Oki’s Movie by Hong Sang-Soo
The movie, as explained on page one, is divided into four sections. Between sections and bookending the movie are credit sequences during which white, handwritten text appears on a blue background while “Pomp & Circumstance” plays. The song becomes a seemingly ironic leitmotif.
0:1:13 – 0:28:03
Professor Nam Jingu walks out of a building and says something in Korean then his wife comes out and calls him by her former classmate’s name, Yongsu. He asks her about it, interested, and she deflects by chastising him about smoking. In voiceover while the couple tries to remember where their car is parked, Jingu says that his wife has been distant lately, then wonders if he has done something wrong, wonders who is Yongsu. He tells her that he might be home late, there is a screening of a short film he made and he has to be there for a Q & A afterward. She supposes he will drink and seems upset. Jingu tries to say he won’t but his wife insists he will and then says he is not fulfilling his promise of only drinking twice per month.
Jingu is in class for a reading of a female student’s screenplay. There is some Korean wordplay between the screenplay’s main protagonist couple where the male says, “I’m so cold! I’m a mosquito!” but the two phrases sound similar. After the reading, Jingu chastises his student, saying she needs to focus on fixing technical things or the narrative won’t support itself. He tells her that her sincerity needs a form and that the form will lead to truth and that just accurately relating something, life or a feeling, won’t do it. Jingu tells the student she has made a huge mistake then seems to realize how harsh he is being toward her and tries to compliment her but falters and just goes back to excoriating the girl, shouting. When he is finished shouting he asks if she understands and she says, “So you want me to be greedy? Is that why you do it? Because of greed?” Jingu shouts at her.
He leaves class, in voiceover says, “I felt bad, so I told her I’d buy her a drink at Insadong.” On his way out of class Jingu runs into Prof. Song and discovers, awkwardly, that the rest of the film department faculty had planned to meet for a meal at a Chinese restaurant later that day. Prof. Song invites Jingu to the restaurant and then into his office to talk. Song starts lecturing him about greed, says that the university is being greedy, trying to save a lot of money by doing something that is making professors’ jobs harder and less effective.
Jingu walks off of campus and decides to go to a barbershop. He waits for a while then decides to leave, starts to get up but the barber stops him and says he will be with him soon. Jingu sits back down and wonders, in voiceover, “Who’s Yongsu? My cousin’s name is Yongsu.”
After his haircut Jingu runs into an older professor and asks if he will be with the others at the Chinese restaurant later. The older professor says that he won’t be there because Song will be there and he is mad at Song for supposedly selling a tenured position to the highest bidder. The older professor starts shouting at Jingu, saying that Song would do anything for money.
Jingu is sitting on park bench when he receives a call from Sowon, the student he had embarrassed earlier. She asks when he will meet her and he says that he meant to call but that he can’t make it because of the Chinese restaurant faculty meeting. Sowon has already taken a train most of the way to Insadong. She asks if she should wait for him, until after the Chinese restaurant faculty meeting, but he says he has the Q & A after the faculty thing and today really won’t work. Jingu tries to reschedule but Sowon says, “I really don’t care,” and hangs up.
Some time later, asleep on the bench, Jingu hears a camera shutter and wakes, seeing a woman photographing him. He tells her to stop and then chastises her for photographing others without permission then asks, “Do you know who I am?” She doesn’t. Jingu boasts that he is a filmmaker. She is impressed. He says things about photography. She is Jang Suyang. Jingu photographs her. Learns she is married. Immediately leaves and deletes the photographs she took of him from her camera. The Wikipedia article for Oki’s Movie says that this is a flashback to when Jingu met his wife, though the only evidence of this I have found are minor stylistic things that don’t seem to conclusively signify anything.
At the Chinese restaurant Song is refilling Jingu’s glass with Johnnie Walker Blue. Song questions another faculty member about how much the whiskey had cost. The other faculty member seems anxious.
Jingu corners the other faculty member, who is seemingly close to Song, in the bathroom and questions him about what kind of person Song is. He says Song is a great man. Jingu repeats his question. The other faculty member says to drop it, that Song is good. Jingu says something about his cousin, who did Judo, and whom he thinks is similar to Song. He says his cousin was really “hot-headed” but that he (Jingu) looked up to him (cousin).
Back at the table, Jingu is drunk. “That Johnnie Walker Blue really got to me.” Song asks Jingu if he is working on any projects. Jingu says something vague about an idea he has been revisiting then complains that he doesn’t have enough money to make a movie. Song asks if his wife works. Jingu says she manages a cafe but it doesn’t garner them much money. Jingu says the thing about his cousin to Song. Jingu brings up the rumor about Song on campus, about selling tenure. He (Jingu) says that he had tried to set the person straight after he had been told the rumor, but that he also wanted to address it with Song himself. Song reacts incredulously, thinks someone is putting Jingu up to this. He (Song) says he knows who is behind the rumor and tells Jingu to drop it. Things get tense suddenly. Jingu starts shouting positive things about Song’s character, in Song’s defense. Song seems confused and strongly denies whatever the rumor is and says that the person behind it will be gone next semester anyway. Jingu, slurring slightly, says that the person behind the rumor isn’t the point—he says, “How can I sit here with you if I had the slightest doubt. I can’t, sir. That’s impossible!” Song reluctantly addresses the rumor and shouts something about avoiding vicious people, how he has practiced dodging them and rebuffing. Jingu says that he is satisfied with that answer. Song is upset and silently breaks his plate with the small glass that held whiskey earlier. After a pause Jingu refills the broken glass with Johnnie Walker Blue.
Outside, Song says to Jingu, “You should study logic, Mr. Nam. Read books on logic. It’ll do you good.”
At the Q & A, in an auditorium sparsely filled with yawning young people, Jingu stands stiffly with a microphone awaiting questions. Moderator, off-screen, says, “If there are no questions, then I’ll ask one.” She asks what Jingu wanted to convey most with his movie. Jingu begins his response by apologizing for being drunk. He explains that he wants his movie to be experienced like how one experiences meeting a new person. He wants his movie to be like a living thing. He says if he started with a theme in mind, the movie would veer toward one point, says something about teachers always talking about theme to students, but that theme isn’t important, says that before thinking about theme you are already reacting to the movie you watched. Theme isn’t important. It makes it too simple [1].
An audience member is handed the microphone and says she is going to ask a personal question. The girl says that Jingu had an affair with his student, her friend, a few years ago. She (the student, presumably some variation of Oki) broke up with her fiancé after beginning a relationship with Jingu. The girl asks if Jingu remembers this. He seems discomfited and says he doesn’t. He says that he’s married, anyway. The girl says she knows that he is married, that he was married at the time of the relationship with his student as well. She says that this isn’t a rumor, that she (the girl in the audience) heard it from her friend after she (the Oki person) and Jingu broke up. Jingu whispers, “This is bullshit…” The girl in the audience says, “This isn’t bullshit.” Jingu says that he can’t understand her question and that they are there to talk about the movie. The girl says that the movie is just about him, then asks Jingu what question should she be asking if not one about the director. She says her friend is devastated after dating Jingu. Jingu denies ever doing anything. The moderator interrupts and stops the questioning. Jingu announces he quits filmmaking then asks if girl is satisfied.
Jingu walks out of the theater and down a street while “Pomp & Circumstance” plays non-diegetically.
Runs from 28:07 – 53:28
Jingu, much younger-looking than he appeared in A Day for Incantation, and Song sit together in same room in which Jingu and his female student shouted at each other in A Day for Incantation. Credits are rolling on a small television screen on a table in front of them. Song congratulates Jingu on a fine movie.
Oki approaches Song as he exits the room. Song asks if she is doing okay and she says yes. Song goes into his office. Oki follows and listens at the door. Jingu approaches while Oki is standing there. He startles her. Jingu asks if Oki has eaten. He asks her to go to a restaurant with him. Oki says she’s meeting Yangsoon, her friend who recently dropped out of school. Jingu asks why she quit. Oki says, “It wasn’t right for her.”
There is voiceover of Oki asking “Jingu?” while a mountain path is shown. Jingu responds, also in voiceover, “Where are you?” Oki and Yangsoon walk into frame, together under an umbrella, going down a path on Mt. Acha in the rain while Oki talks to Jingu on the phone. Jingu asks where they are and says he knows it when Oki tells him they are at Mt. Acha. He asks if he should join them, adding that he misses Yangsoon. Oki tells Yangsoon that Jingu wants to join them and she (Yangsoon) seems accepting.
Jingu and Oki are together later that day in a restaurant on Mt. Acha with four ~32oz, empty bottles of soju on the table between them. Jingu asks what she was doing outside Song’s office earlier. Oki says she heard something, didn’t he hear something, too? Jingu asks Oki to go out with him and drunkenly says things about how beautiful she is. Oki evades the question by saying that she is lucky because all of the girls like Jingu—Yangsoon likes Jingu. Oki seems drunkenly playful and loudly puts her elbow on the table and asks what Jingu could do for her. Jingu says he’s never felt this way about anyone and has never dated anyone. Oki says, “Just drink.”
