Intentionally shot out of focus, Hong’s impressionistic and ‘painterly’ new work about an actor-turned-director in search of an idea to shoot a short film doesn’t always work, but its meta-filmic final act is sublime.

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Hong Sang-soo must have been so bored that he resorted to shooting out of focus for this new film, which premiered at the Berlinale in the ‘Encounters’ section, where “aesthetically and structurally daring works” are featured. 

But the truth to the story was that during shooting, his camera became out of focus, and he decided to stick with it.  It’s either a sign of professional laziness or a surrender to art. 

Save for a few shots, all of In Water was filmed in this way, making it one of the most visually unique of his works, best described as impressionistic and ‘painterly’, like a watercolour painting on video. 

It is a work of an artist who knows that he can get away with such a conjectural style by calling to attention not its details but its essence. 

Running at just an hour long (thankfully for some), In Water draws from the same well of meta-filmic cinema that he has been frequently predisposed to. 

“I want to find out whether I have any creativity.”

An actor gives up acting and is hoping to direct a short film instead.  Tagging along with him are an actress and a cameraman, who are his friends, mimicking the sort of no-frills production setups that many of Hong’s films adopt. 

In search of an idea that never seems to come, Hong’s aesthetical choice perhaps also alludes to filmmaking’s murky uncertainties. 

While directors are known for their clarity of vision (or at least that is the assumption), does it always ring true?  Can a filmmaker falter his or her way into some kind of sublime denouement? 

Hong gracefully shows us how, and while it may be predictable for those deeply familiar with his modus operandi, In Water is at once complete and also a draft for future reference, a film existing in the half-light of artistic creativity.

Grade: B

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Trailer: