On the Beach at Night Alone

On the Beach at Night Alone
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHong Sang-soo
Written byHong Sang-soo
Produced byHong Sang-soo
Starring
Cinematography
  • Kim Hyung-koo
  • Park Hong-yeol
Edited byHahm Sung-won
Production
company
Jeonwonsa Film Company
Distributed byContents Panda
Release dates
  • 16 February 2017 (2017-02-16) (Berlin)
  • 23 March 2017 (2017-03-23) (South Korea)
Running time
101 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box office$429,159[1]

On the Beach at Night Alone (Korean: 밤의 해변에서 혼자; RR: Bamui haebyeoneseo honja) is a 2017 South Korean drama film written, produced, and directed by Hong Sang-soo. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival,[2] where Kim Min-hee won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award.[3]

Premise

Young-hee is an actress who has left Seoul after a highly publicized affair with a married man, who is also a colleague and a well-known film director. The first part of the film is set in Hamburg, where Young-hee stays with her older friend Jee-young and the latter's English-speaking German artist acquaintances. The two walk around a street market, a park, and a bookstore. Jeeyoung says she has no more desire for men, and Younghee encourages her to play around. Later, Young-hee and her friends visit the beach. The camera pans to Young-hee's friends, and then back to Young-hee being carried off over the shoulder of a man.

The film's second part begins with Young-hee sitting in a movie theater, lingering for a while after the lights come up and the theater empties. It is winter; Young-hee has returned to Gangneung, Korea, and reunites with several old friends over dinner and drinks. She falls asleep on the beach, and dreams of having dinner with the director, where she both confronts and reunites with him.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "On the Beach at Night Alone finds writer-director Sang-soo Hong working in a more personal vein—without losing the singular sensibilities that have informed much of his acclaimed earlier work.[4] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[5]

Accolades

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2017 67th Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear for Best Actress Kim Min-hee Won
Golden Bear Hong Sang-soo Nominated
53rd Baeksang Arts Awards[6] Best Director Nominated
Jerusalem Film Festival[7] Wilf Family Foundation Award for Best International Film On the Beach at Night Alone Won
37th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards[8] Top Ten Films Won
26th Buil Film Awards Best Actress Kim Min-hee Nominated
2018 23rd Chunsa Film Art Awards[9] Nominated

References

  1. ^ "On the Beach at Night Alone (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Competition and Berlinale Special – Danny Boyle, Hong Sangsoo, Thomas Arslan, Volker Schlöndorff, Sabu, Álex de la Iglesia and Josef Hader's Directorial Debut in the Competition Programme" (Press release). Berlinale. 10 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Prizes of the International Jury". Berlinale. 18 February 2017. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  4. ^ "On the Beach at Night Alone". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  5. ^ "On the Beach at Night Alone". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  6. ^ 53회 영화부문 후보자·작품: 감독상. 제 53회 백상예술대상 (Baeksang Arts Awards) (in Korean). JTBC Plus. Archived from the original on 8 April 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  7. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (21 July 2017). "'Scaffolding,' 'On the Beach at Night Alone' Take Jerusalem Film Festival's Top Prizes". Variety.
  8. ^ "THE FORTRESS Dominates 37th Korean Film Critics Association Awards". Korean Film Biz Zone. 30 October 2017.
  9. ^ "제23회 춘사영화제 5월18일 개최..홍상수·김민희 참석하나". Newsen (in Korean). 3 May 2018.