Jingu sits on a bench at Mt. Acha next to a small milk carton that someone has left behind. He is sketching it with a brush pen in a notebook. He expresses his frustration at the mysteriousness of life in voiceover [2].
Two classmates enter the frame and greet Jingu who immediately asks them if they want to get a drink. They both laugh and ask if he is kidding. He seems surprised and says no. They walk away and say Jingu is a “psycho”. A female classmate approaches and congratulates Jingu. He asks why she is congratulating him. She says that his movie is going to win the student film festival’s top prize. She says everyone is talking about it. The girl unexpectedly starts shouting that she is cold and abruptly says goodbye and runs away. Jingu laughs and seems confused. Another classmate walks toward and sits next to Jingu. A friend of Jingu. He says that Song said, after the prescreening of everyone’s films, that Jingu’s movie was the best, insinuating that he had already decided Jingu’s movie would win. Jingu ignores what his friend says and invites him to a bar. The friend says they should go later—wait until he’s won the [cash] prize at the festival that night—and then says he needs to go and leaves Jingu alone on the bench again. Jingu calls Oki and leaves a voicemail. He asks her to call him and says he might be busy later but that he misses her a lot and wants to talk to her.
Oki is with Professor Song. He apologizes that he can’t buy her dinner and says he has to go. They are walking down an alley. He tells her to be careful, not to drink.
Jingu is waiting for Song outside a building on campus. He (Jingu) greets him (Song) excitedly when he (Song) arrives. Song asks if Jingu has finished editing his movie yet and when Jingu says he is still fixing things Song walks away. Jingu watches him go. Oki approaches and Jingu tells her that her phone is off. She says she forgot to turn it on. They ask if they each got home safe last night, after having been so drunk at the restaurant on Mt. Acha. Oki asks if Jingu’s movie will be in the festival. Jingu asks the same question to Oki and she says she didn’t finish hers. She says, “Don’t you know I’m a mess?” Jingu asks if she is going anywhere. She says she has an advising appointment and Jingu asks if he can wait for her. The two classmates that called Jingu “psycho” on Mt. Acha walk toward them. They congratulate Jingu. They call Jingu “psycho”. Oki asks if he is really going to win the top prize. Jingu says that he just ran into Song and that it didn’t seem like it. Oki goes to her advising appointment and Jingu says he will wait for her in the lobby.
After Oki’s advising appointment, she and Jingu walk to a greenhouse on campus. In voiceover Jingu says, “What a nice spot. Nice and cozy.” Inside the greenhouse Jingu takes soju and dried squid from his backpack and says, “Let’s drink,” while smiling and holding the bottle of soju toward Oki, who refuses. She asks why Jingu drinks so much. Jingu says, “Why shouldn’t I?” Oki asks about the nickname “psycho” and Jingu brushes it off. Oki says he seems sane to her, not like a psycho. He says he isn’t sure about that. Jingu offers milk to Oki—a carton that looks the same as the one he found on Mt. Acha. Oki declines and drinks soju instead. After some silence Jingu says he loves her, then awkwardly suggests that it is cold in the greenhouse. He says he wants to hold her and takes hold of her arm but Oki starts screaming and calls him psycho. Jingu looks at her in horror and says, “You’re so pretty! You’re just so pretty!” Oki says, “No, I’m not. You’re just a psycho.” Jingu kisses her. They kiss for a while. Jingu asks if it is okay to love her and Oki says she doesn’t know.
While an empty theater lobby is shown, Jingu says in voiceover, “We didn’t drink because of the film festival. Oki didn’t want to go.” Jingu walks out of the theater. He gets a call on his phone outside. His friend asks him why he left and that he should come drink with him and their classmates. Jingu says maybe he will join them another time. Jingu’s friend asks if Jingu is upset that he didn’t win then says that it was strange that Song said he’d win if wasn’t going to. Jingu shouts things about unfairness in the judging. He says he might stop by the bar later.
Jingu walks down an alley toward Oki’s apartment. In voiceover he says she isn’t answering her phone again. He doesn’t know which apartment is hers and thinks she might not be home since it is Christmas Eve. Jingu walks through same entryway that the older Jingu walked out of in the beginning of A Day for Incantation. Jingu walks through the building but can’t find Oki’s door. He sits down on a stoop outside of the building and starts drinking from the soju bottle in his backpack. He calls Oki.
Oki and Yangsoon are in Oki’s apartment drinking and eating food. Her phone is ringing. Oki says that there must be something in the water at school; all of the boys are in love with her. She is drunk. She says she needs to get it together. Yangsoon expresses worry about Oki and asks about the older man she is in a relationship with. Oki tells Yangsoon about Song. Yangsoon says that Oki needs to take better care of herself. Oki says, “Yeah. I know.”
