San Francisco International Film Festival 2018

[Chris Knipp]

HONG SANG-SOO: CLAIRE'S CAMERA/LA CAMÉRA DE CLAIRE (2017)


ISABELLE HUPPERT IN CLAIRE'S CAMERA

Quick camerawork

[Capsule review]

Whether you think Claire's Camera (not her knee, eh?) is a dashed-off sketch or a succinct masterpiece, it's another of Hong Sang-soo's characteristic sequences of two- or three-way dialogues - à la Rohmer, the similarity more obvious with a film shot at Cannes and including a major French star. And it's typically about a boozy, womanizing Korean movie director, a long-time gf, and a beautiful young fling who's Wong's own serious new flame, Kim Min-hee. Things go round, and aphorisms are uttered. There is more than this light-hearted, Rohmer-esque entertainment might reveal at first, though the run-time is too short for Hong's usual lengthy, boozy arguments and elaborate overlapping time-schemes.

Claire's Camera/La Caméra de Claire 클레어의 카메라, 69 mins., debuted at Cannes May 2017; 14 other festivals, and was screened for this review as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. Metascore 80%.

SHOWTIMES SFIFF:
Saturday, April 7, 2018 at3:30 p.m. at YBCA Screening Room
Monday, April 9, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. at SFMOMA
Thursday, April 12, 2018 at 8:30 p.m. at YBCA Screening Room