(Movie Review) Introspective satire draws laughter in 'Like You Know It All'

SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap) -- Dozens clapped at the end of the preview night, their face broad with smiles and their heart as light as a feather: not the most ordinary scene for director Hong Sang-soo.

Hong may have always been funny, but not all managed to catch his sharp humor.
Despite applause at international film fests, the 48-year-old director has never
been successful box office-wise, with some discomforted by his male-centered
perspectives on romance, sex and life in general.
Since 2006, though, with the Berlin Film Fest-commended "Woman on the Beach,"
Hong appears to have grown an attitude that speaks to a much wider range of fans.
His humor is softer, funnier and easier to comprehend.
Hong's trademark self-mockery is clearer in his ninth feature "Like You Know It
All (Jal aljido mothamyeonseo)," with the protagonist being a lowly film
director.
Opening the two intertwining stories is Gyeong-nam (Kim Tae-woo), a self-claimed
art films director who is much duller and more ignorant than he'd like to think
he is.
Traveling to Jecheon in the central Chungcheong province to participate as a jury
member of a regional international film festival, Gyeong-nam meets several people
including sharp-tongued festival programmer Hyeon-hee (Uhm Ji-won), who later
accuses him of being a hypocrite who "literally ruins her life."
Running from the regional town after several embarrassing and uneasy incidents --
involving women, alcohol, chain-smoking, but never work -- Gyeong-nam lands in
Jeju Island where he encounters his first "real love" Go-sun (Ko Hyeon-jeong),
who appears amused by him, but has no intention of giving Gyeong-nam what he
wants.
The truth is, though, there is nothing really "new" about Hong's new movie.
Again, he sneers at self-claimed intellectuals who, in reality, are only
interested in getting laid and outshining each other with their shallow
knowledge.
But the film is nonetheless a delight as Hong makes a noticeable effort in
conveying the same message in a vehicle that evidently cuts back on the fidgety
boldness shown in his previous works including "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her
Bachelors" and "Woman is the Future of Man."
While far from appealing, none of his characters are detestable as they all
portray a hypocritical part of us: sleeping through most of the films he must
judge, Hong's alter ego Gyeong-nam tells others he came as a jury to support the
"superb films that ordinary people miss out on." Men -- old or young --
childishly try to score more points with women through arm wrestling, and women
say "they might or might not" have been raped in alcoholic vulnerability.
"There is naturally a bit of me in all the characters, but I do my best to keep a
distance from them," Hong said after the movie's preview Monday night. "Unless I
maintain this distance, I could easily be confined in my own movies -- the worst
thing to happen to a filmmaker."
Proving himself to be among the most adored film creators among actors and
actresses, Hong again managed to cast several big names in his newest release,
all of whom agreed to work without any fees upfront.
"He never told me anything beforehand," said actor Kim Tae-woo, playing the main
character Gyeong-nam. "I was given the script on a daily basis. Actually, it
looked more like scribbles on a torn piece of paper than a script."
Although they may be laughing through most of the film's 126-minute-running time,
audiences are given something to ponder after the humorous images fade with the
memorable line: "Don't act like you know it all. Just live by things you really
know."
"Like You Know It All," which has been invited to a non-competition juror section
of the upcoming Cannes International Film Festival, will hit the local cinemas
beginning May 14.