It was only a few days ago that Hong Sang-soo premiered his latest film, Grass, at Berlinale (our review), but the United States is still awaiting the release of his two prior features. Following last fall’s On the Beach at Night Alone, Cinema Guild will continue their releases of the prolific South Korean director’s films, and next up is Claire’s Camera. Shot while at Cannes Film Festival, the drama reteams the director with Isabelle Huppert and Kim Min-hee, and a new trailer has now arrived ahead of a release in early March.
“Huppert and Kim are clearly having fun riffing off one another, each speaking in lightly broken English and conveying the pleasures of ephemeral encounters in low-stakes liminal spaces, such as the one represented by the festival,” Giovanni Marchini Camia said in his review. “Claire’s Camera as a whole is just as fleeting, and while it too may not leave a lasting mark, it’s nonetheless a welcome diversion while we wait for the next film by the exceptionally prolific Hong.”
See the trailer below via Indiewire.
A refreshingly sunny performance from Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, Elle) is at the center of this charming comedy from South Korean Master Hong Sangsoo (On The Beach at Night Alone, Right Now, Wrong Then). Huppert plays Claire, a school teacher with a camera (that might be magical) on her first visit to The Cannes Film Festival. She happens upon a film sales assistant, Manhee (Kim Minhee, The Handmaiden, On The Beach at Night Alone), recently laid off after a one-night stand with a film director (Jung Jinyoung). Together, this unlikely pair become detectives of sorts, as they wander around the seaside resort town, working to better understand the circumstances of Manhee’s firing—and developing new outlooks on life in the process. Intricately plotted with wit and charm to spare, CLAIRE’S CAMERA explores the power of images to transform us. “The only way to change things,” says Claire, “is to look at them again very slowly.”
Claire’s Camera opens on March 9 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.