Yangsoon walks out of Oki’s apartment past Jingu. Oki calls Jingu. He asks where she is and tells her he has been waiting in front of her house for hours. Oki says she won’t be home tonight and then hangs up. Jingu continues to drink on the steps outside Oki’s apartment.
Oki exits her apartment wearing a blanket and sees Jingu asleep on the stairs next to an empty bottle of soju. She wakes him up. He is freezing. Oki invites him in. They have sex. Oki says that Jingu is good. Jingu says he will be good, that he loves her, that she is all he wants. They decide to eat.
Jingu walks out into alley with a cigarette in repetition of the shot at beginning of film. In voiceover he expresses gratitude at his new relationship with Oki. Oki steps into the alley and says, “Merry Christmas.” It is Christmas. Oki takes Jingu’s arm and they walk down the alley toward the street, happy.
Runs from 53:53 – 1:03:18
Professor Song enters an empty classroom twenty minutes after class is scheduled to begin. He checks his watch while explaining in voiceover his surprise that no one is there. He has coffee and a bag with a carb-based food in it. He sits on a table in front of a chalkboard on which is written, “A timeless riddle: the heart of a woman…” Song looks out the window down at Seoul below; there is a lot of snow. Song speculates re: lack of students, in voiceover, “Is it because of the snowstorm? Biggest snowstorm in a century…”
He pees and then eats carbs at a desk after washing his hands.
There is a construction machine outside, clearing snow from the streets and sidewalks. Song is looking at them from above while smoking a cigarette on a balcony. In voiceover he says he doesn’t want to wait anymore and that he thinks he should quit. It seems deliberately vague what he is referring to. The older professor who had relayed the rumor about Song to Jingu in A Day for Incantation comes out to the balcony where Song is smoking and comments on the snowstorm. Song says that none of his students showed up for class. The older professor chastises Song for his practice of going drinking with students after he (the older professor) calls them (the students) ungrateful and disrespectful for not coming to class when their professor has. Song says that he won’t teach next semester, that he might start making a movie. The older professor excuses himself and goes to class.
Song sees Oki arriving from his window. She is alone.
Song asks her if she had trouble getting to campus and she says she took the subway and it wasn’t too hard but it took a long time. Song asks, “What should we do?” Oki says, “Whatever you want.” Song looks out of the window and sees another student coming in. It is Jingu.
When Jingu enters the classroom Song erases the chalkboard. He says to the two, “Want to ask me anything?”
Oki says, “I want to get old quick. How will I wait?” Song says, “You’ll be old before you know it.”
Jingu says, “How do you overcome your sex drive?” Song says, “Who says I do? Who overcomes sexual desire? Ever seen someone that does? Or even heard of someone that does? It’s impossible, so forget it.”
Oki says, “Is love necessary?” Song says, “You mean in dating?” Oki says, “No, Just love.” Song says, “Don’t ever love. Vow not to love and try hard to keep it. You’ll still love something.”
Jingu says, “Why can’t people trust each other?” Song says, “Human beings aren’t trustworthy. Become more tolerant, and you can trust more.”
Jingu says, “Is it shallow to want beautiful girls?” Song says, “What’s beautiful? What beauty do you see in them?”
Oki says, “Are we human beings or animals?” Song says, “Knowing the answer won’t change much.”
Oki says, “What should we believe in life?” Song says, “It’s your life, so find it for yourself. You choose what to believe.”
Oki says, “How is one wise?” Song says, “Wise… I’m not wise, so I don’t know.”
Jingu says, “Do you think I have any talent in film?” Song says, “Keep making films and you’ll find out. Keep making films…”
Oki says, “Professor. Am I a good person?” Song says, “To somebody.”
Jingu says, “What do you want most?” Song says, “Well, I want this today and I want that tomorrow. That’s how I live.”
Oki says, “Is it okay to want an easy life?” Song says, “It doesn’t really exist. Even if you want it… I’ve lived longer than you…”
Jingu says, “Afraid of getting old?” Song says, “No, why? Are you?”
Jingu says, “Do you have a lover?” Song says, “Yes, someone in my heart, but I don’t sleep with her.”
Oki says, “Why do you love her?” Song says, “In life… Of all the important things I do, there’s none I know the reason for. I don’t think there is.”
Oki and Jingu smile uncontrollably and nod.
