Hill of Freedom

source: Hill of Freedom

Telling the film in a nonlinear fashion may seem like a gimmick, but the mixed up pages made it seem plausible. I enjoyed the subtle humor and gentle nature of the film, as well as the little jokes between the Koreans and the Japanese main character. Koreans must really appreciate Eric Rohmer!

A film without depth. The poor directing, script, and camera is only trumped by the exceptionally poor acting (especially the main actor). Don't waste your time.

Movie is quite boring.I think story is little bit too short.Simple movie for 15+

I was pleasantly surprised by this beautifully written, directed, filmed and acted film which only clocked in merely 64mins. I'll look forward to seeing more of Hong's films.

Such an ordinary story, which tries to deliver little messages, whether the simplicity is intended or just underdeveloped story, so thus it just look and feel the same like our life in that part of our situation in life.

Hong Sang-soo is the name of a director that I know. Having seen his 'Hahaha' a few years back, and remembering how it made me 'ha ha ha', I was looking forward to what appeared to be another comedy involving reminiscing and discussions over alcohol. Where 'Hahaha' used still photos while the conversation continued to flow, 'Hill of Freedom' uses another inventive technique for this not-always-so- subtle comedy. Mori, played effectively by Japanese man Ryo Kase (you remember him), is a Japanese man returning to Korea for two weeks looking for the Korean student he fell in love with when working in Seoul as a language tutor. The Korean student, Kwon, unaware of his return, has also recently returned to Seoul after some time away recovering from illness under the care of a man combining being both a preacher and doctor. She finds she has been left a series of letters written by Mori in broken English. Dropping the letters, she loses the chronological order that Mori had clearly put them in, yet failed to date. Kwon then begins to read the letters, which are acted out for us, but with the order now lost so the film now becomes a sprawling collection of mish-mash snips of Mori's time in Korea. This means things are seen before they actually happen (sort of) creating confusion for the audience (sort of). The chronology is not particularly distracting and adds a nice charm to the film, as well as some comedy moments. The real comedy here, however, is the fact that this is a Korean film, centred around a Japanese man, that is acted largely in English. Mori's lack of Korean means he bumbles his way about a corner of Seoul where everybody just so happens to be relatively fluent in the Queen's. This presents lots of broken conversations and odd phrases uttered between the two clashing cultures, with 'you're a strange man' being met with 'you're a strange man.' Confusion is sometimes created and from thence the humour arose. Mori's motivations are not always clear, in what is a short film, coming to Korea while unemployed with no real plan upon arrival except see Kwon, getting drunk with his guesthouse owner's nephew and flirting - and more - with a local cafe worker. Though his lack of direction is often questioned by the Koreans he comes into contact with, often mistaking him for an artist due to his scruffy appearance and daily sleeping habits. He is a man searching for something, whatever it may be. But Hong keeps things light, showing that Mori is clearly troubled, but not diving too far in. Being a short film, just over an hour, this is probably a good thing, kept as a comedy, not a moody love story. The postscript ending is a clear sign of this, concluding a postmodern film about post.

I don't even know how to describe this lousy movie. From the very beginning when the guy showed up, the movie was already doomed. The main character was such a sloppy guy, not just by look, but his appearance simply knocked us off immediately. What a way to act like that? A man who didn't even know how to walk properly like a man, he wore his shoes like wearing a pair of flip-flop, dragged his heels on the ground with such unbearable sloppiness without energy. This guy went back to Korea to find a woman? For what? Then the awkward scenes continued again and again in a coffee shop that rarely had any customer. Then that woman owner did awkward and unconvincing behavior trying to hook him up. The scenes were so awkward and embarrassing, all the cast in this movie looked like amateurs randomly found in the street to play a role. The dialog, the acting, the...Jesus, are you guys telling me this lousy awkward turkey won couple of awards? And the first two reviewers gave this joke 8 out of 10? Are we seeing the same movie or, what?

Trailer—Ja-yu-eui eon-deok

Ja-yu-eui eon-deok