On the Beach at Night Alone

This acting tour de force by Min-hee Kim, Hong Sang-soo's new muse, grabbed the Silver Bear at the last Berlinale. It is a reverberation of their real-life affair, to which they publicly admitted at the Berlinale press conference. Ultimately, the inspiration for Hong Sang-soo's scripts, which he often pens right on the set, frequently comes from his own life. Actress Young-hee, entangled in a relationship with a much older, married director, spends some time with a friend in Hamburg. Walking around the city, she tries to get some perspective on her recent experiences and find the meaning of this love. After returning home, she meets old friends in the seaside town of Gangneung. The spend many hours drinking and, as in all of Hong's films, only after inebriation are they capable of deeper reflection, sincere conversations and acts that they will later hide under a cloak of indifference. Young-hee decides to stay in town. During her melancholy walk on the beach, in her mind's eye she moves the pawns on the chessboard of her life, looking for the right path.