The Power of Kangwon Province

Unfamiliar with the works of Hong Sang-soo, I started watching 'The Power of Kangwon Province'. In the early scenes of the film, you see a microphone appearing, used for recording sound. I paused the movie briefly and checked on Google, just to make sure that this was really a picture made by a critically acclaimed director. After Google gave me the confirmation, I finished the movie in one go, satisfied about my first encounter with director Hong.

'The Power of Kangwon Province' is a South Korean drama, first released in 1998 and is written and directed by Hong Sang-soo. This film was Hong's second and other praised movies by Hong are 'The Day a Pig fell into a Well' and 'Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors'. The movie stars Oh Yun-hong as student Ji-sook and Baek Jong-hak as college professor Sang-kwon. I also recognised Kim Yoo-suk as a policeman. Kim played one of the leading roles in 'The Isle'.

The Kangwon province, with mountains and forests, is located in the north eastern part of South Korea and the demilitarised zone splits up the area and continues into North Korea. This movie however is not about the Korean divide, but about relationships. 'The Power of Kangwon Province' tells actually two stories. The first part of the movie is about Ji-sook, who is on a trip to the Kangwon province with her two girlfriends, where she strikes up a fling with a policeman. The second part of the film involves the story of Sang-kwon, a husband and father, who visits the mountains of Kangwon for leisure together with a friend. Both men end up in the arms of a prostitute. During the movie, by coincidence both stories cross each other and at the end of the movie director Hong connects the two stories together.

The style of filming, editing and use of music is very minimalistic, but the end result is intriguing. Every camera shot is a steady shot that doesn't zoom in or out or moves sideways, followed by a hard cut to the next shot. Music only plays at the beginning and ending. By the way that Hong is filming, you really feel connected to the actors and therefore closer to Hong's dim view on relationships between man and a woman. You feel the pain and sorrow of Ji-sook when she returns from Kangwon by bus and cries and cries and cries. Even the sex scenes feel so sad and basically Hong managed to remove the sex out of the sex scenes.

It is unclear to me why Hong left in the scenes where the microphone is noticeable, as mentioned in the introduction. 'The Power of Kangwon Province' is however worth watching for its unusual minimalistic style and the underlying depressing note of the film. If you are in a positive mood, then I would recommend you to wait watching this movie, as it affects your mood significantly, but if you have the chance to see this picture, please do so. Overall rating: 6.9

Let us begin by saying that this film's English title "The Power of Kangwon Province" is an absolute misnomer.It is because in Hong Sang Soo's film,there are no actual shots of wars,troubles and conflicts.So the idea of establishing power of a province is neither suitable nor valid in the context of this film.If we were to judge this film by its Korean language title,"Kangwon-do ui him" is going to appear as a cryptic statement about emotional turmoils of its young protagonists whose minds are not at rest.Hong Sang Soo has also directed a highly prolific visual document about erratic choices made by people in their lives.The people in question are a couple of young girls who are constantly in the process of displaying their moods,whims and fancies. If making a film out of nothingness can be claimed as a film maker's meritorious virtue then Hong Sang Soo has to be saluted as a courageous film maker whose films speak volumes about ubiquitous nothingness of human relationships,sentiments and lives.Whether one likes it or not,this is the only fair conclusion that be deduced from this particular film.

This is a good movie for those who like art films, of which I am one. The plot is obscured behind some seemingly vacuous dialog for most of the movie, and there isn't really a traditional arc for either the plot or the characters - so you can call this contemplative. The director succeeds in encouraging the audience to recall its own emotional reactions rather than be forced to react along with its characters - you don't really get 'drawn in' to this movie, you're drawn along with it, like watching the scenery change as you float down river. It's successful and well done, but, for all its positives, low on entertainment value.

Additionally, this movie is not like Hou Hsiao Hsien or Tsai Ming Liang. This movie does have a more or less stationary camera, lack of score and generally non-glamorous locations and characters, but that does not qualify as similar to or reminiscent of those filmmakers, as other reviewers have suggested. If you want to compare this to another 'Asian New Wave' movie you've seen, this is more in keeping with an Ed Yang film, although lacking the grandeur and narrative complexity. So even that comparison is a stretch. To me, this looks and feels much more like an early Jarmusch movie, just with more sympathetic (if less interesting) characters. That comparison may give you a better sense of what you're sitting down to watch.

In the film Kongwon-do ui him it features a relatively intimate look into the meaningfulness (as well as general meaninglessness) into the lives of various Koreans; empty people seeking ways to fill themselves, enjoying the escapism of nature. From the beginning to the end of the film we observe the fallibility of the various characters; we learn of their shortcomings and their desires, the overall complexity captured within human life (and yet the overal simplicity of humanity). Although the film is slow-moving, it can be very contemplative. It does not force any ideas, but allows the ideas to come about themselves, it allows the concepts to reveal themselves.

The film ends as well and as suddenly as it begins, and one truly understands the meaning of aloneness, that love is often an act of selfishness, and the many mistakes that we make. It is a look into everyday life, very well and beautifully done.

If you are looking for action or for intense drama, this is not the film for you. However, if you enjoy honest, original, and meaningful films that are not forced and without glitz, this is a great film to watch.

I really don't know, but this is probably the first and only Korean film that that doesn't have any reaction shots. No pans, no dolly shots...nothin'! No professional actors were cast. Very basic filmmaking. The subject matter is trivial, everyday life. Overall, it's a beautiful film to see.