VIFF 2009 | Like You Know It All at Schema : more than ethnic

VIFF 2009 | Like You Know It All

Like You Know It All
South Korea, 2009, 126min
DIR: Hong Sang-Soo

In this tale directed by Korean director Hong Sang-Soo, we follow art-house film director Ku Kyung-Nam as he travels to judge a local film festival, but this festival is far from the peaceful trip Ku envisions. There's the porn star turned legitimate actor, the hot-shot young director who used to be Ku`s protege, and the outspoken festival director who has her own bad fate in store, thanks to Ku.

At the festival, he meets up with Bu, a long lost friend who has found marital bliss and peace in the small town. One evening, Ku is invited over for dinner and after many drinks, he wakes up the next morning with no recollection of the previous night and a letter from Bu telling him that their friendship is over, due to an offense that Ku allegedly caused to Bu's wife. Ku persistently goes to Bu's house to find out what happened only to receive a rock to the face! Ku retreats and we see him some time later as a guest lecturer at a university where he runs into another old friend and his young wife who are seemingly in a martial bliss like Bu - will another unfortunate series of events unfold?

Like You Know It All is an exploration of one man, with bumbling social skills at best, and his various mishaps throughout life. Ku seems to be an aimless character, making films nobody understands and judging films he falls asleep in. Wherever he goes, he brings alcohol and destruction with him. Making friends as easily as he makes enemies, Ku propels himself from situation to situation with awkwardness and little forethought, but he is amusing nonetheless. If you`re a person who likes a direct story-line, then this film is not for you, as it meanders from one awkward social situation to the next. As well, the cinematography is of questionable skill, with seemingly random zooming and panning that might have been efforts to be artistic, but ended up looking amateurish. However, there is nothing amateur about the story - Like You Know It All has an odd, quirky, charm, and one wonders if it is really just a reflection of Hong Sang-Soo`s own views on men and women, rather than an objective exploration of relationships. In the film, the men are all seemingly innocent, bumbling souls who stumble through life until they find their soul mates; women on the other hand are craftier and much more practical, with strident voices bluntly voicing their opinions, even if it will break a heart.

Schema Magazine's coverage of VIFF 2009 is sponsored by the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival