Turning Gate
Saenghwaleui Balgyun
credits:
Director: Hong Sang-sooProducer: Hanna Lee
Writer: Hong Sang-soo
Cast: Choo Sang-mee, Kim Sang-kyung, Yea Je-Won, An Kil-kang
South Korea 2002 | 115 mins | 35mm | Korean w/E.S.
“A two-failed-romances-don’t-make-a-right crowd-pleaser” (Village Voice), TURNING GATE follows Kyeong-soo as he advances on, then retreats from two separate love interests. An actor on a downward swing, his first thought when rejected for a role is whether he has to continue growing the beard the part required. When a friend calls and hints that he has a female friend who’s “quite a fan,” Kyeong-soo sees an opportunity for an ego boost and heads to meet his friend, with the real intent to meet his woman. “In Hong Sang-soo’s film full of pathos, eroticism, and rueful experience, the three beautifully controlled lead performances instill a lyrical sense of the heart’s journey as, finally, a tug of war between desire and loss, coincidence and fate” (New York Film Festival).
—Adam Hartzell
