On the Beach At Night Alone

This beautifully sad show was the closing film of SIFA 2017

About a lead female actress who has an affair with a director and moved to Germany for a few years to think things through and escape the "scandal". She returns back to Gangnang to check things out and realises how everything around her is superficial and so restricted to social norms.

The lead female has great acting chops. The transition of her pining for the director and the pain of waiting is apparent in the beginning part of the film. Her innocence and hopeful nature is apparent.

The change to bitterness, jadedness and how everything around her is so superficial and constrained is shown when she returns to Korea. Her unrequited love from the director is seen in the chance encounter with the filming crew and what she hopes for is an expression of pure love from the director at the dinner table. Instead the director shows full remorse and the pain he feels every day is heart wrenching to watch. He lives with this pain every day. Pain of ruining her life as an actress in Korea, ruining his own family (seems like he's living alone now after the affair with her), and how he cannot express the love for her ever.

The erratic nature of the lead female is somewhat reflected in the frames. They are usually macro shots, zooming out to finally be able to see a larger view and i was so frustrated because i want to see the context. Yet i feel so stifled watching the show! The scenes are abrupt and somewhat reflected the "bomb" in her.

She wants to just be able to live for herself and to live purely and without restrictions to societal norms. After kissing another girl which was a pretty genuine scene and quite sizzling, she talks about weakness if one cannot live life honestly.

Honesty comes up a few times as one of the main themes. To express oneself honestly and being straightforward is to her being non-hypocritical.

A strange man appears randomly throughout the film. The first time he appears as Time or Memories when they could not tell time or inform him of the time. Is that amnesia? Is that memory caching up with her? Time pursues her like a mad man. He's always there as a memory that never fades, even in those peaceful moments. Like cleaning the glass pane. Is he trying to erase memories? Is he trying to elucidate things? He's always there.

Finally she wakes up from the dream on the beach. Not the answer of loving promises or declaration of love to her but an expression of extreme remorse. And a beautiful sentence from the book.

So much to reflect and unravel in this film. I'd like to watch it again.