Hyeyoung Lee, Cho Yun-hee, Kwon Hae-hyo
New from prolific South Korean auteur (and ICO favourite) Hong Sangsoo (The Day a Pig Fell into the Well, Woman is the Future of Man, Hahaha) is a luminous, poignant, wry and typically exploratory drama set against the shifting skyline of Seoul.
A middle-aged former actress, Sangok (Lee Hyeyoung, who, mirroring her character, is known in South Korea for her past performances but hasn’t been seen on screens recently) returns to the city after spending several years abroad. Reconnecting with her estranged sister Jeongok (Cho Yunhee), she also plans to meet up with Jaewon, a celebrated director (played by one of Hong Sangsoo’s frequent stand-ins, Kwon Haehyo). All the while, a personal circumstance sheds a new light on things for her – explored in an intermittent inner monologue heard over proceedings – which prompts her to look and look again at what she sees.
A brief, exquisitely personal, melancholic but sometimes very funny chamber piece, In Front of Your Face is set over a day and a half and has the clarity and simplicity of a short story. Exploring distance and closeness of all kinds – physical, temporal and emotional – it’s perhaps one of Hong’s most accessible films to date and a love letter to Seoul.
