The average South Korean consumes around 80 packets of ramyeon a year. The rehydrated mix of dried, curly noodles, freeze-dried vegetables and a sachet of powdered soup is one of the country’s most beloved comfort foods, a quickly-whipped, heartwarming meal that sits at the tricky intersection of tasty and convenient. The characters in Hong Sang-soo’s “In Our Day” are in the minority who takes their ramyeon extra spicy, with thick gochujang paste seeping through the clear soup and tainting it red.
In the 30th feature to join his impressively prolific filmography, Sang-soo juxtaposes two trios united by their preference for fiery noodles, their love of cats and recent visitors who come armed with an array of existential questions posed through the seemingly uneventful themes of routine. Spearheading both sides are Sang-won, an actress in her early 40s (Kim Min-hee) currently living with a good friend (Jung-soo, played by Song Sun-mi), and Hong (Ki Joo-bong), an acclaimed poet in his 70s who opens his house to a budding documentary filmmaker (played by Kim Seung-yun). While the former receives a visit from a younger cousin who dreams of following in her footsteps, the latter is visited by an aspiring actor looking to understand the true meaning of life according to the renowned writer.
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“In Our Day” feeds into many of Sang-soo’s signature themes: it is autobiographical in its prodding of the minds and dreams of actors and the aspirations and motivations of filmmakers, with the veterans wisely taming the molting feathers of the young. It finds lightness in the quasi nihilistic, translating through the muted beauty of the mundane the all-encompassing nature of life’s greatest questions. And, of course, it places alcohol front and centre, commenting on its enticing dangers without ever denying its pleasures.
The latter theme is where “In Our Day” finds most of its humor. Hong spends his days lamenting how a weak heart took away from his life all slivers of joy. “Alcohol and cigarettes are great things!” he exclaims to his companions, very much aware of how their hearts beat healthily to the rhythms of youth. One can measure the progression of Sang-soo’s latest according the cleanliness of the poet’s coffee table, which first appears impeccably tidy but grows more and more crowded with the addition of cans and bottles and shot glasses, his initial resolution built upon the frail structures of vice.
In Song Sun-mi’s house, alcohol is a constant yet subtler presence. If the poet downs soju like water, the actress’ friend sips white wine with the patience of someone who understands a drink in all of its lulling potential, the glass a welcome break from work. In this sense, the characters’ behavior works as dialogue to reinforce the film’s mirrored narrative, with the back-and-forth at times tiresome but more often than not a rewarding device. The people in Sang-soo’s latest are given the time to exist within the frame without having to respond to the sometimes constricting expectations of fiction, the director’s observational style a perfect match to the film’s titular purpose: to observe a not-so-regular day in the lives of regular people.
Stripped almost entirely of music, “In Our Day” focuses on the cacophony of the city, the film rarely leaving the central characters but always aware of the sprawling nature of its surroundings. The bustling sounds of the capital seep into the tight spaces in where the story takes place, balconies and terraces acting as a nifty in-between. The cinematography is just as subdued (Sang-soo is responsible for all of the film’s main technical aspects as well as writing and directing), with long-held static shots allowing for the dialogue to reign unimpeached.
These key extended interactions make for some of Sang-soo’s loveliest cinematic moments in years. A game of rock paper scissors is cut through the contagious sounds of giggles, the heartening nature of company preceding the return of the bleakness of loneliness. A chonky cat pit-pats hurriedly across wooden floors at the sound of a packet of treats being opened, his slightly concerning weight gain unable to keep his owner from partaking in his joy at being fed. It would be easy to surrender to the temptation to find the connecting threads that loom in the brief teasing of the characters’ pasts, but “In Our Day” proves a much more rewarding watch when taken for what it is, a perhaps too unhurried but very charming insight into being. [B-]
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