[Film] Autumn, Autumn (Chuncheon, Chuncheon)

08 July 2017

“Autumn, Autumn (Chuncheon, Chuncheon)”---The O.P.E.N. (Singapore International Festival of Arts)

Release Year: 2016

Country: South Korea

Director: Jang Woo-jin

Cast: Yang Heung-ju, Lee Se-rang, Woo Ji-hyeon

Location I watched: The Projector

Story from the festival program:

Ji-hyeon longs to escape his stiffing hometown of Chuncheon. A job opportunity comes and the young man goes to Seoul for an interview. On the train back, he meets a middle-aged couple, Heung-ju and Se-rang, who presumably are revisiting the places they once saw when they were young.

A young man and a middle-aged couple on the train.

I went into the screening about 5 minutes late and I am sorry for that. Anyway, Chuncheon is located about 80 minutes by train north of Seoul. It is famous for its beautiful lakeside landscape. Although I missed the first part of the film, I assumed that the film began with the last train to Chuncheon taken by a young man, Ji-hyeon and a middle-aged couple, Heung-ju and Se-rang. Ji-hyeon’s job interview from the above Story is just a setting. While the 3 of them meet in the train as mentioned in Story, they do not get to know each other. Ji-hyeon sat down next to Heung-ju. When he left his seat, he asked Heung-ju to watch over his bag. That is all. They meet as total strangers and get off the train as total strangers. After that, their lives never cross each other.

When the train reached Chuncheon, at first, Ji-hyeon’s story---how he spent 2 nights and 2 days there---begins. After his story finished, the time goes back to Chuncheon station the last train reached and the story of the couple, Heung-ju and Se-rang begins in the same way. Actually the couple is not a husband and wife. They have their own family, but they are not having an affair with one another. They are accompanying each other on a sentimental journey to Chuncheon. Like Ji-hyeon, they also have a problem in their own lives. In Chuncheon, Ji-hyeon and the couples never encounter, but they visit the same places. For example, the couple visits the same temple on the mountain Ji-hyeon visited. They have lunch at the same restaurant where Ji-hyeon was helping. Ji-hyeon looked at a mantis on the ground. The couple also saw a mantis in the restaurant and talked about a mantis. The day after the three of them arrived is the day of Chuncheon Marathon. There are scenes where both of them encounter the race crowd.

“Autumn, Autumn” is a film about the life of ordinary people who never shares intersecting moments in spite of being close each other. At the same places people go and come, they just pass by one another. But each one will have a different story like me or you. In one way, it sounds beautiful. However, in another way, this is a feature film made by combining two boring stories from ordinary people. Life is amazing for everyone. At the same time, any life---even for a billionaire or a king---is also not so interesting. That is why I think that at least film is a way to make life glamorous. What I mean with “glamorous” is not related to sexual allure or production design. For example, filmmaker Sono Shion’s early work, “Bicycle Sighs” was a story about 2 lackluster young men and shot on 16mm film. However, that film was glamorous for me.

A scene that was not good for me is when the couple is having lunch in the restaurant. While they are chitchatting, they are lighted or shaded by sunlight, depending on the drift of clouds. The scene was taken by one take. It may be expected that the lighting gives some special atmosphere or suggests something significant. However, I felt annoyed that I had to listen to their long chitchat (which is not so meaningful) under the poor lighting. Some scenes of the film are good and memorable, like a scene Ji-hyeon passing by his old friend on the escalator of Chuncheon station. Also the actors playing the couple were good. As a couple they do not know each other well, their awkward atmosphere is interesting and a little bit suspenseful. The second half of the film is more dramatic than the first half, but the couple’s awkward tension is not enough to draw me. This film lacked a strong appeal for me who likes something gorgeous. (04 August 4, 2017)