That night Song walks out of a restaurant having treated himself to some octopus, but it’s not sitting well. A text message from Jingu is read in voiceover, “Thank you. I’ll always think of you, even after you leave.” A text message from Oki is read in voiceover, “Call me whenever you’re free. It’s so sudden after the snowstorm. It’s hard for me too.” Song vomits a live octopus into the snow then says in voiceover, “That’s better. It feels good! Quitting was a good idea. I was a bad teacher.”
Runs from 1:03:45 – 1:18:25
In voiceover Oki introduces the segment as a movie she has made, “I’ve compiled two experiences at Mt. Acha. Both were in snowy winter, first on December 31st. Then two years later on January 1st. January 1st was a fresh start with a younger man. The guilt and exhilaration of walking one path with two men is why I made this movie. To see the two experiences side by side.” She continues to narrate in voiceover throughout the segment.
Song steps out of his car, a luxury sedan, in the parking lot at the bottom of Mt. Acha. While he gets a parking pass Oki stays with the car, since Song is married and the two shouldn’t be seen together.
Jingu and Oki are getting a parking pass together after exiting Jingu’s jeep. Oki comments that it is expensive. Jingu says, “A little.” Oki says it is nice to have a car.
Song and Oki admire sculpture of deer.
Oki and Jingu pass by the deer without noticing.
Song puts his arm around Oki as they walk up the path. Oki asks if it is his first time there. He says it’s a nice place and that they should come more often.
Jingu puts his arm around Oki as they walk up the path. Oki asks if it is his first time there. Jingu says he might have been there once when he was little. Oki says it is her first time, a lie. Jingu says maybe it is his first time as well, he says it is nice there and that they should come back often.
Song stops at a pavilion. Oki narrates, “He said he’d seen life and found peace with it.” Oki asks Song what he thinks of the pavilion. He says, “It’s great. Everything except for you and me.” Oki holds Song’s hand.
Jingu and Oki pass by the pavilion without noticing. Jingu turns to and wishes Oki a happy new year. Oki holds Jingu’s hand.
Song stops to use a bathroom and Oki stops as well.
Jingu stops to use a bathroom and Oki stops as well.
Oki waits for Song to come out of the bathroom for a long time.
Jingu is waiting for Oki when she comes out of the bathroom.
Oki narrates, “As we crossed the bridge, I looked at his head.” Oki tells Song not to lose any more hair.
Jingu and Oki cross the bridge without talking.
Song looks at a beautiful tree and says to Oki that if they ever break up, they should meet on January 1st the following year under that tree at 1pm. Oki agrees. Song says, “This is sad.”
Jingu and Oki hike up to the tree Song admired. Oki looks at her phone for the time and sees it is past 1pm. They hike up to the summit and sit together on a rock. Jingu tells Oki how much he loves her. Oki says he shouldn’t focus on her so much—he should have other friends, too. Jingu says guys only do three things: talk about women, brag about themselves, or shit-talk others. He asks her if there is anyone she respects. She says, “No one who is alive.” Jingu says, “I really like Professor Song. But I don’t think he likes me. He’s changed.” Oki tells him to keep looking, that he will find someone to respect. She asks him what he is afraid of. Jingu says, “Betrayal. That’s why I’m scared to really love someone,” then, “I really love you.” Oki says she is scared of dying. They kiss.
Oki and Song stop at the restaurant on Mt. Acha to eat seafood pancakes and drink soju. Song asks if Jingu is still calling her. She says yes. He tells her to deal with him, so he won’t call her again. Song is conflicted because Jingu is a favorite student but he (Song) is treating him (Jingu) unfairly because of how he (Jingu) behaves toward Oki. Song gets upset and blames Oki. Oki defends herself by saying she’s never gone out with Jingu. Song says he wants to treat Jingu fairly, but can’t because of their mutual feelings for Oki. Oki tells Song to treat Jingu fairly anyway.
Oki and Jingu eat at the same restaurant, seated outside this time. Jingu had asked to be seated outside, but Oki had wanted that too.
Song and Oki walk down the mountain. Oki narrates, “It was awkward after the argument, but I felt I was truly in love with him.”
While Jingu and Oki walk down a path, she narrates, “With the younger man, I felt a sense of distance. I felt we would break up some day.” On the way down the mountain Jingu stops to use the bathroom again. Song hadn’t stopped on the way down. Oki stopped both times. Oki feels someone watching her while waiting outside of the bathroom for Jingu and turns to see Song standing nearby. Song walks away after seeing Jingu exit the bathroom.
In voiceover Oki says, “Things repeat themselves with differences I can’t understand. I wanted to see the two side by side. I chose these actors for their resemblance to the actual people. But the limits of the resemblance may reduce the effect of the two put together.” Then the movie ends.