A married Korean man finds himself staying in Paris in Hong’s thought-provoking and layered work about the inherent affinities and contradictions of living a present life to one’s desire, as he gets caught up in an incompatible romance with a younger woman.
Review #3,019
Dir. Hong Sang-soo
2008 | South Korea | Drama | 144min | 1.85:1 | Korean, French & English
M18 (passed clean) for some nudity
Cast: Kim Young-ho, Park Eun-hye, Hwang Su-jeong, Gi Ju-bong, Lee Sun-kyun
Plot: Kim Seong-nam travels to Paris to escape an arrest, leaving his wife behind in Korea. After he arrives, he meets an ex-girlfriend and is introduced to a small community of Korean artists.
Awards: Nom. for Golden Bear (Berlinale)
International Sales: Finecut
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Stuck Overseas; Community; Incompatible Romances; Extramartial Affair
Narrative Style: Slightly Complex
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Slightly Arthouse
Viewed: Oldham Theatre (as part of Twin Tales: Hong Sang-soo x Eric Rohmer programme by the Asian Film Archive)
Spoilers: No
Hong Sang-soo’s first-ever main competition entry at the Berlinale, Night and Day is still his longest feature film, running nearly 2.5 hours. It is also one of his finest efforts and will likely earn a place in my Top 5 of his seemingly endless filmography.
An early title card tells us that Sung-nam has fled to Paris on a whim after being caught smoking marijuana in the States, leaving his wife alone in South Korea.
I believe this was the first time Hong had shot a film outside of his country, and this is where the title begins to reveal its inherent layers of meaning: as different as night and day, a common saying in many parts of the world, just like France and South Korea, so dissimilar in terms of culture, food and architecture.
And just like men and women (or as Hong’s work would attest, even between women), we find sheer incompatibility, yet Night and Day proposes the promise of incompatible romances.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7: Allegretto (an all-time favourite of mine as far as classical music is concerned) is repeated numerous times, often in poetic moments, and in one cheeky scene of a road sweeper getting rid of dog poo.
“I can’t let these women depress me.”
Hong shows us the mundanity of life, yet there is a sense of restlessness in Sung-nam. He’s a painter who is contemplating working temporarily in a restaurant to make ends meet.
Speaking of F&B, it’s also night and day. Here, the French worship oysters, a far cry from the bottles of soju that line the tables in Hong’s other films. The only thing missing is a cameo from Isabelle Huppert, but we have In Another Country (2012), Claire’s Camera (2017) and A Traveller’s Needs (2024) to thank for.
An interesting aspect of Night and Day is the notion of daydreaming, which Sung-nam does so in ways that expand Hong’s narrative, as the director throws in a curveball or two.
Are our present lives the ones that we desire, and with the right loved ones? What if, in an alternate reality, we find another possibility which is neither significantly better nor worse—just simply different, like day and night?
Grade: A-
Music:
Eternality Tan 
Thanks for en enticing review, but I am not quite clear either why you think the film is exceptional, as you say, or why it does not quite make 5 stars.
Some critics do this by means of a “pros” and “cons” list, which I like.
However, I’m not suggesting you might do this too, but just that I can’t quite figure out the justification for your score.
But maybe I’m just in a picky mood today, and I hope I will be forgiven 😉
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Hmm not sure how to explain it but my reviews are not really reviews. They are more diaristic. I don’t really think much about the rating – I just put something that I feel is most suitable. In this case, I have never given a Hong Sang-soo film more than 4 stars, let alone 4.5. Don’t talk about 5 stars – that’s very rare and sacred lol
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