sang-soo, progressed it came more and more into focus.

Other reviewers have described the plot elements, so I'll say the film, on the whole, was a mixed bag for me. Dialogue driven with only a few characters throughout and beautifully shot in black and white, the movie could be amusing and quite engaging at times, but then could lapse into overwrought melodrama and philosophical babble as well.

All in all, as mentioned, mixed feelings for me here but I did find its poignant final minutes enhanced the film and brought it all together well.